Last Friday the coin show I attended provided four new coins of Gallienus. All but one were liberated from the 'half price box' of low end coins. Interestingly, the one 'full price' coin cost exactly the same as the total of the other three combined. This brings up the question we all have to face as to whether we should but one relatively nice coin or several (here 3) lesser items. My question to you is which 'group' provides a better return for the same cash - one or three?
The good one:
Perhaps VF or close to it, the strong point of the expensive coin is that it have very good metal for a coin of Gallienus. It is from the joint reign with Valerian and is not silver plated. The silver even looks a bit above average for a joint reign coin. The reverse is a better strike than we usually see for the type and reads clearly GERMANICVS MAX V. I even liked the fact that the obverse legend was punctuated .P.F. but I can find numismatic joys in some of the strangest things if I try. The coin would be a lot better if the obverse were the left facing version with military bust but it is still a nice coin.
The Bargains:
The second coin is from the popular 'zoo series' and shows the panther in a bit better than average detail. The obverse is an ordinary strike but at lease has all the legend which is more than you can say for the reverse. The metal is typical sole reign and nearly silver free. All in all it is a reasonable but not exceptional zoo coin.
Coin three cost exactly one third of coin one. It has almost full silver wash and almost no wear with just a couple tiny copper patches on the highest points. Unfortunately it was very weakly struck showing up worst on the portrait. The strike was so weak that it did not erase the rough texture of the blank flan. The reverse is decent with full legends, a nice view of Neptune with his foot on a prow and dated legend (TRP XV VII C). Were it not for that weak effort by the hammer man, this would be a nice coin worth as much as #1 but it is what it is and the seller recognized it with a discounted price.
Coin four was the cheapest and lowest grade of the bunch. It was a poor strike but the dated (TRP VII)reverse scene is the emperor sacrificing. The whole look is mushy. However of the four, it was the one I found most interesting because I am less than certain that I can explain everything that is going on with this coin. My first guess hypothesis is that the flan was heated more than usual and the overly soft flan was grabbed too hard by tongs which left an indention on the reverse and flow marks on the obverse. The strike was not sufficient to transfer all the detail onto the center of the flan and the portrait is soft but I still like coins with a story and hope someday to understand this one with more certainty.
Several of you have posted that you were swearing off buying coins for a while. I think this is a bad idea. Instead, I suggest using a little more care in selecting which coins you need and which coins need to be left behind. In my case - to fit my personal 'style' of collecting, coin four was an obvious buy. Coin one almost stayed at the show but the facts that it was reasonably priced for the strike and a great upgrade of my previous coin of that reverse tipped the scales in its favor. I'm not terribly sure why I bought the other two except that I did not find as many other coins at that show as I had budgeted. Had I left them, I would have been able to find something similar at another show. It might be a while before I found the 'tong' coin (if that is what it is) and I plan to learn enough from it that I would give up a couple lunches rather than pass on something for my 'technical' collection. Most of you probably would select from these options in a different order. Many might say they already have all the Gallienus coins they need. Good luck in your searching and, more, in deciding what it is that you are searching for.
Posted 05/23/2012 11:05 pm
