A tooled sestertius?

Discussion in 'Ancient Coins' started by scarborough, Jun 17, 2019.

  1. scarborough

    scarborough Well-Known Member

    A couple of years ago I purchased the following sestertius of Agrippina (AD 42 – 43, RIC 102) at auction. The catalogue description (Roma e29 lot 482) correctly pointed out that this piece had been smoothed, so I knew what to expect for the coin surface.

    upload_2019-6-17_17-40-15.png


    But since that time I’ve been troubled by what I think might be tooling in the high-wear area in the hair.

    upload_2019-6-17_17-50-0.png upload_2019-6-17_17-40-15.png upload_2019-6-17_17-50-0.png upload_2019-6-17_17-40-15.png upload_2019-6-17_17-50-0.png

    What do you think?

    And if you think the hair was tooled, does this level of tooling require disclosure?

    Many thanks for your advice of the group.

    D
     
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  3. scarborough

    scarborough Well-Known Member

    ... oops, sorry for the duplicate photos!
     
  4. Valentinian

    Valentinian Well-Known Member

    I'll go out on a limb and say I think the coin is wonderful and virtually without tooling--not enough (if any) to require disclosure. If you begin to dislike it, you can sell it to me (at a big loss)! I will like it!
     
    zumbly, dadams, ominus1 and 1 other person like this.
  5. TIF

    TIF Always learning.

    Looks like a gorgeous unretouched coin to me, but I'm no expert when it comes to tooling. I assume most 1st century sestertii are smoothed (and am not particularly bothered by the practice). At first I wondered about the folds of drapery at that back and side of her neck but I see another high-grade example in ACsearch that is a die match and the folds look exactly the same (somewhat flattened-- see the coin below). On your coin her hair near over the ears is slightly worn (or the die didn't completely fill) and that looks believable. The highest points of your coin are very slightly worn (or unfilled), as would be expected for an untooled coin.

    Here's that coin:

    [​IMG]
     
  6. scarborough

    scarborough Well-Known Member

    Thank you TIF and Valentinian for taking a look and responding. I appreciate your comments.
     
  7. Roman Collector

    Roman Collector Well-Known Member

    Lovely coin! Here's the example from my own collection, which is in a lower grade. No smoothing.

    Agrippina Sr Sestertius.jpg
     
  8. octavius

    octavius Well-Known Member

    I noticed on my sestertius of Agrippina struck under Caligula, her portrait demonstrates the same phenominon - you can still discern the visible curls underneath the wear around her temporal area. I think this is due to the way the dies were cut, and they just wear that way. My sestertius of Agrippina struck by Claudius also has evidence of this, but less so due to wear. I don't see evidence of tooling on any of these coins, your's included. A very respected dealer once told me that the word "tooling" could mean anything from overzealous cleaning to reengraving. Smoothing and cleaning are expected on the bronzes we collect which have passed nearly two thousand years in the earth.

    861715.jpg 78001719.jpg
     
  9. lordmarcovan

    lordmarcovan Eclectic & Eccentric Moderator

    A little tooling wouldn't surprise me here, but wow... what a coin, regardless.
     
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