Message:

<p>[QUOTE=&quot;dougsmit, post: 4907489, member: 19463&quot;]I like this thread but believe the term &#039;worn&#039; is being used in a different way than I would.&nbsp; Of the coins shown here, Bing&#039;s legionary denarius is worn with reasonable other faults that are expected on a VG coin.&nbsp; Spaniard&#039;s Aurelius is a nice coin, perhaps aVF?, and would be welcome in my collection were it common as dirt.&nbsp; Most of the rest have a problem (or several) that bother me a lot more than the wear shown.&nbsp; &nbsp; Let there be no mistake, I would love to have any of those Antony fleet bronzes but four of the five show separation of the ear from the head.&nbsp; The fifth, lower right, lacks ear but has a reverse that is clear under but has pitting and uneven color which are worse than the obverse weakness (wear, strike, or die wear???).&nbsp; I can only play here with several coins if we were expected to show low grade rarities but more of my coins are like David&#039;s Vespasian with problems of strike and surface texture.</p><p><br /></p><p>First,&nbsp; I do not know how many of these sestertii exist but Banti&nbsp; (I Grandi Bronzi Imperiali, IV-1 page 144 #12 listed it only from old catalog listings illustrated by a line drawing from Vaillant whose book was a century before photography was invented.&nbsp; The coin shows a funeral pyre with four levels as opposed to the &#039;common&#039; version (Banti lists 2 and has a photo) which has five levels.&nbsp; In addition to mine, I saw a die duplicate offered a few years ago a bit nicer but my coin is rare with lousy surfaces and tooling to remove bronze disease.&nbsp; Wear, sure, but that is the least of the problems.&nbsp; I wish now I had bought the second one.&nbsp; It was better since it lacked the Bronze Disease excavation.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1184222[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>My second example, among its myriad faults, certainly is worn but, fortunately, retains MP at reverse right showing that the die read INVICTO IMP rather than INVICTO IMP TROPAEA.&nbsp; The reverse design shows the trophy of arms quite common from the mint known as &#039;Emesa&#039; but this one shows obvious Alexandria mint style.&nbsp; I repeatedly ask to be shown others but no one has taken pity on me and shown one.&nbsp; I bought this in 1994 from a dealer who did not know one mint from another (very common back then!).&nbsp; I paid $10 which was about ten times the value of the &#039;Emesa&#039; coin in this condition. The seller was the kind of dealer that sold most things well over their value. </p><p><br /></p><p>By the time of his death in 1997, Roger Bickford-Smith was unaware of another.&nbsp; I considered giving it to him but am thankful today that I did not considering his early death.&nbsp; I still am unaware of another. I hope that, before my passing, others of these turn up so anyone who cares can have one (preferably nicer).</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1184224[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>Of the coins I have that have claim to rarity, these are the worst.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

Your name or email address:

Do you already have an account?

• No, create an account now.
• Yes, my password is:
• Forgot your password?

Stay logged in