Message:

<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Severus Alexander, post: 2769319, member: 84744&quot;]A <a href="https://www.cointalk.com/threads/an-interesting-genius-standing-follis.296960/" class="internalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.cointalk.com/threads/an-interesting-genius-standing-follis.296960/">recent thread</a> from [USER=57495]@zumbly[/USER] motivated me to capture a head-on-a-platter follis. Mission accomplished, and here it is:</p><p><br /></p><p>Maximinus II Daia (308-313), Alexandria (312/13), RIC 160b.&nbsp; (Genius is holding the head of Serapis = head-on-a-platter.) ex. Dattari</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]638186[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>I like that the head of Serapis is fully clear and crisp, and I&#039;m very happy that I scored a head-on-a-platter so quickly after being tickled by the idea!</p><p><br /></p><p>Now, if anything deserves to be called &quot;toning&quot; on a bronze coin (as opposed to patina), it&#039;s the iridescent coppery sheen on this coin.&nbsp; As it happens, I picked up a few other ex. Dattari coins in the same sale:</p><p><br /></p><p>Carinus (283-285) antoninianus of Cyzicus, RIC 324:</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]638187[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>Galeria Valeria, follis of Alexandria (308), RIC 81:</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]638190[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>Licinius II as Caesar (317-324), follis of Cyzicus, RIC 18 (that&#039;s a wreath in the eagle&#039;s beak, it doesn&#039;t have an ankh for a head!):</p><p>[ATTACH=full]638196[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>And from an earlier sale, Maximianus (285-310), antoninianus of Ticinum (295-8), RIC 545 with the Farnese Hercules reverse (I have a fondness for this type):</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]638197[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>Notice a pattern?&nbsp; They all have some iridescent copper, or a thin brown that&#039;s in the same ballpark. There&#039;s less on the Galeria Valeria and Maximianus, but that may be because they&#039;re partially silvered. </p><p><br /></p><p>My thought is that Dattari cleaned these high grade coins down to bare metal, or almost bare metal, and this toning is what they have acquired during the last century. What do you think of this hypothesis? Unless there&#039;s a term already, maybe we can call it &quot;Dattari toning&quot;?&nbsp; Whatever it&#039;s called, I like it. <img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie54" alt=":hungry:" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" />&nbsp; (Partly due to [USER=80783]@Julius Germanicus[/USER] and his taste in bronze, I bet.)</p><p><br /></p><p>Pile on with whatever you like, but I&#039;d especially like to see some stuff with similar toning.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

Your name or email address:

Do you already have an account?

• No, create an account now.
• Yes, my password is:
• Forgot your password?

Stay logged in