Thoughts on a potential purchase

Was hoping to get your thoughts on this coin, it's a sestertius of Lucius Verus.



I really like the patina on the coin and the portrait is very nice. My concerns are the two scraps, both in focal area's, and the lack of complete legends on the reverse. What are your thoughts?

 

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It's all a matter of personal taste, but the beauty of the coin far outweighs the scratches in my book. If you don't like the scratches, by all means, don't buy it! If you dislike it now, you'll just grow to hate it later.

 

Charming coin.

 

Gorgeous, I would snap it up.

 

Excavated coin, reverse scratch

 

I dont see anything glaring that wouldnt cause me to own it. I could with with those scratches. Im pretty lenient when it comes to ancients and some surface issues.

 

+1

 

Get it!

 

I love the color. But, as JA said, its your personal opinion. If the scratches bother you now, you will hate them later. It depends on what you can live with at what price.

Btw, for all newer ancient collectors, the coin is a VF. NGC grades coins completely differently than ancient collectors do. Ignore any grades on slabs for ancients if you wish to learn to grade correctly.

 

Yeah, what medoraman said. Definitely not XF grade for a ancient coin.

 

Of course, depending on the price, I could easily ignore the scratches and otherwise think it's a terrific coin I'd be quite happy to own..... and in my opinion about VF for an Ancient in that overall condition.

But as JA said, if the scratches and incomplete legends bother you now they will always be an issue for you.

 

Thanks all for the replies, I am going to go after it. I have been looking at other examples of this type and not finding one I like any better. Rarely, if ever, do the stars align and a coin has perfect surfaces, beautiful patina, full legends, and wear down to the f/vf level...

 

It's definitely a nice coin though, I think.

 

The stars never align when price is added into the equation.

 

I would love to have the coin but would never pay the price someone who likes slabs would ask for a coin they considered XF. It is a common type and worth a a lot more than a junker like mine but it is now for the specialized slab market.

I'd call mine (slightly different type) a fine, yours a VF and would add positive comments about the patina. That would make yours fairly worth about 5-8 times mine. Without the scratches, maybe 10 times? The scratches are under the patina which would make them greatly more acceptable to my eye unless I saw anything on the surfaces suggesting the patina was added, not original. That would be hard to say after a coin has been slabbed. From what I see, I like the coin.

 

John Anthony hit the nail on the head , I like it . But if the scratches bother you in the least , they'll keep getting bigger in your eyes . If that's the case I'd pass .

 

Or you could just Chris it. Buy it, look at it for a few days and put away in the sdb. Five years later, completely forgetting you had bought it, you run across it again and really enjoy the piece.

 

Looks like a very nice piece, if the price is right to you get it, really like the green patina.

Here's mine..
Lucius Verus..
33mmx 22.4g.

 

I think it's a remarkably nice coin if you can get past the scratches. I certainly could!

 

I found the coin online and would say that the estimate is fair, scratches considered.