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 Replies: 11 / Views: 1,264 |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4963 Posts |
I know the title probably sounds too good to be true, but here's the story of how I got the nicest ancient piece in my collection. First off, here it is:   Last spring, some of my friends convinced me to get an Instagram account. Naturally, it soon became a medium for looking at interesting coins, and in August, I came across the account of Christopher Wise (@christopher_wise_101) of Rago Auctions in New Jersey. He had recently started holding weekly Roman coin giveaways, for which one must identify the emperor and mint, and repost the picture, to participate. In October, this beautiful piece with the PROVIDENTIA DEORVM reverse, RIC 7, was offered. Of the 28 participants, the largest pool to date, I was lucky enough to win. I'm still quite impressed by his generosity, and I encourage you all to participate. I realize that decreases my chances, but he said he would give away a gold piece with 100 participants, and I suppose I owe it to him after this one. I won another piece as well: a slightly damaged but fairly sharp follis of Maximian, struck at Nicomedia (I somehow identified it then, but now I can't find it on Wildwinds or in RIC 5B). I'll upload some pictures later when I get a chance. Edited by Numisma
03/27/2018 8:28 pm
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Pillar of the Community
United States
7066 Posts |
Nice. Congrats. He is very generous, indeed. And, with the spreading of the word here, his generosity may be paying off in some new customers.
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Moderator
 United States
23731 Posts |
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Moderator
United States
34443 Posts |
Hey that is a great portrait--lots of remaining detail and at a great price!
"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
4963 Posts |
Quote:
Hey that is a great portrait Indeed. I'm quite impressed by it, especially compared with other examples (and the reverse of this one). The relief is also higher than I've seen on other coins of the era:  Here's the Maximian:   |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
616 Posts |
That is a gorgeous Balbinus. One of the nicest I've seen. Congratulations!
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
12477 Posts |
Very nice and thanks for the story.  In Memory of Crazyb0 12-26-1951 to 7-27-2020
In Memory of Tootallious 3-31-1964 to 4-15-2020
In Memory of T-BOP 10-12-1949 to 1-19-2024
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3445 Posts |
The Balbinus is certainly intriguing !
But Max has BD scars and I suspect the missing flan area is the result of "amputation" to remove badly infected portions.
As BD penetrates the below the surfaces it makes the area quite brittle once the bronze has been eliminated.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3445 Posts |
I think the coin has been "cured" chemically and is no danger to your collection.
But .......
I would quarantine it for a few months to see if any spots develop.
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Bedrock of the Community
Australia
21788 Posts |
Nice Balbinus especially. The picture of the edge chip screams genuine ! Congratulations.  |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4963 Posts |
Thanks for the replies! I was worried about BD on the Maximian- I'll keep an eye on it and see what happens.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
6130 Posts |
Beautiful Balbinus! He's one of the handful of emperors I'm still missing - it's not often that a quality coin of his comes up to auction, much less as a giveaway! What a generous gesture!
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Replies: 11 / Views: 1,264 |
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Posted 03/27/2018 8:43 pm
