Pinarius Natta, Denarius, 149 BC, Cr. 208/1
L. Flaminius Cilo, Denarius, 106 BC, Cr. 302/1
London Ancient Coins
Freeman & Sear
How do you pick a coin to buy? As most folks, I have a
limited budget and a loooooooooooooong wish list. I would like a cast Decussis
(Cr. 41/1) , an EID MAR denarii and a cast bar (Cr. 3 – 12 or any type) to add
to my collection. In this note I have two examples of coins with similar grades
and different plusses and minuses. Both pairs are from current sale catalogues
or auctions. I have decided on one, and pondered the second before passing on
both. I have purchased from all four companies and have no reservations about
future purchases from the companies:
CNG, Triton XVII
Freeman & Sear
London Ancient Coins
Artemide Aste
I picked the gEF NATTA coin from Artemide Aste because it
was well struck, the die must have been in good condition, the coin is centered
on the flan, I liked the light toning and I did not have one yet. A few minor
parts of the coin were off the flan (bill of helmet and part of ROMA). The CNG was
heavier, had a larger flan and all lettering and most of the edging was on the
coin. The high points of the CNG coin were not as good. Either coin would have
been a good addition to my collection. The final decision was due to the higher
grade and slightly lower price. I passed on both Flaminius Cilio coins. I am
looking for a better grade in a coin that common.
Here is my decision tree:
Is it Roman Republican? – I go to this each time
I look at a really neat ancient coin. Most are RR because most dealers know
that is my interest. I often see something that is not RR and have bought a
few. Most are related, but some are not. Cast Italian pieces are close enough
for me to add them to my RR collection. The main book on cast coins reminds me
that all of my pieces are not RR: Italo Vecchi - Italian Cast Coinage.
Do I have an example already? – I have purchased
only a few duplicates. Most of the duplicates are examples of different
varieties or forms. Often I buy a fully struck example of a brockage. I bought
one coin to upgrade a low grade example once and then did not update my list. I
bought a 3rd example of the coin by mistake.
How does the coin fit in my collection? Crawford
numbers go to 550, but the number of coins he describes is several times that.
I have a couple of hundred coins, but have a few good sized holes in the time
line. For some reason the years 200 to 155 BC, 123 to 119 BC and 55 to 49 BC
are unfilled or sparsely filled. I have few imperatorial coins and even less
silver pieces before the denarius. If I find a coin in a year I am missing,
that piece gets extra consideration.
At this time, I have most of the common denominations
/ types:
Bronze litra, asse, semis, triens, quadrans,
sextans, uncial, semiuncia and quincunix. The symbols for these are: no symbol,
I, S, 4 dots, 3 dots, two dots, one dot, no dot and 5 dots respectively. My
cast collection is better than my struck bronze.
Silver coins (and their symbols) – didrachm
(none), denarius (X, XVI or *), quinarius (V), sestertius (IIS) and victoratius
(none).
I am missing cast pieces above the asse,
the silver drachm, the half and double victoratus and all gold pieces. I am not
sure which of these I will be able to buy next, but my guess is that I will
find an obscure, small denomination cast coin.
Grade – I started buying RR coins VF or better.
That is still the case, but I tend to look for gVF or better. I like well
struck examples as much as high grades. Grading of ancient coins required some
re-training of my understanding of coin grades. I found several web sites that discussed
the subject. Calgary Coin has an excellent section on grading. I use their key
components to grading on the spreadsheet I use to document my coins: grade,
style, centering, strike, flan, patination and damage. These aspects to grading
are discussed below with much information borrowed.
Grade: The amount of wear, or appearance of wear, on a coin.
This is the part of grading that most of us understand. When buying coins from
other countries, you will need a key. For example a coin in very fine condition
in the US carries the symbol VF. In other countries this could be: SS, MBC, BB
or TTB. You can find a key in Wikipedia -
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coin_grading or in most European coin company web sites or
catalogues.
Style: A reflection of the artistic skill of the celator
(die engraver). This is a personal judgment. Some issues will have better or
worse dies. Maybe the celator had a bad day, or the die was produced by a
trainee. Many of the mints following armies had lower artistic qualities.
Centering and the related item coin diameter: How much of
the coin design and inscriptions are on the flan. The best coins have large
flans with all of the features on the coin. Remember that ancient coins were
valued by their metal content, so a large flan coin will be thinner and may not
have the metal thickness to fill all of the high points of the coin.
Strike: How strongly or completely the details from the die
were impressed on to the flan. Conditions of the die also fit here. Comments
often seen include: worn dies, corroded or pitted dies, etc. You should be able
to see flow marks on most (all?) ancient coins, but an old die will have more
pronounced flow marks where movement of the metal over time work small grooves
in the die. I look for coins that have the parts I want are well struck. Some
of the things I want to see are wrinkles in togas, facial features on smaller
characters on the reverse, lines for the reins on horses pulling chariots, etc.
Flan Characteristics: Splits, cracks and other flaws,
resulting during flan production or striking. This could include coins that
were struck over older issues. Brockages are coins that have the same image on
both sides, but one is an “outie” formed from the die and the other is an
“innie” formed from a coin stuck to the die that makes a concave impression of
the coin stuck to the die. I like brockages, but they usually cost less than
one with two sides.
Patination: This includes surface deposits and chemical
changes to a coin's surface metal. Most ancient silver coins have been cleaned
and the “better” ones have developed a patina since cleaning. Old cabinet tone
is considered a good thing! Bronze coins are usually not cleaned to bare metal,
and the best ones have an even patina. I recently purchased a cast coin with a
“Tiber” patina. I assume the Tiber is like the Mississippi River and looks
brown.
Damage: Detractions other than wear, that occurred to a coin
after it was struck. Some silver coins “interchanged” metal while buried for
centuries. The metal from one coin that migrates to another coin is called horn
silver. Silver can convert from malleable to brittle. This is called
crystallization and coins with this should be handled carefully. The highest
graded denarius I purchased was brittle and broke when I showed it to someone
who handled it carelessly. I avoid crystalized coins as a general rule.
Links to other discussions of ancient coin grading are given
below:
