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 Replies: 17 / Views: 2,375 |
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Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
946 Posts |
They do exist, but tend to be in Hoards, and accrue "Hoard corrosion" which can be cleaned off, leaving a "mint state" looking AE coin.
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Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
4208 Posts |
Yep, UNC isn't thhhat rare. I have 1 I've cleaned id call perfectly uncirculated, but its got a strike error on it.
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Moderator
 United States
23731 Posts |
They do exist, but not in the sense of being like a new cent unless someone has polished it. They will usually have some toning, but the details will be as struck without any wear.
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Pillar of the Community
Russian Federation
5180 Posts |
IIRC, Roman and generally ancient coins deserving a MS grade do very much exist, even in bronze. They're pretty darn uncommon though (and very expensive). However, I highly suspect that there are no ancient "uncirculated" coins that are actually RD (or even RB). I suppose there could be some lucky example(s) that just happened to have the exact perfect storage conditions, but even then I doubt it/they would've survived in so good a state since the original discovery!  It also doesn't help that, when we're talking about ancients, "as struck" doesn't necessarily equal what we normally think about as "mint state" (because of both strike-related problems and the occasional general crudeness). |
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Valued Member
 United States
188 Posts |
Yeah, I meant as an MS RD, not including imperfections.
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Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
4208 Posts |
It would have to resist oxidation for 2000 years. Its just not feasible for bronze to do that. Gold, yes, easily, could last that long. Perhaps maybe even silver, but not blast white, but it doesn't come out of the ground a deep black.
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Valued Member
United States
188 Posts |
That`s why I said "imagine"
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
4911 Posts |
Now imagine a proof roman.
Feel free to call me Will.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3445 Posts |
I would imagine the large sized 40mm AE 'medallions' which turn up on rare occasion may have had a Roman version of a proof finish. The ancients were capable of polishing metals to a reasonably high degree and as these issues were few and believed to have been given as awards/gifts by several emperors I think it reasonable to suppose they 'shone like the sun'.
At the very least they certainly had some extra 'brightening' to make it few grades better than a handing out a sestertius !
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4778 Posts |
The giant Roman siliqua medallion comes to mind for me (I think it was of Constantius II?). That was definitely a special occasion thing and boy it is awesome-looking. Must have been looked amazing when first struck.
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Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
4208 Posts |
The 10 Solidi medallion of Constantius riding into London? Now thats fancy.
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Bedrock of the Community
Australia
21788 Posts |
An auctioneer will NEVER give an ancient coin an MS grade.
The DO however, grade some superb condition pieces as 'AS STRUCK'.
Ancient coins in As Struck condition occasionally come up for auction. The antoninianii of Gallienus are probably the easiest to obtain in 'As Struck' condition.
Many years ago I was in the safe room of the British Museum, by prior written appointment. I saw tray after tray of Byzantine solidii, all in 'As Struck' condition.
There are some things in a coin collector's life that he never forgets!
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Moderator
Australia
16868 Posts |
From what we know of Roman coinage minting techniques, it seems likely that Roman bronze coin blanks were usually heated in a forge until soft prior to being struck. Given that, I think it is unlikely that our Roman bronzes were ever "mint red Unc". I think bright brown would have been as close as they ever came to being mint-red.
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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Bedrock of the Community
Australia
21788 Posts |
Perhaps not 'red unc', but
'As Struck' can still be the result under those conditions.
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Valued Member
United States
104 Posts |
When I worked for CNG, we once had a pot hoard of LRBs that had a few coins in the center that still had some mint red. The outer coins were all toned and encrusted. I've never seen that before or since.
John
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Posted 12/16/2013 1:27 pm
