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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Orfew, post: 3555362, member: 74968&quot;]These following 3 coins are still highlights of my collection.</p><p><br /></p><p>This first one was bought from a little known auction house that had many unremarkable lower grade Roman coins. I looked anyway and I am very glad I did. In amongst the rather pedestrian offering was this little gem of a coin. When I purchased this coin it was the only one known. About a month after I bought this coin our own [USER=82616]@David Atherton[/USER] found one on the auction site. A few months ago [USER=99239]@Suarez[/USER] posted that&nbsp; there was one that sold in a well known auction house. So as far as I know there are 3 of these known. There are a couple of features that make this coin special. First my coin is the RIC reference coin (there is no plate of the coin in the new RIC). Second, the portrait is not only left facing but is bare headed as well. This combination only exists for 3 coin types in RIC, 2 denarii and one Aureus. The 2 denarii types include my coin (RIC 773), and RIC 853. For RIC 853 there are about 7 known examples. I sent a photo of this coin to Ted Buttrey the co-author of the new RIC shortly before he passed away. </p><p><br /></p><p>Vespasian (69-79). AR Denarius (18.08mm, 3.50g, 6h). Rome, AD 75. </p><p>Obv: Bare head l. R IMP CEASAR VESPASIANUS AUG</p><p>Rev: Pax seated l., resting l. elbow on throne and holding branch.</p><p>PON MAX TRP COS VI </p><p>RIC II 773 (this coin); RSC –. Extremely Rare variety, near VF. </p><p>Ex Vecchi sale 13, 1998, 757.</p><p>Ex: St Paul Antiques auction 7 Lot 285 June 11, 2017</p><p>Coin depicted in the Wildwinds.com database.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]945053[/ATTACH] </p><p>This coin of Titus was a lucky find indeed. I was searching the newly posted coins on VCoins and spotted something very unusual. It looked like a PAX seated reverse with a missing arm. I immediately went to my copy of RIC and discovered that this seemingly very common coin was in fact very rare. The figure on the reverse was not PAX at all but was SECVRITAS instead. The arm was not missing it was raised above the head. While I had the coin in my cart to check out I received and email from [USER=82616]@David Atherton[/USER] informing me that this rare Titus has appeared and that it should be bought immediately because the chances of another coming to market soon were few and far between. I was grateful to have the conformation and I completed the purchase.</p><p><br /></p><p>Titus as Caesar 75 CE</p><p>AR Denarius</p><p>20 mm 3.30 g</p><p>Obv: Head laureate r; T CAESAR IMP VESPASIAN</p><p>Rev: Securitas seated l; head resting on raised arm; PONTIF TR P COS IIII</p><p>Ric 784 (R2) [Vespasian] BMC--, RSC--</p><p>Purchased from Zurqieh on vcoins; April 18, 2019</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]945055[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>I was watching the Artemide Aste auction taking place in San Marino. A few days prior I had noticed a coin I wanted to bid on. It did not seem to be attracting very much attention which I thought as very unusual for this popular coin type. The coin I was watching was a lifetime portrait denarius of Julius Caesar. While it is true that the coin has a deep scratch and this may have dissuaded some bidders I felt that the positive features of the coin very much outweighed the scratch. For example the coin is extremely well entered (a rarity for these) and the portrait is great. The opening bid was 400 Euro and I placed a bid of 420 Euro during the live auction. Much to my surprise there were no more bids and I had won the coin. I do not know what everyone else was doing that day, but I was winning a great coin for my collection. With buyers fees and postage the coin cost me about 590.00 USD. I consider this a bargain for a lifetime Julius Caesar portrait denarius.</p><p><br /></p><p>Julius Caesar. AR Denarius, 44 BC. </p><p>(19.00 mm 3.68 g)</p><p>Obv:. Laureate head right; before, CAESAR IMP; behind, star of eight rays. </p><p>Rev: P. SEPVLLIVS MACER. Venus standing left, holding Victory and sceptre (resting on star?). </p><p>Cr. 480/5b RSC 41 BMC 4165 Syd 1071Sear (2000) 1412 </p><p>A very elegant portrait. Perfectly struck on broad flan. Areas of flatness and scratch on obverse, otherwise about VF.</p><p>Ex: Artemide Asti E-Auction 43 E, June 9, 2018.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]945061[/ATTACH][/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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