Romancollector

Okay, so now that I'm back from Chicago I thought I'd share my ANA purchase. Overall, I thought the ANA was a good show, definitely better than what we have in Canada...but it wasn't as great as the NYINC show for ancients. I had hoped to pick up a bunch of high-grade 3rd-century material, or one nice 1st-century piece, but nothing really appealed to me except this coin which I picked up from Gorny & Mosch. 

Constans (AD 337-350)

AR Siliqua (21mm, 3.48 grams). Trier mint. FL IVL CONSTANS P F AVG, pearl-diademed, draped and cuirassed bust right / VICTORIAE D N AVG, two Victories facing each other, holding between them a shield inscribed VOT X MVLT XX. 

Also, I thought I'd share some of my photographs from the Art Institute's Greco Roman gallery. 

Feel free to post any recent show purchases!

1 hour ago, Restitutor said:

This is going to be a rough fall for the bank account! Between this auction and the upcoming CNG Feature… may have to auction off more than just one or two fingers! 🤣 Got to see a preview of some of the CNG coins that were on display at the ANA yesterday for the upcoming Feature and Triton. All I can say is 🤤🤤🤤

I spoke to Dave Michaels, who said that this would be the "best" non-Triton feature auction CNG has ever had. Apparently, there will be something for everyone, but I also heard there will be a very comprehensive Byzantine collection. I don't really collect Byzantine...but just FYI for everyone who does!

Will be there in 30 mins if any fellow Numisform members are there!

Here's my example from Lugdunum

Another one of my recent Leu pickups....

AR Denarius of Septimius Severus rv. trophy with seated Parthian captives

This is my only coin from this series, AE Follis of Divus Romulus

I will be attending on Friday, Aug 19th. I wish that I could be there on an earlier day, but I had to accommodate my work schedule. 

On 8/8/2022 at 3:01 PM, DonnaML said:

PS: I opened the package; all six coins were there and intact. It's a good thing that Leu packed them well in a cardboard sleeve plus bubble wrap, because the Fedex box looked like someone stepped on it!

Wow that’s exactly how my box from Leu came too, I was also worried about the same thing but the coins were unharmed…

At the moment this is my only coin of Constantius II, but I'm quite happy with it!

AR Miliarense of Thessalonica

Great pickups Restitutor, especially the Hadrian denarii and Probus temple ant!

Since we're sharing Leu pickups...here are two of mine.

BI Antoninianus of Carus

AE Reduced follis of Constantine I - rev SARMATIA DEVICTA

I was hoping that this coin would arrive in time for this thread and luckily it did. I attempted bidding on an example from the McAlee collection in a CNG e-auction, but my bid didn't go through due to a glitch. Nevertheless, I was very excited to pick this example up in Leu's recent e-auction.

Philip I (AD 244-249) 

AR Antoninianus (20mm, 5.11 g). Antioch mint. AD 247. IMP M IVL PHILIPPVS AVG, Radiate and cuirassed bust left / AEQVITAS AVG, Aequitas standing front, head to left, holding scales in her right hand and cornucopiae in her left. RIC IV 82. 

Ex Leu Numismatik Web Auction 20 (18 July 2022), lot 2612.

Ex Goldberg 72, 3 February 2013, 4556.

My latest arrival...

M. Cato Uticensis (47-46 BC)

AR Denarius (20mm, 4.05 g). Utica mint. M CATO PRO. PR, draped female bust right; ROMA behind / Victory seated right holding patera, VICTRIX in exergue. Cr462/1b.

Nice addition @DonnaML

Here's my only travel denarius. It features the personification of Egypt, ex Sternberg Auction III (1974)

Having purchased from them before, I can attest that they don't ship their coins right away. I paid for FedEx shipping, but I don't think this determines how quickly they ship your lots; it only determines how quickly you will receive them from the ship date. I also received a message confirming that my lots will be shipped in 10 business days..... 😒

3 hours ago, thejewk said:

Are the pictures in the correct order, with the second picture down with the green tone being the one now offered at auction?  If so, that is an incredibly deceptive patination job, equally as scummy as the initial tooling.  I think it's clear that they are the same coin, there are way too many exactly similar cracks and marks for it to be otherwise, unless they are (extremely unlikely) both from the same source coin, or it's a mother/daughter situation.

The first photograph is the dealer's. This is how the coin appeared at the show. 

The second photograph is from an auction back in 2020.

Hi Everyone, 

As the title suggests, here is a coin that I almost purchased which I suspect has been tooled. I saw this coin at a dealer's booth on the first day at NYINC. I liked it but felt uneasy about the hair. I passed on it and decided to have another look at it on the second day. While I couldn't quite pinpoint the issue, something about the curls looked off to me. The dealer did not provide any auction history, and the coin didn't look like an example I had seen in a recent auction. I did a basic search on ACsearch but couldn't find anything. After hemming and hawing, I went with my gut and decided not to purchase the coin. A few days ago, I was scrolling through a previous auction looking for a different coin and stumbled upon the same coin, although it looked very different. At first, I thought it could have just been thoroughly cleaned, but something tells me there has been some detail "enhancement". What do you all think? I've hesitated as to whether I should post this, but think that it is in the best interest of collectors to be aware of such issues. Having had issues with deceptive tooling, I only go after a sestertius if 1) it has an extensive pedigree, 2) my auction rep looks at it or 3) it has been slabbed by NGC. I'm usually not one to call out a case of tooling, but since I almost purchased this coin I felt that it was appropriate. I checked the dealer's website listing, and it only mentions that the coin has been "professionally cleaned". 

Below is the dealer photo (as it appeared at NYINC) followed by the auction photo

If I have violated any sort of community guideline or if this is your coin, please let me know and I will take the post down. I don't wish to cause offence.

Rc 

18 minutes ago, Restitutor said:

I was actually thinking the exact same thing RC, so now I'm curious enough to do a little work! Threw together some graphs real quick....

This chart compares total hammer price (in millions CHF) in the columns (dark blue is the starting price, light blue is the increase from start). The line chart shows the percent increase from start price to hammer price.
So, no major surprise here, I think we've all anecdotally felt that the hammer price continues to get higher and higher compared to estimate, but it is nice to see it proven out. What is interesting though is the decline from the peak Web Auction 19 that the latest 2 auctions show, with Auction 21 hitting a low not seen since Auction 11 (if we're being generous we could say Auction 14 from a materially perspective). Web Auction 14 took place in Dec 2020, Web Auction 11 Feb 2020. 

This chart compares total number of bids per auction (in thousands) in the columns. The line chart takes the aggregate hammer price divided by the aggregate amount of bids.
What I found interesting here is that while the total number of bids has increased dramatically in recent auctions, the average bid hasn't increased nearly as much. This chart bears fruit again around our anecdotal experience with the recent auction 21 especially. 

Finally, this chart shows the total number of lots in the columns, and then the average price per lot in the line graph.
It's interesting looking at this trend of coins going from ~low $300s to mid $300s and then skyrocketing up into the mid and upper $400s. I will need to look at Web Auction 16 to see why in all 3 graphs it really stands out as an anomaly. But again here the recent Web Auction 21 was not great from the trend (for Leu, at least), with the average price dropping to a level not seen since, well, ever! Which at least to me was surprising as I thought the lots in Web Auction 21 were some of the nicest I had seen in a while. I'm inclined to think my interests just don't match with the average Leu customer as if there was a softening of the market occurring you would think it would be evident in Auction 20, since it occurred in the days immediately prior to 21. Which may explain why I was personally able to snag up 9 lots, the most I've ever won in any auction before. So, yay!

Wow....that is thorough and indeed confirms what I suspected! 

You could very well be right about the desirability of the lots, but I don't think that is necessarily true for every piece. I suspect that the significant delay and auction fatigue (due to its length) could also have contributed. I won a denarius of Septimius, an antoninianus of Philip, an antoninianus of Carus, a follis of Constantine I and a follis of Crispus. Perhaps these are not considered as desirable as 1st or 2nd-century material, but they are still EF coins which usually carry a premium. I certainly paid less for each than other examples of the same grade at different venues. 

Here I was thinking that I was successful with 5 coins and you won 9 🤣

Nice pickups @Restitutor both solid portraits and reverses, I especially like the reverse of the Faustina.

I had two potential targets in CNG, but both were already too high in the pre-bidding.

Leu, however, is a different story. I won 5/6 coins that I bid on: a personal record, especially considering that I’ve only ever won a single coin from Leu. 

Did anyone else have success with Leu? I felt that prices were moderate with a few notable exceptions. 

AR Denarius of Geta commemorating his father's campaign in Britain 

Ex @kapphnwn

My only sestertius (or coin for that matter) of Nerva

FANTASTIC nose on your Nerva!!! @Curtisimo

Here's a coin struck slightly earlier in 237 AD

AE Sestertius of Maximinus I

Denarius of Octavian (circa 30-29 BC) depicting the curia Julia.

Next: Another ancient coin depicting a building that still stands

Here is my example of the type

Roman Republic

Ti. Veturius. 137 BC. AR Denarius (19mm, 3.89 g). Rome mint. Helmeted and draped bust of Mars to right; TI•VET (ligate) downwards and X (mark of value) behind / Two soldiers face each other, one bearded and without armour, one bearded and in armour; each holds a spear in left hand and with sword in right hand touches pig held by figure kneeling between them; ROMA above. Crawford 234/1.

Ex Z.P. Collection, Austria.                                 

Ex Roma Numismatics Auction XXII (8 October 2021), lot 565.

3 hours ago, Egry said:

Thanks. Was it this exact coin you saw? I believe the person who is willing to sell it to me has just purchased it from the London Coin Fair. The price they are asking is a bit high so I’m somewhat undecided. When I had its in hand it was a really nice example, but now that you pointed out the flaws the stick out.

Yes, I believe so. I recall seeing it at the Baldwins table and it is still listed on their vcoins shop. In this case, maybe Baldwins didn't take down the listing? If you would like to see the miliarense that the other dealer has for a comparison, PM me. Even though this dealer has a vcoins shop, the coin is not listed there.

5 hours ago, Egry said:

I have an opportunity to buy this, I’m by far an expert in this denomination. Any thoughts from the experts?

Theodosius II, Eastern Augustus of the Theodosian Dynasty 402-450 AD, Silver ‘Light’ Miliarense (4.34g, 23mm), Constantinople mint 408-423 AD. 
 

Sear-21172; RIC-370; RSC-20a

I recall seeing this coin in hand at the dealer’s both during NYINC. It’s a nice example. The flan crack is typical for the issue. There seems to be an area of flat strike around the ear and bangs, but such areas of flat strike are often seen on this type. There was another example of this type that I liked at NYINC (at another dealer’s table) which had an area of flat strike on the reverse. I passed on it for that reason. I should also add that I previously owned a well provenanced example of this type which I sold for the same reason.