Happy Friday! The below Trajan was acquired because I like the fine style of the portrait and the reverse with Aequitas is well struck even with some of the legend worn and a bit of a flan defect. The toning, in particular the blue, I'm not sure I love but certainly tolerate for the above reasons. I was curious to hear opinion's about the toning. I'm not giving the coin up, so don't worry about holding back if you don't like it. Trajan, Denarius circa 108-109, AR 18.90 mm., 3.32 g listed as a variant of RIC 119 (slight drapery on left, but could be I believe incorrectly identified as an aegis). Do you have any interesting toning?
@IMP Shogun ....That's a lovely looking coin! I actually find the the toning "Really" appealing....Super detail!... I do have one interestingly toned coin...It has a wonderful blue and golden toning.. Domitian. 81-96 AR Denarius (3.17 gm, 18mm). Rome mint. Struck 81 AD. Obv.: IMP CAES DOMITIANVS AVG P M, laureate head right. Rev.: TR P COS VII DES VIII P P, tripod surmounted by a dolphin right. RIC II#74.
Shogun, That's a very attractive denarius despite the cleaning scratches ! I like the toning on my Caracalla Tet . Antioch-Syria, Caracalla as Augustus, AD 198-217 (struck AD 205-207). AR Tetradrachm: 14.31 gm, 27 mm, 11 h. Ex Michel Prieur Collection.
How about this Aurelius Al? I've been looking to upgrade my Aurelius denarius for a while, but it's tough finding a decent portrait and legend. The toning makes him look like a California surfer or Bill Walton.
I have only two interestingly toned coins. #1: Vespasian denarius. The blue appears to the result of sulfur-laden envelopes from the 70s. #2: Trajan denarius. This coin developed artificially induced toning after I subjected it to a veritable gauntlet of chemicals to clean it. (The problem is, the dark spot on the bottom half of the obverse is now a very dark gray, after a couple months. I suspect it will continue to get black. I don't know how to reverse it ) #3: For fun, here's a FAKE Vespasian denarius with some attractive toning. This was the first fake coin I bought. I learned a lot from this experience.
