which coin would you have purchased?

[Nerosmyfavorite68]

Recently some Antioch tetradrachms went on sale and I noticed that a few had alarmingly low weights.  I contacted the (very reputable) dealer and he said they had been sea finds, the copper having been leached out.

I was initially going to buy an Otho, just because it was cheap, but it also suffered from the lowest weight of all (having lost about 40% of its weight) and had unpleasant surfaces. I ended up moving up my regular buy a few days and hopping on the Galba, which had only lost two grams.  The Galba has a great portrait, pretty little wear (most of the hair is still present), the surfaces are much better, and was only a pittance more.  It's actually quite an upgrade to my existing Galbas; two decrepit sestertii.

One doesn't want to jinx the Galba by posting it just yet.  I did so with my first U.S. coin and it disappeared (so much for registered mail).  It will be posted when it arrives.

Do you think I made the right move? I could have purchased both concurrently but I wanted to stick with my budget.  The corroded Otho can always be purchased it if hangs around for next time.  The extra-low weight is what would bother me most about it.

I've had an Otho since almost the very beginning of my collection; a not great but not terrible denarius.

The coins weren't posted to avoid a jinx and to have an increased chance of the Otho sticking around, although it's probably easy enough to find.  If it's there next time, fine.  If not, it wasn't mean to be and I will not be too sad.  The piece has a lot of problems.

[Kali]

I've owned a few VERY low-weight Tetradrachms & over time, they were the first ones to be unloaded, if something else better came along.

Otho tetradrachms are not as rare as you would think. I would think you'd want to wait and find a better one if a Tetradrachm of his is what you desire. The prices tend to be better than Imperial Denarii of his.

[Nerosmyfavorite68]

The Galba was probably a wise choice.  I can enjoy the Galba, but the Otho would be quickly forgotten.  The two gram difference probably knocked $100-150 off the price of the Galba.  I didn't go in wanting a Galba, but it was an opportunistic buy.  That's how 70% of my buys usually occur.

I also added a FEL TEMP REPARATIO AE3, a type which I never buy.  It was described as unofficial yet the portrait struck me as more naturalistic than regular issues.

 

[Romismatist]

Based on what you have written I would agree that the Galba was the better buy in this case. Perhaps in time an Otho will come along that will resonate more with you.