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 Replies: 29 / Views: 2,835 |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2044 Posts |
This is my first Roman coin! A big thanks to jwharper for sending it to me. I just received the coin in the mail this morning and I was like wow, this is totally awesome, I love it! I'm sure other people may have experienced the feeling that the coin is around 2000 years old and that you're holding a piece of history in your hands. I just took a photo of it with my ghetto setup so it's NOT a great image.  It's a Augustus AE19 (Semis), struck in Phillipi, reference RPC 1651, ANS 677, BMC 23, SGI 32. The obverse is: VIC AVG, Nike standing left on globe, holding wreath and palm; and the reverse is: COHOR PRAE PHIL, three military standards (in honor of the Praetorian Guard's performance during the battles between Augustus and Marcus Antonius in 31 BC). I copied and pasted what he told me about the coin. Some of the coin is worn and seems like it would be difficult to identify with some of the letters worn really smooth. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4778 Posts |
Very nice!  Here's a pic of my example:  Quote:
I'm sure other people may have experienced the feeling that the coin is around 2000 years old and that you're holding a piece of history in your hands. Yeah, it's an awesome feeling holding these great coins. For sure beats holding any modern coin! |
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Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
2838 Posts |
Congrats - A nice place to start too with an Augustus.
Is this going to be the first of many? Have you been hooked on ancients?
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4778 Posts |
Not to go (sort of) off-topic, but.... today happens to be the 1699th anniversary of the Battle of Milvian Bridge!
Edited by VisigothKing
10/28/2011 11:49 am
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Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
2838 Posts |
Quote:
today happens to be the 1699th anniversary of the Battle of Milvian Bridge  You really do have the bug bad now Jango dont you! Its nice to see though  |
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
2044 Posts |
My primary collection right now is US coins. Although I am for sure going to start collecting Roman coins because I really like them. Once I get some money I'm going to get a MoneyPak card and then upload the money. That's going to be a couple of weeks, perhaps. Then I will see about purchasing some. JangoFett: That's a nice coin there. Care to identify it so I know what it is? I see VIG and AVG on it. AVG is the mintmark? |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4778 Posts |
Lol bobby, I was just on Wikipedia and I happen to see it in the "On this Day" section and I thought I'd share it here Gil-galad, mine is the same one as yours RPC 1651, minted at Phillipi. VIC AVG are abbriviations for (VIC)TORIA (AVG)VSTVS (or AVGVSTA). The mintmark would be PHIL in "COHOR PRAE PHIL". |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4253 Posts |
Gil-galad, Take and soak this coin for a couple of days in olive oil and then take a soft brush (child's toothbrush will do nicely) to it. I think you may be surprised at how nice this will turn out.
I know that Augustus struck a series of coins to commemorate his victory at Actium. This one, another for his naval forces and one other for his Cohort of Intelligence. I can't seem to put my finger on the last. I know I've seen it for sale at high dollar cost, but I can't find it. Anyone else know of it?
JW
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2044 Posts |
I was wondering if I should clean it or not. Ok, I just placed the coin in a small ceramic coffee cup and poured in about 1 inch of olive oil and placed a lid on it.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4778 Posts |
Hey jw, do you think any of the ones you sent me would benefit from an olive oil soak and toothbrush? Just wondering.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4253 Posts |
Yes, some of the lesser quality coins might could use a good soaking and then a light brushing. It will not hurt any of them to soak.
JW
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4778 Posts |
Ok thanks jw. BTW I managed to attribute 5 of the "unattributable ones" (without cleaning of course). Hopefully that number will go up.
And one more question, the Constantine II Caesar VOT V you sent me has white debris on some of the surface. I could tell the coin itself has really great detail underneath, but just want to know if it would be wise to try to remove that white stuff and if so, how?
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4253 Posts |
I know the coin you speak of. I thought about trying to remove the whitish material, but left it alone for some reason. Now that I think about it, why not soak it along with the other coins and then take a brush to it. As long as you are not too aggressive with the brushing, it shouldn't hurt it at all.
BTW, once you have these coins cleaned at attributed, why don't you post images. I'd be very interested in both how they turned out and your attribution.
JW
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4778 Posts |
Would 100% extra virgin be good for the task?
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4253 Posts |
NO!! Too acidic. Use any other olive oil.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4253 Posts |
I just did a check on line and found that extra virgin olive oil is less acidic then pure olive oil. So once again, I am wrong. Go ahead and use extra virgin. It should be safe.
JW
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Replies: 29 / Views: 2,835 |
Posted 10/28/2011 11:37 am
