I bought this from a Forvm auction and it arrived today. I am very happy with it. It has a nice patina and much detail can be seen. I especially like the portrait. The description is from Forvm. Agrippa Copper as, references: RIC I Gaius 58; BMCRE II Tiberius 161 - 168; Cohen I 3, BnF II Caligula 77 - 97, SRCV I 1812; condition: Tooled, mint: Rome, weight: 9.353g, maximum diameter: 29.7mm, die axis: 135o, date struck: struck under Caligula, 38 A.D.; obverse M AGRIPPA L F COS III, head left wearing a rostral crown; reverse , Neptune standing half left, nude but for cloak over shoulders, dolphin in right, trident in left, S - C flanking across field
VERY nice AS of Agrippa, 'Orfew' !! I purchased the same type a number of years ago (a decade??) from a now retired Wayne Philips...same attribution as yours, I believe... although it is a bit darker than my photos suggest.
Marcus Agrippa AE As. Rome, 37-41 AD, 10.2g, 28mm, Axis 180° . OBV: M AGRIPPA L F COS III: Head left wearing rostral crown. REV: S-C: Neptune standing facing, head left, naked except for cloak draped behind him & over both arms, holding small dolphin in right hand & vertical trident in left. MINT: Rome: 37-41 AD REF: RIC-58, C-3, aorta 4
That's a great looking addition, Orfew (congrats) ... Agrippa always looks so serious ... => sadly, I don't have an Agrippa (*rats* I need to buy more coins!!)
The OP coin looks pretty decent, but I have to say that if I read "tooled" in the description listing, I would stay away from it. Some collectors are less averse to such altered coins, but unless you have some experience with the coin type and bronze ancients in general, you may be left wondering exactly which details of your coin are original and which are not.
I was not worried about that. I liked the eye appeal of the coin and the price was a lot less than it would have been for a non-tooled coin. Thanks, though, for your comments.
sweet patina on that nice big as orfew! i don't have an agrippa to post either, he's on my list. looking at the other coins posted here, i don't really see what has been tooled on the coin. does anyone?
I bought that one from a friend fellow collector, after I had been green with envy for 20 years, looking at it everytime we would meet : Agrippa, As Posthumous issue of Caligula, in honour of his grandfather Rome mint, ca AD 37/41 M AGRIPPA L F COS III, head of Agrippa left with rostral crown Neptun standing left, holding trident and dolphin. Large S C in fields 10.9 gr Ref : RCV #1812, Cohen #3 The following comment is a (quick) translation from CGB about a similar coin : "Although Augustus associated his close friend Agrippa in his coinage, he didn't for him alone. Gaius honoured the memory of his grandfather, recalling he had been COS III in 27 BC while Augustus was COS VII at the same time. Gaius, however, as the new emperor would like us to remember his double filiation : Through his father, Germanicus, he's descended from Nero Drusus and Antonia, thus from Tiberius ; through his mother Agrippina the elder, he tells us Agrippa and Julia are his grand parents and he's a grand grand son of Augustus. Agrippa remained prestigious all along the first century CE, although he had died 12 BC. Titus then Domitian will also strike this type, seemingly very succesfull towards population (see RCV 2589 and 2894)" Q
Great coins guys!! Frankly I don't see the 'tooling' in 'Orfew's' OP photo either---unless it was a light touch on the portrait---the patina is so full and rich and doesn't betray any alteration to my eyes at all... Which reminds me that it does indeed have a... 'sweet patina on that big as....' LOL And, I'm as ...'green with envy...' as anyone else 'Q' Pish, I almost forgot I had a 'dolphin' on mine---it's kind of obliterated---yours is so clear and distinct!!