The exergue on reverse of this Roman bronze of Emperor Gratian is quite rare. There seems to be a leaf separating the lettering or mint mark in exergue. The coin is listed in RIC IX 23. But I couldn't find enough information. Could you please assist me to assess the grade and approximate value of this rare coin . Thanks a lot.. Charles
This is a good example of a thorny question. This is a very common type of a very commpn emperor but it is vastly more common from other mints and this particular mint mark is more rare than most. If you could find someone who was trying to gather in the whole set, they might be inclined to pay double (more?) as the same coin from, say, Siscia but to most of us it is just a common type of a common emperor. Is there something really special about the mintmark? It has a leaf which is a little special but the generalist in me would rather have one with the officina spelled out (Prima, Secunda) or a nice bold full flan example of a common mint. How much is it worth? I'd say $10 to $30 depending on which buyer you find. We know people who like coins of RIC IX but we don't know if they already have a nicer one or even if a dedicated Gratian specialist wants each and every variation enough to pay extra for a coin with crowded legends. I do not really care about Gratian but, if this coin were in one of my areas of interest, I'd buy the coin for a low price but would wait and see if I ever found another better or cheaper were it being offered as something rare and expensive. How much is it worth to you?
Doug said it best. Yes, its a rare coin, but who cares? I do not mean that in a mean sense, but literal. Are there collectors out there who are looking for this particular rarity? Ancient coins are full of rare subtypes and mintmarks. Most collectors literally do not care about them, and focus primarily on emperors and reverse types, (if they pay attention to reverses at all). So, to me, its an example of a rare ancient coin that most collectors do not have a clue that its rare, and even if they acknowledge its rare aren't going out of their way to acquire. In short, its a cool coin for a coin geek to own and feel good about, but its not going to help with your retirement fund.
A good fraction of the questions on this forum raise issues which are philosophical about collecting. They give us all a chance to think about what we find interesting and how we judge value. Rarity is a fascinating and never-ending issue. The value of the very common (not "rare") coin at the top of this thread is in its lovely patina and high grade, diminished by the legend being crowded and not increased at all by the fact that this precise mintmark is unusual. When there are hundreds of mintmark varieties some of them are rarer than others, but almost no one cares, and those very few who think they do soon find "rare" varieties exist in vast numbers in very many different series of ancient coins. Then they realize that they can't be the British Museum and collect every minor variety. Besides, it takes two to drive auction prices up, and that second fanatic is not out there. The result is there is virtually no premium for such varieties. Rarity of types is much different than rarity of varieties. If there are enough collectors who think "I'd like one of those" the price will go up. I'd bet our readers who want a coin like the Gratian are thinking the surface and little wear make a very attractive coin, but if they already had one with those qualities they would not consider adding this mintmark to their collection. For an article about rarity and collecting, see http://esty.ancients.info/numis/rarity.html
Spectacular link Mr. Esty. I remember reading it shortly after I started collecting ancients over a dozen years ago. Its just as applicable now as then. Every ancient collector should read that essay.
I've seen R5's got for $20 (soldiers/standards). I think a good coin to bring up are the ones of Hannibalianus Rex. A rare type for sure, but there are 7 for sale right now on vcoins, 4 on ebay, and even 1 on Amazon. The cheapest being $150 with enough wear to make it a coin that we wouldn't want to pay $5 for had it been another type from the period.
An excellent article, sir. I'll post a recent acquisition which illustrates the point. This follis of Constantine II is rated R4 in RIC. The reverse type itself is rare for Constantine Jr., but it can be found readily on the coins of Crispus. I paid $20 for it from a dealer at a show who specialized in modern world coins, so he assumed it was just another common Constantine-era bronze. I would not have sought out this coin and paid a premium for it on account of its rarity. When I first started collecting ancients, I started with Constantine Dynasty coins, and they still hold a special place in my heart. I liked the coin for its condition: a good strike, centered, lovely color, etc. If it was in poor condition, I would not have even spent $20 on it, despite its rarity. A dealer on vcoins would of course take the trouble to look it up, and post it as a VERY RARE TYPE for Constantine II (!!!!!) $150 (a bargain for a type you'll probably never see again in your lifetime!) But that's a sales gimmick and we all know it. So yes, rarity can, and frequently does mean something very, very different to collectors of ancient coins, namely, nothing at all.
A difference I see here is that JA's rarity is a very nice coin with good detail and full legends/mintmark. If I were going to pay a lot for a minor type of this ruler, this would be the coin I would buy. In fact, I do buy rare coins of this definition when I can. I don't buy many coins of CII but when I do I tend to buy coins with something going for them. I see this as like a US collector who does not have a complete set of Lincoln cents or even a complete set of Wheats but has a representative set of the better items (an S-VDB, 14D, 20 plain, MS steelie, 55double die). We may not require owning them all but we still might enjoy having coins not everyone does. One of the major minds in our hobby regularly makes the point that the most common sentiment of coin collectors is pride in showing off things they have that you don't. What is it that makes a 1913 Liberty nickel better than a 1912? You don't have much chance of having one and not much interest in having the other.
I'm a sucker for late Romans that have a well-detailed emperor on the reverse like that. Helps me visualize what they looked like. This and that it is London mint makes this an A+ coin in my book. If you ever get bored with it, consider me first in line to buy it
That was an very relevant article for me, and I'm glad I read it. Were you the author @Valentinian ? If so, thanks for writing it...and if not, well, thanks for posting it!
Yes, that is Valentinian's work, I believe. On other pages, he's composed a thorough and scholarly exposition of all things related to Late Roman Bronzes - an excellent resource for collectors of ancients.
Ya, you guys with your constant barrage of awesome ancient coins and cool history lessons have finally swayed me to the dark side so I've been doing my homework and was happy to come upon that article. Thanks @Valentinian, I've been reading your other articles as well.
Jump in, Jwt, the water's fine. Post any and all questions you may have, no matter how elementary. We love talking ancient coins.
