So I did it. I finally freed my Claudius denarius from its plastic NGC tomb. I think it looks much better. Claudius AR Denarius. 41-54 AD. Rome mint (18 mm 3.62 gr). Struck 46-47 AD. Obv: TI CLAVD CAESAR AVG P M TR P VI IMP XI, laureate head right Rev: CONSTANTIAE AVGVSTI, Constantia seated left of curule chair, hand raised to face. RIC 32, RSC 8 BMC 31. Ex: AU Capital Management LLC
You may be right. There is a segment of the collector population who will pay that extra for the plastic.
I am not overly concerned with the value as I have no intention to sell it in the near future. Also, denarii of Claudius are quite scarce so if I wanted to sell it the lack of a slab would not hinder a sale. I am looking for a display case and the slab would not fit in with the other 11 of my 12 caesars that are all in 2X2 Saflips. I was certainly not going to slab the other 11 to have a consistent display.
It's a great denarius indeed. I'm not up to speed on 1st-century iconography. Is the Constantia on this coin equated with Fides?
I am not sure if it connected to Fides. I believe Constantine Augusti means "Perseverance of the emperor". "Augusti" is missing from the reverse on my coin.
Looking at acsearch reports, it is interesting that aurei of this type seem as common as denarii and little if any more expensive in lower grades. Interesting.
Thanks for this Doug. I did not realize this. I checked acsearch for my coin RIC 32 and the matching Aureus, RIC 31. There were 7 specimens of each. It seems odd that the rarity is about the same for both the gold and silver coins. As you wrote, the prices on several of the coins are similar as well.
