http://fsrcoin.com/m.html Auction is closing September 6th. I've purchased around 9 or 10 coins from Frank Robinson's auctions in the past. Wonderful to deal with. However I haven't purchased any from him over the last 2.5 years as prices have really escalated. Will be very interesting to see if things slow down due to the current economic challenges. Below is the first silver denarius I ever purchased. From Frank - I think I was the winning bidder @ $42.
Nice coin. I haven't bought anything from his auctions for awhile either. I mainly stick with his world coin list. And even then, that's few and far between.
I bought this coin from his last auction. There are a few coins I might be interested in the upcoming auction. We'll see how the bidding goes.
I won several very nice coins at Frank's auctions. Don't know yet if I'm going to bid at his current auction. Will look at the listing This one is one of my first wins from a while ago: Æ Sestertius 30 x 28 mm, 21.31 g Rome, 231 - 235 AD RIC IV 645b; Cohen 509; Sear 8013; BMCREV 815 Ob.: IMP ALEXANDER PIVS AVG laureate bust to r. with draped far shoulder; border of pearls Rev.: PROVIDENTIA AVG Annona standing left holding anchor in l. and grain ears in r. hand over modius; S C across fields; border of pearls Picture courtesy of Frank Robinson:
bizarre picture. Is it the one published by the auctioneer? Why are the emperor's cheek and neck blurred?
Here are a few coins I've purchased from Frank: TRALLES, LYDIA CITY COINAGE AE14 OBVERSE: Laureate head of Zeus REVERSE: TΡAΛΛIANΩN, humped bull walking left, head facing, ΩΡΠΛT monogram in left field Struck at Tralles 200-1 BC 3.1g, 16 mm BMC 63; SNG Munich 702; SNG Tuebingen 3866-3867 ex Frank Robinson NERO AR Billon Tetradrachm OBVERSE: ΝΕΦΡΑ ΚΛΑΒ ΚΑΗς ΣΕΜΠ, Radiate head left, wearing aegis; L IΓ to left below chin (Reginal year 13) REVERSE: ΣΕΒΑΣΤΗ ΦΌΡΟς, Galley sailing right, dolphins below Struck at Alexandria, Egypt, 66/7 AD 12.5g, 23mm Emmett 121 CARACALLA AR Denarius OBVERSE: M AVR ANTON CAES PONTIF, draped bust right REVERSE: IMPERII FELICITAS, Felicatas standing left, holding caduceus and child on left arm Struck at Rome, 196-8 AD 3.2g, 16mm RIC 9, RSC 95, BMC 199 ATTICA ATHENS AR Tetradrachm OBVERSE: Helmeted head of Athena right, in crested Attic helmet decorated with three olive leaves over visor and a spiral palmette on the bowl REVERSE: AΘE, owl standing right, head facing; olive sprig and crescent behind Struck at Athens Circa 454-404 BC 17.2g, 26mm Svoronos pl. 11, 20, Kroll 8; HGC 4, 1597 ex Frank Robinson; Former CNG
I purchased a handful of coins (5 I think) from FR auctions a number of years ago, sent them in to NGC, and all but 1 came back in "Tooled" body bags. The one that was slabbed managed to only get a "Smoothing" designation. I dumped the remainder off in Ebay auctions while fully disclosing NGC's characterization, and I think I lost something like $400-500 over the ordeal (an early lesson learned). Not intending to put anybody off of the auctions, or necessarily blame Frank in any way. However, if you are purchasing early bronzes and intend to get them into slabs, then my aggravating experience might be worth taking into consideration.
It's a picture by Frank. He usually has very strange pictures on his website that really don't show coins how they really look. Some of our CT'ers have even complained about them... In hand the coin is very different; it is dark brown and since the cheek and neck are high points it is more worn than other parts. Will try to make a picture myself, but since I'm known for my bad photography skills let's see how that works out
Pictures I just took today. This is the color of the coin when you have it in hand. Maybe this time my pictures are better than Frank's, that would be a first
The cheek and neck being blurred is a strange thing to be sure, as it should be in focus just like the rest of the coin. Again, I don't want to make any accusations, but if the blurring were intentional then it could have been to hide the tooling (Smoothed devices = Tooling). This status is confirmed in the pictures that Cmezner provided. Not to detract from the coin, it is very nice. But again, if the intent is have the coin slabbed, then this is something that you want to avoid. It is also something that FR Auction coin descriptions tend to not disclose (Which might just come down to a difference of opinion on the definitions of "Tooling"). I realize that I might be the only one in the thread that is concerned about these caveats, in which case, never mind .
