$1,560 For Slabbed Constantine GLORIA EXERCITVS

Just caught this coin on Stacks selling for a shocking amount of $1,560 where the estimate was $60-100.


https://auctions.stacksbowers.com/l...ficina-ad-334-335-ngc-ms-strike-55-surface-55

Who cares about the grade on the label, it still isn't worth that much.

"A fool parts with his money?"

 

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It's a nice looking coin but I can't see any reason why it would command such a price.
What am I missing besides the stupid slab?

 

Bidding war?

 

A couple of collectors of moderns thought it must be an extremely rare thing that a Roman could could be in such a high grade.

 

Wow. For that money I would have bought a solidus, instead.

 

wow.....

 

I noticed a couple other prices that seemed unreasonably high, but this one was by far the most extreme. There was a pair of decent-but-not-great electrum Carthage staters for $5,280 (a bit off-center) and $3,840 (with a noticeable flan crack). It's really making me want to submit my pair of EL Staters to NGC & then consign (along with as many Constantine AE3s as I can)! The Koson Staters went pretty high too (one more than the other), but again, not nearly as bad as the Constantine.

 

Holy mackerel, that is totally insane. Someone profited handsomely off that one...

 

I realize this is an extreme outlier and these can easily be found at reasonable costs but…

Before the pandemic, you could snag a similar unslabbed coin like this on eBay for anywhere from $5 to $20… if you took the time to wade through the garbage. Now even on eBay, I’ve watched junkers go for $50. Crazy.

 

It is the magical properties of plastic.

Plastics......

 

That obverse is marred by some deposits. That’s not even FDC.

 

But it's phenomenally alluring. It says so right in the description.

 

Gosh the coin is almost 1700 years old. Should be worth thousands

 

Oh no, don't get me started on Stack's descriptions of ancient coins! Aside from their puffed up superlatives, they also frequently make the most apologetic comments if they feel there is even the slightest "evidence of handling"! Their phrase.

As if the fantasy of a coin being removed from the mint in latex gloves and placed in plastic until it can be encapsulated without ever touching skin somehow applies to ancient coins.... Coins that were buried underground for 1,500-2,500 years, then excavated, cleaned chemically and manually to make them collectible, then passed through middlemen to dealers to collectors to Stack's to NGC and back... unhandled!

 

"Wading through garbage" is almost a mission statement for me; I almost never buy LRB's individually, but $10 on eBay got me this one (a year ago, mid-pandemic) - not "phenomenally alluring" for sure, but not chopped-liver either:


Constantine I Follis (Æ 15)
(335-337 A.D.) Antioch Mint
CONSTANTI-NVS MAX AVG, rosette-diademed, draped and cuirassed bust right. / GLORIA EXERCITVS, two soldiers holding spears and shields with one standard between them, o on banner, SMANΔ in exergue.
RIC VII Antioch 108, Δ
(1.61 grams / 15 mm)
eBay Feb. 2021 $10.00 BIN

 

NB: When selling coins, slab and send them to Stack's.

 

Oh yeah I’m the same. Deals and hidden gems are there, just rarer than they used to be. However, for one “find” there are a thousand fakes, reposts, crazy prices and junk listings… but the thrill of the hunt keeps me scrolling! Haha.

 

That's absolutely insane. At least two people either made a mistake or just didn't have to care about money.

And in case the looser in this bidding war is reading: I am willing to part with either of my examples for a mere 500 USD a piece. That seems to be quite a bargain these days - so just pm me!

Constantine II Iunior, Roman Empire, AE3, 333–335 AD, Constantinople mint. Obv: CONSTANTINVS IVN NOB C; bust of Constantine II, laureate, cuirassed, r. Rev: GLORIA EXERCITVS; two soldiers, helmeted, draped, cuirassed, standing facing each other, each holding reversed spear in outer hand and resting inner hand on shield; between them, two standards; in exergue, •CONSΘ•. 20mm, 2.62g. Ref: RIC VII Constantinople 81.


Constantine I, Roman Empire, AE 3, 335–336 AD, Siscia mint. Obv: CONSTANTINVS MAX AVG, bust of Constantine I, diademed, draped and cuirassed, r. Rev: GLORIA EXERCITUS; two soldiers standing facing each other, standard between them; in exergue, ASIS*. 15mm, 1.45g. Ref: RIC VII Siscia 261.