Newest ancient in my collection...

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I no longer recommend removing slabbed coins from their holders. Instead I suggest selling them to someone who cares and using the money to buy a better coin. There are nice coins in slabs but there are also junkers and the writing on the label does not define the difference in every case. I bid on a slabbed coin I wanted but it went for 3x my bid. I don't know if that was because someone else saw that the coin was nice or if they just read the label. I have faith that the segment of the market that buys labels will tire of the hobby and things will return to normal or I'll just die and take my worthless coins with me. Either way, no matter. Collectors of slabs are welcome here if and only if they realize that there is something about the coins worth learning that does not appear on the label.

Like ancients, gold is easier to photograph raw. My coin may be a junker but my photo is prettier.


I assume all realize that Dr. Sheldon thought a MS70 was worth seventy times the price of a basal poor 01. That is where he got the 70 business as opposed to another number. It was not his worst idea. If you support any idea that ever came out of that particular head, I hope it is coin related.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Herbert_Sheldon

 

I was once a mesomorph, but the good life has gradually transformed me into an endomorph.

 

Yikes, I hate to tell you, but that $5 Indian is a fake.




























Nah, not really. Nice coin!

 

Sheldon termed your situation "transitory weight change" but most of us call it "middle age spread".

 

I've always found the Sheldon scale hard to comprehend. Giving a coin a mark out of 70 takes the joy out of the hobby and reduces it to a dull science - an MS70 is deemed 'better' than an MS69 but you wouldn't know the difference without a magnifying glass and too much time on your hands. Would you give a Van Gogh a mark out of 70 - or enjoy it for what it is?

 

I am also amazed at how the nuance of MS Grading significantly affects a coin. I collected US Coins growing up, dumped much of my collection in the mid-80's, then re-emerged into collecting early 2000's. I missed the transition from G-VG-F-VF-XF AU-Proof to the Slabbing/MS Scales. Turned me off, and due to my love of Ancient History, I delved into the Dark Side... Ancient Coins.

I buy bullion, but I saw this opportunity and snapped it up. With Gold rising, within a week my purchase premium was gone and, now I am over the water mark for the gold value in the coin. However, BECAUSE it was "cleaned", there is no premium...even though the Gold Value gives it buoyancy. Virtually all Ancients are cleaned, and it enhances its value because you can see the attributes. This 1883-S Liberty Eagle is "ruined" for a collector and there is a lot of History around this coin...However, it has a store of wealth value for me...

 

My only slabbed coin. I wanted this coin because the statue on top of the column is almost visible.




Roman Republican AR denarius, Rome, 82 BC
L.Censorinus 3.90 gm (hope that weight was pre-slab, I could not check)
Obv - Laureate head of Apollo right
Rev - Marsyas walking left, shouldering wine-skin, right arm raised, naked except for tall column bearing statue (of Minerva, draped figure, Victory or ?) behind. Before L.CENSOR
The seller's attribution -RCV 281; NGC AU 5/5 - 3/5.
My attribution - Cr 363/1d (no control marks);
BMCRR - Rome 2657 - 2659; Syd - 737
VF/gVF with environmental damage to obverse, well centered and well struck
I picked this coin because the reverse is well struck and centered. I can almost see the statue on the column that is given several different names.

I like the story of Marsyas and how it relates to the moneyer Censorinus. In Greek mythology Marsyas was a satyr who challenged Apollo to a music contest. The winner could do as he pleased to the loser. Marsyas lost and Apollo tied him to a tree and killed him. (Those of you who want a more graphic account can google Marsyas.) The Romans considered Marsyas the inventer of augery (interpreting omens), a proponent of free speech and was considered one of the gods who looked after the Plebs (common people). The first Plebe elected as Censor erected a statue of Marsyas in the Forum. This coin shows the statue. L Censorinus issued the coin at the time Sula "recaptured" Rome for the Patricians (aristocrats or old families) from Marius (hero of the new families). Censorinus was killed in the proscriptions that followed.