Roman Republic Denarii lot: Cabinet Toning

I've had this lot of Republic Denarii for a while. I tried on several occasions to take decent photos that appropriately reflect the toning without getting washed out by the very reflective surfaces. Tonight, whilst taking pictures of a few new silver Greeks, I gave it a second shot. I'm pleased with the results.

In chronological order:

Lucius Appuleius Saturninus.104 BC. AR Denarius. Rome mint. Helmeted head of Roma left / Saturn driving quadriga right; k• above.
3.87g
19.52mm

L. Sentius C.f. 101 BC. AR Denarius. Rome mint. Helmeted head of Roma right / Jupiter driving galloping quadriga right, holding scepter, reins, and thunderbolt; P below horses
3.94g
20.45mm

L. Calpurnius Piso Caesoninus and Q. Servilius Caepio. 100 BC. AR Denarius. Rome mint. Laureate head of Saturn right; harpa behind, trident below; PISO CAEPIO • Q around / Two quaestors seated left between two stalks of grain; in exergue, AD • FRV • EMV/ EX • S • C
3.95g
19.39mm


D. Junius Silanus. 91 BC. AR Denarius. Helmeted head of Roma right, control mark, M, behind / Victory in biga right, holding reins in both hands, XIIII above, D SILANVS L F below, ROMA in ex
4.01g
18.22mm


D. Junius Silanus. 91 BC. AR Denarius. Helmeted head of Roma right, control mark, D, behind / Victory in biga right, holding reins in both hands, XVIII above, D SILANVS L F below, ROMA in ex
4.13g
18.56

The only other coins I own with comparable toning are my Istros Drachm and collection of Nomos from Calabria. I'm sure a sucker for iridescence.

Post your toned silvers and/or republic denarii.

-Michael

 

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Fantastic RR denarii and fabulous toning Michael !

Two toners of mine, a black and a golden


Albinus Bruti F., Denarius Rome mint, 48 BC
PIETAS, head of Pietas right
ALBINVS BRVTI F, clasped hands holding winged caduceus
3.83 gr
Ref : HCRI # 26, RCV # 427, RSC, Postumia # 10


ROMAN IMPERATORS, Sextus Pompeius and Q. Nasidius, Denarius Mint moving with Sextus Pompeius, Sicily, 42-39 BC
NEPTVNI, head of Pompey the great right, trident before head, dolphin below
Q.NASIDIVS at exergue, galley sailing right, star in upper field
3.92 gr
Ref : HCRI # 235, RCV # 1390, Crawford # 483/2, Sydenham # 1350, Cohen # 20
Ex Freeman & Sear, Ex Barry Feirstein collection
Ex Roma Numismatics

Q

 

A very nice group . The two quaestors reverse of the L. Calpurnius Piso Caesoninus and Q. Servilius Caepio tickles me. It looks like they're just lounging about, probably gossiping. It needs a caption. Anybody?



I'm a sucker for toned coins, especially ones with some colorful iridescence-- even though they may not look the same in the future. Here are some of my toned Republicans.


Roman Republic fourrée mule denarius
L. Antestius Gragulus, 136 BCE, and C. Renius, 138 BCE
ancient forgery, 3.18 gm
Obv: Roma helmeted head right, * below chin, GRAG behind
Rev: Juno Caprotina in a biga of goats, C・RENI below, ROMA in exergue
Ref: Obverse S.115, Cr.238/1, Syd.451, RSC Antestia 9; Reverse S.108, Cr.231/1, Syd.432, RSc Renia 1

Roman Republic
moneyer L. Julius L. f. Caesar, 103 BC
AR denarius, 17mm, 3.9 gm
Obv: Helmeted head of Mars left; CAESAR; ・J above
Rev: Venus Genetrix in chariot left, drawn by two Cupids; lyre to left; ・J above
Ref: Crawford 320/1
Jencek E-auction 26, lot 58, 14 October 2014. Ex CNG XXXI lot 699, September 1994; ex RBW Collection


ROMAN REPUBLIC, M. Piso M.f. Frugi
58 BCE (redated from Crawford's 61 BCE by Hersh and Walker, 1984)
AR denarius, 20 mm, 3.94 gm
Obv: terminal bust of Mercury right, wearing winged diadem; calix below chin; to left, star above wreath; dotted border
Rev: M·PISO·M·F / FRVGI above secespita (sacrificial knife) and patera; all within laurel wreath
Ref: Crawford 418/2b; Sydenham 825; Calpurnia 23
formerly slabbed, NGC XF, 4/5 strike, 4/5 surface


Roman Republic, the Pompeians
L. Cornelius Lentulus and C. Claudius Marcellus
Military mint in the East (Apollonia and Asia), 49 BC
AR denarius, 19 mm, 3.8 gm
Obv: Triskeles, with winged head of Medusa facing at center; stalk of grain between each leg
Rev: Jupiter standing facing, head right, holding thunderbolt in right hand and eagle on left; LE(NT) (MAR) upward to left, COS upward to right
Ref: Crawford 445/1b; Sydenham 1029a
formerly slabbed, NGC ChVF*, 5/5, 5/5

 

Wonderful coins guys!!! And terrific photos!! Love the details , the toning and the look of silver as it usually appears in hand!

Two examples of mine with 'cabinet toning'...

 

Nice group of Republican toners. I always prefer toned to clean and white, but don't go out of my way to look for the colorful tones. However, when they do appear on coins I end up buying and are attractive or subtly accentuate the devices, I do consider them a bonus .

A nimbus of blue surrounding Victory and her quadriga...


Deep green and blue in Medusa's hair, some gold in her eyes and around her face.

 

Very nice coins all. Nothing in coins is as difficult as to photograph a shiny coin with toning. Even large auction firms have difficulty. I won a RR at a very large one a few years ago and was very pleasantly surprised when I received it. There was an area that look like a soft strike and missing details. In reality, there was toning there so the details were present in hand but their photograph hadn't shown it.

 

A handful of nicely toned coins:

 

A few more:

 

One more batch:

 

Nice looking toners. Only silver coins I got that are really toned are modern silver, I do have one ancient that is toned but its not a RR Denari.



Its hard to capture the toning, the reverse has a target toning of orange and blue.

 

Heavy Toning!


M. Cipius M.F.


Medium toning!

M. Junius Silanus


Light toning!



L. Capurnius Piso Frugi

 

All nice coins. I'll just take one of each.

 

A gold and blue (difficult to see in the photos but its there in a couple of places) toned denarius from my very small Republican collection, struck under L. Rubrius Dossenus.



Something more up my alley, my blue toned Late Roman siliqua of the western usurper Jovinus, from Lugdunum. An extremely rare ruler to acquire.

 

I am dying with envy

Seriously, next time you take the time machine to ancient Rome to pick some of these fresh off the Roman mint, please take me with you.

 

@TIF I've been looking for a decent L. Cornelius Lentulus and C. Claudius Marcellus, but they seem to be fairly rare in decent condition. In addition, your fouree makes me want a Biga pulled by capricorns. Awesome.

 

Ancient Imports had two of the goat bigas for sale last I checked. One of them is a real toner, if you like really old toning. I'd have bought it myself a long time ago except my interest is currently elsewhere.

 

You know when you all post cool Republicans you're only driving the price up! Enviable coins everyone!

 

Four more:

 

Embarrassingly, I didn't recognize this specific issue or moneyer. I had to search "Republic Denarius Mars mallet spear trophy CM" in google to find out who it was. ha. I'm extremely envious of your Republic collection. I didn't know they could be acquired in such pristine, uncirculated condition, until seeing your collection. Very disciplined.

 

You win this thread. Seriously, you have one of the most amazing RR denarii collections I've ever seen.