Bad Pic Gambles = Paydirt :)

So last week I came across some auctions on eBay that had some truly awful images. The seller looks like a pawn-shop kind of store - a little bit of everything and anything, and he happened to come across a few ancient coins. He apologized for the pics.

I took a gamble from what I saw and it turns out all three coins are winners, and bigger winners than I expected. These went mostly unnoticed, probably because of the pics, and although I didn't steal the coins, I got them at a huge bargain (roughly 1/2 to 1/3 retail).

Here's the first, seller's image...



Here's the coin: a perfectly-centered example of the type with a gorgeous golden patina and characteristically elegant Alexandria style...



I have two more to post as I edit the pics.

 

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Nice JA! That is a gorgeous coin

 

Nice gamble........

 

Agreed! That is one of the best looking coins of that era I have ever seen. I want one-how about that one. Ha, ha!

 

... (there)

 

Nice pick up. Want to share?

 

WHOA! Nice score!! I never would have expected that from the fuzzogram images.

 

Thanks guys, but this one's staying in my collection.

The next coin is a pre-reform ant of Maximian with Salus feeding snake. This is not a rare coin, but it is very scarce in grades as nice as this. You can get one on vcoins for $100, or you can take a gamble for $20 on this crappy pic...



The coin. Full strike on the reverse, some silvering on obverse, quite a bit more on reverse. Strong, if conservative style...

 

Good scooor, great still much out there...I'll keep looking..

 

Both are great! That first one sure would look good with my soldiers!

 

Awesome scores JA!

 

The biggest gamble turned out to be the winningest of them all.



This coin didn't even come out of the flip to get its picture taken...



But it turns out to be an exceedingly strong example of the type, with little wear and beautiful surfaces. Alexandrian tetradrachm of Valerian I, year 4...



That's it. There was a fourth coin, an AE4 of Theodosius I, but on closer examination, it does not make the cut, which is fine - I can be happy with 3 out of 4, considering how strong these three are.

 

Nothing you can do with blurred images but with a touch of enhancement you can see that it was not that much of a gamble.

Buyers are advised to learn a bit of photprocessing.





Not brilliant but at least you can see it's worth a punt.

 

OUTSTANDING!!

 

I didn't bother enhancing the images because I saw enough to make it worth bidding. And actually, it wasn't a gamble at all since the seller had a return policy. I use the term loosely.

 

1+ (heh)

 

Was just considering some bad photo coins from e-bay.

 

Great scores, congrats.

 

Wow, as we all struggle with taking pictures, it's not surprising other do to! nice score.

 

Here is a comparison between mint styles at opposite ends of the empire, Arles and Alexandria. These are my two highest-graded 2-soldiers-2-standards types...