Did anyone see this coin which sold today via CNG? It's the kind of coin which I really drool over. It has a sublime portrait, one of which I have never seen before. I had initially decided to bid $300 (it sold for $90), but I wasnt quite too sure and decided against. The lot description mentioned 'cleaning marks' but the more I looked at it the more I could see (or fantasize...) possibly tooling and certainly smoothing. Did anyone else notice this coin and what is their take on it? On a related note are there other examples out there that anyone talked themselves out of bidding? Do you regret not buying?
That is a crazy realistic portrait for the period! When you suggest tooling, do you think the portrait could possibly have been "enhanced" somehow? I can't really see that. But yes, a very interesting coin.
I saw it and lost interest for the same doubts. The fields in front of the face are smoothed but I was not sure whether the face was enhanced. The portrait is either 'just wrong' or very special and belongs in a specialist collection, not mine.
I bid on it but got outbid. There is something really strange in the obverse lettering. It begins IMP C DOM AVR . . ., but the size of the letters decrease from the first I to the O and then double from the O to the M in DOM. I've never seen such a size disparity in an inscription before. Weird.
That's an interesting portrait for Aurelian. As you know, most of them are cartoonishly malproportioned, with giraffe necks, melon-heads, or other features. However, portraits on coins of Aurelian and Severina vary considerably by mint. I am curious which mint produced this one.
I do think so. The more I look at it the more I wonder how original it might be. Look at how sharp and deep the portrait is along his profile. The crown stands out boldly but there is almost no detail left in his hair. The beard is a bit off as well. On the reverse all the devices seem to stand out oddly, but that could be a result of the smoothing. Its a shame, if it were unadulterated I would have been happy to have that portrait in my collection. There have been a number of coins recently at auction that I was close to bidding big money on (I like sestertii) but in the end I just cant do it. There is currently nice Caligula sestertius on auction, I was really wanting it for my collection but then I saw the note that its tooled. In the past I could stomach some smoothing, but it seems in recent years its become too prominent on coins. I think I'd prefer the flawed and worn examples that someone hasnt changed from its original state (aside the cleaning of course).
Great portrait - nice work by the engraver - a real talented dude. That portrait looks like it was cut 30-40 years before the time of Aurelian when the mints were still in "realistic" mode. I would love to have it in my collection.
I love the extra early, pre-reform Aurelian ants that look just like Claudius II. I saw it, but I don't like to drop more than $25-50 on common emperors unless they are something truly special. I didn't place a bid, happy with my current specimen:
I would say it more looks like a square-jawed movie star or a comic book hero. An ideal face of the 20th century, not the 3rd. The lettering is off, the surface of the face is different from that of the less expressive parts of the head. No, I’m sure this is a modern portrait.
If it was on ebay I would skim right by it, thinking it was a wrongly listed emperor or something. I like my ant. of him anyways. Aurelian (270 - 275 A.D.) Æ(S) Antoninianus O: IMP C AVRELIANVS AVG, Radiate and cuirassed bust right. R: RESTITVTOR ORBIS, woman standing right, presenting wreath to Aurelian standing left, leaning on sceptre, suppliant captive between them. * Δ in exergue. 4.2mm 21mm RIC V-1, Cyzicus 349 var.
I'm not sure if that is silvering remaining in the recessed areas on the right half of the obverse, but if so shouldn't it also be present in the depressions of the eye, around the nose and mouth, etc.? Looks like there is the ghost of a triangular nose remaining from before rhinoplasty, and the subtle greenish hue of his whole face suggests it was entirely sculpted to shiny bronze and then chemically re-patinated. I'm just beginning to train myself to detect tooling thanks to y'all here, does that jive with what is going on?
