High eye appeal, low grade

Here's one that I have that is low-grade but has (at least to me) relatively high eye appeal and it is a rare type to boot.

Marcus Aurelius as Caesar under Antoninus Pius

Type: AE Drachm, 33mm, 22.95 grams - Alexandria mint

Obverse: Bare headed and draped bust of Aurelius right
M AVPHLIOC KAICAP

Reverse: Elpis Standing left holding flower and hitching skirt
LEND EKATOV

Reference: BMC 1238 listed as "rare" by R.A. Numismatics

 

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Here is my low grade but high eye appeal (to me) Trajan denarius. I think the portrait is pretty good

 

I love this topic - my whole collection is based on this... Recent eBay stuff - ugly but affordable...:

Commodus denarius:



Faustina As:



Septimius Severus:



Gordian III - a grouchy portrait from Antioch:

 

I've never let low grade bother me. When I bought this one earlier this year, it was because it had pretty much everything I wanted in a coin - eye appeal, smooth even wear, a classic reverse type for Augustus, lovely old cabinet toning, and an interesting flan shape. I simply couldn't resist.

 

To complement your Septimius as, I have one of Julia Domna I bought last year. Like yours, I think some extra care went into the making of it to give it a 'medallic' look. I had always wanted one with the 'Mother of the Camps' reverse, and this one also had a fine portrait and an interesting provenance.


JULIA DOMNA
AE As. 10.16g, 26.1mm. Rome mint, AD 196-211. RIC 881 (scarce); Cohen 121; BMC 789. O: IVLIA AVGVSTA, draped bust right. R: MATER CASTRORVM, Julia, diademed and veiled, standing front, head to left, sacrificing out of patera over altar with her right hand and holding long caduceus with her left; before her, three standards; S C in exergue.
Ex G.G. Collection; reportedly ex Robert Friedinger-Pranter Collection, and privately acquired by him from Oberstleutnant Otto Voetter on 29 January 1913 for 6 crowns.

 

A few of mine that are well worn but real favorites:


Cool Hadrian Provincial - the "afro-effect" made it a must have:


Trajan with a great color and I just love the portrait. Had been looking for an affordable sestertius to add to my Adoptive Emperor set..


I was really interested in Valerian's capture - read as much as I could (wish there was more!) An incredible story... could not resist this super cheap sesterius... the portrait really makes him look like a guy you'd site next to at a pub..

 

It is probably due to my willingness to collect lower grades with higher eye appeal that my Roman collection hasn't broken into the five digits yet.

Some favorites....

 

I prefer coins with wear to them, but 'eye appeal' is certainly open to interpretation. Many in my collection fall into this category, and 'I know it when I see it'. Here are a few:

 

I love the Galba. I find his coinage very interesting. I also like the JC portrait denarius.

 

My feelings exactly. The coins posted here include several I consider full of eye appeal and several that I would not consider buying at any price. Beauty most certainly is in the eye of the beholder.

 

Coins with wear are so much more likable than mint state coins.

 

It's ugly and i like it:

 

Here's my latest acquisition that fits with the OP theme. To answer the OP question, I bought it for eye appeal (both the portrait and temple/stone appeal to me greatly), size & weight (29mm and nearly 20g), and history: the stone of Emesa was famously brought to Rome by Elagabalus in an attempt to transform Roman religion. It's nice to have this one under Caracalla, whom Elagabalus claimed was his father:


On another subject in the thread, there are a couple possibly medallic asses posted above. Personally I doubt that yours is medallic, @zumbly, due to the low weight. Mine is too rough to have much eye appeal, unfortunately, but I'm certain it's medallic, at 30mm and 18g. It's also unlisted in this denomination with TR P III in RIC, although the BM has one. (Note that the third "I" is not the termination of the sceptre, which is never bent on this issue.) I think this lends some support to the idea Doug expressed above that these were New Years presentation pieces since Sev Alex received his tribunician powers each year in Dec. or Jan.

@dougsmit I'd be curious to know the weight and diameter of your Sep Sev above, and also your Geta.

 

SS = 26mm 10.24g
Geta = 27mm 8.26g thin!

 

Thanks, Doug! So neither is particularly broad or heavy. I'll have to read up on medallions more. I've read Toybee's short article (Numismatic Chronicle, 1944) but haven't gone through the book, which you can find here in full. I see she classes examples like mine (dies for an as struck on a sestertius flan) as "pseudo-medallions," and was aware of only 5 for Sev Alex.(!) Your examples are more ambiguous as to their status though they are certainly fine style and carefully engraved. I believe Toynbee has a separate category for those. "Medallic coins" are struck with obviously medallic obverse dies (high relief - maybe your new one fits here?), and then there are "Borderline pieces" of which she says "After Antoninus Pius... the still smaller bronze medallions are, down to Gallienus, easily distinguishable on the whole from ordinary coins and afford few examples of border-line pieces."

Surely there is scholarship on these more recent than Toynbee, though.

Here's a large-flan piece (15.27g, 29.0mm) I don't think is medallic - not special stylistically or in flan prep, the only thing out of the ordinary is its size and weight. Though as a Liberalitas issue I suppose it could be:

 

I see no medallions here and preferthe donative issue theory. Some large medallions of the period do not have SC. Are there as die size items with no SC?