Hot on the heels of Eng's Nemausus croc coin, mine just arrived in the mail. Where his was his first coin for 2014, mine was my last for 2013. In an earlier thread, I mentioned that soon after I won the auction I re-read the Doug Smith "Impossible to Grade" page featuring this type, and immediately checked off a whole bunch of faults my newly acquired coin had. They're pretty obvious - Agrippa's face shoved up against the edge of the flan, crocodile missing the end of its snout, worn legends on the obverse, the M in NEM missing on the reverse, the body and eye of the croc a little flat... On the plus side, there are fairly strong details on the reverse, IMO a really nice portrait of Augustus, a lovely deep green patina, and good surfaces except for a litte bit of pitting. I'll have to try and take a better pic of the coin at some point - the surfaces in particular look better in hand. At $320 inclusive of fees, this was in the middle-upper range for this type and definitely not a bargain. Whether or not it's worth what I paid is probably arguable, but alas I don't have a larger budget for a more perfect specimen and while these come up for auction quite often, they almost always come with a variety of problems. With all due respect to Doug and his congregation of crocodiles, I'm happy for this to be my one and only coin of this type. Welcome to your new home, little crocodile! And everyone, please be free with your unvarnished thoughts, opinions, and judgements! Z.
Wow => that's a real stud!! Great coin, Z .... great details, super eye-appeal => other than a slightly small flan, your new little crocodile is an overall "winner" (congrats)
Jealous! Very nice, such a interesting type of coin. Given that most of these have 'issues', yours is really much better than the usual. I'm less interested in finding a specimen with a good obverse-- would rather see most of the croc, with details, plus the chain. The reverse of yours is wonderful!
I think the coin was abundantly well worth the price, considering the amount of excellent detail. Sometimes I forget that I collect ancient coins, and that they cannot be judged by standards applied to moderns. I would be thrilled to own that important coin at that price.
My average example with the small flan (missing snout, partial sun, squished face, etc) was only $240 (including taxes and delivery) so I am not too disappointed with my lil' green sweetie .... => run along now sweetie ... go play with your fancy new crocodile friend!! Ummm, you guys might be sick of seeing my croc-coin, but man, I never get tired of showing it!!
Steve, it's likely that your croc is just being shown trying to go after the tail of some comely girl croc. Look at how he's straining away at that chain.
While I just posted mine in another thread I thought it would be nice to add mine to this thread for a basis of comparing grades. I really like the obverse on mine and this is probably as cheap as this coin will get while still being able to identify it. But I like having it in my collection.
Well alrighty then, I'll post mine too It wasn't an intentional purchase, it was a surprise in a semi-blind purchase of some Ptolemaic bronzes. Looking to upgrade soon. I want one that at least shows the chain and a few more details on the croc.
I suppose I'll post my poor copy of this coin ( a little embarrassed when comparing them to all ya'll coins).
Bing, I say in all seriousness, any coin that has Augustus and Agrippa looking like two testy old ladies is a thumbs up in my book. It's almost like political caricature. A really cool coin. Thanks for posting it!
I'll give you this. The bust on the left (Agrippa, I think), sure looks like a nasty old broad for sure.
Awesome coin Z, love detail and color, when i saw Steve's coin for the first time, that's when i wanted one. mine is still in the mail....Can't wait to get a good look at it..
Bing's coin is the early style which has a completely different set of potential faults than the middle and later coins. Augustus has a bare head (not just having his laurel wreath worn away) and the crocodile is skinny. They seem to often be rough but rarely have the weight adjustment scratches. I like zumbly's coin a lot. I do not consider the price excessive all things considered and suggest it would be $500 if Agrippa had stayed on the flan as he should have. No one has shown the version I still want most.
Thanks everyone for your comments and posting your own examples. Here's to more croc coins in our collections! Coincidentally, there's another croc coin coming up in an auction that closes in less than 24 hours. But unlike our poor chained Nemausus crocs, this one is defiantly unfettered. It was apparently a contemporary of some of the Nemausus issues and would make for an especially cool companion piece considering it was struck in the name of Cleopatra Selene, daughter of Antony and Cleopatra, whose defeat at the hands of Octavian the Nemausus type celebrates. They seem to be rather rare, and not at all cheap. If anyone's interested : http://cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=249625
