I was browsing through the items in an auction, trying to prepare a wish list. Skipped this coin 2-3 times. Initially I thought it was a slug and I try to avoid very bad quality. Then when I was browsing the lots, it kept appearing because of the somehow unusual colors. Studied the pics more carefully and saw that the portrait is quite attractive, the legends are visible, the wear is not nearly as extensive as I thought initially and overall I wouldn't mind this coin at all. And to my surprise I won it with quite a low price, apparently other collectors didn't like the appearance of the coin. Very happy with it in hand. It is not as rugged as it appeared in pictures, I attributed it without issues ( RIC II, Part 1 (second edition) Domitian 707- Old RIC 394 - from AD 90-91 - IMP CAES DOMIT AVG GERM COS XV CENS PER P P / FORTUNAE AVGVSTI SC) Note - from the pic I wasn't sure if it's COS XV or COS XII, in hand it's clearly XV) Too bad the patina is not fully uniform, especially on Domitian's cheek and neck, but this is not a turn off for me. Please post - green coins - Domitian bronzes - coins that you were about to ignore when first seen but bought them after a better analysis - anything else you feel relevant.
My green Domitian: DOMITIAN AE23 OBVERSE: AVT KAISAR DOMITAINOS SEB, laureate head right REVERSE: KIONON MAKEDONWN, Macedonian shield Struck at Koinon of Macedonia, 81-96AD 8.2g, 23mm RPC 336, SNG Cop 1337, Moushmov 5881
Oddly, my Domitian sestertius and both asses are green. I have always preferred coins worn smoothly to fine with a decent patina to higher grade roughies. I remember having a lot of trouble talking myself into buying the sestertius because of the headless reverse figures. The face made me want the coin and the green tipped the scale in its favor.
Lovely green Domitians! I wasn't expecting that many! Mine is darker green (I hope it's not a fake patina) - closest is the one posted by @Andres2.
I don't have any Domitian so here's a green double sestertius of Postumus I bought on ebay, even if I didn't want it at first. The thumbnail showed the attractive reverse (nicer in hand actually) and the starting price was low, but the obverse was... disappointing. I saw it later again in my ebay feed, still no bids. I paid more attention to the reverse and noticed a rare and interesting error : VICTORI AVG instead of VICTORIA AVG, referenced as De Witte 309. I could find four other examples in auctions and hoard, all struck with the same reverse dies and sharing two different obverse dies. The (high quality) drawing in De Witte's book has the same dies as mine (I do not include it in the four other examples). So I got it for starting price anyway. O. : IMP C M CASS LAT POSTVMVS P F AVG R. : VICTORI AVG (sic) 26mm ; 9.95g De Witte 309 ; Bastien 286 ; Estrée-Wamin 76
Man, that portrait is sweet! That coin makes other Domitian coins be all: Of course @Bing makes mine look like amateur hour, but it's mine (also green, but didn't capture the color well): And some other greenies: A greenie weenie
Nice green patina! Here's a green Domitian: CAES DIVI AVG VESP F DOMITIAN COS VII Laureate head left SC Minerva standing left with thunderbold and spear, shield at her side Rome 80-81 AD 9.63g RIC 315 (R2)
Not if you're a coin, Kermit! That coin has a lovely patina, @ambr0zie, and I'm glad you were able to pick it up at a good price because you were one of the few to appreciate it. Auction prices being what they are these days, we're lucky to win anything at them! This one has a similar story. It has some surface roughness, some corrosion, and a mottled patina. It didn't spark much action at auction. But I liked the green patina and the charming portrait of the empress. I also thought it was interesting that Faustina has a bare-headed bust, rather than a strand of pearls as she usually wears on coins of this issue and period (I may be the only collector, though, who cares about such things). Faustina II, AD 147-175. Roman Æ As, 8.31 g, 25.2 mm, 5 h. Rome, AD 161-164. Obv: FAVSTINA AVGVSTA, bare-headed and draped bust, right. Rev: HILARITAS S C, Hilaritas standing left, holding long palm-branch in right hand and cornucopia in left hand. Refs: RIC 1643 var.; BMCRE 982 var.; Cohen 113 var.; RCV 5296; MIR 15-7/10b. Notes: This coin is a variety of the RIC, BMCRE and Cohen specimens in that Faustina wears no strands of pearls in the hair. As far as Domitian goes, here's the greenest Domitian I have: Domitian as Caesar, AD 69-81 Roman provincial Æ semis; 6.93 g, 21.1 mm, 1 h Syria, Seleukis and Pieria, Antiochia ad Orontem, AD 69-81 Obv: DOMITIA-NVS CAESAR, laureate head left Rev: SC within laurel wreath Refs: SGI 872; BMC 20.181, 251; Cohen 746; RPC II 2017; McAlee 403a.
Thanks, all and very nice coins. @Romancollector - the hammer price was much, much better than I was expecting - especially with the prices these days. I find the coin more than decent and the details are very satisfactory. Portrait is nice (at least for my expectations), legends visible, I thought the price will rise a lot (like all Flavian bronzes in decent condition) but it remained very close to opening bid (that was also low). Excellent Faustina BTW - surely deserves a place in your album! I can only assume that other people made the same mistake I almost did - seeing the green color and also the roughness skipped it without looking carefully at the pics. Fun fact - when I was a complete beginner I was convinced that green patina indicates bronze disease. Fortunately I only "managed" to clean 1 coin with remains of green patina - a Nero as. At least I wasn't the one to ruin it, as it was clear the coin had a beautiful, light green patina but sometime in the past somebody decided to clean it. This was my first green coin - I am also not sure if the patina is natural but I like the aspect, and by coincidence it's the first position in my first album with ancient coins.
Nice green Domitian - I've got this one: Domitian Æ As (c. 92-94 A.D.) Rome Mint IMP CAES DOMIT AVG GERM COS XVI CENS PER P P, laureate head right / MONETA AVGVSTI, Moneta standing left, holding scales and cornucopiae. RIC 756; BMC 469. (10.22 grams / 28 mm) Here's a recent greenie: Gordian III Æ 25 (c. 238-244 A.D.) Moesia Inf., Nicopolis ad Istrum Sabinius Modestus, legatus [ΑΥΤ Κ Μ] ΑΝΤΩ(Ν) ΓΟΡΔ[ΙΑΝ]ΟϹ, laureate, draped and cuirassed bust right / [ΥΠ ϹΑΒ ΜΟΔƐ]ϹΤΟΥ ΝΙΚΟΠΟΛƐΙΤΩΝ ΠΡΟϹ [ΙϹΤΡΟΝ], eagle standing facing, head left, wreath in beak (11.80 grams / 25 mm) Attribution Notes: Hristova/Hoeft/Jekov (2020) 8.36.1.17 (per Jochen1 CT); Varbanov 4192; AMNG 2099. RPC VII.2, (unassigned; ID 28829) Obv. / reverse die match to RPC specimen, from Baldwin's Auction 99, Lot 686, 4 May 2016 This was part of an unappetizing lot that did not attract any other eBay bidders, for understandable reasons : But the price was right (or so I think ).
