I just purchased my first coin and before I go off and buy more I thought it's best to get some guidance. I bought this on Vcoins which I understand to be much safer than eBay. Through research it appears to have been misidentified however, as I don't believe it to be Roma seated with shield to right (no shield!), but actually Jupiter holding victory and scepter (RIC 1063). Other than being misidentified is there anything else you guys see that should cause me any concern with its authenticity? Thanks
Looks good to me. Not sure how the attribution was messed up, though accidents happen. What drew you first to a bronze Aurelius?
Nice lookin' coin. I'd agree that it looks more like Zeus than Roma. There are quite a few of this time for Marcus Aurelius - it ought to be fun figuring it out. Here is a quick OCRE search: http://numismatics.org/ocre/results...tertius"+AND+portrait_facet:"Marcus+Aurelius"
Thanks for the quick feedback! I'm a Roman history fan and was interested in getting an Aurelius as a pocket piece. For the price I thought this was a good fit. I've enjoyed carrying it, although right now I do keep it in a saflip to avoid damage.
Nice looking coin! I have carried many Roman coins in flips in my pocket the week after receiving them. I like looking at them during boring times at work, ie frequently.
I am a little bothered but not really surprised that we have VCoins dealers that can't tell Roma from Jupiter but it is nice to see a new collector who can straighten them out. Now that you have received help from a couple people above, I'll be pushy and ask you to ID my coin above. I wish I had one with a shield but perhaps you can tell me who is shown here and how you can tell it is not Jupiter. I bought this in 1988. It was not my first ancient coin but only my second Aurelius. I have not outgrown it yet. I hope the hobby brings you the pleasure it has me.
I forgot to mention that my coin is also very slightly attracted to a strong rare earth magnet, but not enough to stick to it. Which was surprising that it even reacted at all. Was bronze purity an issue during this period?
Yes. Most bronze coins have minute traces of other metals. Someday, someone may even be able to tell where the metals were mined based on trace metal analysis, but we are not there yet.
While I agree with gsimonel's answer, the strict answer would be it was not a problem to them. They lacked strong rare earth magnets and would not have been bothered by matters that did not affect the workability of the material. Many coins were made from earlier coins melted down so you really don't know what you will fine by applying 21st century standards. They had standards but they were not our standards. A small trace of gold in silver might be more likely in ancient coins but a big surprise in 2019 ASE rounds. They did care about things like silver content but did not test for nickel, iron etc.
Sweet! My first proper (not a cheapo crusty LRB) ancient was a Sestertius of Marcus Aurelius, I was at a turbulent crossroads in life and wanted it as a pocket/touch piece to help crystallize nuggets of wisdom from his Meditations.
This group will take good care of you as a new ancient coin enthusiast. I bounce in and out due to a medical issue, but when I first showed up here the group was instrumental in getting me started off right. Even when I just lurk, they always teach me something.