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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;dougsmit, post: 1804720, member: 19463&quot;]I bought this coin because it was cheap and an example of a flan weight adjustment - one of my even stranger specialties.&nbsp; When the coin arrived, I decided that it was about as close to mint state as any of my Republican denarii but we would have to invent a new grading system to account for all the downsides of this coin.&nbsp; May I introduce an 87 BC Roman Republican denarius of Lucius and Gaius Memmius, sons of Lucius, Galleria in glorious MS12 condition. </p><p>[ATTACH=full]293871[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p>Lets start with the good points.&nbsp; The obverse has a clear face of Saturn with his attribute, the harpa (an agricultural tool).&nbsp;&nbsp; The reverse has all but one letter (the initial L) of the moneyers&#039; names which seems good until you realize that this L is needed to show the coin is a rare example of a coin issued by two brothers.&nbsp;&nbsp; The coin has no wear of any consequence but was so weakly struck that the triple flan adjustment gouges on the reverse were in no way erased and the overly thin area of the flan completely wiped out Saturn&#039;s hair simply by not having enough metal in that region.&nbsp;&nbsp; Note that the horses heads and rump have a flat top indicating a weak strike rather than a rounding as would have been more likely had the coin been worn to this degree.&nbsp;&nbsp; This ends the &#039;good points&#039; section.&nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p>The bad:&nbsp; This coin is an ordinary biga reverse except the biga is driven by Venus who is accompanied by a flying Cupid.&nbsp; Neither of them made it on the flan to a degree that allows identification.&nbsp; The coin was a special issue produced from silver supplied by the Senate as shown by EX SC below Saturn&#039;s head.&nbsp; If you look closely, you might just see the tip tops of the XSC but no one would see that if they did not know the type.&nbsp; Several dies were used for this issue and these were marked by a system of dots and a letter under Saturn&#039;s chin.&nbsp; If you look really closely, you might see a trace of a dot or two but there is no way to guess which this is unless you can match the die to a better coin.&nbsp; This is, to me, particularly sad since this issue quite often had the letter cut backwards making it unusual.&nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p>What we have here is a not common coin (not rare either) with a portrait of a god not everyone has in their Republican collection but that is about all that the coin has going for it other than being pretty much in the same condition it was when it was struck.&nbsp; Except for Saturn and the reverse legend, almost nothing survived the combination of the severe pre-striking flan weight adjustment gouges (which we have discussed here before) and the weak strike.&nbsp;&nbsp; When it comes to collectability this nearly mint state coin would be beaten easily by most coins worn to fine.&nbsp; I got it on eBay for the opening bid and am probably the only person out there that would accept the gouges.&nbsp; After discovering all the other shortcomings, I suspect I should have held out for the seller to pay me to take it.&nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p>Now is the time for you to post your examples of this same type (not just any Republican).&nbsp; This type was copied from an issue of the father Lucius Memmius so I&#039;d like to see those also if you have them.&nbsp; OK, lets call for other Saturn heads or coins with a harpa as well just to pump up the numbers of coins added to this thread.&nbsp;&nbsp; How many will we see?[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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