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My first dupondius -- I couldn't resist the crocodile
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<p>[QUOTE="DonnaML, post: 4546308, member: 110350"]I am not an active collector of the bronzes of the Empire's first couple of hundred years -- I've never bought a sestertius, or a dupondius before now, and have only a small handful of bronze asses (one from Augustus, one from Caligula, and two from Claudius; I bought the Caligula and the Claudius coins because I can't afford to buy denarii for either of them.) In general, the ones I like are too expensive for me, and it seems to be a lot easier to find nice-looking denarii within my price range with good images and complete legends.</p><p><br /></p><p>But I made an exception for this coin: even though it's not in great condition by any means, the price was right and it plays directly into my fondness for coins with animals, and for Ancient Egypt. (As shown by my antiquities collection!)</p><p><br /></p><p>Augustus AE (Brass) Dupondius, 9-3 BCE, Colonia Augusta Nemausus [Nîmes] (Galla Narbonensis province) Mint. Obv. Heads of Agrippa left and Augustus right, back to back, with Agrippa wearing combined laurel wreath and rostral crown, and Augustus wearing oak wreath, IMP above heads and DIVIF below / Rev. Crocodile right standing on two palm branches, chained to palm-shoot standing behind it, with tip of shoot leaning to right; wreath above and to left of palm-shoot, with long ties extending behind shoot to right, COL - NEM to left and right of palm-shoot. “Type III” of Augustus & Agrippa/Crocodile coin*: RIC I 158 (p. 52), RPC I 524 (see <a href="https://rpc.ashmus.ox.ac.uk/search/browse?volume_id=1&number=524" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://rpc.ashmus.ox.ac.uk/search/browse?volume_id=1&number=524" rel="nofollow">https://rpc.ashmus.ox.ac.uk/search/browse?volume_id=1&number=524</a>), Sear RCV I 1730 (ill.). [<i>See Sear RCV I at p. 337:</i> <i>Commemorates conquest of Egypt in 30 BCE; influenced by Augustus’s settlement of veterans of Egyptian campaign in Nemausus after colony was founded in 27 BCE.</i>] 28 mm., 12.09 g.</p><p><br /></p><p>Seller's image:</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1125492[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>* The various "types" are as described by [USER=108806]@Alwin[/USER] in his post at <a href="https://www.cointalk.com/threads/my-new-nemausus-dupondius.352945/#post-3985143" class="internalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.cointalk.com/threads/my-new-nemausus-dupondius.352945/#post-3985143">https://www.cointalk.com/threads/my-new-nemausus-dupondius.352945/#post-3985143</a>. The coin was actually sold to me as a Type IV, issued beginning ca. 10 A.D., but it clearly isn't one, because it doesn't have the "P - P" letters on the obverse, and the tip of the palm shoot in mine leans to the right instead of the left. And it's clearly not a Type II, in which Augustus is bareheaded, whereas in mine he has a crown of oak leaves. So it has to be a Type III, from ca. 9-3 BCE.</p><p><br /></p><p>The seller suggested to me when I bought the coin that some of the darker deposits might be removed, and the coin's appearance might be improved, if I let it soak in distilled water for a few days, changing the water each day, and doing nothing else to the coin besides gently rubbing it with my thumbs on occasion. So I tried that. At the end of the process, the obverse looked basically the same. Here are a couple of photos I took of the reverse.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1125493[/ATTACH] </p><p>[ATTACH=full]1125494[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>The good news is that the crocodile's snout does appear to be a little more distinct, and I can actually see a couple of teeth in there. The bad news is that the pit at the top of and above the crocodile's back, directly to the right of the palm shoot -- which was obviously already present, as you can see in the seller's photo -- seems more obvious to me now, because most of the schmutz that was inside it came out. I still really like the coin, but I'm feeling about 50-50 as to whether or not there was a net benefit to its overall appearance from what I did.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>
[QUOTE="DonnaML, post: 4546308, member: 110350"]I am not an active collector of the bronzes of the Empire's first couple of hundred years -- I've never bought a sestertius, or a dupondius before now, and have only a small handful of bronze asses (one from Augustus, one from Caligula, and two from Claudius; I bought the Caligula and the Claudius coins because I can't afford to buy denarii for either of them.) In general, the ones I like are too expensive for me, and it seems to be a lot easier to find nice-looking denarii within my price range with good images and complete legends. But I made an exception for this coin: even though it's not in great condition by any means, the price was right and it plays directly into my fondness for coins with animals, and for Ancient Egypt. (As shown by my antiquities collection!) Augustus AE (Brass) Dupondius, 9-3 BCE, Colonia Augusta Nemausus [Nîmes] (Galla Narbonensis province) Mint. Obv. Heads of Agrippa left and Augustus right, back to back, with Agrippa wearing combined laurel wreath and rostral crown, and Augustus wearing oak wreath, IMP above heads and DIVIF below / Rev. Crocodile right standing on two palm branches, chained to palm-shoot standing behind it, with tip of shoot leaning to right; wreath above and to left of palm-shoot, with long ties extending behind shoot to right, COL - NEM to left and right of palm-shoot. “Type III” of Augustus & Agrippa/Crocodile coin*: RIC I 158 (p. 52), RPC I 524 (see [URL]https://rpc.ashmus.ox.ac.uk/search/browse?volume_id=1&number=524[/URL]), Sear RCV I 1730 (ill.). [[I]See Sear RCV I at p. 337:[/I] [I]Commemorates conquest of Egypt in 30 BCE; influenced by Augustus’s settlement of veterans of Egyptian campaign in Nemausus after colony was founded in 27 BCE.[/I]] 28 mm., 12.09 g. Seller's image: [ATTACH=full]1125492[/ATTACH] * The various "types" are as described by [USER=108806]@Alwin[/USER] in his post at [URL]https://www.cointalk.com/threads/my-new-nemausus-dupondius.352945/#post-3985143[/URL]. The coin was actually sold to me as a Type IV, issued beginning ca. 10 A.D., but it clearly isn't one, because it doesn't have the "P - P" letters on the obverse, and the tip of the palm shoot in mine leans to the right instead of the left. And it's clearly not a Type II, in which Augustus is bareheaded, whereas in mine he has a crown of oak leaves. So it has to be a Type III, from ca. 9-3 BCE. The seller suggested to me when I bought the coin that some of the darker deposits might be removed, and the coin's appearance might be improved, if I let it soak in distilled water for a few days, changing the water each day, and doing nothing else to the coin besides gently rubbing it with my thumbs on occasion. So I tried that. At the end of the process, the obverse looked basically the same. Here are a couple of photos I took of the reverse. [ATTACH=full]1125493[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=full]1125494[/ATTACH] The good news is that the crocodile's snout does appear to be a little more distinct, and I can actually see a couple of teeth in there. The bad news is that the pit at the top of and above the crocodile's back, directly to the right of the palm shoot -- which was obviously already present, as you can see in the seller's photo -- seems more obvious to me now, because most of the schmutz that was inside it came out. I still really like the coin, but I'm feeling about 50-50 as to whether or not there was a net benefit to its overall appearance from what I did.[/QUOTE]
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My first dupondius -- I couldn't resist the crocodile
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