Hi everyone I recently bought a Nero pre-reform denarius for a quite low price. You can all see why. Auction pic: NERO (54-68). AR, Denarius. Rome. Obv: [NERO] CAESAR AVG IMP. Bare-headed bust of Nero, right. Rev: PONTIF MAX TR P X COS IIII P P Virtus in military dress; standing left, holding long spear and parazonium resting on knee. RIC I (second edition), 41. Condition: Fine. Weight: 3.22 g. Diameter: 18 mm. 1. Do you guys think the coin looks legit? It’s 3.22 grams. Coparable samples are around 3.5, but this Naumann coin is also 3.22: https://www.biddr.com/auctions/numismatiknaumann/browse?a=2383&l=2629869 2. To me it looks like the pits are on the find patina. Would you remove it? In case how? The coin has had an acetone bath, and is currently in distilled water. How would you guys proceed? 3. Do you find the coin too ugly to be collectible? (I know at least two who don’t).
Cool coin! Looks legit in my amateur opinion. I was wondering if that was horn silver. Not to hard to clean off. Just do a search here and you'll find all the things needed. Pshhh, it's Nero! Anything with that lovable villian is collectable! Here's my first Nero, a gift from my dad:
I like Nero too! I have been on a Nero roll this year, and was quite happy to get a young portrait We’re talking sodium thiosulphate in my near future, right? My recent Neros:
Anything that pitted is genuine, I think. If the top pic is the coin in its present state then I wouldn't touch it. Looks great as it is! (FWIW: I've just been watching the Greek section of the Roma live-auction, and I can't tell you what a relief it is to see an affordable coin again). I also think you should sell it on. If only because it would give the future owner the pleasure of reading the EX-SC provenance (ex-svessien collection) across the fields. Here's my common as:
Heck yeah you've been on a roll And you are absolutely correct! I couldn't remember the name of the stuff but here's mine: And then baking soda to neutralize and get off the crud. It's now a full blown Nero party! And to round things out, here are not one but two different Nero Macedonian shield types, the second is very rare:
I somehow get the designer handbag feeling looking at the Roma auction. I just can’t participate. Good observation with the EX-SC! Actually I have gotten rid of a lot of ex-svessien coins the last two years... Trying to bring in the stayers now. Nice as!
Those pre-reform Nero denarii are hard to get and important in the history of the denarius. Like everyone else I expect yours is genuine; given the corrosion the weight seems fine. On the other hand I tend to avoid coins that corroded... it's too easy for a counterfeiter to corrode their imitation like that and cover up that it isn't genuine. Hard to authenticate. Mine also has problems, which enabled me (and @Orfew, its previous owner) to get it at a reasonable price:
I too had my doubts about my first Nero (although post-reform), regarding the pitting on the reverse, it's also underweight! but upon closer inspection with a scope I still saw silver under the layers.
I thought the same. I’m probably going too look at it with a suspicious mind for a while. And see if similar coins suddenly hit the market in numbers. But the patina seems genuine. Nice denarius!
Not an expert, but for me the coin is genuine. I still have the bad habit of cleaning coins when I am not sure what I am doing. I used thiosulphate too but my results were mixed. My best result, I think, is this Domitian denarius But, again, 1. I wouldn't do this again with the same coin - I think it had more character before 2. usually my results were worse So yours being a prereform denarius, I would leave it exactly like it is unless you are a specialist in the cleaning are.a My answer is a definite Here is one of my Nero coins (never found a silver for my tastes and wallet) Mine is exfoliated and had BD which I removed mechanically and from what I see, it has not come back.
