That's right, I said unWin. I haven't been able to win an auction in a while! Regardless, this is probably the most painful loss I've had. The bottom, banged up sestertius is whats known as a proto-contorniate. For New Years, Romans would give each other sestertii or large medallions. With the sestertii, they would often hammer the edges, to make the coin stand out. Eventually, as sestertii ceased to be minted in the 3rd century, private mints would supply imitation sestertii, with the edges already hammered up. These were known as contorniates. Thus, the early altered pieces are known as proto-contorniates. These are fairly rare - the cheapest ones on vcoins are in the high $200's. And I couldn't muster up $50 to win this one! http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=130205701046&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:PIC&ih=003
