This is a coin I posted here a couple of months ago, and did likewise in the german and french ancient coin forums. I was intrigued by the fact I was unable to find any on-line records of any coin exactly like it, and wanted to gather more opinions about the piece. I also showed the coin to 4 dealers/expert collectors for their opinions. The opinion of the people I showed it too was unanimous (authentic), as well as by and large also on the german forum. So, that was very encouraging. What surprised me the most was the response this coin elicited in the french ancient coin forum that I occasionally frequent. A very interesting discussion. I am posting a link to this discussion here in case anybody is interested. In the opinion of an acknowledged expert in the coinage of Galba, this coin is authentic, unpublished and (quite likely) unique. I am saying 'quite likely' in an attempt to be conservative. It combines an as yet unrecorded obverse for Galba as IMPERATOR with a very rare reverse, which is known on only two other examples. I don't know how significant it is, but it goes to show sometimes when acquiring coins, you have to go by your instinct and impulse. I was certainly not the first to see this coin, but the minute I saw it, something told me 'buy it'. http://www.forumfw.com/t19430-denier-de-galba-frappe-en-hispania-en-apparence-inedit
Nice find and congrats. I like the toning it has, don't ever clean it further! I think many of us would gladly take a coin like that, especially a short-term emperor like him.
Wow @Eduard ! Congrats on the unique and great coin. Well done on this Imperator find, and it is gorgeous. I like the reverse with Hispania with spears... I have a Galba Quinarius RI GALBA AR Quinarius Lugdunum mint laureate r Victory globe stdng left 15mm 1.5g RIC 131 scarce I was perusing ACSearch, and there seem to be some other unique ones. Here is one that was unique, similar to yours, but different:
I'm definitely leaning towards 'highly significant' and I absolutely love it as is, let alone for the apparent uniqueness of it as stated. congrats on such a super cool find!!
A very significant coin imho. thanks for the link to the French discussion board, I found the discussion very interesting. I am glad to know that CT is not the only board where people scream "fake" without having the necessary background knowledge to form such an opinion. I am very interested in the scarce "Hispania" coinage of Galba. I only have one, but I would love to have more in my collection. Mine is RIC 193 and is very scarce indeed.
@Eduard I think you should send a photo and description of this coin to Dane at Wildwinds.com It would be good to have a listed online reference to this coin for study purposes.
Great instincts led to a great find, congrats!! I find the obverse legend to be the most intriguing feature of the coin. It must have been issued very early, before he adopted any other titles.
I hate to be the first on CT to voice concerns, but here it goes. My first overall impression of the coin is that it is false. I read the discussion linked to (and it goes three pages unless anyone missed that). That discussion is very good and most points have already been made on both sides of the argument so I wont go back over them. The bottom line is that the coin just doesn't look right. The portrait is just not a known style I am aware of, but I suppose it could be a new die. I would send it to David Sear, Barry Murphy, or any other well respected individuals. Internet comments will not solve your question.
Very nice coin indeed. As I specialize on portraits on coins, I find this portrait of Galba unusual, but this doesnot detract from the fact that the coin is genuine.
Yes, the portrait is unusual, but I have seen legitimate Galba denarii with unusual portraits before. For example take a look at mine below.
Wow, Eduard, what a remarkable find! I haven’t got a valuable opinion one way or the other regarding the authenticity of the piece, but if it were mine, it’s the sort of coin I’d send to David Sear for his expert in-hand assessment and get a COA for.
Interesting coin and discussion. Found a couple of “Epis de maïs” in the thread. => blé, pas maïs. Like on Orfew’s coin. Corn was introduced to Europe a few years after Galba
It looks like I may need to change the title of this thread. I last posted this denarius of Galba back in December 2017. At that stage, based on lengthy discussions on various forums, including the opinion a noted author on the coinage of Galba, the conclusion was this coin was very possibly authentic and unique. No other known example combined this obverse and reverse legends for the Galba HISPANIA type. Well, no coin is unique for long it seems....another, (extremely) similar example was auctioned late last year (2018) at a DNW auction. It combines the same obverse and reverse as my coin, and as such it appears to be a 2nd. known example of this type. As far as I can determine, both obverse and reverse dies are the same, or at least very very similar. The legend combination on obverse and reverse is the same. This is both 'good news and bad news' I say with same humour: 'bad' (in a way) because it seems my specimen is no longer 'unique', but very good, because it confirms the existence of a second and very worn example which was very probably a ground find. Does the appearance of a second example confirm that both are genuine and not counterfeits? well, that is another discussion, but at the moment I am thinking this new example confirms this variety as a genuine product of a Spanish mint. Here are pictures of both examples. Description from the Auction: Roman Imperial Coinage, Galba, Denarius, Tarraco (?) 68, laureate bust right, globe below, rev. Hispania draped, standing left, right hand holding corn-ears and poppy, left round shield and two vertical spears (cf. RIC 19 var.; cf. RSC 79). Fair, chipped and repaired, rare est. £60-80.