So, I'll be honest - I still have zero idea what direction I want to go or what I want to collect in the ancient realm. So, I'm just going to buy a few and see what sticks. To that end, I present to you my first big ancient purchase. I saw a recent sales thread from our friend @Zohar444 , and his taste is impeccable. I picked 2 that I liked, and they just arrived today. This is the first, I'll post the other in a couple of days. This is a serrate denarius from Q. Antonius Balbus, c 83/82 BC. The obverse features Jupiter, and the reverse has Victory in a quadriga. I know that "slabbed" is a dirty word around here, but I'm coming from US coins where everything is slabbed. It is graded by NGC as "Ch AU" (which, again, I'm coming to realize that the AU grade on ancients is frowned upon), with a * for eye appeal (I'm sure I'll get crap for that too ). NGC gave it 5/5 for strike, and 5/5 for surfaces. I may be a novice at ancients, but to me this is a stunning coin, and I am pleased to own it! So, any comments are welcome, or examples you may have.
It is a very nice coin. I would not remove it from the slab because someone will pay more for the grade listed than I would for the coin. Lets compare Slab grading to standard grading. This is a D. coin (yours is .D) sold by CNG a while back. https://www.cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=166535 They called theirs Good VF. Which coin has nicer hair detail on the forehead and beard? This issue often has poor centering and I would award a star for eye appeal to the better centered coin. Another 'situation' is that many of these have raggedy edge cuts. I prefer coins with more even edges. Your coin is a beauty. It did not need accelerated grading or a star to make it special. Your reverse has better detail in places so the EF reverse makes it at least the equal of the CNG Good VF. I would love to have such a nice coin graded Good VF and without a star. A Ch AU 5/5 5/5 * should be pretty much a perfect coin. Mine? Just a fine for about 1/4 the CNG price. What would you expect from me? You could sell yours in a second; mine would take a lot longer. As long as we are both happy with our coins, all is right with the world.
If I was in charge of what goes onto the slab, I would have put aside the numbers and whatnot and just gone with this. "Stunning coin" sounds exactly right to me. Congrats!
I bought mine early in my move to ancients and at the time I liked that it's off center but now I know better. Still like it though. Need a better picture but here it is.
I'm impressed with the details and it's condition. I haven't a clue what slab bed means though. I'm looking forward to seeing your second coin!!
Wow, physics => congrats on scoring that amazing OP-example (it's gorgeous) ... I hate slabs ... However, if I did own your OP-coin I'd want the slab to read STRIKE: Winna-Winna SURFACES: Chicky-Dinna