Doug's Last of 2015

...and not even close to making the top 10 list because of the smoothing but I have wanted a sestertius to go with my dupondius and antoninianus. The reverse Genius Exerc Illyriciani is unique to Decius.

 

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Love it !!!

 

I think the smoothing is OK on it. Better then tooling. Nice bronze though.

 

I find it attractive dispite the smoothing. This is the type of smoothing I can live with.

 

The portrait is very interesting. He wouldn't look out of place at all walking around any modern city.

 

Looking at my coins only, the portraits on my Decius AE all seem 'normal' or even a bit handsome but the silver varies a lot more from harsh to normal but only a couple even close to the work on the bronzes. Perhaps the better artists were assigned the bronze dies. I always wonder how many different die cutters were working at one time and how many years some of them served. Sometimes I see styles I believe match but there is no way of checking my guesses.

 

Why was the coin "smoothed' and what exactly is this smoothing? Is it the patch underneath the neck which looks a little off color? Was it sanded down for some reason?

 

Sweet lookin' OP-coin, doug (I don't really notice too much smoothing, which probably means that I have a few examples of smoothed-coins in my current collection, eh?) ...

I really do try to avoid coins that are poorly cleaned (smoothed and/or tooled) and as others have already stated => I don't really see any detrimental smoothing on your cool new OP-example ... it seems like a total winner

Ummm, I only have one example of this Trajan Decius chap ...

=> a sweet AR Tet (in-hand => it's like a lil' fat hockey puck!!)



... he looks a bit ripped on my obverse

 

I've had one of these for awhile now, but as many times as I look at it, I can't figure out what's going on with the obverse legend. It's a total mess, with letters not where they're supposed to be (for example, two S's next to each other at 12 o'clock).

 

Yes, where exactly is the smothing? It looks kind od normal to me?

Below is from Forum Ancients

Smoothing
Smoothing is the grinding down of the metal surface of the fields on a coin (usually bronze) to "smooth" pitted, rough areas. Smoothing can also be performed on areas other than the fields, however, if the work modifies the original form of the reliefs or attempts to recreate worn or corroded details, then it must be described as tooling, not smoothing. Smoothing is a form of tooling but is less destructive. In the 19th century smoothing was perceived as an improvement. Today it is seen as destructive but it is still done by unscrupulous "conservators" to deceptively "improve" coins.

Smoothing is sometimes incorrectly used to describe a form of cleaning where a rough green patina or copper oxide encrustations (often red lumps) are smoothed down to field or detail level. This "smoothing" is better described as cleaning and can enhance the appearance and value of a coin if it is limited to removing encrustations and protrusions. To prevent confusion, the term smoothing should not be used to describe this type of cleaning. The term smoothing should be used only when the metal of the coin has been altered.

Some well done light smoothing is acceptable to many collectors, particularly on large bronze coins from old 19th century collections, with "old cabinet toning." Sometimes even some tooling can be tolerated. A collector may find a smoothed or tooled coin worth purchasing if the coin is a particularly desirable type or priced low. Do not, however, pay more for a coin that has tooling or smoothing "improvements" than you would for a worn or pitted example. Tooling and smoothing are damage and reduce rather than enhance value. How much smoothing or tooling you find tolerable is a personal decision. Many collectors will not tolerate any smoothing or tooling whatsoever.

 

IMP CAES C MESS Q DECIO TRAI AVG was one of the listed RIC legends for the first group of Decius' sestertii in 249 AD. I see enough of it on yours to believe that is correct. Mine is from the second group later that abbreviated Messius as M and spelled out Traianus.

 

I would point out that the term "smoothing" is still widely used to describe the "cleaning" of bronzes described by the above paragraph.



To my eye, Doug's coin (above) crosses the line from cleaning (smoothing) to smoothing (tooling) (1) on the obverse under the legend between 11 and 1, where the smoothing of the field has created a rut between the top of the head and the legend; (2) on the forehead of the portrait where the hairline appears to be more defined than it would have been without smoothing; and (3) on the entire front of the portrait where the nose, mouth, and chin are very well defined due to the overly smoothed field adjacent to these features.

The reverse doesn't really appear to be overly smoothed except possibly in the area just to the right of the figure's left leg, where the two devices seem a bit "carved out" but nothing really egregious.

Regardless, this is still an appealing coin and exhibits a lot less tooling than most bronzes -- in fact, it wouldn't surprise me if most dealers classified this as "gently smoothed" and not really tooled.

 

By way of illustration, here is a Titus Colosseum sestertius sold by NAC in 2008 for about $28,000 (including buyer's fee) that they described as "Dark patina gently tooled on reverse."



In fact, this is a lot more than "gently tooled" but such a desirable coin that the buyer was obviously willing to overlook this flaw.

 

I agree with Ides' assessment completely, and certainly would not kick this coin out of bed. Nobody asked the question as to the how and why of GENIVS EXERC ILLYRICIANI being a type unique to Decius, but I'm going to answer it anyway.

Decius was born in a Danubian province, an area generally known as Illyricum. As Philip I's general, he was sent to quell the revolt of Pacatian, which he managed to do, in addition to being elevated to the rank of emperor by his troops (there was a great deal of discontent with Philip at the time for many reasons). "The spirit of the army of Illyricum" pays direct tribute to the legions that gave him the throne.

 

....did you say $28,000?

 

Yes, $28K in 2007. Today that coin might bring $60K+.

Actually, I just remembered that this coin was resold by Heritage in 2014 for $105,000.

I viewed this coin in person prior to that auction and just couldn't accept the level of tooling. Heritage didn't even acknowledge the tooling in its description prior to the auction.

 

Just an opinion but if you are to have just one Decius, this is the one. It was used throughout his reign and for the reasons JA described above, defines his place in history.

As far as smoothing vs. tooling goes, this coin certainly had a thick patina which was scraped down more in the fields than in the legends and there are a couple places where the 'artist' slipped up and cut too deep. It possibly could have taken more trimming around the letters and been a higher end item but I suspect the person who did this one was not yet a master of his art. I bought the coin in the belief that the detail shown was uncovered rather than added and only have problems with a couple regions making the coin better than many I see sold by name brand auctions. The coin will next be subjected to close up photography to see if I can record what I think I see. Changing the light on a coin really can make a world of difference on what area looks right and what looks wrong. Thanks for looking.

I would have a lot more respect for the industry if they could acknowledge what has been done to a coin than figuring that they have to slip one past the ignorant but wealthy among their buyers. Coins are unusual in that many purists expect original condition while pots and statues are expected to be reassembled and repaired from parts. Dinosaurs are cobbled together from bones of several individuals and every so often we hear of a head being removed since it was from an incorrect species. The direct of travel would be toward Ides' "gently tooled" example being unnecessary to mention. My coin is not my worst and not my best but it may get better or worse depending on the whims of the market. Obviously the big sellers have plenty of bidders who either don't know or don't care so our only recourse is to buy what we want and skip the rest.

 

First attempts at photographing the smoothing were less revealing than I had hoped. There are obvious patches where the patina was scraped too thin and some lies around some devices but I believe the most show where excess patina was removed rather than metal altered. It might take time to evaluate what is shown here and I might need to try some closer to get better views of the scraping. Nothing is shown that can't be seen better under my stereo microscope.

 

Thanks, Doug. My mistake was looking for the legend by following the seller's attribution and other online examples, totally overlooking the obvious. This legend for the Genius Illyrciani type does seem a lot more scarce than the second group.

 

It looks like someone took their cleaning tool and traced-out the forehead, nose and lips, yes? (or am I looking at it ass-backwards?)

Doug => that's a cool new camera/toy ... you seem to be like a kid in a candystore (keep-up the awesome work, mentor)

=> Happy Holidays!!