Hi, Just thought I would post this small silver Severus for viewing. Other than being Severus is there anything else to describe the coin. I used the image maker for iPhone to take the picture and edit.
Not sure what do you mean by "is there anything else to describe the coin" I would say that you have Genius on the reverse with patera and corn ears - RIC IV Septimius Severus 201 - P M TR P XIIII COS III P P (RIC 209 is very similar but the legend is P M TR P XV COS III P P - your coin looks like XIIII) You haven't provided the size and weight for the coin, but from what I see, if my attribution - Genius - is correct, it can only be a Denarius.
I would say that my attribution is correct. The coin looks like it was cleaned a little harshly. An exigent collector would probably refuse it, wanting one in a better conservation. The coin is not rare. But let's not forget we are looking at a coin from 206 AD. If the price is decent, I wouldn't refuse it - but it would need to be very decent
Are your coins as blue as they appear on my screen? The Decius is Uberitas AVG and also appears to have been scrubbed without mercy. The Severus does not appear to have been completely ruined but the $27 strikes me as as much as it is worth. We will each have our own standards and in the case of the 'decent' scale, I'd call $27 decent but not very decent. It is not a coin I own (I have about 500 SS coins including duplicates) and not one on my want list. The Decius is in the category shared by race horses with a broken leg. A few years back, most people would put it out of its misery but today there are folks willing to overlook its 'issue'. I really suggest we stop scrubbing coins. Mine is a fourree but I collect fourrees.
That Decius fourree is excellent, @dougsmit. I don't think I have ever seen a fourree with this kind of details. As for the coins in this thread, @Mammothtooth, if you like the coins, that's what matters. Probably I would have skipped them (don't get me wrong, I don't have too many coins in excellent conditions, but I already have Septimius Severus and Trajanus Decius coins and I like them more, plus I don't intend to specialize myself in these two emperors). This was my first Septimius Severus, I had no idea who is on this coin initially. It came in a lot of 8 denarii, price including fees was 14 EUR/coin This was my second 20 EUR + taxes And my 3rd SS denarius (I also have 2 provincials) 28 EUR + taxes. So nothing spectacular, they are not rare/fantastic conditions but I liked them and I consider that the prices were decent, for me. Speaking of fourrees, I also have this one- I don't collect fourrees but it landed in a cheap lot What I would personally advise - don't buy coins that are harshly cleaned unless they are rarities and you can't afford or you won't see next one too soon. But again, everybody has the right to collect whatever he/she wants/affords/likes.
New addition I did not know these have been cleaned, I am learning. I will try and be careful. How does one know they are scrubbed, as you call it?
It is not blue, rather silver looking. I will retake the photo. At least it is a coin of the person, emperor. I cannot afford to spend hundreds on these. I do value the input and I thank you. I do not want to buy a scrubbed coin, but how do you tell?
@Mammothtooth -- It's important to evaluate a coin in terms of its historical context. By the reign of Trajan Decius, the "silver" coins had become very debased, to about 1/3 silver and 2/3 base metal. The various mints (Rome and Antioch) were cranking these things out as fast as they could to pay for military campaigns against the Persians. They used the dies -- especially the reverse dies -- longer than they should have and they became worn. The coins may not have looked all that good when they left the mint in the first place. Over the course of being buried -- or chemically cleaned after finding them -- some of the metal may leach out of the coin, leaving a porous or grainy surface. These coins are typically found in the condition of your example: porous and with soft details on the reverses. Your Trajan Decius coin is fairly typical of the coins of the mid third century. Things got even worse under Trebonianus Gallus who followed him. While there are spectacularly preserved coins of Decius to be had -- as Doug notes -- there's a lot of interesting things about your coin. It illustrates well what was going on with the Roman empire at the time -- it illustrates this even better than a pristine example. Just don't pay more than you should for a workaday coin.
Thanks so much, I will note all this information to the coin. It makes me feel better that at least they are real, and a true piece of history. Rich
All ancient coins have been cleaned at one time or another. They have lain in the ground for centuries and were covered with dirt and other encrustations when discovered. Saying that an ancient coin has been cleaned is not a criticism of the coin. When someone says that a coin has been harshly cleaned, it just means that he or she thinks that the cleaning process damaged the coin's appearance and made it less desirable. Yet we don't know what the coin looked like before it was cleaned, so it's really just an opinion. Take your bronze Trajan for example. It looks like it has been stripped down to bare metal in the past, probably by electrolysis. Shudder! Horrors! Yet it was likely just a black, unrecognizable blob when it was first discovered, and zapping it may have been the only way to remove this encrustation. It's certainly nicer now than when it was found. The bottom line is that if you like the coin and the price, then it's worth buying.
Yes, but..... That theory works for coins and people who believe in making a lifetime commitment 'til death do you part'. However, most of us make a few mistakes along the way and buy a coin or a few thousand coins that pale in appeal in a few days/decades. When it comes time to change your mind it is nice if the coin and price you liked also appealed to someone else. We do not agree on what it is that makes a coin desirable short term or long. If I paid too much in the 1960's and have no plan to sell, it is the kid's problem. Most of them think we are stupid buying money you can not spend. Most of them will have trouble telling the 'good' coins from the 'better'. "If you like the coin and the price, then it's worth buying" is good advice for those of us who know what we will think for the duration. I still have about 75% of the ancient coins I have purchased over the last 60 years. Unfortunately, the coins that I know I could sell for a profit are the ones I can not imagine selling. The ones I still have but consider 'mistakes' or with which I have become bored rely on my not having paid too much in the first place OR that I believe served their purpose in my numismatic education so I can sell them for a fraction of the original price and still come out ahead. Tuition in the school of hard knocks is not cheap unless you have the right attitude.
I agree with you entirely. I came late on the stage of Ancients. Now retired and bored with Covid I got my first Alexander Tet. It is a good one, not great, but good enough for me. I have since bought some SAVOCA Auction coins. A couple are cleaned but spending 20.00 a coin I really don’t care. Now if they were wrong or forged I would not be happy.
