As, hopefully, we all know coin purchases on eBay can be a gamble. Kind of like seizing the purple after a young emperor's suicide. Having had a dry spell, I thought I would take a gamble (much like I had when I won my tribute penny. Pics of this one are only slightly better) and put in a low ball bid on a Galba Denarius fouree from a trusted seller. I won at a considerably lower amount than I had bid! Judging by the pics it's seen better days. But appears authentic to me...though I'll know more and post better pics once in hand. It did not match anything in forums fakes. Though he has a hole in his head (the executioner must've missed his neck with the first swing!) I do really enjoy the portrait here. Check him out Galba Denarius (fouree), 69 AD., Rome mint. Av. laur. head Right Rv. Pax standing left quality is fine to very fine, weight is 3.02gr. A bit about Galba: Galba was part of the year of the 4 emperors. That and him being one of Suetonius 12 emperors make his coins exceedingly hard to get. Him being the second of the 4. The Praetorian guard elevated him after what an artist the world lost. Galba had done a lot for Rome in his years as a military office and later serving a governorship in Hispania. It was due to his advanced age (the oldest to be emperor at that point) that the people didn't support the guards decision of his ascension. Otho however, a wig wearing, wife swapping, former lackey of Nero, was considered a much more suitable, at least younger, candidate. And so the Praetorians changed sides and elected Otho as the new emperor. Once captured, showing that iconic Roman pride and steadfastness, Galba offered his neck, stating, "Strike, if it be for the good of the Romans!" Please post your Galbas, 4 emperors, opinions or anything you'd like!
Galba is one of two emperors I still need if I were to try for a 12 Caesar set in fourree. The other is Caligula who is common in fourree but just too expensive for my tastes so I have no plans to get the set. Otho I suppose you could say my Vitellius is only 3/4 of a coin.
I agree about Ebay. Sometimes, after researching similar coins I just hold my breath and bid. I've gotten burned on Ebay in the past...what looks like a cast coin and a pressed coin. I have them in the bottom of my coin cabinet as a reminder to try to be more careful in the future. Concerning your Galba, the thing that interests me is the poor images the seller provided, especially the reverse. Fuzzy images is always a red flag to me. The only Galba I have at the moment is this sestertius:
That is an interesting Galba. I had it on my watch list and at the last minute decided not to bid. Congrats on winning such an interesting coin. The portrait makes this coin interesting.
fourees' are collectible..Galba's are collectible ergo fouree Galbas are...if you knew in advance it was, then really it wasn't too much of a gamble
@dougsmit I had the same fun idea of getting a 12 fourees collection going as well! My 1st ancient was a Julius Caesar fouree from my pop. I LOVE your Otho fouree. Though I've seen plenty of false Otho coins, I don't recall seeing a fouree of his. And the Vitellius made me chuckle, as he was known to eat as much as 1 and 3/4ths men! @Gary R. Wilson great sestertius! Mine is not nearly as easy on the eye. Yep, I've got a sad section at the back of my coin book where the "cast"aways go (hehe, "cast"away, just thought of that). But everything else I've bought from this seller have exceeded expectations. So I'm optimistic. @Orfew I'm very appreciative that you held off from bidding. I'm sure I wouldn't be writing about my new win if you had! I really do like the macho look they tried to give the old man on this coin's portrait. @ominus1 good point...but with the pictures leaving so much to the imagination...we shall see what it looks like in hand.
There once was an article that said it was impossible to collect the 12 in fourree because there was no Otho. At that time I owned a different one but sold it in 1974 when I took a break. I since have seen at least four others making six the absolute minimum. I have seen fewer Vitellius fourrees. There are piles of Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula and Claudius in decent styles. I have a couple Neros butone is not good style. My other Nero is a nearly 'perfect' fourree as far as I am concerned since it has a classic, circular seam on the reverse where the foil overlapped and some well behaved core exposure. It also has surface deposits which a braver me would try to clean away but I like the coin as it is and do not want to wreck it.
I didn't expect to see that coin pop up on here, I was actually considering bidding on that one last night, guess it is a small world. Anyways here is my only Year of Four Emperors outside the Flavians.
