ANCIENTS - A couple of cut coins... Augustus and Agrippa

I have admired various examples both complete and cut versions of this type including many owned bya some of own members. I haven't pulled the trigger on a whole coin yet but have just bought my second cut example of the type. There are various sub-types.

Augustus and Agrippa Broken Half Dupondius
Obv:– Heads of [Agrippa, wearing rostral wreath,] and Augustus, wearing laurel wreath, back to back, [IM]P [DIV]I F.
Rev:– COL [NEM], Crocodile chained to palm branch
Minted in Nemausus Mint, Gaul, struck after 10 AD.

I bought this one a few months ago.



This one arrived yesterday.



My search continues for a whole example that lives up to this second coin.

Martin

 

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Ooooo! Sharp details, my kind of (broken) coin!

 

The second one is really something.
I have one cut version with the whole crocodile by chance, but no picture to show, unfortunatelly, and a whole example here :

Augustus & Agrippa, AE Dupondius
Dupondius struck in Nemausus, after 10 AD
IMP DIVI F PP, Laureate heads of Augustus and Agrippa back to back
COL NEM, Crocodile chained to palm tree
12.84 gr
Ref : RCV # 1731, Cohen # 8

Q

 

Martin, awesome coin even if its in two, i've wanted one of these for a while to find one as nice, with good details..

 

Well-done, Martin! I watched the auction on the second coin - I was wondering if someone on CT would end up posting it as theirs. At least I think it's the same coin...

I figured Doug would have an eye on it.

 

Great details on that cut version. Actually, on both.

 

Holy crap, Cucumbor => that's one of the nicest ones that I've ever seen!! (gorgeous!!)



Oh sorry ... and your halves are super cool too, Martin!!

 

Man, I'm gun-shy to show my example, because I fear that Doug is gonna jump-out and call it "average" once again (that guy is ruthlessly truthful!!)



Oh well ... I love my lil' crocodile!!




*sigh*

=> the poor lil' dude doesn't have half of his face (shhhh ... he's very sensitive about it)

 

Cucumbor-- DANG! That's a fabulous specimen. Jealous.

Steve-- yours is not too shabby either!

Martin-- those are some fine halves.

 

One as nice as Steves would do me fine. One as nice as Cucumbor's is one to aim for.

 

Hey Martin ... make sure you drop-by my "6 Days o' Fun" thread "tomorrow" ...

=> that will be my show pony of that thread (thanks)

Oh, I haven't bought a croc-half yet, but both, you and Doug make them seem so cool (good job!!)

 

Yes, I'm just a nasty old man trying to get you to spend money on coins that deserve their price rather than randomly. This issue is terribly hard to find in perfect shape so we have to decide which of the many flaws we want to overlook. I find the halves most interesting since the mint did not use a consistent die axis alignment. I do not have the most rare and least interesting one where the reverse consists of the top of the tree and no crocodile. Note that both of Martin's coins have the same end of the croc but opposite rulers. I liked these coins enough to give them a page of their own but rather than making it mostly about the several sub-types available (all but one of the coins shown above in this thread are the last type with PP on the obverse) I aimed the page at pointing out the impossibility of grading the things with a couple letters. A paragraph sometimes has trouble being fair to these coins.

Cucumbor's example is a beauty but some people would not have it because it shows the pre-striking flan adjustment scratches common on the coins of the last couple sub-types. In particular it has a really nice chain which is the croc equivalent of full steps on Jefferson nickels, full horns on Buffalos or full heads on Standing Liberty quarters (sorry, Canadians, I do not know examples in your series). The croc is slightly smaller in the earlier sub-types so it is easier to get one with full snout but the later coins had more die detail in the croc skin so coins like Cucumbor's tend to look better even though the snout is right up to the edge of the flan. What coin is best for the collector who wants just one? I don't know, I don't believe in 'just one' collecting so I'm not the one to ask.
My page (bet no one has read that one) and my family portrait are below. There are still a couple sub types I lack. I recently returned a beautiful coin (that is still for sale) that I decided was tooled and repatinated so be a little careful if spending good money on these.
http://www.forumancientcoins.com/dougsmith/impossible.html

 

I always like seeing that set, Doug. Don't assume people don't read your pages. If there was a counter, I'd bet you'd be surprised.

 

Doug, if you check out your site with Google Analytics I'm sure you'll find that it has been read many many times. And appreciated.

 

Well, "nasty" might be pushing it a bit?



... honestly Doug, I always look forward to your comments (they're always direct, refreshing and educated ... please keep 'em coming ... thanks!!)

NOTE => unfortunately, when I spotted my coin in one of my very first auctions, I had only seen one other example of these crocodile coins previously, so I admit that I probably had a pretty itchy trigger-finger!! .... I was a bit green and thought that these coins were a bit more rare than they actually are, so I jumped at it instantly!!

... and although I love my crocodile coin, in hindsight I probably should have waited a bit longer for a slightly sweeter example (oh well, lesson learned ... well, kinda)

=> a leopard can't change its spots!!

 

Yeah, right! Good one. Made me laugh.

 

hmmmmmmm..i don't have either half of this cool coin.

but i like ya'lls.

 

Y'all need to stop posting these halves. Every time I see some COL-NEM halves for sale or auction I come back to these threads and see if any of them could be the missing piece. Spending way too much time doing that!

 

If you ever find a matching pair, I suspect it is not original but a coin broken in modern times. The idea of small change is that they needed one piece for a purchase so the other half should have gone elsewhere and not be hoarded together. Reuniting them would be like expecting to find two worn out dollar bills in your change with consecutive serial numbers.

 

Also keep an eye out for half coins of Vienna in Gaul with Julius Caesar and Augustus back to back and a ship prow reverse. I do not have a whole one (or the Augustus half). Wildwinds does:
http://www.wildwinds.com/coins/greece/gaul/vienna/t.html