My next Baltimore coin brought a friend. Neither is in good condition but I like the style. I paid too much but finding the same coins without faults in my remaining years will require the market to tank completely so I bought them. Both are Vespasian denarii attributed to Ephesus mint. First is the reverse showing two children of Vespasian (LIBERI IMP VESPAS AVG). I liked the obverse portrait style enough to offset the reverse wear and centering. The mintmark is pretty well gone but enough remains to call it the sidewise Phi (or is it just a poor strike of the same one used on the second coin below?). I fail to understand the meanings of the various marks all attributed to this mint. The enlarged area of the mark was shot with overly harsh light in an attempt to emphasize detail. It does more to show micro granularity that does not show on the coin at all. The mark suffers from being a bit too large for the space and funs into the border dots. I need to work on these photos. The other is by far the better coin. I would even say it is a nice coin were it not for a couple serious flan cracks. This one has the female head PACI ORB TERR AVG. Under it is a decent strike of the BY ligate mark (or what is the proper name for it???). The enlarged area shot still shows too much granularity but you can see the mark well. You can see that scratch even better.
I like them both! I've long had a soft spot for Vespasian; he seems the most humanly accessible Roman emperor to me. In modern terms, he's the emperor I'd most want to have a beer with. Looks like you had a very successful day at the show.
The second OP coin is great and the story told with it is good too. I wish more CT members would write about their coin-show experiences.
Wow, a couple more winners, Mentor (congrats) ... I like 'em both!! Hey, did I ever tell you guys about the time that I drove half-way across North America to that awesome coin show? (no, I doubt it, because I've never actually been to an ancient coin show) THE END Mentor => can't wait to see more of your coin show booty!!
