An uggly duckling: C. Vibius C.f. Pansa AR Denarius

This is not really a very pretty coin. I would say it's pretty beat up, rough, and a bit of a pig really... but I've been looking at it for months and it's sort of grown on me, kind of how the ugly duckling grew on you as a child even though he was ugly. I think there is just something about Apollo's serious expression that sort of got to me eventually.

I do apologize, I know this write up is not my usual cheerful style. It's a bit of a downer really. It's not the coin, it's just been one of those long days. Anyway, post whatever coin you feel like posting below.


C. Vibius C.f. Pansa AR Denarius
Attribution: Crawford 342/5b; Vibia 1b; Syd 684b
Date: 90 BC
Obverse: PANSA behind laureate head of Apollo right, S before
Reverse: Minerva driving galloping quadriga right, C•VIBIVS•C•F in exergue
Size: 18.83 mm
Weight: 4.03 grams

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

And I had to misspell ugly while I was at it.

 

I like it, I've been searching for a decent type, but yet affordable.
Yeah I've had a week of those days this week. Very long days.

 

Great coin, guess folks who collect EF would call this ugly, but normal people would find this fine the way it is.

 

Cool coin, Sallent ... it's not ugly (it's a swan)

 

You do have to admit it does have a few dents and dings and scratches.

 

I like it @Sallent ...The obverse easily grows on me and the reverse, however rough and worn, clearly shows the intended devices. I suppose the key issue is the price and whether it was worth the cost....I think you did well.

I'm missing any RR denarii of Panza, so I'll just post this hemidrachm of Kios, Bithynia of Apollo and a war galley.

 

You viewed my new Medieval coin, that is a "uggly" duckling".

 

Well, it was very cheap compared to vcoin prices. I saw some rougher looking examples easily going for $50-70 more than what I paid for mine.

 

I see what you did there. And yeah, I saw your medieval coin. The cleaning turned out well. I liked the finished product.

 

A few nicks, but the toning is beautiful and the style superb. I think it's a lovely coin.

 

Yeah, I get that now. Apparently I need to reassess what I consider beat up. I just figured with the small issues with the reverse and those nicks and scratches in the obverse and reverse maybe the coin wasn't that great, but I got it because it's a coin I still came back to week after week despite the excuses I made why I shouldn't get it.

Something still called me to it, not sure what, and I got tired of telling myself a bunch of excuses to pass on it over the last few months, only to come back to check if it's still available week after week. The whole episode was really weird. It's like I was stalking the coin but couldn't commit. I just don't know what else to call it. I've never had such a troubled "relationship" with any other coin I've bought. LOL.

 

Ugly is in the eye of the beholder. I think it's so ugly it's beautiful. Now this is ugly:


C VIBIUS CF CN PANSA CAETRONIANUS ROMAN REPUBLIC; GENS VIBIAAR Denarius
OBVERSE: Mask of Pan right, PANSA below
REVERSE: IOVIS AXVR before, C VIBIVS C F C N behind, Jupiter Axurus seated left
Rome 48 BC
5.6, 18mm
Cr449/1a; Syd 947; Vibia 18

 

i think it's a fine looking coin! apollo looks good, nice toning...pretty.

bing that not ugly, now this...this is an ugly coin.





Caracalla, Moesia Inferior, Marcianopolis, 198-217 AD

Obverse: AVT M APHΛI ANTΩNEINOC, Laureate draped cuirassed bust right Reverse: V I ΦAVCTINIANOV MAPKIANOΠOΛI / TΩN, Tyche standing facing, head left, holding rudder and cornucopia 29 mm 11.0 g Julius Faustinianus, consular legate

i got this coin without attribution, payed 4 bucks for it....i had 4 bucks of fun figuring out what it was.

 

That's a great example. I think it certainly qualifies as "nice for the grade" if nothing else and I'd welcome a similar example in my own collection. This is the only of the 3 moneyers of 90 B.C. I lack. All 3 had relatively large issues in both silver and bronze to keep up with the demands of the great Social War. that was going on at the time. Here are mine:




By the way, for a great book on the Social War, I highly recommend "Cataclysm: 90 BC" by Philip Matyszak. The Social War is such a fascinating war with massive consequences for all involved and is so often just told as one small part of the story of the end of the Roman Republic but rarely gets the treatment it deserves. Given, there are some "difficulties" with the sources of this period, but it's still something that in my opinion deserves further study than it is usually given.

 

I like it. Great toning and eye appeal. One of those dings even makes it look like Apollo has a cleft chin.

 

I love your Quintus Titius. Definitely on my wish list. That fat pegasus is so cool

Here is my other 90BCE Social War "All Hell is breaking loose, we should have given them Roman citizenship" coin.



Mine looks like a little bit of a zombie with the die rust on the chin. Oh well, I got it rather cheap at a CNG Auctions as all other bidders seemed to have fallen asleep on closing day...and considering how sloppy the Romans were producing the coins of 90BCE due to the demand for coinage for the war, I suppose it's not too shabby.

 

It's a beautiful coin. Every nick, dent, and scratch of it! The things that make it imperfect are the very things that make it one of a kind.

 

It is certainly better than mine (which does not exist).

If you say so. Here's my ugly duckling:

 

Amazing!!!