I would like to show you two 1816 cents which i have had for a while. I am not able to attribute them since i don't have the proper book (Newcomb) to help with the attribution. Please help me attribute them, and also assign a grade. The first cent is actually my favourite of the two. It was extremely difficult to photograph, and it is a challenge for me to grade. It actually has superb, smooth, chocolate brown surfaces. No obvious signs of wear, but it is not sharply struck, hence the difficulty. The second 1816 cent has obviously seen circulation. I am also attaching pictures of a roman denarius i found years ago metal detecting. I know it does not belong in this forum so moderators please excuse, but i thought it would be interesting for some of you to see. It is a denarius of the emperor Vitellius, who reigned only a few months in the year 69, after being proclaimed emperor by the legions of upper germany. The coin shows Mars the god of war. The interesting thing about it is that it was minted in the roman city of Tarraco (Spain), and i found it on a lonely hilltop in central Germany.....The legions and people of Rome soon grew disgusted by Vitellius (he was suppossed to be a great lover of food and the good life), and proclaimed Vespasian emperoro in his place. He did not end well.
I think the second was is a N-4 and the first one a N-5. To me both pictures make both of the coins look VF - I can't tell details from weak strike with the pictures. I can see more details in the first coin - star centers make me think XF, but sorry I can not do better than that. The first one I can't really tell if the curl is over the center of the one or on the left edge. If on the left edge it would make it a N-8. All three are nice coins! I know nothing about the Denarius, but I liked the history lesson.
Cents are AVF and GVF on English scale-so convert that as lowest possible vf american and lowest possible xf ! Vitellius denarius looks like a foree (silver over base metal), but I could be wrong !
Post bigger pics (along with the reverse!) of the Vitellius in the World/Ancient section if you need attribution help.
