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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Orielensis, post: 3880653, member: 96898&quot;]Yes, but it&#039;s still a fair question to ask. On the one hand, the value of ancient coins is always based only on what a collector is willing to pay. I&#039;m quite glad that there is no &quot;Red Book&quot; fo ancients. It forces people to think about what they enjoy in a coin rather than about what it&#039;s worth according to some catalogue. That&#039;s a good thing, I reckon.</p><p><br /></p><p>On the other hand, here are my reasons for having paid $20 for each of the coins above. Both are in high grade, have good surfaces and full legends, and don&#039;t miss major parts of the design. That&#039;s my entry requirements for considering to buy common LRBs.</p><p><br /></p><p>The first coin gets quite a couple of extra points for the expressively brutal portrait and the excellent facial detail on Sol. The flan flaw is a slight minus, but doesn&#039;t bother me that much. The coin&#039;s color is unremarkable, and the Rome mint is nothing special in my book.</p><p><br /></p><p>The second coin gets minus points for lack of facial detail on Sol. For me, this is partly outweighed by an attractive two-tone patina and a good London style portrait. What finally made me buy it at $20 is the mint, though. Due to the historical significance of these places for Constantine&#039;s career, I&#039;m willing to pay a small premium or accept minor detail flaws in early LRBs from London and Trier. Everybody is free to disagree with that, of course.</p><p><br /></p><p>If I had to choose only one, I&#039;d probably take the first coin. Yet, who says I can&#039;t have two nice Constantines with a Sol reverse? As a matter of fact, I even have three. By chance, the third was also about $20, and I bought it mostly for Constantine&#039;s mean crooked nose. Did I overpay for that one? Maybe. Am I unhappy with it? Nope.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1025072[/ATTACH]</p><p><font size="3">Constantine I, Roman Empire, AE3, 313 AD, Rome mint. Obv: IMP CONSTANTINVS P F AVG; bust of Constantine I, laureate, draped, cuirassed, r, Rev: SOLI INVICTO COMITI; Sol, radiate, chlamys draped across r. shoulder, standing l., raising r. hand and holding globe in l. hand. 19.5mm, 3.41g. Ref: RIC VII Rome 2.</font>[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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