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 Replies: 19 / Views: 3,199 |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
6130 Posts |
Interesting idea I thought up after seeing the handful of amazing 12 caesars sets posted here recently.
What is the cheapest possible set of the 12 caesars to assemble?
Spanning any denomination, any mint, imperial or provincial with the following caveats:
- (Except for Julius Caesar) must feature the portrait of the Emperor
- If the portrait is ambiguous, must have at least enough legend to be identifiable without a doubt
- No modern fakes or contemporary counterfeits, including fourrees and barbarous strikes
- (Preferably) Acceptable eye appeal; not garbage.
I am interested to see what we can come up with!
To get us started:
Julius Caesar - ?
Augustus - AE of Julia Traducta, Spain - $2-$5
Tiberius - ?
Caligula - AE as, Vesta - $25
Claudius - AE Libertas as or similar, Spanish mint - $5-10
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Pillar of the Community
United States
836 Posts |
This is really cool and I might try to build this. A 12 Caesars set is something I want to build, but have other things higher on my list when it comes to investing in a nice set.
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Valued Member
Canada
204 Posts |
Great idea Finn!! This is (almost) exactly what Iv been doing for the last few months. I want to keep the cost to a minimal but at the same time I want very nice examples (preferably silver, some bronze)...I found the best way to do this, is to pickup coins that may still require a bit of cleaning. Also, sometimes sellers take awful pictures so less people tend to bid. A lot people aren't willing to invest the time! Thats my experience thus far.. I have 5 emperors to go  Off the top of my head I can think of... Nero - As. victory? Galba - (maybe) a fine As. or a Tetra. or Egypt Alex. Diobol? Otho - a fine denarius? Not really sure Vitellius - provincial bronze or Victory As.? Vesp. - As. or provincial bronze? Titus - provincial bronze or maybe a dupondius in rough shape? Domitian - As. or provincial bronze? I'm just spit balling here!!  |
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Pillar of the Community
Russian Federation
5172 Posts |
My Claudius coin cost me a bit less than $5, but it definitely has garbage for eye appeal. Here's the thread. I'd love to get the other 11 but I know I'm probably not that lucky. So I'm looking for coins of emperors that I actually have a chance to get, like Septimius Severus (ha ha ha - Marcian is perhaps more likely). Otho is probably going to be the stopper here (he didn't make imperial bronze, and his provincial bronze is rare). I don't know much about cheap Julius Caesar coins, however (if there are any). |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
616 Posts |
I'm going for this set minus provincials and as much silver as possible. The Julius Caesar elephants have gone up in price to the $500 range, Tiberius tribute pennies are also in the mid 200s. Caligula and Claudius can be gotten in bronze for about 100-150 each. Nero denarii are in the mid 100s. Galba and Otho are the killers. Not sure how to get either one of these for under 300. I've seen passable Vitellius denarii for $120. Vespasian and Domitian aren't too much trouble as long as you avoid the commemoratives. Titus denarii are under $80.
This is the set I'm trying to build. Total cost? Under $2k. I just wish Suetonius had forgotten Galba/Otho and written the 10 Caesars.
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Pillar of the Community
Russian Federation
5172 Posts |
Quote:
I just wish Suetonius had forgotten Galba/Otho and written the 10 Caesars. I wish he had included Clodius Macer, so that nobody would have taken the set seriously. |
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
6130 Posts |
Here's probably my best contribution: Claudius:   Won that one as part of a six-coin lot for $40. Simplest calculation of price would be $6.66, although it's pretty hard to articulate things like that; I probably could have sold the others and kept this one for a profit. |
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Valued Member
United Kingdom
90 Posts |
Edited by FlaviusJ
10/25/2016 3:54 pm
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Pillar of the Community
United States
6130 Posts |
I can take care of Galba: AE Drachm of Alexandria, Egypt Dated LB, January 1-15, 69   Got that one in a lot, 71 coins for $58 shipped. 66 of those coins were culls which I was able to flip back for about $30. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
7066 Posts |
Been going through old "Celator" articles as time allows, and just read an enjoyable 2004 article that prompted me to revive Steve's thread here. The article is at https://community.vcoins.com/wp-con...4/index.html(hopefully the link works!) The article is "Twelve Caesars, Nine Years and 856 Dollars." The author, Robert Boston, takes us on his long journey to complete his set on a tight budget. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
836 Posts |
Thanks for the article Bob. It is interesting. I like reading/hearing people's stories of building sets/collections.
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
1269 Posts |
Thanks for the link Bob. I just read that article a few weeks ago. It was very interesting. I like that each collection tells a story.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
836 Posts |
Just picked up this Nero Ae as If I can get it to clean up I will have got it for a steal ($9 shipped) Obverse  Reverse  Any tips let me know. I have an idea how to get the green off with acetone and another chemical. Don't want to directly say because it is another members here recipe that he sent to me privately. Edited by brenpickle
11/07/2016 1:22 pm
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Pillar of the Community
United States
797 Posts |
Picked up in 2014 a Nero Denarius for $18.43 Dlvd. Not the pretiest, but, legible legend, with SALVS reverse. has a Black gunk over 75% of the front, and 10% of reverse. Probably RIC 60, but need to touch up on my RIC numbers since its been so long.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
6130 Posts |
Thanks for the link, Bob!
Come to think of it, I wonder if anybody has found a Vitellius or Otho in an uncleaned/unidentified lot? Obviously they all get dug up from somewhere, so I suppose it's possible?
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Pillar of the Community
United States
6130 Posts |
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Replies: 19 / Views: 3,199 |
Posted 10/24/2016 4:59 pm
