Hadrian Sestertius

Hey gang. This piece was in a lot that included a couple of cast sestertius's and some that were definitely good.

I wanted to post this piece for opinions. I think it's good... but I'm an noob at best with these ancients. It weighs 24.4g and is approximately 34.5mm.

 

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Looks good to me, but wait for other opinions.

 

The image you posted look good. Have you checked it against known fakes at Forum or Forgery Network?

 

I did with no matches.

 

Very nice. I have seen this reverse on gold coins but never on bronze. At any rate COS III was a great year for coins.

 

If there are no matches, then I think you have a very nice coin. Sestertii are very desirable coins, especially in this condition.

 

Although the devices and legends on this coin appear to be highly worn from circulation, the outlines of the legends and devices are curiously sharp despite the apparent wear. Doesn't this indicate that the coin has been extensively re-engraved?

 

I thought the same thing, but being new to ancients, didn't want to stick my foot in my mouth. The device edges seem too sharp for a coin in VF at best - I suspect some tooling. I would still be happy to own it though.

 

Very nice coin, but it appears to have been tooled and retoned. Still I would love to have it.

 

Ok, So I plan to list this on ebay.

Including a note in the description about possibly being tooled would be sufficient in the eyes of ancient collectors to be above board?... I want to make sure that this is all that would be expected of me... I'm not sure of the etiquette in the Ancient selling community.

Thanks

 

I would say possibly tooled and/or smoothed. Smoothed is not a great crime, and is not looked on as poorly as tooling, but still.

I bet you it will go for a good price on Ebay. Many there don't seem to care about tooling a rip.

You have checked the edges for any seams, right?

 

Yeah... I've seen a lot of the lower end counterfeit ancients... that's the first place I look... The higher end stuff is what I'm worried about.

 

I greatly admire your decision and willingness to point out the possibility of tooling when you list this coin for auction. That's rare on EBay and would, I think, give you more credibility as a reputable seller.

As noted above, smoothing is certainly less of an issue since most Roman bronzes show some degree of smoothing; this is perfectly acceptable to most/all levels of collectors.

One other item is the amazing roundness of this coin -- an almost perfect circle. This doesn't necessarily make me believe it's a counterfeit (I think counterfeiters would probably make the coin look less worn so that it didn't appear to be tooled) and thus the roundness works in its favor.

 

I admire it as well. You would probably be one of three or four dealers who have the guts to actually say this Matt.

 

A wise man told me once "You can't put lipstick on a pig".

Plus I like to be able to sleep at night.

Matt

 

I suspect that the reverse right legends were only touched up but the left and obverse were created from scratch. There is a little taper from the field at left to the reverse figure. It is not the best tool job but good enough that someone will buy it from you on eBay and then resell it without the details. This is a lot better than some we have seen from Lanz in Germany recently that regularly get written up in the Forvm Ancients fakes section. The scary part is that there are certainly better tool jobs out there and we probably paid well for them.

 

You guys are good - you can spot tooling of the legends on this coin. I, for one, don't see anything obviously or grossly wrong with the lettering on the obverse, while it does seem a bit irregular on the reverse - but again, nothing that hits me.
I note that I am certainly not an expert, but have seen enough sestertii to at least discern if something is wrong.

As a matter of interest, I compared the obverse lettering on Mat's coin to this Hadrian in my collection. I think I see some similarities in the style of the lettering between the two coins. I assume mine is original (it has other problems though - irregular surface), so
again the OP's coin seems OK to me based on this comparison. (Another possibility is maybe both mine and Mats are tooled!) !).

 

From my very basic understanding of tooling, I don't think either Mat's or Eduard's coins have been tooled. But, then again, I have never claimed to be an expert. Just a pert!

 

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Take a look at the higher magnification detail on the obverse of this coin. The edge around the ear is so sharp that you could shave with it, yet the coin has clearly been worn almost smooth everywhere else. Also, look at the front of the neck on the portrait. There is literally no evidence of the original strike in this area -- instead, someone has engraved a straight line where the original neckline would have been but had been worn down to the field.

From a historical standpoint, this is an excellent representation of Hadrian and Roman coinage in general. But, with all due respect to the current owner, most serious collectors would want a coin that has had minimal smoothing and no re-engraving, even if the overall appearance suffered in comparison to this coin.

 

I see this coin sold on Ebay for only $152. I would have thought it would sell for more.