...I'm too cheap to pay $99 for it. Now that the sale is over can anyone tell me why I thought the ICG slabbed coin was 'special'? In this case, how much value is added by the slab? http://www.ebay.com/itm/S-119-Rome-...203?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item19e20bfa5b
If this were NGC, I would easily pay the price but David Vagi would outbid me. That should be a clue but if you need more look here: http://www.forumancientcoins.com/dougsmith/car-elag.html
How about this. I just went through the reverse legends listed in my Sear book and didn't find the letters on the depicted reverse. I'm going back now to see if I missed the coin under Denarius listed for Elagabalus. You're probably going to tell us that it is not even Elagabalus or possibly not a denarius.
Wrong emperor named on the label it looks like to me. Too young for elagabalus. obverse IMP CAE M AVR ANT AVG P TR P II, laureate and draped bust right. from behind; reverse SPES PVBLICA, Spes advancing left, flower in right, raising drapery with left. Possibly Laodicea ad Mare mint.
100 times more. With the exception of his involvement in slabbing ancients, I have great respect for Mr. Vagi. If there exists a genuine NGC slab marked Elagabalus with a coin of Caracalla inside I would be shocked. IGC and the other plastic purveyors are not expected to be correct all of the time. Why people pay extra for expert opinions by those who know not, I do not know. If you want amateur guesses you can ask here and get wild stabs in the dark by half a dozen of us beginners for free. We may not get all the low grade rare bronzes for sure but we at least can tell Caracalla when we see him. Perhaps you think I'm too hard on people who charge money without providing value added service. Perhaps I'm not in a good mood.
Not in the least. I once thought slabbing had something to do with real numismatics, but I was quickly disabused of that delusion. I don't place any more value on a coin for living in an NGC slab as opposed ICG. They may as well both have come from Joe Schmoe's Garage Guarantee Service.
I have one Doug, an ICG slab labeled Elagabalus but its a Caracalla. I got it on Frank Robinson's bargain list a couple of years ago for $15. I guess I just beat you to it. Its the only ancient I allow to be caged, I laugh every time I look at it.
Eh, I hate tpg as much as any, but i respect mr. Vagi as well. I might even like them a little if they actually used ancient coin collectors grades, and not some kind of frankenstein monster pseudo US grading system. So, I like mr vagi as a dealer/author, and as a person, but unless I believe authenticity would be a question, the slab has to go.
If authenticity was a question, and I was planning to drop a lot of scratch, I'd rather call David Sear than anyone else.
My only ICG ancient I got was my current vespasian. It was graded EF45. At least it was attributed right. Vespasian (69 - 79 A.D.) AR Denarius O:IMP CAES VESP AVG P M COS IIII, Laureate head right. R: AVGVR (above) TRI POT (below), simpulum, aspergillum, jug & lituus.(emblems of the augurate and potificate) Rome Mint 71 - 72 A.D. 17.5mm 3.3g RIC p. 1, 356 SRCV 2282 BMCRE 64 My Octavian & Caesar were NGC and those I broke free but have kept the slab tickets, which are correct too. I just detest ancients in slabs, lol.
