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<p>[QUOTE="IdesOfMarch01, post: 1868355, member: 39084"]When I initially started my 12 Caesars collection, I focused solely on aurei and denarii, ignoring bronzes for the first few years. However, when I completed these two denominations and started collecting sestertii and small bronzes (dupondii and asses) I found that I regretted not having started collecting them earlier.</p><p><br /></p><p>There are two outstanding features of collecting bronzes, especially sestertii: (1) the larger flan gives the engraver an opportunity to be much more artistic than the smaller aureus and denarius; and (2) the tactile sense of holding a 27g. bronze is amazing, even compared to an aureus.</p><p><br /></p><p>As an example of what I mean by (1) above, consider these two portrait coins of Galba:</p><p><br /></p><p>GALBA 68 - 69 A.D.</p><p>AR Denarius (3.71 gm.) Tarraco (?) April - late 68 A.D.</p><p>Laureate head of Galba, globe at point of bust / Virtus RIC 64</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]315099[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p>GALBA 68 - 69 A.D.</p><p>AE Sestertius (28.10 g.) Rome late summer 68 AD</p><p>IMP SER SVLP GALBA - CAESAR AVG TR P Laureate and draped bust r. Rev. LIBERTAS - PUBLICA Libertas standing l., holding pileus and long scepter; S - C in field RIC 309</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]315102[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p>While the portrait on the denarius is certainly very good style and very high quality, the portrait on the sestertius is, well, simply on another level. It feels great in your hand, too.</p><p><br /></p><p>The drawback to collecting bronzes is that they're all smoothed to a certain extent, and a very large percentage are tooled as well. Without the guidance of my dealer, who has 30 years' experience in this field, I would not have started collecting them.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>
[QUOTE="IdesOfMarch01, post: 1868355, member: 39084"]When I initially started my 12 Caesars collection, I focused solely on aurei and denarii, ignoring bronzes for the first few years. However, when I completed these two denominations and started collecting sestertii and small bronzes (dupondii and asses) I found that I regretted not having started collecting them earlier. There are two outstanding features of collecting bronzes, especially sestertii: (1) the larger flan gives the engraver an opportunity to be much more artistic than the smaller aureus and denarius; and (2) the tactile sense of holding a 27g. bronze is amazing, even compared to an aureus. As an example of what I mean by (1) above, consider these two portrait coins of Galba: GALBA 68 - 69 A.D. AR Denarius (3.71 gm.) Tarraco (?) April - late 68 A.D. Laureate head of Galba, globe at point of bust / Virtus RIC 64 [ATTACH=full]315099[/ATTACH] GALBA 68 - 69 A.D. AE Sestertius (28.10 g.) Rome late summer 68 AD IMP SER SVLP GALBA - CAESAR AVG TR P Laureate and draped bust r. Rev. LIBERTAS - PUBLICA Libertas standing l., holding pileus and long scepter; S - C in field RIC 309 [ATTACH=full]315102[/ATTACH] While the portrait on the denarius is certainly very good style and very high quality, the portrait on the sestertius is, well, simply on another level. It feels great in your hand, too. The drawback to collecting bronzes is that they're all smoothed to a certain extent, and a very large percentage are tooled as well. Without the guidance of my dealer, who has 30 years' experience in this field, I would not have started collecting them.[/QUOTE]
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