really like this coin an want to make an offer but would appreciate opinions on it. what concerns me are the scratch marks on obverse, altho i assume that could be from cleaning, the totally missing "I" from "IMP" from beginning of obverse legend, and the smoothed, worn down areas around the outside edge of the reverse, so what ya think, real or fake?? thanks....(sellers pics)
It's fine. The missing I is struck-through - not uncommon. The scratches are from cleaning or circulation. There's a weak strike on the obverse, which accounts for the flattened areas. Such is the way with ancient coins. In my opinion it's a very nice specimen, and a good representative of the type.
I think its real. OP, do you like this design or this coin in particular? I am just not a huge fan of the style of this specimen. Granted, its actually better that its brown, since the ones half silver half brown can be annoying to look at, but full silver specimens of this type in VF+ to XF are pretty common. I own two or three kind of by accident. I LOVE the type, but the cleaning scratches would keep me away from this particular coin unless it came at a great price point.
Looks fine to me and attractive to boot...I'd buy it for the right price. I like that appearance of 'rearing' horses instead of just the usual side view. A modest example of a similar type from the Cyzicus mint:
I believe the OP coin was cleaned to the point we question between smoothing of the fields and tooling to enhance some letters. Where we each draw the line on such manipulations is a personal choice. My offer would be low enough that it probably would not be accepted.
