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Newp from Harlan J. Berk... possibly the rarest coin I currently own...OTHO, at last!
lordmarcovan
Posts: 43,218 ✭✭✭✭✭
Well, I did it... I finally got myself something I have wanted since I started my collection of Roman imperial coins: a denarius of the emperor Otho!
For those of you who aren't ancient coin collectors, I'll sum it up this way: since Otho only ruled for three months (from mid-January to mid-April in the year 69), his coinage is rare, and while these aren't the rarest of the rare in terms of Roman coinage, they're tough and quite elusive, particularly on my preferred maximum budget of $500 or less per coin. An Otho denarius with clear name and portrait and no hideous problems usually costs in excess of my $500 ceiling.
This was a challenging quest. I found an ugly one in the $400-ish range that I knew I would not be satisfied with and chose to pass on it. For a time I had my eye on a $550 example that I could have lived with- it had a clear name and decent portrait, but was rather "scrubby", i.e., overpolished, and it finally sold before I made up my mind. Most of the other Othos out there were in the $1,000+ range. In time I saw this one; it was listed on Harlan J. Berk's VCoins page for $675, which was a little beyond what I wanted to pay, but I decided to save up for it, fully expecting it to be sold by the time I had the money. When I did get the money, I went to the HJB website and still saw it listed for $675, but I noticed it was also listed in their "Buy Or Bid" sale, so I bid on it, offering $575. Returning to the website after the sale, I saw it had sold, and they listed the sale price at $675, so I assumed somebody had "pulled the trigger" and bought it for the full list price. Little did I know, the person who had won it was me. Apparently HJB's notification email to me vanished in cyberspace or ran afoul of my mailbox junk filters. I received a phone call from them and was happy to discover that I had won the coin for my bid of $575, plus $10 shipping. It caused me a little budget difficulty since I had already spent some of the earmarked funds by that time, and ended up having to put this purchase on my credit card, but I had just paid off my previous balance, so all's well. (Except I'm near-broke in terms of coin budget for a while).
Before I noticed the "buy or bid" option on their website, I had contemplated paying the full $675 ask price for this coin, which didn't seem that unrealistic, even if it was a bit beyond my usual budget. To have won it in the end for almost $100 less than their list price was just icing on the cake.
Now I am the proud owner of an Otho, and I have not only all four of the challenging rulers from the "Year Of Four Emperors", but eleven of the "Twelve Caesars" (lacking only Julius Caesar, who's not really considered part of an "imperial" era collection).
This piece has the necessary full name and decent portrait I was after, and light grey toning. It has a rather oddly shaped flan but rather than considering that a detraction, I find it gives the piece character.
<< <i>Otho; 69 AD, Denarius, Rome, 3.09g. BM-9, Paris-24, C-11 (12 Fr.), RIC-20 note. Obv: [IMP] OTHO CAESAR AVG TR P Head bare r. Rx: [PONT] MAX Ceres standing l. holding wheat ears and cornucopia. Rare second issue of reign, comprising five types all with reverse legend PONT MAX. Fine+ >>
(Note to Josh/Civitas: I was very strongly contemplating the purchase of your Balbinus sestertius when I thought I had lost on this coin, but since I didn't lose this one after all, there went my coin budget for a while. I now I notice your Balbinus seems to have sold, anyway.)
For those of you who aren't ancient coin collectors, I'll sum it up this way: since Otho only ruled for three months (from mid-January to mid-April in the year 69), his coinage is rare, and while these aren't the rarest of the rare in terms of Roman coinage, they're tough and quite elusive, particularly on my preferred maximum budget of $500 or less per coin. An Otho denarius with clear name and portrait and no hideous problems usually costs in excess of my $500 ceiling.
This was a challenging quest. I found an ugly one in the $400-ish range that I knew I would not be satisfied with and chose to pass on it. For a time I had my eye on a $550 example that I could have lived with- it had a clear name and decent portrait, but was rather "scrubby", i.e., overpolished, and it finally sold before I made up my mind. Most of the other Othos out there were in the $1,000+ range. In time I saw this one; it was listed on Harlan J. Berk's VCoins page for $675, which was a little beyond what I wanted to pay, but I decided to save up for it, fully expecting it to be sold by the time I had the money. When I did get the money, I went to the HJB website and still saw it listed for $675, but I noticed it was also listed in their "Buy Or Bid" sale, so I bid on it, offering $575. Returning to the website after the sale, I saw it had sold, and they listed the sale price at $675, so I assumed somebody had "pulled the trigger" and bought it for the full list price. Little did I know, the person who had won it was me. Apparently HJB's notification email to me vanished in cyberspace or ran afoul of my mailbox junk filters. I received a phone call from them and was happy to discover that I had won the coin for my bid of $575, plus $10 shipping. It caused me a little budget difficulty since I had already spent some of the earmarked funds by that time, and ended up having to put this purchase on my credit card, but I had just paid off my previous balance, so all's well. (Except I'm near-broke in terms of coin budget for a while).
Before I noticed the "buy or bid" option on their website, I had contemplated paying the full $675 ask price for this coin, which didn't seem that unrealistic, even if it was a bit beyond my usual budget. To have won it in the end for almost $100 less than their list price was just icing on the cake.
Now I am the proud owner of an Otho, and I have not only all four of the challenging rulers from the "Year Of Four Emperors", but eleven of the "Twelve Caesars" (lacking only Julius Caesar, who's not really considered part of an "imperial" era collection).
This piece has the necessary full name and decent portrait I was after, and light grey toning. It has a rather oddly shaped flan but rather than considering that a detraction, I find it gives the piece character.
<< <i>Otho; 69 AD, Denarius, Rome, 3.09g. BM-9, Paris-24, C-11 (12 Fr.), RIC-20 note. Obv: [IMP] OTHO CAESAR AVG TR P Head bare r. Rx: [PONT] MAX Ceres standing l. holding wheat ears and cornucopia. Rare second issue of reign, comprising five types all with reverse legend PONT MAX. Fine+ >>
(Note to Josh/Civitas: I was very strongly contemplating the purchase of your Balbinus sestertius when I thought I had lost on this coin, but since I didn't lose this one after all, there went my coin budget for a while. I now I notice your Balbinus seems to have sold, anyway.)
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I'm sure that you'll be thrilled when you receive it in hand.
myEbay
DPOTD 3
In pocket, as a matter of fact- brought it to work with me to show off to one or two appreciating souls.
FOR SALE Items
is that you end up being governed by inferiors. – Plato
Nice story and congratulations on the buy.
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I've only just begun the Ancient coin collection and so far it's looking pretty good and I have the same criteria as you.
Congratulations Rob! Nice coin and well done with getting the 11 done already.
Just kidding!
Nice addition.
WNC Coins, LLC
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A 3 month window for minting the coins.....almost 2000 years ago. Amazing.
Cool coin, sweet deal, and a nice story. Congratulations!
John
SFC, US Army (Ret.) 1974-1994
~
<< <i>An obvious and poor quality fake! >>
DPOTD-3
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Don
https://www.civitasgalleries.com
New coins listed monthly!
Josh Moran
CIVITAS Galleries, Ltd.
Helps me understand the inspiration for the interior designer named Otho in Beetlejuice....