Ancient: What I consider a bargain Constantius II FH... and why

Ides asked I post an example of what I considered an underpriced coin. This arrived today after crossing the Atlantic. Postage was $6 but the hammer price on the coin was $5.05 making it $11.05 delivered. I consider the coin worth at least $33.15, 3x if you require me to multiply the postage as well or 5x+ if we only multiply the bid price. People don't bid on coins with postage higher than the value of the coin in their estimation.



Most of the coins Ides posts are what I might call perfect. None of my coins are. I have to be selective choosing faulty coins with faults I can accept. There are many $5 Falling Horsemen that I would not pay $1 to own and I have over 120 of the type so why did I consider this worth the extreme expenditure? It is a Constantius II AE2 at 24mm. This coin is a common Constantinople mint workshop 11 with a slightly weak strike of the CONSIA* mintmark. It has a really nice strike of the soldier (often found to be flat headed but not here) and a clear pigtailed, bareheaded barbarian. The horse could be better. The reason I wanted the coin, however was the soldiers shoes. I have never seen a better detailed pair of army boots on one of these coins. First, they have an overall dot pattern suggesting texture (perhaps laces???). From the top hang two long strings ending in a heavy ball. What are these supposed to represent? I have seen other army boots with 'wings' at the top which I believed were related to Mercury but these seem certain to be something else. My favorite coins are those that have something to teach me. The coin is not a great beauty even though it has a decent green patina (unfortunately with some patchy red/brown here and there). I am not a seeker of perfect coins but prefer interesting ones. To me, this one has more than $5.05 plus postage worth of interest. What kind of fool would buy a coin for a pair of shoes? This kind.

I would love to see other (better?) shoe coins. Anyone who knows anything about Roman shoes that could explain these, please come forward. These look nothing like the sandals or full shoes I have seen in drawings. Perhaps it is just an example of a die cutter who liked dots (it has been pointed out that the shields and other parts of this dies are also dotty).

 

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Interesting DS. I guess you know I am trying to get all the mints for this type. Nice coin.

 

Well, considering its an ae2 for $11 all in you are already good. Just adding the nice patina puts that coin at triple what you paid.

I find the shoes interesting as well. I thought i saw once roman cold weather boots that looked vaguely like that. It was footwear for troops in modern day Austria, cannot remember the legion, maybe Genia? Anyway, very interesting coin and well worth the price of course.

 

It looks to be a more Persian inspired sandal with circular leather straps around it to me..

Although it could be from an Austrian Gemina legion as Medoraman suggests.

I'll try to check tomorrow night.

 

Amazing you can spot those little details when you've seen so many. Very interesting and for study its more then worth the cost. Nice addition Doug.

 

:thumb: I'll be interested in further discussion about the sandals. I've often wondered how the legionaries kept warm, especially the extremities. Good eye Doug

 

It's nice to know someone is looking at the detail, eye appeal is one thing, but detail is another, very nice coin..:thumb:

 

Nice, glad to see it arrived safely. It's not always fun to buy from over seas. I was thinking balls were just a method used to map out the areas to carve on the die, but perhaps with a little extra force applied. It's a cool addition Doug!

 

oh wow...that's interesting, they look like bird talons or something.

 

This coin had all the signs of something to avoid according to our standard advice. The seller dealt mostly in things other than ancient coins and came from a country that I have had problems with before in terms of non-delivery. The photo was good enough that I believed the coin was of correct style and the surfaces are not the kind easily and frequently falsified so I bid on it fully expecting to lose it to someone at the last second. My most recent previous FH coin (the doublestruck PARL) also came from 'overseas' costing more in postage than for the coin itself. It also came from a non-coin dealer. I see a pattern here. The only reason I risked bids on either is that the coins were of a style that I considered very appropriate for their type and mint but were not exact duplicates of the usual examples down to the finest detail. Compare to DK FT 553 RIC 82 on Dane's FH site:
http://www.catbikes.ch/helvetica/ft-constantinople.htm
They are not die duplicates but probably were cut by the same hand IMHO.

 

It seems to me that, having much more knowledge than any non-coin dealer (and probably more than most dealers) puts you in a position to spot bargains and under-appreciated coin types that would otherwise go unnoticed. While other factors may have cautioned against this transaction, your gamble was small compared to the potential reward. Clearly your judgement was accurate in this case.

Thanks for responding to my curiosity and starting this thread to illustrate how you find bargains. It's easy to understand why this coin was appealing and also why it was very likely to be a bargain at twice the price.

 

I definitely share an appreciation for different FH with you.

I think I see it as well.

 

I'm dredging up this old thread to avoid posting a new one that would seem off topic but, I believe, would be appropriate in a group like ours. I subscribe to a service that provides a daily email with a word to enrich my vocabulary (or to remind me of one I learned long ago but probably should use more often). Today's word relates to the coin that started this thread.
http://www.alphadictionary.com/goodword/date/print/2013/05/19

Ultracrepidarian literally means 'above the sandals' but is used to indicate someone who speaks authoritatively on subjects out of our area of expertise. The link above explains how this word came to be. I could not help thinking that the question of a shoe expert also being quite familiar with legs seems reasonable so Apelles might have been well advised to consider the words of the ultracrepidarian cobbler. This opinion comes from someone old enough to remember the day when shoes were purchased from a salesman who spent his day handling other people's feet.

I apologize for my ultracrepidarian comments past and future and for confusing anyone here who read this far without realizing that the link above was provided for a reason.

 

It's the perfect user title for me. Thanks Doug! :thumb:

 

That is awesome!! ... thanks for the neat info (yah, I love learning about the derivation of words and/or old sayings)

Ummm, but I am definitely "not" gonna tell my wife about today's word, for I like it when she uses my given name ... yah, being called Ultracrepidarianx6 just doesn't have the same ring to it, eh? (she often puts me in my place if I happen to drift away from my comfort-zone and start to pretend that I know a bit too much in areas where I obviously know very little) ...

=> basically, if I ever find myself in a conversation outside of 70's sitcoms and/or red wine, I can quickly get myself in Untracrepidarian territory!! (discussing ancient coins with you guys is a perfect example!!)

Thanks again => it's a great word!!

:thumb:

 

Great word Doug. And I do like the new name ultracrepidarianx6. It has a certain ring to it.

 

It's fascinating, the stories behind certain words. Thanks Doug.