Anything unusual about this coin?

Good catch, that is very interesting.

Without having access to the before photos I think those changes would be very hard to spot.

 

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You gotta be kidding me. That is an expertly done repair. Amazing.

 

Excellent thread OP. I was/am absolutely positive that the two coins share a reverse die-match.

Despite the slight differences where the repair was made, there are too many similarities with the rest of the devices that my logical thinking was thrown for a loop.

As suggested, while some tooling creating the differences in the lions’ heads seemed feasible, the difference in gap between the As was unexplainable.

A closer look shows that the second As are slightly different in the style and angle of the serif.

Now (w/ the secret revealed) looking at the pictures; a slight discoloration can be seen where the holes were repaired. I’m wondering if it is more obvious in hand, or under magnification.

As has also already been stated ITT; quite an expert repair job.

 

This is really impressive investigation Arnold, especially working from photos when the auction houses missed it with the coins in hand.

Phil Davis

 

I agree that the are both expertly done. But should this be disclosed by the seller? The N in ADVENTVS, for example, has to be the product of tooling, because it is no longer there on the original. As much as I admire the craftmanship, I have to admit it also makes me a little nervous. What is the ethical way to handle this when selling the coin? Shouldn't, "holed and repaired" be included in the description?

 

Absolutely this should have been disclosed. This is tooling of the worst kind.

The auction house probably had no idea, giving them the benefit of the doubt.

 

I have to wonder how much the artist that removed the hole was paid. It must have been less than the difference in the value increase between holed and fully original but how much?

 

arnoldoe, do you have any sales history for when the coin still had the hole?

 

Ah, I found it. It sold for 81,815 Ukrainian hryvnia in early 2016, which is 2,904.82 USD. Not sure what the conversion rate was at the time.

https://sovmint.ru/top10-lotov-aukciona-violity-ukraina-29-fevralya-6-marta-2016-goda/



It sold April 2018 with the hole filled for 11,000 GBP which is 14,869.74 USD.



Ignoring buyer's and seller's fees, there was around $12,000 difference between the two sales. Not sure what a good jeweler costs you in the Ukraine (assuming it was repaired there...)

 

The second one sold for 220,100 Ukrainian hryvnia in early 2018 which is 7,814.59 USD.

http://archive.violity.com/aureus-karakalla-29130434

It sold in May of the same year for 9,000 CHF or 10,107.94 USD. Not nearly as nice a profit and maybe a loss after paying the jeweler (unless the person who bought the holed coins did the repairs themselves...).

 

It was put up for sale for that amount, but went unsold, so probably less.

 

Ah, I see that now. Any idea how it was raised from the starting price with no bidders? Canceled bids?

 

nvm I think the archive shows 0 bids even if there were multiple bidders