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 Replies: 20 / Views: 3,671 |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2130 Posts |
Edited by chris12018
08/17/2009 6:34 pm
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Pillar of the Community
United States
671 Posts |
We will need pictures to make an accurate identification, and of course to validate authenticity.
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Moderator
 United States
23731 Posts |
I believe this is a coin of Vespasian 69-79 AD, I can't make out the legend a closer picture would help. The reverse is an eagle standing on a cippus facing right. Possibly Ric II 98a.
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
2130 Posts |
echizento, I took your info & looked it up on ebay, and found one. The one on ebay weighs 3.3g, the one I pictured weighs 2.7g. What steps do I take to authenticate this? |
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Moderator
United States
23731 Posts |
First try and take a closer picture so that we can try and make out the obverse legend. What type of scale did you use to weigh it? A digital scale is best.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2130 Posts |
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Moderator
United States
23731 Posts |
The legend had me going for a bit it didn't look right. Than I realised that it was backwards. This is not unusual, anyway. I believe that it is CAESAR VESPASIANVS AVG. The coin looks real to me though the weight seems light. If I remember correctly Denarius of that period should be about 3.1 grams. The wear on this coin could explain some of the weight loss.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2130 Posts |
Thank You echizento  . I guess the coin was miss labeled. You really cleared things up. Once again, Thank You. |
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Moderator
United States
23731 Posts |
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Moderator
Australia
16850 Posts |
If it was in a flip with a label that said "Otho", then either the coin has been put back in the wrong flip, or someone somewhere along the line probably paid way too much for this coin; Otho coins are much scarcer than Vespasian (Otho is one of the few emperors I don't yet have in my "one from each emperor" collection). The described coin, Otho with Pax standing on reverse, is listed in the new Sear catalogue as number 2156, with a CV of $1000 in VF. But this coin is Vespasian with Eagle reverse, Sear 2287, CV $120 in VF.
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
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2130 Posts |
Sap, Is there a site where I can look up coins such as this? The Sear catalogue site wasn't much help. I check ebay again and found two identical to the one post. The eagle faces right on one coin and left on the other coin.  Is there any info. on that? Thanks, Chris |
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Moderator
United States
23731 Posts |
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Moderator
Australia
16850 Posts |
The one I quoted (Sear #2287) has the eagle facing left, the opposite way to yours. The eagle facing the other way is not a major difference (though the more detailed reference catalogues will note minor differences like this); remember, each die was hand-carved back then. I'm pretty sure it won't make any difference to the rarity or price of this piece.
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
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2130 Posts |
echizento, That is a terrific site  Sap, I found the eagle facing left on the Sear site, but not one facing right. So, I wasn't the one I have is counterfeit. Now I need to learn to grade these pieces. Is there a site where I can get a standard of grading (similar to the Red Book)? |
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Moderator
United States
23731 Posts |
Wayne G. Sayles has written an excellent series of books on ancient coin collecting. I recommend getting the entire series, they are not expensive and are full of excellent information. You can find them on e-bay. Your coin is not counterfiet.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2130 Posts |
Again Thanks for the help. What type of grade would you put on this coin? I should clear this up; this coin and others that I will be posting belong to a friend. He asked me to help him identify and grade these coins. Grading roman coins, I will need help with. Getting opinion grades on this coin will start to give me some idea of what to look for. Maybe, I'm wrong. But, I don't believe these coins grade on the same level as U.S. coins. I'm sure with the info I rec. thus far, I should be able to identify most of them. But, the ones I can,t I will post. Please offer grades on this coin.
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Replies: 20 / Views: 3,671 |
It is in a plastic flip with this info; Rome, Ar denarius obv. Otho, rev. Pax Sear # 743. Any help would be appreciated. Thank You all in advance. I forgot the pics.
Posted 08/17/2009 10:33 pm
