Even More Byzantines

harasha

A crusty half follis overstrike of Maurice Tiberius:



This nice Class C, according to its provenance, was once sold to another by a board member.



A Class I Anonymous, remarkable only for its provenance; a different vendor than the one for the Class C



A smaller, lighter Class I, but so much nicer:

LochNESS

Ancients like the first and third examples make me nervous. You can barely tell any significant details or variety markings. How do you know they aren't fakes?

harasha

I would not say they lacked detail, and I suppose they could be fakes, but considering their relatively minimal value, probably not worth the effort.
The third one, by the way, according to the accompanying card, originally was an item offered by Wayne Sayles, unless the card itself did not belong.
Eh, what can I say. Hopefully, my next Byzantine showcase will be stunning!

bronzemat

Lovely coins.

LochNESS

Harasha, sorry I wasn't trying to diminish the stunning-ness of your showcase
It is always cool to see ancients like these. I am scared of the high-value "rare variety" ancients, not the lower-value commons (if that's what these are?)
I believe some TPG share that opinion which is why they weren't slabbing ancients until recently (yes, I've seen a couple!)

LochNESS

Here's an example of the ones that "make me nervous" ... the seller seems reputable but there are "only 3 known" according to one book source ... and for $8,000 it's an expensive gamble which you may never really know to be true or false.

SUPER RARE ANTONINUS PIUS SESTERTIUS ONLY 3 KNOWN

santelia

When I was working four days a week, and my kids were young enough to take naps, I created a spreadsheet of Byzantine emperors vs. rarity per Sears. I was 2-3 years into coin collecting and already bored/disillusioned with the US coins. And then the computer crashed...
I still would love to get into this series. I have several Byzantine coins floating around in my collection.