Presented for opinions. No, I dont own it, but did want it. But I would appreciate any critical thoughts....
Wow! I think it looks absolutely fabulous, but I think probably tooled and "decorated" with the sand.
I am no expert. The letters on the obverse are slightly worn, but there is intricate detail in the hair. I would have thought that the hair, slightly raised above the lettering, should be less detailed.
My opinion is that I suspect it's been lightly tooled and smoothed and the sand patina applied, but I would need to examine it in hand. The image resolution is too low to pass any judgments. I get suspicious when things look too perfect.
I admired that coin too, Ken, and considered bidding but was a bit concerned about a few things. I agree with John-- it looks like the "sand" was applied in the crevices to provide greater contrast. Ultimately I didn't look too hard though because bidding quickly escalated beyond what I wanted to pay. If the patina was applied, that alone would be a deal killer for me with this particular coin. I didn't study it too hard regarding possible tooling.
I don't see the tooling. Could be, but I don't see it. The sand patina does look suspicious even though it makes for a stupendous looking coin.
I'm not personally concerned with whether the sand is applied or not. There's not enough of it that it makes me think it could be deliberately hiding problems.
I like the comments so far. My concerns match others. Perhaps the soil is applied but that doesnt bother me. It can be cleaned off or left as is if in fact it really is applied and not natural. I do think the fields are lightly smoothed. That doesnt bother me so much either, really. But I had other concerns. I dont want to say too much as I have made public comments before which have gotten me into hot water (and in one instance temporarily banned from an auction house, that was entirely my fault and I did apologize). I really wanted that coin. I would suggest it would sell for $5,000+ depending on venue. Damn nice coin. It was a hard decision to pass it by. In my opinion it is the finest example of the type known to exist, but...I would have needed to examine it in person and gotten other professional opinions before bidding. An impossibility. It is possible that our concerns are completely unwarranted and we simply let a star slip through our hands to someone who got one of those amazing bargains that happen only a few times in a lifetime.
Exceptionally sharp looking coin, although the rim/edges look a little weird to me almost like a seam.
I would have been more comfortable doing a die study and matching to known examples, but I just didn't have the time. Ah well. With ancient coins there are always others to pique our interest!
My thoughts exactly. The sand patina is applied, but I'm not as sure there is tooling. The fact the patina is 'enhanced' implies tooling is a good possibility.
The coin is a Balkan mint sestertius which makes it look odd to me in the first place. In particular, the cape is different from Rome coins. I went online and looked at other Eastern coins and thought the style of the cape lines were a bit different as well. That made me wonder if there had been some sharpening of some details. Obviously there would be no way of ruling on that with any level of confidence based only on a photo but it would be a coin worth examining under a stereo microscope by someone who had handled other Eastern sestertii in high grade. I'd feel lucky to have one in VG so my opinions are worthless. This coin reminds me of a situation with automobiles. Some people will not repair very minor body damage to cars/trucks because it is always possible to tell it has been touched and some buyers would assume it had been wrecked more seriously. This coin is suspect of having been touched up at least to the point of patina polish. That makes me wonder how bad a wreck it was. On the other hand, I suspect 90% of coins this perfect have some touchup of some sort if no more than super selective cleaning. Just being perfect makes us suspicious that it it too good to be true.
No, 100% have touch-up. It is the nature of the beast. When you pull something from the ground, even if you bush the soil away it has been altered. So, in a purist way, they have ALL be altered.
Incredible example !! I also become suspicious when coins look too good LOL I have to agree that very light smoothing seems evident, especially when that issue has already been brought up. I also notice the sandy patina has been applied to the bust, specifically the hair area, which makes me believe some light tooling has also occurred there but none of that really bothers me that much, just the cost which is way beyond my means. That definitely is a very unusual depiction of a cape, at least to me, and it seems to resemble an insect wing more than anything else LOL
Gawd ... obviously an amazing looking coin, but if I was even allowed to ponder spending $5000 on a coin, it certainly wouldn't be an example where I had to ask my friends if it looked tooled!! (I would pass) ... where there is a doubt
I don't see tooling, but light smoothing (especially in the obverse right field). As to the sand patina, it may be applied, but I have not noticed anyone mention it may have had earthen cover everywhere and just not removed where it remains. I have seen a coin with (what was to me) gorgeous "earthen" cover delicately removed wherever the coin was flat and left behind wherever there was relief (before and after--I liked it better before). I think that is a possible explanation of the fields on the OP coin. Look at the reverse rim from 10:00 to 1:00. It almost looks like there is a seam. Is that an artifact of the photo?