As mentioned in my Severus Alexander thread I had my eyes on a beautiful bronze. Unlike many recent pursuits of "the good stuff" I actually won the piece !
Yahoo !!
When the coin arrived I followed my usual routine.
First I swabbed the coin with Blue Ribbon coin preservative. Not much happened. I had the impression that the surface had a 'lacquer' applied to it.
This was once common especially in European collections.
I have even seen some ancients that had catalogue numbers written on them in India ink !
Being somewhat hurried I dropped the piece in acetone and ran out the door to tend to my "duties".
(wife & kids keep me running !)
When I returned the acetone had turned pale green and the coin changed from dark olive greenish to a reddish chocolate brown.
The seller (from whom I have purchased many pieces and have trusted) informed me the coin was sold for a friend who purchased it long ago in Switzerland.
It certainly looks real and I rather prefer the mottled brown color
For several years I have been meaning to send a few select pieces off to David Sear for his learned opinions.
I believe the time has come !
Geta AE Sestertius
Obv. IMP CAES P SEPT GETA PIVS AVG
Laureate bust of Geta right
RV. PONTIF TR P II COS II with S C in exergue
Caracalla and Geta in military attire clasping hands and holding spears crowned by Hercules and Liber
31-2mm 21.86 grams
Sear 7266 155a
Rome AD 210
I really did not expect to win this coin
I paid a fraction of what I believed it would fetch
I could be getting paranoid in my dotage but .......
Opinions ?
Other than nice portrait I mean
*I would note in this coins favour that while weights of the period vary considerably, if this were a high grade casting the diameter of 32mm milimeters would make the original well over 36mm which seems improbable at best !
Posted 10/15/2017 5:28 pm
Awesome coin
