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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;GinoLR, post: 8538067, member: 128351&quot;]I wonder if there are strict rules for telling if an ancient coin will be called rare, scarce, common... For a sirloin steak it is clear : blue rare, rare, medium rare, etc... to well done, depends which color it is inside, from purple, red, rose, light or dark brown... But for an ancient coin? Old 19th c. or early 20th c. coin catalogues mentioned the level of rarity: rare, scarce, common... on which ground exactly?</p><p><br /></p><p>Some coins are said &quot;unique&quot;, which is clear: it is like God for the believers, only one authentic specimen is known to exist. For ex. the aureus of Aurelian and Vabalathus (if authentic) is unique. The obscure and short lived Gallic emperor Domitian II (c. 271 CE) is known only thanks to two little AE antoniniani found in France and UK (perhaps a 3rd one in Bulgaria, but it is unclear): these antoninani are almost unique too. We are still well above the very notion of &quot;rare&quot;...</p><p><br /></p><p>What about decadrachms of Alexander? Before 1849 no one was known. From 1849 to 1973, 5 or 6 only. From 1973 to 2013 15 specimens were known, and today at least 49 specimens... In 2014 a very good one (though a little outcentered) sold for EUR 325,000, but in 2021 a similar one, very nice and with a real provenance too, sold for CHF 38,000 only. What is the level of rarity of an ancient coin of which almost 50 specimens are known? Maybe they were &quot;extremely rare&quot; before 2013, and only &quot;rare&quot; since...</p><p><br /></p><p>But this is only about the most desirable coins: large, heavy, beautiful, minted by a superstar of history or of historical importance. For some other coins, even if very few specimens are known, nobody will give a damn.</p><p><br /></p><p>A good example is this AE 31 mm of Volusian, minted in Perge (Pamphilia):</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1508443[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p>Volusian (251-253), Perge (Pamphilia) AE 31 mm, 19.81 g.</p><p>Obv.: Α Κ Γ ΟΥ ΑΦ ΓΑΛ ΟΥΟΛΟΥCΙΑΝΟΝ, laureate, draped and cuirassed bust of Volusian, r., seen from rear; below, eagle, spreading wings</p><p>Rev.: ΠЄΡΓΑΙΩΝ, Tyche (?), standing r., wearing chiton facing another Tyche (?), seating l., holding cornucopia; a bull in the background</p><p>RPC IX, 1117A</p><p><br /></p><p>I bought this coin from a Paris bouquiniste in the 1970s when still a teenager. Not expensive at all, one may easily figure. I never found it in any catalogue. In 2019, at last, another specimen from the same pair of dies was auctioned by Leu Numismatik with this mention : &quot;Unpublished and unique, and a very interesting issue.&quot; Estimated CHF 350, sold CHF 550. That&#039;s a sum, but not stratospheric, for a coin that is &quot;unique&quot;...</p><p><br /></p><p>It was not actually &quot;unique&quot; for I had another one (less beautiful) too! I took a picture with my smartphone, edited it and sent it to the Roman Provincial Coinage team, for their online catalogue. This coin can be said &quot;extremely rare&quot;, only 2 known in the whole world, but does it really matter? If my heirs wanted to sell it some day (over my dead body of course), I don&#039;t think they would get much of it...[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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