Still some bargains to be had on Ebay

I don't look at ancients on Ebay all that often nowadays and if I do it is the big German dealers like Lanz and Savoca, but I stumbled across this Macedon Tranquillina AE 26, having recently bid on one in a Naumann auction in similar quality but went for 220 Euro plus fees so backed of early, this one on the other hand I picked up for 59 Euro plus 7 postage a much better deal for a reasonably rare coin. The coin celebrates the Pythian Games with a few of the emperors and wives represented.
The Pythian Games (Greek: Πύθια) were one of the four Panhellenic Games of Ancient Greece. They were held in honour of Apollo every four years at his sanctuary at Delphi. They were held two years after each Olympic Games, and between each Nemean and Isthmian Games.
MACEDON

THESSALONICA
Tranquillina
Bronze. AD 238-244. 26mm, 12.11gm
Obv: CABINIA TPANKYΛΛΙΝΑ ΑΥΓ.
Diademed and draped bust right.

Rev: ΘΕCCΑΛΟΝΙΚΕΩΝ NEΩKOPΩN.
Tetrastyle temple seen in perspective to left ΠΥΘΙΑ below.


Cf. Varbanov 4657.
Rare.
POST YOUR TRANQUILLINA

 

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Yes, there are a handful of good guys still dealing on eBay. Unfortunately you have to wade through a sea of junk to get to their wares. If you know where to look and who to avoid it isn't so bleak.

Nice pick-up!

 

Excellent addition. Yeah it can be a pain digging through all the junk.

 

Congrats Aussie , beautifull bronze , so much nicer then my 17 euro budget Tranquillina:

 

Nice snare Mr. @Ancient Aussie !

I agree, I make sure I am scouting out WELL KNOWN and TRUSTED ebay Sellers. Otherwise, I take the other offerings with a serious grain of salt. Do research, and great values can be found.

Here is my only Tranq-Lady:


RI Prv Thrace Deultum Tranquillina 241-244 CE Æ 22mm 6.6 g Hermes purse caduceus SNG Bulgaria 1504-8

 

Thrace, Deultum. Tranquillina (241-244AD) AE22 6.64g
Obv: SAB TRANQVILLINA AVG; Draped bust right, wearing stephane
Rev: [COL FL] PAC DEVLT Perseus and Andromeda standing facing one another; Andromeda on left with left hand raised, Perseus on right, holding harpa and gorgon’s head, releasing Andromeda from her chains; sea-monster turned to stone below.
Youroukova, Deultum 411; SNG Bulgaria 1518-20; Varbanov 2945. Mionnet Suppl. II #574

I was skittish about buying this coin because the seller was the great modern Bulgarian die cutter Slavei Slaveev.

 

I avoid Ebay except for known dealers due to the high probability of getting burned. There just isn't the depth of knowledge in my case to keep from making a mistake. In the future, however, that very well may change.

For modern coins, I've had good luck with specific dealers on Ebay. So, I'm going to try and cultivate the same type of relationships. One difference, however, if I have a few non-ebay sellers that are 100% trustworthy. I'm not going to name them for fear of leaving someone out.

 

Very nice Tranquillina/arkitecture coin AA..

 

I can see how that might make a person antsy! Great reverse though. Now I want one

 

Ebay is a weird place. Lots of junk but some gems as well. The only difficult part is wading through the endless listings (which is why I only go through there every so often). I did pick up this unique coin:


Trajan Decius, 249 - 251 AD
AE22, Bithynia, Nicomedia Mint, 6.04 grams
Obverse: Radiate and draped bust of Trajan right.Reverse: Athena standing left holding galley and shield.
RPCOnline322 (this coin). A unique coin, no other examples known.

ex Munz Zentrum Auction 53, November 1983, Lot 1657, again Auction 57, Lot 1356. Chocolate brown patina. An updated photo has been submitted to RPC Online.

 

..it's a gamblers paradise(dox)

 

I’ve only started browsing there recently. As I scroll it’s nearly all junk, fake, junk, junk, relic, fake, replica. One guy from Forvm Ancient Coins is listing some fun, affordable stuff that I often watch and bid on. I was able to grab this old Tiberius.

 

.ah..you got that from the good Dr. in kentucky.... he's a noble dude..

 

Is he a friend? I’m jealous of all the great stuff he’s listing. Lots of cool Greek bronze and early Roman Empire.

 

O, i don't know about a personal friend, but yeah, i know and buy from him. yup, he's got it goin' on old ski does

 

I like eBay and look at it a lot but only buy 1-2 coins a year there generally, there's just so much you have to wade through to find the occasional gem. So many junk coins priced ridiculously high, tooled coins, outright fakes and an endless number of slabbed coins priced 2-3x retail in the hopes that some modern collector will pay a small fortune for them. It does get tiring just looking at all of it and unfortunately Vcoins is starting to get that way too, not with fakes but some of the dealers pushing overpriced junk and exorbitant prices for slabbed coins.

That said I have found some gems so I still look daily and try to look at every RR coin that gets posted. If you want to play the eBay bargain hunting game I recommend knowing your coins well and looking often but if you're comfortable assessing authenticity it can occasionally pay off quite well. My avatar coin was an eBay find which spent less than an hour on eBay before I snatched it up at the "buy it now" price. It was mostly uncleaned but clean enough for me to tell that the style was right, that it appeared to be struck and that the obverse die was a match to two other coins in my photofile both of which I believed to be authentic and that was enough for me. After purchase, the coin spent 4 months being slowly cleaned by an expert and this is how it looks after a year of toning:

 

Thanks, yours still not a bad buy for a rare coin.

 

Thanks, great reverse on yours.

 

Since we're showing off notable eBay bargains ...

Vespasian
AR Denarius, 2.89g
Rome Mint, 75 AD
RIC 773 (R3). BMC - . RSC - .
Obv: IMP CAESAR VESPASIANVS AVG; Head of Vespasian, bare, l.
Rev: PON MAX TR P COS VI; Pax, bare to the waist, seated l., holding branch extended in r. hand, l. hand on lap
Acquired from eBay, November 2017.

Second known specimen. @Orfew has the other one.

 

I only have one eBay win this year but have been 1st underbidder on half a dozen other coins. I don't pay as much for unseen coins and prefer shows where I can place a hand on them so I only win on eBay when the coin is something no one would want. This Domitian diobol of Alexandria is a common coin and not the sort of thing people want even at $12.50 postpaid.


In 2017, I bought five through eBay. Each had something going for it that attracted my eye but not yours, it seems.
Carthage over Akragas AE 17 $49


Herennia Etruscilla 4dr from same dealer and also $49 (why no one took this from me is a mystery!)


Philip I Alexandria 4dr with the best Cerberus I have seen at $99 postpaid


Not the best but my best Diocletian by Carausius came for what I considered a bargain $175 from High Ratings, Low Prices. You may not think these are special but I do. Show yours.


Gallienus - $15 postpaid decent silver, mentioning the army (EXERCIT) and having an exceptionally well struck reverse for Gallienus


Three of these six are Alexandrian. That may be a pattern???