Otho Denarius! Just added a great provenance!

Yay, I just heard from my representative for the Kuenker auction 312 in Osnabruck (Lot 2822). I was after 2 coins and I won one. The coin I won is an Otho denarius with the PONT MAX reverse. I wanted a second Otho but I did not want the same old Securitas reverse.

In a thread a while back some members were discussing the fact that coin prices do not always go up. This coin sold in a March 2018 Kuenker auction (304 Lot 1073) for almost double what it hammered at today.

Needless to say I am thrilled to add this to my collection. My representative examined the coin in person in Osnabruck and told me that the portrait is much more sharply struck than it appears to be in the photos. I cannot wait to get my hands on this one. I love the toning, the clear legend on the reverse and the lovely portrait.

Please post your coins of Otho, or coins that went down in price from one auction to the next.



Here is the coin:

Otho, 69.
Denarius, Rome;
3.03 g.
Obv: Head r .IMP M OTHO CAESAR AUG TR P
Rev:Equitas stands l. with scales and scepter. PONT MAX
BMC 6; Coh. 9; RIC² 19.
Fine tone fine
Auction Fritz Rudolf Künker 304, Osnabrück 2018, No. 1073.
Auction Fritz Rudolf Künker 312, Osnabrück 2018, No. 2822
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Congrats on the new Otho.


Otho (69 A.D.)
Egypt, Alexandria
Billon Tetradrachm
O: AYTOK MAPK OΘΩNOΣ KAIΣ ΣEB, laureate head right, LA (year 1) lower right.
R: EΛEY-ΘEPIA, Eleutheria (Liberty) standing left, wreath in extended right hand, scepter in left hand, leaning with left elbow on column, simpulum (ladle used for tasting and pouring sacrificial libations) left in lower left field.
12.58g
24.4mm
Milne 359; RPC I 5354 (5 spec.); Dattari 327; BMC Alexandria p. 25, 208; Curtis 238; Kampmann 18.6; Emmett 184


This variety with a simpulum on the reverse is much rarer than the same type without this control symbol. RPC reports only 5 specimens with the simpulum and 17 specimens without it. This variety is missing from the important collections in Cologne, Paris, and Milan, and we know of only one example offered at auction in the past two decades (CNG 76, 12 Sep 2007, lot 3152, VF, $430 plus fees).


Otho (69 A.D.)
Egypt, Alexandria
Billon Tetradrachm
O: ΑΥΤΟΚ ΜΑΡΚ ΟΘΩΝΟΣ ΚΑΙΣ ΣΕΒ, laureate head right; L A (date) to right.
R:ΡΩΜΗ, helmeted and cuirassed bust of Roma right, holding shield and spear.
13.4g
23mm
Dattari (Savio) 330; K&G 18.9; RPC I 5362; Emmett 186.1

 

That's a great catch Andrew. I only have a provincial Tet of Otho, would love a denarius. Congrats

 

Congratulations. A very nice coin of Otho. My first Otho denarius I owned was the PAX ORBIS TERRARVM reverse. I got it from Tom Cederlind back in the 80's. But alas, I sold it years ago. The next one I had was a denarius with the SECVRITAS P R reverse and sold back in 2014. I'm currently looking for another Otho denarius for my current collection. Hopefully when I get one, I will keep it for a long time.

 

I hope you find one you like soon!

 

Sold through CNG in 2009 for around 2.5 times the price I got it for through HJB in 2018.

Odoacer, Kingdom of Italy
AE nummus
Obv: OD[O-VAC], bare-headed, draped, cuirassed bust right
Rev: Odoacer's monogram (letters ODOVA) within wreath
Mint: Ravenna
Date: 476-493 AD
Ref: RIC X 3502

 

Nice catch!

 

Congrats on the fantastic portrait!!!

We are now PONT MAX Otho buddies. (Mine is Ceres, though.)

 

That's a beauty. I'm an Otho and Vitellius away from a Twelve Caesars set. I'd be proud to have that one. Any Otho that retains traces of that bad perm...

 

If the old days auction firms could list coins as "sold" that did not really sell, thus increasing the apparent value of the coin and type. I think that is considered unethical now (It was unethical then, but common enough anyway).

March 2018 is not long ago and if someone bought it then they seem not to have wanted it for their collection. Here it reappears with the same firm only months later. If it was really bought by a person, that person must have thought it would go up by more than 30% just to cover fees. Doubtful.

I do not know, but I doubt it sold in any real sense in March. A possibility is that it "sold" and the PR came out but the buyer declined to pay, so they had to offer it again. I know this type of thing happens. Another possibility is that it didn't meet the reserve and then some number was misleadingly listed as the sale price, which increases the apparent value. A PR of 700 would make future buyers happier to bid at least 380 to apparently acquire a bargain.

 

Fantastic addition Andrew! And at a bargain price too. Congrats!

 

I had no idea it sold for 700 Euro+ until after I had won the auction. My representative suggested a bid of 650 if I wanted it. I agreed to that as a maximum and was happy to get it for 380+.

 

Coin-grats! I got skunked at Kunker this time (my first time bidding through them). I bid on a beautiful Sicilian tetras and that massive roman Republican boulder that sold for just twice what I bid (hammered at 400 euros).
I did feel a bit slighted though when they didn't take my bid of a half stick of bubble gum, some pocket lint and a bad opinion on this saweeeeeeet thang...

(Though she actually did sell under the estimate of 50,000 euros at a paltry 42,000. I saved the image as she set my heart ablaze)

 

fine looking Otho, Orfew!

 

Nice!

 

Here are a couple more. The PONT MAX was the later addition, and cost much less than the SECVRITAS:

 

Nice acquisition @Orfew and at a very good price

I'm always confused when a coin sells for half the price it fetched just a few weeks or months earlier. When it's years you can always imagine fashion has changed and a whole segment (e.g. french royals in the 90' in France) is disregarded. But in such a short time.... I can't but suspect some cash laundry or something of the like

A few years back I privately purchased from HJB the following :


Pertinax, Denarius - Rome mint, AD 193
IMP CAES P HELV PERTIN AVG, laureate head right
VOT DECEN TR P COS II, emperor sacrificing left, with patera held over tripod altar
2.98 gr, 17 mm
Ref : RIC # 13a, Cohen # 56, RCV # 6048
Ex Harlan J. Berk

And discovered only a few days later that it had already been sold at Vcoins a few weeks earlier for 1.7 time the price I paid. I asked Curtis Clay who ensured me it wasn't them who bought it from Vcoins.

Q

 

vitellius found on catawiki last week..now looking for Otho and Galba..than i have my 12..caesars..is a big search

 

That’s a good portrait and clear legends on that Vitellius. Congrats. I’m trying to do as many of these coins in bronze. A Vitellius denarius would be easier, but it’s my curse that for some reason I have to do things the hard way. But as with most things, it’s pacing myself on my budget, not coin availability, that prevents me from finishing the set tomorrow.

 

Welcome to the Otto-Pont-Max club, Andrew!

Pretty example you have there, with a well-defined portrait and a fair bit of Otto's famous wig detail still visible.

My only example is a Pont-Max as well (and I had to pay a fair bit more than you did already 10 years ago..)