| Author |
 Replies: 12 / Views: 936 |
|
|
Valued Member
United Kingdom
300 Posts |
Is this a billion coin , I've posted it before and put it aside but the more I look and feel it the more confused I get . It doesn't feel or sound like a normal ant , it is almost entirely silvered with a slight peppering of bronze . It's also very thin Ben , it feels and sounds like the val . Can anybody explain the difference to me between this one and most of my other ants ? The head is very raised and the whole coin feels smooth . Thanks and sorry but mostly thanks .  |
|
|
|
Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
4208 Posts |
Cool - nice long neck, could well be silver (they go for big bucks) as Carausius issued silver coins after the empire stopped issuing for ages.
Its probably been debased - this makes it look dirty but it still has the silver content. The silvering is probably the confusing bit here - nice to have it survive though. Id get it soaking to remove that gunky stuff (if it is gunk and not patina).
If you post pictures of the reverse I could go pin it down and see what it is.
|
|
Valued Member
 United Kingdom
300 Posts |
You did the id for me before
Struck 292-293. IMP C CARAVSIVS P F AVG, radiate, draped, and cuirassed bust right / PRO[V-I-D] AVG,
Providentia standing left, holding globe and cornucopiae; S-P/C.
|
|
Moderator
 United States
23731 Posts |
Can you post a picture of the reverse?
|
|
Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
2838 Posts |
Carausius did produce silver (90%) coins but this is not one, sorry. I think the vast majority (if not all?) had the RSR mark on the reverse.
It may be slightly more silver than most but its still a billon ant.
|
|
Valued Member
United Kingdom
300 Posts |
Thanks guys The reverse .  |
|
Valued Member
United Kingdom
300 Posts |
A billion ant is what I was wondering , I knew it wasn't completely silver but its more so than most of mine .
|
|
Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
2838 Posts |
Quote:
I knew it wasn't completely silver but its more so than most of mine Nice to have (some can be slightly more AR than others and some just look and feel that way) but very difficult to turn this into £s when buyers are not handling coins. TBH its something that just falls into eye appeal, its not something that most people would consider a huge plus on its own. |
|
Valued Member
United Kingdom
300 Posts |
I only have one coin I wish to sell but that's only so that I can buy coins I like rather than own one based on its rarity value .
I'm happier to have a few I enjoy instead of one I don't feel anything for .
|
|
Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
2838 Posts |
Makes sense to me - I'd rather have 100 £10 coins than one £1000 one. TBH I couldn't justify having a £1000 coin sitting in a draw, others can but I couldn't.
|
|
Pillar of the Community
United States
3446 Posts |
With ancients there is almost no set price on anything and most especially with bronze.A coin is only worth what some 'fool' will pay for it. A coin that one person sells for 1000 can often be found in a very similar condition for a fraction of that. If you found a $1000 coin in a batch of uncleaned coins that you paid $10 each for I think you might justify keeping it around for awhile. I have bought and sold and traded away ancients for 35 years. The ones I miss tend to be the better ones. I sometimes wonder 'What was I thinking'.
|
|
Moderator
Australia
16868 Posts |
Quote:
Is this a billion coin... Some of us may be becoming confused by your mis-spelling - I know I got confused. The word for debased silver is "billon" (only one "i"), not "billion". To answer your question: yes, it is a billon coin. "Billon" is somewhat loosely defined, but if you take the broadest definition (less than 50% silver) then every single antoninianus from the 3rd century is made of billon.  Some billon ants with roughly the same composition look more "silvery" than others. To a large extent it depends on the preservation of the coin and the cleaning treatment it received, but it can also depend on the method of manufacture. Roman mint-workers learned a few tricks on how to make their billon coins look more silvery than they really were. All of the ants in my collection up to Valerian still look pretty good silver in hand. Don't say "infinitely" when you mean "very"; otherwise, you'll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite. - C. S. Lewis
|
|
Valued Member
United Kingdom
300 Posts |
Thanks Sap , great info .
|
| |
Replies: 12 / Views: 936 |
|
Posted 03/12/2013 6:27 pm
