What your budget buys -- $1000 - $1500 edition

This Vespasian dupondius was the small bronze that I needed to complete my mint set of Vespasian. I was attracted to this coin for the somewhat imperious portrait of Vespasian, which was notably different from his portraits on my sestertius, denarius and aureus. While it exhibits symptoms of a flat strike on both the obverse and reverse, along with the obvious flan cracks, the detail in the devices is nevertheless quite good and I've always liked the symbolism of the Roma-holding-Victory reverse.



VESPASIAN 69 - 79 A.D.
AE Dupondius (14.20 g.) Lugdunum 71 A.D. RIC 1145
IMP CAES VESPASIAN AVG COS III Radiate head r., with globe at point of bust. Rev. S – C Roma seated l. on cuirass, holding Victory and parazonium; behind, shields. In exergue, ROMA. Rare, about EF

It was purchased at NAC auction 78 for about U.S. $1400 not including buyer's fee (so a bit of a fudge on the price, but NAC's hammer prices tend to be the high end of the market anyway).

***CORRECTION*** The NAC hammer price was about $1120, so $1400 represents the actual cost including buyer's fees, dealer commission, and shipping costs

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

At this price range, may as well have made it "What your budget buys $1000 and Up" as I doubt many of us have ventured into the $1000 range and beyond. Off the top of my head I can only think of about half a dozen regulars.

 

Purchased for $510 USD (all in), but.... this lot was sold earlier for a different price ($1225) so should be OK for this thread:

 

I have only one coin (barely) in this range, which cost me (all in) $1075... my portrait denarius of Julius Caesar:


That's fairly cheap for a portrait, especially with this amount of detail. The savings were due primarily to the o/c strike, corrosion on the reverse, and the lamination issues primarily on the obverse.

 

These all have "issues" (mostly just wear!), but I liked them.

Ex-jewellery Philip II stater, Pella, posthumous - £1099 from Roma in 2013:


Syracuse gold hemidrachm, €1295 from Gitbud-Naumann in 2013:


Nero aureus - not in RIC, but the denarius equivalent is RIC 71 (it's in Cohen & Calicó) €1380 from Kuenker in 2009:


I think I've only got three for the 1500+ category. (Two of them are Nero aurei and the other is a Sicilian tetradrachm).

ATB,
A.

 

A few relatively recent purchases in this range:


NAC 78, lot 416, 2014, C. Curatius f. Tregeminus, Crawford 240/1a. $1400 after commission



NAC 92, lot 1574, 2016, MAT, Crawford 162/2a. $1576 after commission




NAC 70, lot 123, 2013, P. Fourius Crassipes, Crawford 356/1c. $1115 after commission

Phil Davis

 

My only coin in this category

 

CALIGULA
AR Denarius
OBVERSE: C CAESAR AVG GERM P M TR POT, bare head right
REVERSE: DIVVS AVG PATER PATRIAE, radiate head of Divus Augustus right
Struck at Lugdunum, 37/8AD
3.5g, 18mm
RIC I 10
Cost: $1479

 

PHOENICIA, Byblos (Gebal). Ozbaal. Circa 394-352 BC. AR Shekel. Three hoplites, holding shields, on galley left above waves, prow ending in lion's head; below, hippocamp left above murex shell, `Z (in Phoenician) above dorsal fin / Lion attacking bull left; ‘ZB’L MLK GBL (“Ozbaal, king of Gebal” in Phoenician) above.
13.3g
25.2mm
Cost: $1130

 

FULLY LOADED LANDED COSTS:

This is a really an odd price area for me. My focus, including Roman Republic Didrachmae, Etruria AR As Denominations, Marsic Confederation Denarii, Ancient Gold, etc. are 2k+ to even approach.

1060USD

ETRURIA, Arretium (?). The Chiana Valley. Circa 208-207 BC. Æ Quartunica . Head of African right; monogram to left / Indian elephant standing right, bell around neck; monogram below. HN Italy 69; SNG ANS 41 (same obv. die); SNG Copenhagen 48 var. (no monogram on obv.). rare.

This enigmatic issue has been much discussed. It was Sestini in 1816 who first indicated their area of circulation in and around the Chiana (Clanis) valley and lake Trasimeno, dominated by the cities of Arezzo, Chiusi and Cortona. The traditional attribution of the issue to 217 BC, as representing the propaganda of Hannibal’s approach to Etruria, was modified by Robinson (op. cit.), who saw it as a provocative seditious type of Arretium, which was in a state of high tension with Rome in 209/8, in the hoped for arrival of Hasdrubal from Spain with reinforcements. However, the reverse depicts an Indian rather than African elephant with a bell around its neck reminiscent of the elephant/saw aes signatum issue (Crawford 9/1) of about 250-240 BC and associated with the battle of Maleventum (soon to be called Beneventum) in 275 BC when the captured elephants of Pyrrhus were brought to Rome in triumph. A similar Indian elephant is also depicted as a symbol on the Tarantine nomos issue (Vlasto 710-712), indicating the presence of Pyrrhus in the city in 282-276. The Barcid coinage of New Carthage (Villaronga CNH, pg. 65, 12-15) and that of Hannibal in Sicily (SNG Cop. 382) clearly depict African elephants belonging to the elephant corps from about 220 BC. As Maria Baglione points out in "Su alcune parallele di bronzo coniato," Atti Napoli 1975, pg.153-180, the African/elephant issue shares control marks with other cast and struck Etruscan coins of the region, she quotes Panvini Rosati in ‘ Annuario dell’accademia Etrusca di Cortona XII’, 1964, pg. 167ff., who suggests the type is to be seen as a moneyer’s badge or commemorative issue in the style of Caesar’s elephant/sacrificial implements issue of 49/48 BC (Crawford 443/1). The elephant, an attribute of Mercury/Turms, is an emblem of wisdom and is also a symbol of strength and of the overcoming of evil.

 

As expected, the posts are PHENOMENAL!!!

I only have two examples that cracked the 1K barrier, either at hammer or shipped.

Carthaginians in Sicily, 300 - 289 B.C.
Silver tetradrachm, Jenkins Punic 394 (O120/R322); SNG CopVIII 91; Dewing 983; SGCV II 6438; HGC 2 295, NGC Choice VF, strike 4/5, surface 5/5 (3819620-001), Sicilian mint, weight 17.03g, maximum diameter 23mm, die axis 225o, 300 - 289 B.C.; obversehead of Herakles right, clad in lion's scalp; reverse horse's head left, palm tree behind, Punic inscription MHSBM (paymasters) below; NGC certified (slabbed)




And my stater of Baaltar....

CILICIA, Tarsos. Mazaios. Satrap of Cilicia, 361/0-334 BC. AR Stater (24mm, 10.93 g, 6h). Baaltars seated left, holding eagle, grain ear, grapes, and scepter; TR (in Aramaic) to lower left, M (in Aramaic) below throne / Lion attacking bull left; monogram below. Casabonne Series 2, Group C; SNG BN –; SNG Levante 106. EF, toned.

 

For this tier I have an antoninianus of Marcus Aurelianus Julianius (Julian of Pannonia). JP was a usurper who rose up against Carinus in 284 AD, but was stopped and dropped near Verona in 285. Not before the mint at Siscia had produced antoniniani with four reverse types and two obverse inscriptions
($1235 in 2003)
IMP C M AVR IVLIANVS PF AVG
VICT - ORIA AVG
S|A
XXI
RIC V (pt2) 5

(I have a couple more items to show that would be in the next tier if there is one. If not I could put them here.)

 

I forgot that I purchased this from a friend of mine at a Show, yeah, he pulled me over the barrel for the 25 over:

1025

RR Anon Quadrigatus Janus 225-215 BCE Crawford 28/3 Sear 31

 

A lot of super coins in all of these threads. It just shows there is good stuff in all price ranges and it is almost more fun trying to find the budget stuff than just unloading your coin cannon at vcoins (to quote the much missed Steve).

Here are a few I was super happy to find that were not budget buys for me.



Bruttium, Rhegion.
AR Tetradrachm, 445-435 BC, 25mm, 17.18 g, 9h.
Obverse: Facing lion's head, cicada to left.
Reverse: RECI-N-OS, Iokastos seated left holding staff in right hand, left hand resting on hip, duck standing below; all within laurel wreath.
References: Herzfelder 46 (D28/R39) citing 10 specimens from this die combination; HN Italy 2483; Jameson 453; McClean 1861.
Winter FUN Show 2000, $1100


Punic Tetradrachm
Ex Dr. Arnold Saslow, 1990 Winter FUN Show
$1500

John

 

The second coin from the left is a cast Saturn / Prow, Semis, Cr 35/2. It was the first coin I bought that cost 4 digits @ $1175 in 2011. I bought it at a local coin show and asked my wife before spending that much. It was my first aes grave and started me down a slippery slope that has been plenty of fun! Big bronze are fun. This one is 137 grams, 54 mm dia. and 14 mm thick!



My first thought was one of my RS bars would fit well here, but one was below and the other just over.

 

Might as well post this one as well. Just won tonight; not in hand, yet.

ATTICA. Athens. Ca. 440-404 BC. AR tetradrachm (17.20 gm). NGC AU 5/5 - 4/5. Mid-mass coinage issue. Head of Athena right, wearing crested Attic helmet ornamented with three laurel leaves and vine scroll / AΘE, owl standing right, head facing, olive sprig and crescent moon behind, all within incuse square. HGC 4, 1597. SNG Copenhagen 32.
Cost: $1080

 

I have just a handful of coins which have broken the $ 1000 mark and each and every time it was a difficult decision. However, years later, in most cases what remains is not the pain of the disbursement but the joy of ownership.

This one provides particular satisfaction:

TRAJAN. 98-117 AD. Æ Sestertius (35mm, 22.78 gm). Struck circa 104-107 AD. Laureate bust right, wearing aegis / Triumphal arch of Trajan, consisting of a massive base, with gateposts and gateway under central arch, with elaborate superstructures; on the sides of the base, bas-reliefs from top to bottom on each side; panels either side of pediment; the pediment contains Jupiter and the panels each contain a quadriga racing inwards; the frieze on the roof is inscribed IOM, atop of which, is a six-horse chariot escorted front by two Victories; to either side trophies. RIC II 572; Cohen 547. Near VF, green patina. A masterful architectural rendition.

ex CNG, December 8th 2004. $ 1145 hammer

 

I once owned up to 4 aureii. A couple of years laters, for some reason that I cannot now fathom, I decided to sell two of them and keep just two - one for each one of my sons.

This is one of them:

DOMITIANUS CAESAR, 69-81. Aureus under Vespasian, about 73 A.D.
Obv:CAESAR AVG F - DOMIT COS II Laureate head r.
Rev: Domitian, togate, on horse prancing l., holding scepter in his l. hand, greeting with his r. hand. C. 663. RIC 41, 232.

ex Gorny und Mosch, ca. 2007.
1400 Euros.