C. Vibius Pansa Caetronianus (48 BC) RRC 449/4 From Zeus Numismatics This coin caught my eye mostly because of the history surrounding Caetronianus and the role he played near the end of the Republic. Unfortunately, I bid above the ceiling price I had set earlier on an impulse and I feel like I paid way over what it's truly worth. Now, I've seen threads on this forum about Zeus Numismatics and their tendency to sell heavily tooled coins. From what I can tell as a beginner collector, this coin is tooled, but I was wondering if someone more experienced could tell me where exactly the tooling is. Would you even consider buying a coin in this condition? What would be your maximum price?
Looks like any tooling that would have been done is worn. I look forward to seeing what experienced people will say.
Tooling isn't as common on silver coins as it is on bronze, and I'm not so good at detecting it. One thing I can see, though, is that the reverse has been very harshly cleaned, and is heavily scratched. Even apart from the missing head of the reverse figure. The obverse is better, despite being off-center. I probably wouldn't buy it at at all because it wouldn't stand out to me and my eyes would just pass over it, but there are plenty here who don't mind worn coins and would probably feel differently, especially in light of the historical significance. I can't tell you would be a fair price; did you research other examples?
It's not tooled. Flat strike and cleaning scratches. Look at the details. The lettering original forms complete with the dots are intract. So not carved out. There is a perfectly natural transition between devices and fields both sides. No enhancement of hairlines. Ordinary and multiple cleaning scratches which tho not great, are nothing to do with tooling. Natural flat strike. No difference between field inside and outside border circle. Zero symptoms of tooling NOT tooled
Thank you for your explanation! That makes a lot of sense. The reason I thought it was tooled from my limited experience was mainly because of the deep grooves on the laurel wreath and how prominently raised the obverse legend was, but I'm glad to have my suspicions proven wrong.
I looked at a few examples on http://numismatics.org/crro/ and vcoins and they were all at least double what I paid for this coin. I think many of the strikes were flatter, which led me to suspect that this coin was tooled.
Honestly I don't see anything that suggests tooling on your coin, at least as I view it. You coin, has wear, is off center, and has somewhat rough surfaces. There are also scratches that seem quite random. This could have been done by someone using a pointed object to possible remove deposits, but more likely just to deface the coin. Tooling, for me, is the methodical smoothing of fields and deepening of recesses to enhance and strengthen detail, be it a portrait, lettering, hair lines, and other devices in a coin's design. This is done usually to larger coins, notably sestertii to produce a more "comely" appearance. The tooling/reengraving are usually quite obvious, but if a layer of patina is applied, detection can be more challenging. I've see numerous modern silver coins that have been "improved" with this technique That's my take on this subject.
kool coin...dont see too many tooled denari and that one looks ok to me esp. with A. Mc's approval...nice...
