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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;TIF, post: 2550432, member: 56859&quot;]&quot;Potin&quot; seems to be a vague term meaning &quot;pot metal&quot;: base metal with little to no silver.&nbsp; As Mat has pointed out many times, these &quot;mutt&quot; metals seem prone to accelerated corrosion.</p><p><br /></p><p>That hasn&#039;t stopped me from snarfing them up <img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie8" alt=":D" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" />, although I do inspect them carefully, preemptively treat if there is any question, and store them carefully.</p><p><br /></p><p>Most of my later Roman Egypt tetradrachms (in other words, those made from these extremely debased metals) came from a few large group lots.&nbsp; I&#039;ve since become more selective in purchasing.&nbsp; Note that &quot;selective&quot; doesn&#039;t always equal &quot;smart&quot;, as evidenced by my recent ex-Dattari purchases.&nbsp; I&#039;m a sucker for an old pedigree and plate coins <img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie1" alt=":)" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" />.</p><p><br /></p><p>The first and second century tetradrachms of Roman Egypt were made from an alloy called billon-- a word I misread for three years before Warren Esty pointed out that it wasn&#039;t &quot;bill<b>i</b>on&quot; <img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie10" alt=":oops:" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" />.&nbsp; Billon tetradrachms had varying degrees of silver, declining to ~10% by Gallienus and then down to little or none in following years.&nbsp; Even the high silver content tetradrachms often look pretty bad when compared to silver Imperial coins.&nbsp; <a href="https://www.cointalk.com/proxy.php?image=https%3A%2F%2Fstatic.wixstatic.com%2Fmedia%2Fae43f8_f026410b962d4063a80dbde2389d77b8.jpg%2Fv1%2Ffill%2Fw_960%2Ch_493%2Cal_c%2Clg_1%2Cq_90%2Fae43f8_f026410b962d4063a80dbde2389d77b8.jpg&amp;hash=5458dfff41a6c35e28d88729b8be4e44" class="internalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.cointalk.com/proxy.php?image=https%3A%2F%2Fstatic.wixstatic.com%2Fmedia%2Fae43f8_f026410b962d4063a80dbde2389d77b8.jpg%2Fv1%2Ffill%2Fw_960%2Ch_493%2Cal_c%2Clg_1%2Cq_90%2Fae43f8_f026410b962d4063a80dbde2389d77b8.jpg&amp;hash=5458dfff41a6c35e28d88729b8be4e44">My first Alexandrian tetradrachm was of Antoninus Pius</a>, part of a small group lot, and I thought it was the ugliest coin I&#039;d ever seen.&nbsp; I almost gave it away.&nbsp; Now I love them.&nbsp; It makes me reluctant to sell or give away any coins which I currently view as unappealing.&nbsp; Who knows how I might feel about them next year?</p><p><br /></p><p>Here are two of my favorite potin tetradrachms.</p><p><br /></p><p><img src="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/ae43f8_ff6055d603b844998942ed2bc3a1859e.jpg/v1/fill/w_1000,h_513,al_c,q_90/ae43f8_ff6055d603b844998942ed2bc3a1859e.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p><b>EGYPT, Alexandria.&nbsp; Claudius II Gothicus</b></p><p>year 1, CE 268</p><p>tetradrachm</p><p>Obv:&nbsp; AVTKKΛAΔIOCCEB; laureate draped bust right</p><p>Rev:&nbsp; eagle standing right, head left, wreath in beak; L- A in right field</p><p>Ref:&nbsp; Emmett 3878(1), R1</p><p><i>purchased from a mostly non-ancient coin dealer at WFOM, Chicago, Aug. 2014.&nbsp; A common coin with an unexciting reverse but of exceptional artistry.</i></p><p><i><br /></i></p><p><i><img src="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/ae43f8_511712208cf2410296452349553cc95f~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_1000,h_625,al_c,q_90/ae43f8_511712208cf2410296452349553cc95f~mv2.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /> </i></p><p><b>EGYPT, Alexandria. Diocletian</b></p><p>year 11, CE 294/5</p><p>tetradrachm, 19 mm, 7.6 gm</p><p>Obv:&nbsp; ΔIOKΛHTIANOCCEB; laureate head right</p><p>Rev:&nbsp; Draped bust of Selene right, crescent before; L IA behind</p><p>Ref:&nbsp; Emmett 4080.11, R5</p><p><i>An unusually well-struck and well-preserved late Roman Egypt tetradrachm with an interesting reverse.</i>[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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