Bing is probably laughing down in the sunshine....we are expecting (Ottawa/Ont.) 10cm =4 inches snow on Wednesday. Might put a monkey wrench into plans of working this week.
I was "lucky" with that one. I checked Roma auction "unsold" list....and this FDC coin was avaliable for starting price. It was a good deal. Sometimes auctions are crazy. Yesterday, i was on Fruhwald site....had my eye on a Prachtexamplar FDC 1/4 Dukat from Salzburg dated 1782 Archbishop Hieronmyous Graf Colloredo. The coin was stunning even though small, but a 1893 AV 20 Corona/Austra Fanz Josef I Krause price in BU for 300 went for 1400EUROS. Mine went for half that. But again a internet bidder and a floor bidder went into a war over the other piece.
I understand that this may be an exceptional coin for a type usually seen much worse but I fail to see the need to call a coin missing so much legend FDC. A coin can be wonderful in many, many ways but FDC means that there can be none better. What would you call a coin with legends? I have a couple coins that are better than any other specimen I have seen but still only VG or Fine. That does not mean that they are "EF for type" it just means that you probably won't find a better one. Today I'm watching a sale close lot by lot (so far won two but missed the one I wanted most) and am amazed at the prices nice example of ordinary types bring while things I have not seen go more cheaply. I can see why this coin might go unsold in a Roma sale where the clientele might be looking for something "perfect" rather than "great for this".
As a non-collector of Byzantine coins, I have no expertise in these coins, so I'm curious whether you yourself would grade this coin as FDC? Certainly for coins in the periods I collect (Imperial, 12 Caesars plus the occasional Hadrian) a coin with this much missing from the legend wouldn't grade as FDC, no matter how crisp the strike.
This is Bing's wife. I'm sorry, but Bing is in the corner slobbering. Bing has been under the weather, but he said to tell you the pool is 83 F.
That is a hard question to answer. In Germany/Switzerland/Austria, they seem to have solved this. When they describe a coin as FDC from standpoint of circulation/wear....they have a special designation for FDC coins that are perfectly centered/ sharp strike/perfect legends....PRACHTEXAMPLAR. So, the answer would be it is FDC from that there is no wear/circulation....but it not a perfect FDC. In Germany for ex; MS-60/MS61= EF 62/63=EF+ 64/65=fast stempelglanz(AU) 66/67=stempelglanz (FDC) 68/69=prachtexamplar. Here is a hammered 1642/41 Dukat from Brandenburg-Bayreuth Christian I from Kunker with prachtexamplar designation.
This is John nice to meet you, I sincerely wish Bing a speedy recovery. By the way it is -8 here with a windchill of -15! thats cold.
here's the same cast of characters in the more usual AE flavor... Byzantine Empire. Constantine V with Leo IV. Æ Follis. 751-775 AD O: Constantine V and Leo VI. R: Leo III. 20x16 mm, 2.0g, Syracuse mint. SB 1569
See one, be one ... thanks for the assist, chrsmat (great coins, fellas) Constantine V with Leo IV & Leo III Folles 741-775 => this is my one and only example from the sweet 8th century AD!! ... coins are awesome, eh? (but man, I sure wish a few of my babies were goldies!!)
The Syracuse minted gold always looks worse than their Constantinople minted counterpart for what ever reason. Still I would one day most likely have a Syracuse gold just as a Carthage gold one day as I want variety in my tray. Here my follis of Leo IV with Constantine. On reverse Leo III in left. As (almost) always it looks better in hand: Two miliaresions of Leo III and the second of Leo IV. Both named their sons Constantine so the only way to distinguish these two Miliaresions is by looking at the horizontal line in the cross where Leo III’s is smaller. Sear and Grierson say so but numerous auctions always make the same mistake again and again and attribute them incorrect.
Nice coins guys/gals, don't you feel sorry for the people that are not part of our world? They are really missing out, not many numismatists suffer from depression, well that may be pushing it a little. I just looked at Ars Classica auction....
