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 Replies: 14 / Views: 5,348 |
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Press Manager
 United States
1420 Posts |
An incredible rare Roman coin featuring one of the earliest depictions of the Colosseum has sold for £372,000 - nearly five times its estimate.The bronze Sestertius coin that dates back to AD81 is believed to be only one of 10 that exist today. Seven are in museums around the world while the other three are in private hands. This one, appearing in public for the first time in almost 80 years, was acquired by a wealthy British connoisseur of Roman bronze coins in 1939.  It had remained in the late collector's family ever since but was today sold to a European private collector through London coin dealers Dix Noonan Webb. A packed auction room watched on in amazement as the relic far exceeded its £80,000 estimate. One side of the coin features an image of the famous Colosseum in Rome, which had only just been built. Read the Entire Article
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Valued Member
United States
275 Posts |
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New Member
United States
8 Posts |
I'm amazed that coin brought in that much. Very cool.
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Moderator
United States
23731 Posts |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2589 Posts |
I never knew a roman bronze could bring such high bids!
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Pillar of the Community
Spain
629 Posts |
I think that really it´s a medal, not a sestertius because the letters "SC" are missing and the weight is under the weight of the Nero sestertius...
But i´m not going to reject it if someone want to give me a present...
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Pillar of the Community
United States
905 Posts |
"not a sestertius because the letters "SC" are missing" but it does have SC on it, look at the bottom on reverse  |
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Moderator
United States
34430 Posts |
Gorgeous coin with crazy detail remaining, but well out of my league!
"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
United States
797 Posts |
This coin is one of my favorite designs on any Roman coin. Gorgeous and WOW that sale price!
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Pillar of the Community
United States
6130 Posts |
I love the little people in the stadium, probably watching little gladiators getting turned into littler bits.
I have always been puzzled at the depiction of buildings on these early Roman coins... Obviously a lot of talent went into the engraving of this sestertius, but why the odd perspective? Makes me wonder:
Was it a deliberate artistic choice to show more of the interior?
Had that school of art not been invented yet? After all, the few Roman paintings to survive don't seem to display much knowledge of the realistic portrayal of depth.
Were there simply no buildings tall enough to get a proper perspective?
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Valued Member
United States
123 Posts |
That's some crazy money. Makes sense given its rarity and being off market for so long. Wish they were more available. This type of history is why I collect ancients!
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Pillar of the Community
United States
6130 Posts |
While it's more money than I could fathom to drop on a house, let alone a coin, the price does not surprise me compared to the super-rarities in the US Classics world. There is a lot more history here than the 1913 V nickel (the product of an illegal and unauthorized action by a mint employee in it for pure profit), yet the V nickel would easily fetch three times this price if it went to auction. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3444 Posts |
Meanwhile in udder news ...... The Facebook ancient coin forums are in an absolute tizzy over this coin with people shouting "fake fake" ! The same people who ooooh and aaaah over every Caesar denarius with one corner conviently flattened out are gracing us with their wisdom about this seemingly well provenanced bronze. Hard to believe but I myself got into a row with one of these "experts" who promptly posted an example of a "genuine" coliseum bronze. I took a few moments to enlarge the pic .....  While I don't doubt that this bronze is ancient it is so heavily tooled as to make comparisons silly. And the face ? Well I will leave that to others more learned than myself to pass judgement ! Edited by FVRIVS RVFVS
02/23/2017 09:54 am
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Pillar of the Community
United States
905 Posts |
"The Facebook ancient coin forums are in an absolute tizzy over this coin with people shouting "fake fake" !"
It's my experience that you will find incidences of that on all forums.
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Valued Member
Australia
205 Posts |
If you spend silly money on a bronze coin, you probably want to find if your insurance covers 'bronze disease'. Especially a coin with no patina like the one in the photo (the enlarged photo posted above shows it has no patina).
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Replies: 14 / Views: 5,348 |
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Posted 02/21/2017 10:10 am
