Sold a few days ago by Heritage, an aureus of Tetricus described as " repaired, thus uneligible for encapsulation. SOLD AS IS, NO RETURNS". IMHO, giving the provenance would have been more honest (ex Roma, ex Naumann 02/2021). On the "after"picture, bye-bye loop and graffiti ! So would you buy a repaired coin ?
Probably not if it was that expensive... though, I suppose it depends on at what savings and if it was a must have. I will however buy unrepaired coins on a wim when they're this cool: Bactria. Greco-Bactrian Kingdom. Antimachos II Nikephoros 160-155 BC. Drachm AR 17 mm, 2,61 g
Yeah, I'd buy it if the price was right. It's not the coin's fault it was abused. (I've had a few repairs done on myself.)
i guess I wouldn't.because there is a very high probability that the mine will be damaged while it is being repaired.
It depends. Some coins over the ages were commonly holed, so quite a few end up repaired (plugged professionally or by an uncle in his garage). I think, by and large, I would prefer an "original" coin with graffiti, cleaning marks and other imperfections over one that has been doctored up. Depending on the degree of damage, as with the OP coin, the issue is degree, and in this case it is quite severe, especially with the mount, damage to the edge and legends. The work that was done seems quite good, but still, nonetheless, is extensive restoration. I am not familiar with this type, so had it not been mentioned in the lot description, or the OP post photo of the coin before work was done, it would have fooled me. I'll stick to my mostly grubby, dirty coins.
If I’m the type to afford coins like that, then I’m also the type to throw on a chain and wear the coin as it’s intended pendental useage
Yes, and I have: JULIUS CAESAR AR Denarius OBVERSE: CAESAR IMP, laureate head right, lituus & simpulum behind. REVERSE: M METTIVS, Venus standing left with Victory & scepter, shield resting on globe; control letter G to left Rome January-February 44 BC 3.81g, 18mm RSC 34 ex. Andrew McCabe plugged and ex-mount
For me no!....But it would depend on the repair...The op coin I certainly wouldn't buy but the coin with the loops , if I had that sort of funds and was that way inclined I would buy it and wear it.!
I don't think I would bid on the coin in the OP as the work there seems to be merely an attempt to falsely upgrade the coin for a bigger price. However, there are times when I would buy a repaired coin. A very recent example, that I bid on unsuccessfully, is this Visigothic tremissis auctioned by Heritage that was broken and glued back together. Their photos and description are given below: "Visigoths. Egica & Wittiza gold Tremissis ND (694/5-702) AU (Broken & Repaired), Gerunda (Girona) mint, Cay-439, Miles-461d, CNV-588.1 (R; this coin). 21mm. 1.39gm. +•Nþ (ligate)•N•M•N•EGICΛ P+ (ligate) R•C:, confronted busts of Egica and Wittiza, long cross in between / +VVITTIZΛ P+ (ligate) R•G•S, mint name in monogram. A very rare issue produced in especially fine style for the coinage of this brief joint reign. We have only been able to locate one other example from this mint--which is assigned the second highest value for the type by Cayón--having come to auction in recent decades, with this piece also serving as the plate coin in the Corpus Nummorum Vigisothorum." Visigothic tremissis are very thin and therefore susceptible to breaking or chipping. A coin of this rarity though would justify interest regardless of condition and it could be argued that the repair was necessary to prevent the coin from fragmenting further.
For me it would depend on the nature of the repairs. I've bought coins with missing peices before at a steep discount, and a couple which had such pieces reattached. That sort of repair is perfectly acceptable in my eyes, as it restores the coin. When it comes to these retouched aureii though I'm not so sure, since the coin is being reworked into a new form to increase resale value, as opposed to being preserved for the historical value. This is one of the repaired coins I own. I would most likely have passed, regardless the price, if it had been altered in the same way as the aureus.
This is an interesting thread. I would only buy a repaired coin, if it had one of the following types of repairs : G1. A broken coin, that was glued back together, as long as no attempt was made, to hide the seams between the pieces. If the pieces happen to fit seamlessly together, with no alterations, then that's okay. G2. A coin with a filled hole, as long as the hole is a large hole, and as long as no attempt was made to hide the fact, that a hole was filled. The filler material can be the same color as the metal of the coin, or a different color, but the filler material cannot be artificially worn, and the filler material cannot be artificially corroded, and the filler material cannot be artificially toned or patinated or painted, to match the rest of the coin. And the filler material cannot have any sort of design tooled onto it. The filler material must be plain, and smooth, so that it is obvious, that a hole has been filled. I would only tolerate a large hole that was filled, not a small hole that was filled, because a filled large hole is obvious. Also, if the coin is made of gold or silver or bronze, then the filler material must be gold or silver or bronze, not plastic or lead or mercury compound or some other material. I would not buy a coin, if it had any of the following types of repairs, because the following types of repairs, destroy valuable parts of the history of the coin, and should be discouraged, in my opinion : B1. Fixed/filled graffito. B2. Tooling. B3. Smoothing (which I define as altering any uncorroded metal of the coin). B4. Fixed/filled scratches. B5. Fixed/filled pits. B6. Any filler material, unless it is for a large hole (see G2 above).
I am surprised such extensive restorations are still made in 2021. In the XVIth to XVIIIth c. antiquities like statues, busts, coins were systematically restored. Ancient busts sold better and for higher prices if they represented famous people like emperors, so when a highly damaged bust was found, it was often restored as an imperial bust - no matter who it may have actually figured. The most famous bust of Nero, now in the Capitoline Museums in Rome, is an imposture. It is 25% Ist c. AD, 75% XVIIth c. AD. It is an ancient marble bust or statue fragment on which only the upper part of a male face was visible. They decided to insert it in a completely modern bust, in the baroque taste of the time, which was supposed to be a bust of Nero. Now, specialists consider it might have rather been a portrait of Domitian, or of some unknown man looking a little like Domitian. On this pic you can see what is ancient and what is not in this sculpture. The restoration of the Tetricus aureus illustrated above by @Ocatarinetabellatchitchix is shocking for it just destroyed part of the history of this coin. The aureus has been mounted as a jewel, in Antiquity probably, in the name of what should this history be cancelled? Even worse, there was a graffito around Tetricus' portrait, like a 2nd legend. Was it Latin or Greek? I can decipher something like M Δ I Y A... Erasing it is criminal. I say.
I agree with @sand that I would only buy a repaired coin that was glued together, as long as no attempt was made to hide the seams and with no alterations. As a matter of fact I bought such a repaired coin, my Otho coin (displayed a few times on this forum). When a coin is being reworked into a new form, no way! In my opinion an ancient coin is then turned into a modern coin.
My problem with the OP coin is that this is not just a repair, but possibly the obliteration of historically important information. So my answer would be no. I would not buy a coin that was repaired in this way. In fact, I would encourage all collectors to avoid such coins to help end this practice. The glueing together of a broken coin is an entirely different matter in my view. This this an honest repair that seeks to preserve what is there.
We had two threads earlier this year on this subject, specifically on the (essentially fraudulent) repairs of aurei, largely done in the former Soviet Union. https://www.cointalk.com/threads/big-batch-of-aureii-withdrawn-from-cng.385891/ https://www.cointalk.com/threads/extreme-makeover.385007/ At least this one was disclosed.