It has been suggested that before one buys one can put the coin to the members for their opinion so here goes. I am bidding on this 'Janus' but i know very little about them. It doesn't have the same look as other silver (Janus) coins that i have seen. Can anyone shed any light on what this coin might be worth (if anything) please? AE As, Q. Opimius, circa 169-158 BC
Ebay or auction house? You don't have to disclose the exact location, obviously. I admit to being ignorant on these, but I am a little concerned with the pits all over the place. Could just be corrosion, but it could also be a sign of something foul.
It's a decent example. I could see it going for $100 give or take $20. Maybe the symbols above the prow indicate it is a rare variety.
The coin is very worn, but totally fine. The pitting is just some corrosion and you can compare with others of the era with respect to style. No silver was struck during this period so it's not unusual that you wouldn't find any silver with a similarly-styled Janus, because it doesn't exist. As far as price, I'd try to pay around $70-$80 for this example. It's a very common type and a better example can be found for not much more with a little patience. Search ACSearch for Crawford 190/1 for more examples of the type
It looks good to me just comparing it to others, but, I too, do not have much experience with these. From seeing these for sale all over the place, I would set the value at $65 plus.
Here are a few of my Januform AE's for comparison. I feel yours looks fine. I agree: $100 +/- $20 is fair. RR Atili Saran AE As 148 BC Janus ROMA Prow S 399 Cr 214-2a RR Anon AE As 211-206 BC sextantal Janus Prow Anchor Sear 628 Craw 50/3 RR Anon AE As after 211 BCE Janus I Prow Cr 56-2 Sear 627 RImp AE As Pompey 42-38 BC Janus Prow Magnus S 1394 Cr 479-1
TC, I agree with everyone else. The coin looks right and frankly, it has more eye appeal than most I've seen! If it were to appear in a CNG auction (or other big auction house), it would surely get some action!
Thank-you, everyone. I am well pleased with your comments and I will offer accordingly. Hopefully I will be successful as I do not have any of these.
Al, your second coin is an earlier Cr. 50/3 anchor as with anchor to right of prow like this one: https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=1102057
Thank you Sir! I have no clue how my file pic was mis-attributed. My records agree with your Cr 50/3 attribution.
I think you got a lot of god advice on price, I'll add this sale record of the same variety: https://www.sixbid.com/browse.html?auction=2689&category=56692&lot=2266347 One other thing to note. If you are just buying this as a type piece you can ignore, but when I buy Roman republics for their Crawford numbers, I really try to purchase coins with very clear attribution, in this case the letters OPEI. My thinking on a coin like this for my collection, is it's common enough that I would wait for an example with more of the OPEI clearly visible. This one isn't bad, but it's common enough that I would wait.
While I always wanted an Aes Grave liberal as, I have so far settled for a 40.0g sextantal with nice faces and not much reverse and the opposite pattern in 18.3g from a later period. The last barely outweighs my anonymous semis at 18.1g. All are Anonymous. I am totally confused by the weight differences shown on these later bronzes. Are they carefully controlled but constantly more reduced or is there just huge variations of coins issued at the same time? The way they are mixed in catalogs I have seen makes it hard to tell.
