Does This Coin Really Have Fine Style ?

Last night I sat thru some of the Heritage auction of the Morris Collection. I had tracked about 10 coins hoping to find a bargain to no avail . One coin surprised me because of the price it brought and because it was labeled Fine Style, see the photo below. Does this coin really merit the designation Fine Style ? The coin did sell for $1,680.00, including the buyers premium.


The two coins pictured below are currently being offered in CNG 114 auction. I would consider both of these coins of Fine Style.

Opinions please...

 

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It's nice & the toning makes it more attractive, but I actually like the first CNG denarius better out of the 3. The tetradrachm is 2nd.

 

I agree with Al here. The shape of the head on #1 is unnatural, and we’re 1850 years away from modernism. Not fine style. Nice toning and all that, but not a stylish portrait, in my opinion.

 

The portraits on the CNG example are much better style, especially the first CNG example.

 

Isn't the fine style designation per coin type? The victory on globe denarius has a more appealing style than what I found in the cng archives. So I would say it is indeed fine style

 

Of the three, the tetradrachm has the finest style, in my opinion. It's a bit like arguing about who is prettier, Ginger or Maryanne.

 

To answer your question, I like the tet most. Great portrait, better details. Oh well, everything is a matter of taste and grading, in my opinion, does not add much. I guess much premium was paid because of the provenence. Which is fine of course, if some one likes that

To me it seems everything is a 'vf' these days... even good/fine ones. And the real 'vf' ones are said to be 'xf'. I believe @dougsmit said it right in another thread: the only relevant grade is, do I like it or not

One question though: what's the definition of fine style? Is it the same as VF?

 

"Fine style" is a designation I think I approve of -- refreshing to see some pure subjectivity among the usual mechanical grading-slabbing VF-XF-strike-surface considerations. I disagree with the applications of it about half of the time, but no doubt anybody else would disagree with about half of the occasions I would apply it.

To my eyes the coin at top is nowhere near fine style, even by the standards of other VICTORIA P R emissions of the Rome mint. But I appreciate that someone was willing to venture an aesthetic judgment on it, y'know?

 

I like the toning and of course the Victory design. Other than that, I wouldn't consider it to be "fine style".

 

The reverse is very nice on the first coin, but I greatly prefer the obverse portraits on the two CNG coins. In fact, I prefer the portrait on my own Galba denarius, even though it cost me a little more than a third of the sales price on the Heritage auction example. It's both more expressive, and more realistic. The portrait on the first coin looks like a caricature more than an actual person. Of course, this is all my own personal, largely subjective, aesthetic opinion. Which is usually the case for my opinion of ancient coins!



Galba AR Denarius, Aug-Oct 68 AD Rome Mint. Obv. Bare head right, IMP SER GALBA AVG / Rev. S P Q R/ O • B/ C S [OB CS = OB CIVES SERVATOS (For Saving the Citizens)] in three lines within oak wreath. RIC I 167, RSC II 287, Sear RCV I 2109 (ill.). 18.33 mm., 3.29 g. (Purchased from Marc Breitsprecher.)

 

It seems that toning is a premium in assessing Fine Style. Matter of taste.

 

I agree with all the above that it is not “fine style” and that the toning more than any other attribute resulted in its high hammer price. I noticed that all the siliqua from the same auction, which were similarly toned, went for high prices despite not being the highest grade.

 

Donna, Your denarius exhibits fine style in my opinion, as much as the CNG denarius. There are certain criteria that come into play when looking at a Roman 1st century coin, like realism, accuracy, & quality of lettering & its spacing. The Morris coin, as you state, is a caricature that is almost comical. The lettering on the Morris coin is ugly & poorly spaced. I disagree with 7Calbrey in regards to toning. Toning can certainly enhance a coins eye appeal, but it has nothing to do with style.

 

WowiE! I'll take Donna's coin as my favorite!
In regards to the original, it has a very beautiful reverse but has been passed through more hands than a Pre COVID men's magazine in an auto shop. It's hard to judge the style of a coin that has so much wear.
Also, I feel it's a bit silly if they really did give it a higher style rating on the BEAUTIFUL toning. Those are 2 different aspects, in my novice opinion.

 

The portrait's style of the NGC coin is, in my opinion, very good, but not the finest style. To me, the finest style would have higher relief and would also be more expressive, conveying a feeling of power and confidence.

I've seen better portraits of Galba, but, as they say, beauty is in the eye of the beholder.....

 

robinjojo, There is a difference between Fine Style & the Finest Style. Despite the tooling in the fields on the sestertius pictured below, from Numismatica Ars Classica, I believe this portrait is of the Finest Style .

 

Ginger, duh. There's no argument.

 

Au contraire, mon frère!

 

I think I have the Quinarius version of @Al Kowsky 's first fine style Galba

This is the chicken-pock version...

Roman Empire
GALBA
ca Fall 68 - Jan-69 BCE
AR Quinarius 15mm 1.5g
Lugdunum, SER GALBA IMP CAESAR AVG P M T P, laureate head of Galba right / VICTORIA — GALBAE AVG, Victoria standing left on globe, holding crown and palm.
RIC 131 (R2) corr. King 2. RSC 318. Cf. RCV 2112.
Rare.

 

Bingo! She was my fave.