I'm taken aback by the strong finish for this Coponius Judean Prefect under Augustus prutah. Yes, it is VERY nicely centered, well-detailed, and replete with 100% full legends/devices. But with fees/shipping the price tag is $575 USD!!! See the coin here: https://www.biddr.ch/auctions/savocalondon/browse?a=632&l=654896 The listing erroneously attributed it to Ambibulus, but it is Coponius (Hendin_1328a). My example of same type is nice, but is admittedly of lesser caliber. Of course I paid no where near $575 for it. Calling all Coponius'! (Or Ambibulus'!)
And the starting price on that one was $10!!! I was wondering what was going on while watching that coin at auction today. Though I am not much of a schmuck for and only have a few Prutahs, I was watching closely today as they had 2 that have mini Macedonian Shields (my fairly recent infatuation in ancients) on the obverese. Here's a fun little snack I picked up for a schtickel: Judaea. Mint in Samaria (Sebaste?). Herodians. Herod I (the Great) 40-4 BCE. Four Prutot Æ Macedonian shield with decorated rim / BAΣIΛEΩΣ HPΩΔOY L Γ, crested helmet. 20 mm., 3.81 g. fine
I got this in trade so am unsure of the cost but it is between the $10 and $575 figures. I read 39 so call it Ambibulus. Agree?
Honestly @philologus_1 I think your prutah is roughly equivalent to the pricy example, maybe even better as the other one clearly has some "makeup" on it. Yours has an irregular flan but nicer surfaces; the linked prutah has some nasty rough corrosion damage on the palm that bothers me. Your coin is rather dirty but it's clear that the head of wheat in particular is wonderfully detailed under the dirt. I would have cleaned it under 20x immediately if it were mine. I love the imagery of heads of grain on coins and think yours is extremely nice, I want one!
That's a respectable example! I agree with your assessment of the date. And that makes it: RPC I 4955; Hendin 1329; Meshorer TJC 313.
Thanks @Plumbata ! I do restorative/cleaning work on my coins and occasionally for others, but for some reason I've never tackled this one. I may just do that soon. If so I'll post it here. Thanks for the input -- appreciated!
Thanks for asking @Johndakerftw! My web developer and I have hit a snafu, causing much frustration on my part. Ugh!!! Hopefully it will be up by the end of the year at the latest. I'm eager and excited about it, and I think it will present helpful and interesting information. Anyway, I ever so greatly appreciate your asking! (Since I won't be selling coins or anything else on the website I'll post the link here on CoinTalk as soon as it goes live.)
