This is a more complete description of a subject I mentioned in my introductory thread: Although my collecting interests eventually resolved down to sestertii of the family of Septimius Severus (including Elagabalus, but excluding Severus Alexander - I also like the travel series of Hadrian) before that I collected a much wider variety of sestertius/sestertii - the rule imposed was as close to true VF, and a (bronze) sestertius for everyone who struck one in every rank (Caesar or Augustus) in which a sestertius was struck, and in every style. As I mentioned in a prior post this was an impossible task for my limited means, but one exception to VF grade rule I made was for Geta as caesar - I just wanted ONE, any condition would do. And so I waited. It took literally years before I finally found a Geta sestertius, as caesar with a Securitas reverse RIC 114. The coin turned out to be so horribly tooled on the obverse that I returned it. I later noticed the same coin being offered at a European catalog sale for a third of the price I paid - and it didn't sell. So, another coin destroyed by tooling. In any event my search went on. A few years ago or so I finally found one offered by CNG, but in a high grade, and I figured it would sell for much more than I could afford. It did go for about $1,750.00, something that I MIGHT have been able to afford (and which would have required a sell off of many of my other items) but I simply missed it, didn't think it would sell for that price. The coin shortly thereafter sold for many multiples of that - obviously there are people who buy simply ancient coins for investment purposes - more power to them. Finally after 16 years, I finally found my Geta sestertius as caesar - the one pictured above - RIC 124(b) bought in late 2016. Not a great example, and certainly not true VF, but more than acceptable. Naturally it was offered on ebay by a dealer that does not generally deal in ancient coins, but was getting involved in a small way. I instantly bought the coin which had been up for sale for about a minute, for $500, which is about as much as I like to spend on any coin - which of course made my initial collecting goal totally absurd -but I did pretty well all in all, as I hope to show over the coming months. Of course I wish that I could afford to pay more but things like the kids college, the mortgage, and food, and a certain better half which keep getting in the way. The irony of this story is this: about a month after buying my Geta, a nicer example shows up on a European catalog sale site - Geta as caesar with priestly objects. It sold for 360 euros - and I very foolishly skipped it because I figured I had one already - hard to imagine being such a fool. Now that I have one - of course - two would be better! It is that collecting urge - those of you cursed with it understand exactly what i am talking about. I should add that one - with a museum quality Castor reverse (RIC 111) did show up but this was ultra high grade and sold for $10,000 or so. Still that makes all of four coins (not counting the tooled one which I do not consider to be an ancient coin) in 16 years of searching, and none at all for a stretch of 12 years. In fact, I have noticed that plenty of major sestertii collections including the 1995 Friedrich sale of over 2000 sestertii, did not have a single example of Geta as caesar. So perhaps, with one sestertii I am ahead of the game. Nevertheless, now that my collecting interests have narrowed a bit, so has my insistence on collecting only coins in true VF, which is good since lower grade sestertii have bucked the trend toward higher prices. And of course, i think about the coins passed up - but as a fellow collector friend in Seattle reminds me - there is ALWAYS another one coming along. But I sure didn't expect that having this coin would only lead to wanting another one just as much - or even more!
I was going to add that I have not seen a Geta as Caesa sestertius in major catalog sales of sestertii such as the October 30, 1995 Sternberg and Freeman and Sear sale. The coins are rare since they were struck at a time when the Rome mint was striking bronzes as presentation pieces - roughly 201 to 206 or 207 AD. However, the provinces more than made up for this since provincial bronzes of Geta are very common. Also, bronzes of Plautilla from Rome are likewise rare, with sestertii of Plautilla extremely rare - I have only seen ONE, an amazing example sold by CNG.
Geta Caesar fell in a period of relatively few AE for anyone. Septimius had a lot of bronzes in the first couple years but really cut back. I do not have a Geta sestertius but do has an as of the type. If you are a condition centered collector, you probably don't collect these. You are lucky to have what you have. Feel free to show asses of this period, too.
I find that the longer I am involved with ancient coins, the less I am concerned about condition. I recall seeing this coin on your site, and had wondered if it was an As or sestertius - doesn't matter it is a beautiful coin, with a different bust type than mine, and left facing too. I still do not understand why some coins have left facing busts - perhaps once a year each celator would do a die from the "sinister" side. As good an explanation as any.
A great piece to have in any collection. I like your focus area. I have my main interest in artistic Greek but I also collect all over the place too while waiting for the rare items that fit my taste and budget. John
I read some time ago that sometimes the left/right bust types would depend on if the engraver was right or left handed.
I think if I could do it all over again I would focus on Greek coins - my heritage too. But I got interested in large imperial bronzes and just have never been able to be interested in anything else. But the lack of coins at anything close to affordable prices has made me begin to rethink my area of interest. What's the use of being a collector if you buy two or three coins a year? Maybe if I was in my 20's, but not at my age!
Greek coins would have served no better if you had approached it with the same ideas that drove the interest in large Imperial bronzes. There are wonderful things in Greek minor silver and bronzes but most collectors prefer to ignore them. Those of us retired on a fixed income can collect coins that are less than perfect from interesting dies or we can say 'EF dekadrachms or nothing'. It is the same choice we made when we could not afford a Lamborghini and decided to walk.
