The one that got away

[rasiel]

Has this subject been overdone? I'm sure most of us have stories about coins we really, really wanted but for one reason or another we lost our chance and can't let go. Sure, there are the gems and rarities we fantasize about, and which will likely forever remain a pipe dream, but I'm talking about coins that we had a real chance at. Maybe you missed sniping at the last second because the baby was crying, maybe you thought "bah, I'll get it next time" only to nurse your regret for years afterwards. Whatever the story, please share it. Pics too, if you have an old link 😉

For my own, nothing compares with the angst I felt on losing out to a shot at a Domitian II on ebay, an absolutely once in a lifetime type of opportunity, the story of which I posted on Facebook a few months ago (I typo'd Baltic meaning Balkan). My consolation is that it ended up in a museum so I can both be happy that it found the best possible type of home and a bit of vindication that I had the sharp eye to spot it :- )

Edited May 17 by rasiel

[JayAg47]

This Hadrian's 'happy' hippo. Two or three years ago, I spotted this coin on Vcoins and added it to my watch list. At that time, it was out of my budget, so I started saving up eventhough I could've bought it. By the time I had saved some extra money, it had already been sold. I still regret missing out on it. What a lovely looking hippo!

Hadrian BI Tetradrachm of Alexandria, Egypt. Year 5, AD 120/1. Laureate head r.; crescent before / Hippo advancing r., date in exergue. Emmett 863. 13.38g, 24mm, 12h. Very Fine.

Another one that I could've won or bought given enough time. Last year I saw an ancient group lot at an ebay auction when it was about to end. The main thing that got my eye was a coin with a child and Faustina elder, at first I thought it could be baby Marcus Aurelius, so I did some sleuthing in the short time I had and found it was actually Marcus Galerius Aurelius Antoninus, her son who died before 138. I was prepared to buy this coin along with the lot, but alas the ebay seller was international and ebay didn't allow me to bid because the seller didn't include a shipping option for my country. If had enough time, I could've contacted the seller, but it was too late as I saw the lot close for just under 100 bucks (I was happy to pay nearly twice or thrice the winning bid). Although, I do not have the exact photo of the lot, I've attached the coin type i was after below. 

 

Edited May 17 by JayAg47

[Nerosmyfavorite68]

This one was in the 2006-8 range, from Dr. Fishman.  I regret not buying a solid 'silver' Antioch Antoninianus of Claudius II.  It seemed to be solid, good billon, and not silvered.

[CPK]

This one is still painful to think about, almost exactly one year ago. I lost the opportunity to acquire an extremely rare and interesting architectural type As of Septimius Severus. Thought my pre-bid was high enough, and there didn't seem to be much interest, but I was outbid. I couldn't find another example anywhere online. 

https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=10987719

 

[Ancient Aussie]

14 minutes ago, CPK said:

This one is still painful to think about, almost exactly one year ago. I lost the opportunity to acquire an extremely rare and interesting architectural type As of Septimius Severus. Thought my pre-bid was high enough, and there didn't seem to be much interest, but I was outbid. I couldn't find another example anywhere online. 

https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=10987719

 

WOW what a fantastic coin, one I would dearly love myself. Sorry you missed, I know how you must feel. How much did it hammer for?

[kirispupis]

I've lost out on plenty of coins that I regret. 

• Yesterday morning, I'd intended to bid on a very rare coin where I didn't think I'd stand a chance. For that reason, I didn't pre-bid but figured I'd check that morning on the current bid. Well, that night we had a surprise visit from one of our relatives in Israel, and she was super jet-lagged the following morning so I took her to a park and completely forgot about the bid. It ended quite a bit below the max I'd planned. On the positive, I got some nice photos of an eagle with a rat.
• I lost another heartbreaker at the last Triton auction. I put in my highest bid ever for a coin but was the underbidder. I'm still too traumatized to post its picture, and I'm still after the type.

Here's one with a bit of a twist. There was a coin I really, really wanted and it came up at auction and I put a strong bid on it. Of course, with just a little bit to go I was outbid and it was simply too much, so I just moped for a while. The next thing I know, the coin shows up at Shanna Schmidt! I was furious because had she not been out to make a buck it would have been perhaps the most prized and cherished coin in my collection. However, here's the twist.

Every once in a while, I look the coin up. It's been in her shop unsold for nine months now, and when I looked at it this last time, something looked odd. So, I did a bit more research and I now strongly suspect the coin is a fake! It may be an ancient fake, but I'm definitely glad I didn't pick it up now. I may never be able to afford an actual genuine example, but this particular one looks to have been for the best.

[David Atherton]

2 hours ago, rasiel said:

Has this subject been overdone? I'm sure most of us have stories about coins we really, really wanted but for one reason or another we lost our chance and can't let go. Sure, there are the gems and rarities we fantasize about, and which will likely forever remain a pipe dream, but I'm talking about coins that we had a real chance at. Maybe you missed sniping at the last second because the baby was crying, maybe you thought "bah, I'll get it next time" only to nurse your regret for years afterwards. Whatever the story, please share it. Pics too, if you have an old link 😉

For my own, nothing compares with the angst I felt on losing out to a shot at a Domitian II on ebay, an absolutely once in a lifetime type of opportunity, the story of which I posted on Facebook a few months ago (I typo'd Baltic meaning Balkan). My consolation is that it ended up in a museum so I can both be happy that it found the best possible type of home and a bit of vindication that I had the sharp eye to spot it :- )

Wow! That is quite the tale!

Which museum did it end up at?

[rasiel]

1 hour ago, David Atherton said:

Wow! That is quite the tale!

Which museum did it end up at?

Here's the screenshot of the discussion and a copy of the plate from the museum. Looks like the buyer sold it to the museum using a phony local provenance, which is  plausible as I can't imagine any self-respecting curator having anything to do with stuff from ebay!

 

[TheTrachyEnjoyer]

That is likely a contemporary imitation. Compare to the real thing

[CPK]

7 hours ago, Ancient Aussie said:

WOW what a fantastic coin, one I would dearly love myself. Sorry you missed, I know how you must feel. How much did it hammer for?

About 300 USD. That's what hurts - it wasn't out of my budget at all. Though who knows how much higher the other bidder was prepared to go.

[Ancient Coin Hunter]

The entire zodiac series of Antoninus Pius struck at Alexandria. So far I've bid on an Aries and a Leo and have been completely outgunned. There were a few examples in the Leu auction featuring the Rhakotis collection and I bid on them only to see the prices rise by thousands of dollars in the last couple of minutes.

The dream coin of this series is the coin that features the entire zodiac, which interestingly enough, resembles the zodiac painted on the ceiling at the Temple of Hathor at Denderah. So there is a real archaeological connection from the time. This temple was extensively embellished during the late Ptolemaic and Roman eras. They seemingly never come up for sale and the last example I saw (in VG condition) sold for around $8,000.

 

(PDF) The Egyptian "Zodiac Coins" of Antoninus Pius and the Sothic Cycle | Nick Vaneerdewegh - Academia.edu

A Leo example (sold, of course)

 

 

[CPK]

12 minutes ago, Ancient Coin Hunter said:

The entire zodiac series of Antoninus Pius struck at Alexandria. So far I've bid on an Aries and a Leo and have been completely outgunned. There were a few examples in the Leu auction featuring the Rhakotis collection and I bid on them only to see the prices rise by thousands of dollars in the last couple of minutes.

The dream coin of this series is the coin that features the entire zodiac, which interestingly enough, resembles the zodiac painted on the ceiling at the Temple of Hathor at Denderah. So there is a real archaeological connection from the time. This temple was extensively embellished during the late Ptolemaic and Roman eras. They seemingly never come up for sale and the last example I saw (in VG condition) sold for around $8,000.

 

(PDF) The Egyptian "Zodiac Coins" of Antoninus Pius and the Sothic Cycle | Nick Vaneerdewegh - Academia.edu

A Leo example (sold, of course)

 

 

 

This one sold last year. I had it on my watch list, though I was more interested in just seeing what it brought than actually bidding on it. Hammered for 910 EUR:

biddr - cgb.fr, Live Auction June 2023, lot 809650. ANTONINUS PIUS Type: Drachma Date: year 8 Mint name / Town: Alexandria, Egypt...

[Ancient Coin Hunter]

That was a bargain. Too bad I didn't see that 

[Postvmvs]

@rasiel Thanks for sharing this stunning information about the "third Domitianus II". Do you remember the country the eBay seller? Is there any way to recover more information from the original listing?

One of several things that bothered me about that coin was its reported find location of Bulgaria -- far away from the borders of the Gallic empire making an imitation of a very short-lived usurper extremely unlikely. If the provenance is not accurate, that could actually be in the coin's favor... Stylistically the coin is not an official mint product, so I think we may be in a "Bonosus" situation of reading into blundered legend something more. With barbarous radiates, the blundered legends are sometimes like a die engraving equivalent of an infinite number of monkeys typing on typewriters.