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Message:: [QUOTE="Roman Collector, post: 8168151, member: 75937"]If coins could talk, I wonder if they'd express regret or sadness about aging. This sestertius, for example, is bereft of the orichalcum luster it had when it left the mint and first went out in the world. Perhaps it would be wistful for its once brassy surface, now lost to time, yet come to embrace the greenness it developed in the course of its patination over the centuries. As Bette Davis' pillow used to read, "Old age ain’t no place for sissies." It's quite a chemical transformation. It's not that easy being green. [MEDIA=youtube]rRZ-IxZ46ng[/MEDIA] This sestertius arrived in the mail earlier this month and it's lovely in its viridity. I can't stop thinking about its smooth, glossy, green patina. I like to think when it looks in the mirror, it says to itself, "I'm green and it'll do fine. It's beautiful, and I think it's what I want to be." <img src="https://www.cointalk.com/attachments/faustina-jr-concordia-s-c-seated-sestertius-jpg.1422507/" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /> Faustina II, AD 147-175.Roman orichalcum sestertius, 24.67 g, 31.1 mm, 7 h.Rome, mid 152- autumn 154.Obv: FAVSTINA AVG PII AVG·FIL·, bare-headed and draped bust right.Rev: CONCORDIA S C, Concordia seated left, holding flower and resting elbow on cornucopiae set on globe under chair.Refs: RIC 1374a; BMC 2175-76; Cohen 57; RCV 4713; Strack 1315.[/QUOTE]