I have these two, poor examples. Each is good in its own way. Of the two, which would you keep? 1. More complete legends, better shape. 2. More pleasing color, much more striking reverse motif. Which would you keep, and why?
#2, as the reverse is a better strike. But to be honest, I wouldn't keep either since Gallienus coins are plentiful and inexpensive in better condition.
This is a question many of us face. My answer is to put both coins away to be given later to someone who would be impressed by the age of the items. Often this would be a kid. In this condition, we might save a rare emperor or use as a space filler but a decent Gallienus is cheap and easy to find. When we advance to a place in the hobby that we question is whether a coin has redeeming interest value or not considering its grade we usually decide that coins both common and ugly are not keepers. I sent a number of coins much better than this off to an AMCC auction where they were sold as a group lot for about what I had paid for each individually. Unsold lots were given to a YN whom I hoped would become more interested in the hobby and continue to the point he would probably give them to another younger YN. Selling for less than we paid makes us feel worse than gifting them to someone who might get enjoyment from them. Some we win; some we lose. I suggest trying to cut losses by furthering the hobby with a gift rather than selling them to someone who will soon realize anything they paid was too much.
I don't know what you coin budget is, but I purchased this piece for $118.00 which included an allocation for the shipping of the coin to me. Since I am doing a "one emperor per coin" set, I won't need to look for another one for while, if ever.
I would keep the second for now. It may have more wear, but the lack of surface roughness, as compared to that of the first coin, makes it more visually attractive in my opinion. At some point I, too, would upgrade. You should not have any difficulty finding a nicer coin of Gallienus for less than $20. But I don't think there is any hurry. If all you want is a representative coin, the bottom one looks fine to me.
I have not purchased a Gallienus example sine 2014, but the last coin I purchased cost me a whopping $36 shipped: Of the 15 or 20 Gallienus coins in my collection this last one was the most expensive, with many costing less than $10 each.
I have a few. The Pegasus coin I have was around $40-50. I can't recall exactly, and I have a couple from uncleaned lots lying around. I would upgrade when you see a coin that speaks to you.
IMO, you could probably sell both and get a nicer one in every aspect. This one was in a $1/coin lot, and would be unlikely to fetch more than $15 if I were to list it on eBay right now.
Thank you for your opinions. I was leaning towards the second one myself. I also had a third that had a really nice and clear portrait, but the reverse was entirely obliterated. One of these days I'll bite the bullet and get a "real" Gallienus instead of sloppy seconds.
Gallienus was an interesting emperor. He was a cultured man who was stuck with military aspects of his rule because of the reverses the empire had suffered in previous years. It's almost a cliché during this period of Roman history, but he was assassinated by his staff officers, which included the future emperors, Claudius II and Aurelian, who were looking to take his job. I remember back in the 1980s, when I was buying some very nice U.S. from a bid wall in Boston, that there was a gentleman who came into the shop every week asking if the proprietor had any Gallienus coins for sale. The answer was almost always “No” except for one time. The fellow obviously was quite a fan.
Even the more expensive Gallienus coins don't really cost that much: for the five Gallienus "zoo" coins I have, all in nice condition (for Gallienus!), and all in greater demand than most Gallienus coins, I paid 50-65 British pounds apiece. (I bought all of them from London Ancient Coins at various times.)
I’m with bing on this one, get yourself a decent Gallienus antoninianus for $15. https://www.ebay.com/itm/GALLIENUS-...sh=item23d638e5ef:g:0xkAAOSwOR1ebOV4&LH_BIN=1 https://www.ebay.com/itm/Gallienus-...sh=item2895987a2a:g:GXUAAOSwuhheggnI&LH_BIN=1 https://www.ebay.com/itm/AE-ANTONIN...sh=item1a3344a7b7:g:xLoAAOSwBD9Zle-z&LH_BIN=1
