Otho Denarii Don't Come Cheap....... Do They!!!

I had done a check at coin archives and found only one previous sale for this year at HA. And that coins went for quite a good price so I was happy securing this one. Thanks

 

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I did that just now to see what could be found.

Here are four more Tyrian shekels from CY 137 (in addition to your example from Roma), all sold at within the last year except for possibly the CNG coin. The CNG coin was from their shop so the date of sale isn't given. These were found through ACsearch (paid version) and CoinArchives (the free version). CoinArchivesPro is a more comprehensive database so perhaps more can be found there. ACsearch became a paid site a couple of years ago so if you want to see prices realized you have to be a member. I use it often and find it worth the cost. In case you don't pay for ACsearch I've linked to the source or to an auction aggregator so you can see the prices. CoinArchivesPro is considerably more expensive ($600/yr) so I don't have access to that database.

From CNG's Coin Shop (date of sale isn't stated):

PHOENICIA, Tyre. 126 BC-65 AD. AR Shekel (25mm, 14.28 g, 12h). Dated CY 137 (11/2 AD). Laureate bust of Melkart right, [lion's skin tied at neck] / TVROV IE[PAS KAI] SVLOV, eagle standing left on [prow], palm on right wing; PLZ (date) above club to left, Phoenician 'B' between legs, KP above monogram to right. BMC -; RPC I Supp. 4654B; AUB -. EF, reverse slightly off center, attractive strike, good metal. Very rare date. Struck during the lifetime of Christ.
RPC I lists only two other examples of this date: one in the Princeton University collection; the other in trade."

From Rauch, 4/10/18

PHOENICIA. Tyros. Schekel (14,20g), Jahr 137 = 11-12 n. Chr. Av.: Büste des Melkart mit Lorbeerkranz und Löwenfelldrapierung n.r. Rv.: TYP-OY IEPAΣ - KAI AΣYΛOY, Adler mit angelegten Schwingen und Palmzweig n.l., darunter phönizischer Buchstabe beth über Prora, im l. Feld Datum über Keule, im r. Feld KP über Monogramm. RPC Suppl. I 4654B (2 Exemplare), HGC 357 (Jahr nicht gelistet). Kleine Stempelfehler im Av., minimaler Schrötlingsfehler im Rv. Sehr seltenes Jahr.
R vzgl.
(D)
[Does this coin look off to anyone else? To me, the reverse looks pressed rather than struck but of course I am not an expert.]


From HA, 3/22/18

PHOENICIA. Tyre. Ca. 126/5 BC-AD 67/8. AR shekel (14.08 gm). NGC Choice Fine 3/5 - 4/5. Dated CY 137 (AD 11/2). Laureate bust of Melqart right, lion skin around neck / TYPOY IEPAΣ-KAI AΣYΛOY, eagle standing left on prow, palm under wing; PΛZ (date) above club in left field, KP above PMΩ monogram in right field, Phoenician bet between legs. Prieur 1412. DCA Tyre, 490. Very rare date!

From HA, 9/12/17

PHOENICIA. Tyre. Ca. 126/5 BC-AD 67/8. AR shekel (12.66 gm). NGC AU 4/5 - 2/5. Dated CY 137 (AD 11/2). Laureate bust of Melqart right / Eagle standing left on prow, palm over right wing; to left, PΛZ (date) above club; KP and monogram to right. DCA Tyre Supplement 325. HGC 10, 357. RPC I Suppl. 4654A. Very rare date, with no other examples found in auction archives!HID05401242017
[Note: The date doesn't look like the others. I wonder if the description is wrong?]

There were a few more search hits for CY 137 but the original listings were wrong about date (later corrected on the auction houses' websites). ACsearch of course doesn't find every auctioned coin, not even for recent auctions. It also doesn't include eBay (although buying a popular Tyrian shekel on eBay is asking for trouble )

 

@TIF ....that is why I'm always wary of ancients.....rare today...gone tomorrow...

But these Shekels will most likely always be popular as they were struck during the lifetime of Christ

 

Absolutely-- Tyrian shekels struck during Christ's lifetime will always command a hefty premium, as will other coins with any tie-in to the Christian bible-- especially if they might have been circulating in the time of Christ. Your coin is lovely and you paid what you had to pay to buy it that day.

Don't be dismayed that more were found in archives. While Tyrian shekels are common, the year of your particular coin seems to be rare. Rarity isn't the end-all though .

Do you have a paid membership to ACsearch? I think you'll find it worth the money.

 

You are correct - I have always wondered about estimates like these. All that one can for certain is that nothing is for certain. Here is a story: I was lucky enough to find an example of a Domitian sestertius, from COS IIII "PAX AUGUSTI." This coin is not listed in RIC, so rare, right? Maybe unique? A year or so after I found my coin CNG lists one in CNG 67, Lot 1382, same obverse, different reverse die. I then discovered a severely tooled example from the same reverse die as the CNG example on VCOINS, which was sold not long after it was offered. I then found another one on ebay, with the same reverse die as the one I had. And finally, I discovered a very high grade example that was sold by NAC.

So I went from thinking I had a "unique" coin to a "population" of at least five from two reverse dies - and (I think) two obverse dies. A rare coin? No doubt - but then again it may turn out there are are many more out there. It seems that one example seems to show up every year.

This is another wonderful thing about ancient coins - "rarity" is a flexible concept - that "ultra" rare coin could end up just being rare. I do not have a problem with that - if more that can get into the hands of collectors at the lowest possible price is just fine with me.

Ok, another example - I know someone who collects only one type of obscure ancient - antoninianii of Gallienus, with "SPQR" on the reverse - these were all struck at the Antioch mint, I believe. But, he is not the only collector who focuses on this one obscure type - I think at least thre other collectors all have the same interest, and they all compete with each other, so that this type, which should sell for about $40 in collectable condition can cost in the hundreds, as those with an interest bid. My recollection is that he has over 380 examples of this one type, the others have somewhat less - again based on my recollection. (I do hope he is a member and can correct me if I am off). That reflects a "population" of somewhat less than a thousand among these three plus those who collect - but how to estimate all of it? I guess that the total of the three who collect this type would allow one to get at a rough estimate, but that is all it would be!

 

Nice picu-up @1934 Wreath Crown !
I have wanted one since reading the The Year of Four Emperors by Gwyn Morgan. The price has held me back as well as other cool stuff higher on my list of wants.
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/69-ad-gwyn-morgan/1008154922?ean=9780195315899
@Cucumbor , It looks like Otho and SECURITAS had the same hair stylist.

 

To be fair to Roma, the auction where you purchased the coin was in October, which means they wrote their auction description in July or August. At that time there was only 1 on CoinArchives, so their lot description was correct. Another showed up on CoinArchives in a Heritage sale in September, before the Roma sale, but by that point the Roma catalog was already printed.

Barry

 

Very nice Otho in the OP!!

Speaking of dies... looks like @lrbguy and I have an obverse die match. Nice coin, lrbguy, one of the nicest obverse dies for Otho, IMO... but I'm a little biased.

Mine:


lrbguy's:


lrbguy's obverse at 50% transparency, over top of mine:

 

Nice Otho, but yeah, somethings do come real cheap...especially when you are a cheap (bleep) like me...

Here is my Bottom Feeders Club Otho

 

No such thing as a bottom feeder Otho denarius -

 

Boy, did I need to proof read this one! Next time I will make sure that words are not left out, and the sentence construction is at least semi-literate! Blake

 

Here's another example of "rarity." Some years ago, I was lucky enough to be given an example of a Clodius Albinus As, Fortuna reverse, from the Lugdunum mint by a good friend, from the same dies as the one on RIC. The RIC example is in the British Museum. After I had posted the coin on MONETA (is this site still around? - I would very much like to rejoin, if only to get access to its archives) I was told that there existed example(s?) of an As of Clodius Albinus from the Lugdunum mint with Victory on the reverse - someone sent or posted a scan of an example of an Albinus As, which I still have in my multi-volume imperial bronzes (almost exclusively sestertii) scrap books, my personal Banti database.

I THINK that the obverse was from the same die as the obverse of the one I have, which has FORTUNA on the reverse. As Curtis Clay pointed out in a MONETA post after I posted a scan of the coin, wouldn't it be terrific if someone found a sestertius of Clodius Albinus from Lugdunum? I heartily agree!

 

very very nice catch..