Simmoleon

Just read his feedback; he sells viagra so he’s probably already giving himself a hard time

Imagine William Wyon creating that monstrosity - that’s so bad I can’t believe anybody is bidding on it

Looks to me like a Roman sestertius, nice find but as you mention the condition is not the best. You could wipe any remaining dirt off with distilled water and a soft cloth but not sure it would improve its appearance that much. In terms of value, in this condition it is likely to be minimal but still a nice find.

Was considering putting a little bid on that Gothic Crown as it’s an upgrade on my PF55 but the bidding if very strong. Looks like I am back on the sidelines with this lot

Looks like the wife of Lucius Verus, Lucilla. Ref Lucilla AE Sesterius, RIC 1736, Cohen 21, BMC 1197 Lucilla Æ Sestertius. LVCILLA AVGVSTA, draped bust right / FECVNDITAS S-C, Fecunditas seated right, nursing child in arms, two children at feet. Cohen 21.

5oz Silver Graces returned from the grader and is now a PF70. The coin is almost impossible to photograph but in hand is flawless

List is endless but actual example I regret not buying would be a 1937 specimen set about 6 months ago; things simply didn’t align and I missed out. Painful memory but thankfully wasn’t down completely to my choice, other factors played a bigger role Future purchases would be a couple of nice sovereigns - probably Youngheads if any appear at reasonable prices

Another random ancient coin I’ve picked up CAMPANIA, Neapolis. Circa 320-300 BC. AR Nomos (19mm, 7.40 g, 3h). Diademed head of nymph right; grape bunch behind neck, [ΔIOΦ]AN[OYΣ] below / Man-headed bull walking right; above, Nike flying right, placing wreath on bull's head. Sambon 437; HN Italy 579. Iridescent toning, horn silver, minor cleaning scratches

That’s a very odd reply and tells you a fair amount about the company’s attitude to customers and potentially their pricing model. We all have bad days but that is not an excuse for sending replies such as this.

New sovereign - hoping to grade it and hopefully get an MS on it

Received this from the collection of Dr Jay M Galst who sadly passed away from Covid-19. First US gold coin and made up with it

If it helps I had the exact same thoughts; best opt for restoration but if it doesn’t get a 70 how would I feel about the potential outlay for restoration. For this one I got a winner but my 5oz silver Queen was a disaster and came back a 68. Whilst 68 isn’t good it also isn’t terrible but if I sold it I’d take a haircut on it and I was quite ok about the result. Decided to keep the Queen coin and add it to my collection and tbh with my eyes it looks fine. It’s all about learning and taking whatever the grader throws at you

Bit random but today I received Q. Sicinius and C. Coponius 49 BC denarius Minted with Pompey in the East. diad. hd. of Apollo r., star below, Q SICINIVS before, III VIR behind, rev., club of Hercules surmounted by lion's skin with scalp to r., bow on r., arrow on l., C COPONIVS P R S C (Seaby, Sicinia 1)

Finally been graded, my 5oz silver

I submitted mine on the 10th March and it didn’t show for about 3 weeks; it then arrived in the US in early April and has been in for grading since the 20th April its not great but that’s my recent experience of timescales. It was sent under Express as well Steve

Do you have a picture or a condition for the coin?

I only bid on the Rocking Horse crown but left that after it reached £100+. Was an interesting auction, some coins were strong and other strong coins seem to have hit the buffers. I’ve got myself a republic denarius and a 1874 half dollar this week so I can’t moan that I walked away empty handed today but the take away message is the current market is all over the place

No idea why but when a proof arrives in that capsule and you see the RM dust your brain turns to mush and the temptation to open the capsule absorbs your soul. Your brain says no but it’s too late; you are looking for the NGC submission form and adding conservation to see if they can fix it We’ve all been here with proofs, it’s a lessons learnt and you only do it once

The Romans precious metal issues followed the age old problem that their empire grew so big that demand outstripped supply - they had to pay a lot of soldiers and builders. They invaded all their foes for their metals and then invaded some allies and took theirs but eventually they reached the point that the empire couldn’t invade anybody and had to try and defend itself instead. It’s mines in Iberia and other places started running dry so they created new coinage. They introduced the antoninianus which was worth 2 denarii to try and resolve some of their issues but this had less silver than 2 actual denarius and hence, people hoarded denarius which caused inflation issues. As the Romans struggled to find silver they just kept adding other metals to the antonninianus until they basically weren’t silver coins but had a silver wash instead. At this point, they became so worthless that losing them seemingly meant little and hence, they are abundantly found today in fields all over Europe and North Africa. Then they had to re-visit their coinage and they had coins like the siliqua which returned to actually having silver in them but again they had issues with people clipping the edges off them etc. Nobody even knows the value of a siliqua but they were pretty small in comparison to some earlier Roman silvers I may have simplified 100s of years history but the Romans silver issues are pretty complex but I would suggest numerous themes are common across other empires/countries and not isolated to the Romans but have been repeated consistently in a cycle

Will try and post a picture of the reverse later today but picked this up at auction - just a stunning portrait on this crown