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 Replies: 16 / Views: 2,620 |
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
1269 Posts |
I won this from CNG last week. It is one of those coins that is definitely better in hand. The toning is superb. I also believe it is quite a scarce coin. I found 2 examples on acsearch, 1 in the CNG archives, 3 in the Forvm galleries and the one I won was the sole example listed on coin archives. Vespasian. AD 69-79. AR Denarius (18mm, 3.39 g, 6h). Rome mint. Struck AD 74. Obv: IMP CAESAR VESP AUG Laureate head right Rev: PONTIF MAXIM Vespasian seated right, holding scepter and branch. RIC II 685; BMCRE pg. 27 ; RSC 386. Ex: J. Eric Engstrom Collection Ex: CNG E-auction 373, Lot 366 April 20, 2016  |
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Pillar of the Community
Belgium
1194 Posts |
very nice coin , congrats . albert
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Moderator
 United States
23731 Posts |
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Pillar of the Community
Germany
1849 Posts |
It is a nice denarius of Vespasian with a decent portrait of the emperor.
Interesting your comment about the scarcity - there appear to be many scarce denarii which go unnoticed, under the radar so to speak, maybe for lack of collector interest.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3443 Posts |
While I accept CNG as being an authority greater than myself (although as we have seen before .... not perfect) the style looks strange to me. The portrait of Vespasian as a peculiar look especially the area of the lips. Sort of a Rodney Dangerfield appearance. Likewise the reverse portrait of the seated Vespasian has a peculiar look about it.
The coin condition is fantastic ! The seller is very highly rated !
But this coin bothers me. The fact that we have almost nothing to compare does not give me confidence either.
Please orfew do not take offence ! I rarely comment on silver coins as they are out of my area of concentration. But this coin gives me pause for thought.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3443 Posts |
Admittedly this is an imperfect comparison as it comes from my Divus Vesp sestertius issued by Titus. But it shows some interesting contrast in the style.   |
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Pillar of the Community
 Canada
1269 Posts |
I am completely convinced of the authenticity of my coin. Not only do I trust CNG, the coin also comes from the collection of a known collector. In addition an expert on Flavian coins, whom I trust, has pronounced it a very good example of the type.
Also, this coin has received comments on Forvm from those who are actually experts in this field and not one had raised suspicions about this coin.
This is not the first time you have commented negatively on a coin of mine. In one case your comments bothered me so much I sent a coin back for a refund which turned out to be perfectly correct. As the coin was several hundred dollars, it was a significant decision. Also, the coin was very rare and I will probably never see another example again in my lifetime.
No offence, but I am going to ignore your misgivings and trust those I mentioned above.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3443 Posts |
I hesitated a day before I commented.
I too trust CNG more than myself !
But I still think it has an odd look. My misgivings are based in not having something available for comparison.
Lastly I assure you I look at my own coins (not just other people's) with the same jaundiced eye !
One of the Ptolemy's I have in my group shot that I posted gives me misgivings.
I accept it as genuine because I trust the seller who sold it too me.
But I still look at it again every so often.
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Moderator
United States
34428 Posts |
@orfew, thanks for posting your Vespasian denarius. I don't have many Roman coins, but as it turns out one of mine is also a Vespasian. See below for pics. I think that our portraits are quite similar, although clearly mine has significantly more wear.   "If you climb a good tree, you get a push."
-----Ghanaian proverb
"The danger we all now face is distinguishing between what is authentic and what is performed."
-----King Adz
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
1269 Posts |
@dsspenciner
Yes it is is worn but it still has lots of character. thanks for posting it.
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Pillar of the Community
 Spain
2752 Posts |
@orfew Wow that's a beautiful coin...congrats!! I've got another thread going at the moment and some of the guys advised me to look at buying a Vespasian...I had a look but couldn't find anything I liked within my price range.......wish I'd found that one at my budget of 60 bucks ha!! So I'll say again reeeeeeally nice coin!!  |
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Valued Member
United States
61 Posts |
Calling it scarce is probably a stretch but it does look legit to me at first glance. Was going to attach another one of same variety but I don't see how to do it so here's a link http://www.coryssa.org/1330362Ras |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
949 Posts |
Quote:
Was going to attach another one of same variety but I don't see how to do it so here's a link The only Vespasian I see at that link is an aureus with a COSV bull reverse. I don't see the connection to the OP coin. What am I not getting? |
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
1269 Posts |
The link is working for me.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
949 Posts |
Not for me. I get redirected to different pages - various coins in the left margin and empty space elsewhere. I am not a "member" of the site. Truncating the URL all the way back to the domain name only gets me a different selection of coins at each stage.
Except for the domain name I can't even tell what site it is - there is no text; only pics of a dozen or so coins.
Can't the image of the coin we are supposed to see there be posted to this list?
Edited by lrbguy
05/09/2016 11:07 pm
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Moderator
United States
34428 Posts |
"If you climb a good tree, you get a push."
-----Ghanaian proverb
"The danger we all now face is distinguishing between what is authentic and what is performed."
-----King Adz
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Replies: 16 / Views: 2,620 |
Posted 04/28/2016 12:23 pm
