Big batch of AUREII withdrawn from CNG

Many aureii have been withdrawn from the next CNG auction # 118 closing September 14th. I heard that they may be related to the numerous holed aureii (very professionally repaired) sold lately without the warning of the "restoration".
I can tell you for sure that the Postumus and the Victorinus (estimated at 5000$ but the current bid was 42,000$) are 100% authentic. For the others I couldn't tell because it's not my area of collecting. Anyone here knows something about the reason of the withdrawal ??? Here are some of the coins :

 

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That's wild! I've seen pics of a couple of the repaired ones and was surprised how hard it was to spot the patch work.
However, what's wrong with the above coins, and all other gold coins for that matter, is they don't have any with Macedonian shields!

 

Hopefully this helps

 

Many thanks @red_spork . But I REALLY need the name of this guy who can repair holes.......

 

I don't know who is doing the repairs but evidently they've done a number of them. A hoard of holed aureii were reportedly found in Ukraine and sold via a local auction site and repaired by this person before many of them started showing up at NAC, CNG, Kuenker, Heritage and other houses. Some were even slabbed by NGC. It is my understanding that Barry at NGC was the one who discovered this and started alerting the auction houses and they are in the process of recalling the coins and refunding customers but there are a bunch out there and likely more still to come. Here's another from the hoard.

 

Ah! That explains why @Barry Murphy was researching where the coins came from !
https://www.cointalk.com/threads/extreme-makeover.385007/page-3#post-7857703

 

Here's a post I found on facebook ( from Barry)

 

What I'm most worried about is the fate of these coins. I would rather they be sold as modified than melted down

 

A scary group which further validates the benefit of pedigrees and the solid research/work done by NGC!

 

Yes, there's a long thread about this in the Ancient and Medieval Coins group on Facebook (the link is https://www.facebook.com/groups/ancientnumis/?multi_permalinks=4386961038056839, but I imagine it works only if you're a member), with a number of posts by Barry giving the whole story. Apparently, not only were the coins purchased in Ukraine; the holes were repaired there -- so expertly that one person posted that it was difficult to see the repairs even under a microscopic examination. Some of these coins have already been sold -- if the consignor is in Ukraine, I imagine that it won't be easy to get the money back from him.

 

yeah.. been going on for years.. here's one from 2018..

+2019

 

Talk about greed. Never underestimate the power of a schnook. I'll stick with Byzantine bronzes especially the contemporary counterfeits and local artist
endeavors.

 

By the way for the Byz collectors out there. About 20 years ago I purchased a very well done Justinian Yr 12 follis of Constantinople It's listed in Sears' Byzantine Coins and Their values in the Forgeries section at the back of the book # F17. I'm happy to have it. We both knew it was a fake, but a very nice one. For $35 it does hold a special spot in my collection.

 

Very interesting thread @Ocatarinetabellatchitchix ,
I saw that many holed aureii are still available for sale(the most expensive is one of Carausius) on the same Ukrainian auction site , the hole repair service is not included , is anyone interested ?

https://violity.com/108811292-aureus-trayan-decij
https://violity.com/106848669-aureus-trayan-decij
https://violity.com/108356854-aureus-imp-gordiana-iii-pietas
https://violity.com/106295617-aureus-galliyena
https://violity.com/108321107-aureus-karauzij
https://violity.com/108824353-aureus-markus-avrelij--6-8grama
https://violity.com/107185707-aureus-lucij-domicij-avrelian-lucius-domitius-aurelianus-6-0-gr

 

Hole repairs good enough to fool third party graders were discovered a few years ago for American coins:

https://coinweek.com/counterfeits/s...796-s-85-large-cent-1-page-attribution-guide/

I had a chance to talk to Jack Young and see the repaired large cents at a coin show in Baltimore. I couldn't see the repair.

 

I realize it hurts the coin value but Imagine some gothic warlord had a nice necklace.

https://journalofromanarchaeology.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/JRA33_10_Bursche.pdf

 

Honestly I would prefer a coin with that kind of history over a sanitized one

 

Thinking more about it, presenting the holed coins from the same hoard in a museum setting (perhaps even reconstructing the necklace or belt they were originally on) would be truly captivating.

At the Getty Villa there is an amazing belt of 23 late empire solidi still in their original belt settings. This presentation is infinitely more interesting than simple bare solidi. I shudder to think of the possibility that antique jewelry like this was torn apart and sold by-the-coin.

https://www.getty.edu/art/collectio...roman-about-ad-379-395/?dz=0.8481,0.5604,3.29


This belt has, clockwise from top center:
Valens, Valentinian I, Theodosius I, Valentinian I, Julian II (bearded), Valentinian I, Valens, Valens, Valentinian I, Valentinian I, Valentinian I, Valens, GLASS MEDALLION, Julian II (very bearded), Valens, Valens, Valens, Valentinian I, Valens (unusual left-facing portrait), Valens, Valens, Valentinian I, Constans (unusual long legend), Valentinian I.

The problem with looting and tomb robbers is that they never care about archaeological context. If some looter in Eastern Europe or wherever dug out this belt, they would almost certainly pop the coins out of the settings, melt the gold, and sell the medallion separately.

IDK why I'm on this rant. Perhaps its because I would prefer those holed coins to be presented in their original context instead of being squirreled away in some private collection to be sold for a profit in a few years.

 

I agree. If one had an unattractive holed coin devoid of any archaeological context, then by all means.

I have a rather savegely holed Geta limes denarius.


If this hole was repaired, I would be happy as there is zero provenance, or any context on this coin. If this coin was dug out of a specific hoard in an archaeological site, it would be different. As far as I know, this coin was holed relatively recently (cf the shiny spots on the holed portion), and is worse for the wear because of it.