EL Stater 20mm 7.70g. dated 513 Bosphoron calender=216AD The kings of the Bosphorus were allied with Imperial Rome, so the obv. show Rhescoporis III rev. Emperor Elagalabus 218-22AD 80%AR/20% AU
Ha Kunker, I saw this one estimation 750..I thought that is cheap..sold 24K...what the......forget it.. I think your gold will do very well now Lot number: 669 Price realized: 24,000 EUR (Approx. 26,783 USD) Note: RÖMISCHE MÜNZEN MÜNZEN DER RÖMISCHEN KAISERZEIT - und Aristobulos von Armenia Minor. Æs, Jahr 8 (= 61/62); 12,16 g. Drapierte Büste des Aristobulos l.//In Kranz: Schrift in sechs Zeilen. Meshorer, Treasury 366; RPC 3839. RR Schwarzbraune Patina, fast sehr schön Estimate: 750 EUR
Lovely and interesting.... As a gold connoisseur, does the EL signify the gold content (80-20) or is that just the usual proportions?? I always 'assumed' naturally occurring electrum was more like 60-40 gold to silver. I'm after an EL Hekte that is obviously an electrum type or are they all considered that??
Hi Mikey: With electrum the ratio is usually 50/50 AU/AR With the EL coinage from Lydia/Lesbos/Phokia/Mytilene even 60%AU/40AR That is why the ones in ROMA auction look so much like AV coinage. With the Bosphoron AV coinage, it sadly got more and more debased. So by 190AD it was less Av then AR. By 250 it was down to 5% AV. John
Yes, with many auctions, realized prices are way higher then estimates! At the Triton Adams Part III auction, some things went ballistic. Prices seem to have no end in sight, sadly for us poor snooks that see coins become unaffordable. john
Very nice! Isn't that Caracalla though, rather than Elagabalus? Is it Rhescuporis II or is it his son? Is there any scholarship which distinguishes the two? I don't have any books or references for these Roman client-king coins of the Bosporus. I have one EL stater of the Bosporus, Sauromates II with Septimius Severus. KINGS OF BOSPORUS, Sauromates II Bosporan Era 495 (CE 198/9) EL stater, 19 mm, 7.72 gm, 12h Obv: BACIΛЄωC CAVPOMATOV; diademed and draped bust of Sauromates right Rev: laureate head of Septimius Severus right; pellet to right; ЄЧV (date) below Ref: Frolova p. 177 and pl. XXXIII, 9-10 (same dies as illustrations); Anokhin 576a; MacDonald 506/2 ex Dr. Lawrence A. Adams collection ex Buddy Ebsen Collection (Superior, 7 June 1987, lot 4114) (CoinTalk writeup of the coin here)
Thats a really nice one! Your coin would have much more gold content. In CNG 100 Adams II there were a wide selection of these coins in AV and EL/ then Billon at end. I have the MacDonald book, seems mine is Elagalabus. All these coins are rare and many are unique. John
How does he explain the dating? Your coin's date is "ΓΙφ" which, if I correctly understand the dating scheme of these coins, is year 513 (216/7 CE), before Elagabalus was emperor.
You got a good point there! MacDonald got it wrong....that has to be Caracalla! I will change my data label. John
Thanks, they are pretty nice, esp. the one with eagle reverse. I only have one example....now I want more!
This passes the usual limits of coins going over estimate. Which is it then? Did we all miss something here that two very wealthy bidders saw? Did two want the coin for a reason the rest of us not understand and get into a shoving match? Such a realization does not mean the next coin that comes up will sell as high (if, that is, there is another example). Any sale is the result of who participated in the sale and the next sale can be more or less. I have several coins bought for less than their highest realizations. As someone pointed out, the sheik grade collectors are not famous for hanging around long term. The coin may not sell again until the estate sale of the winner and could then fail to sell for lack of even one bidder. Ancient coins are not like US with guaranteed throngs interested in the relatively few different types. I would like to know the details of this one but I doubt it should be taken as a sign of general upturn in all similar coins. Who has the details?
In a lot of cases its a bidding war between two collectors with deep pockets. Sometimes, however there is a once in a lifetime dream coin like that Roman 8 Aurei from Maxentius, where price got up to 1.6 million. If, I am sure all of us on this site (if we were Billionaires) ha ha! would add such a beautifull piece to our collection. Money is boring in bank accounts, much nicer in coins. But, I have seen people bid ridiculous amts on common coins, no sense! Good example a Kushan AV Dinar of Vasu Devu I in EF, estimate 800US price realized 9800US! Remember also, there are a LOT of people that have tons of $, but little knowledge on prices. John PS: It seems prices always are higher when really important collections are sold at auction, Triton XIX good ex.
