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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;dougsmit, post: 3513175, member: 19463&quot;]High eye appeal, low grade:&nbsp; I am slowly realizing that this description fits many of the coins I like the best.&nbsp; Long ago I chose the path of building a collection of F-VF coins that were not the finest in terms of technical grade but coins I found interesting for some reason. Now I am starting to realize I am something of a condition snob after all.&nbsp; I still do not care about wear but I do prefer coins I find pretty.&nbsp; This is what we call &#039;eye appeal&#039;.&nbsp; Coins with eye appeal can be worn or not but need to have something that grabs the eye and makes us feel happy for the experience.&nbsp; Of course this assumes we have the ability to overlook faults and concentrate on the glass half full rather than the glass half empty. The three coins here followed me home from the show yesterday.&nbsp; Each is faulty - all of my coins are faulty.&nbsp; Each has something that grabbed my eye and blinded me to their faults.&nbsp; As it happened, each of these coins sold for the exact same price.&nbsp; Opinions will differ as to which was the better &#039;buy&#039;.&nbsp; In fact, today, I regret buying one of them and one looks better to me than it did at the show. I could have bought a single coin with fewer faults for the total cost of the three but that is not how I work and the show did not have a nicer version of any of these three types. </p><p><br /></p><p>First is a coin I find to have high eye appeal despite its considerable detail reducing wear.&nbsp; It is an AE23 of Caligula from Caesaraugusta, Spain, with a two ox plowing scene reverse. Despite the wear the legends are clear and the significant details are boldly outlined.&nbsp; The stle is not great but normal for the Spanish mint that produced it.&nbsp; This is the coin I liked better when I got it home than I did at the show. Those of you who are allergic to wear would prefer one with a different set of footnotes. </p><p>[ATTACH=full]931688[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p>Second is a coin I liked at the show and continue to like despite all of its faults.&nbsp; Its eye appeal is mostly due to the exceptionally fine die work.&nbsp; I can not help thinking that the die cutter here was tasked with producing a special presentation as for New Year&#039;s distribution but regularly spent most of his time cutting dies for aurei.&nbsp; I like the high relief portrait style. The surfaces have many scrapes and nicks but the most bothersome faults are caused by double-striking at the top of the reverse.&nbsp; Asses from the middle period of Septimius&#039; reign (here 201 AD) are not common. This one has special interest with the double figures of Roma seated and Septimius standing, sacrificing over an altar. The reverse legend RESTITVTOR VRBIS suffers particularly from the double-strike. [ATTACH=full]931810[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>Of course, those who prefer silver can get the design on two separate denarii. </p><p>[ATTACH=full]931819[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=full]931821[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>Last of the three new coins is a type recently discussed on Coin Talk.&nbsp; I guess peer pressure could be blamed for my buying the coin but, at the show, I was attracted to the bold reverse.&nbsp; At home the obverse scratches were a lot more distracting.&nbsp; The portrait is not as harsh as some for Nerva and his is a case where uglier is better.&nbsp; Worse, the coin is common and probably easily upgradeable (for an additional price, of course).&nbsp; It is my third choice of the three. </p><p>[ATTACH=full]931836[/ATTACH] </p><p>I see my call for pile-on posts from the Pescennius coin failed to attract much traffic so here I&#039;ll ask posts of recent purchases but not just identified with a bunch of cut and paste catalog numbers&nbsp; and Wikipedia data.&nbsp; Instead tell us what it was about the coin that made it something you needed to add to your collection.&nbsp; Is it a long term purchase or something you hope to turn over for a quick profit?&nbsp; Did anyone influence your decision or was it entirely your idea?&nbsp; Sometimes it is easier to say what appeals to us than to explain why.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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