Late Roman Bronze Coins
Coin talk => Late Roman Bronze coins => Topic started by: seth on October 07, 2013, 04:49:10 PM
As I reached the limit of my coin budget for now, I found myself hunting for bargains. And because the DAFNE type is what attracted me first to lrbs and because I never got around to buy a nice diadem head (E2) DAFNE, I thought I should look for one, convinced of the fact that I should have a lot of examples to choose from.
After almost an hour of browsing different sites + ebay, i think that this type of bust is the rarest of the whole DAFNE issue. The frequency i have for this type compared to the other 2 regular ones (excluding the unepigraphic) is a very intriguing 1 E2 to 2 E4 (upwards gaze) to 6 E8 (regular rosette draped cuirassed).
Has anyone else noticed that, was this similar to your experience as collectors?
(https://www.lateromanbronzecoinforum.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.acsearch.info%2Fext_image.html%3Fid%3D505003&hash=13c0764033adcf64ac02ea57c4d1be58631c2671) E2
(https://www.lateromanbronzecoinforum.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.acsearch.info%2Fext_image.html%3Fid%3D491409&hash=15f2ae3213e3ef345c4ab5f486e3f009f276eb20) E4
(https://www.lateromanbronzecoinforum.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.acsearch.info%2Fext_image.html%3Fid%3D483514&hash=baa97d4938d992b37fd23dbe53430f3733bac649) E8
nb - Coins pictured are random acsearch results.
Yes, the E2 Dafne types are the most uncommon. I currently have one in my shop with another to load (officina B, pictured below), compared to 3 eyes to heavens and 4 E8 busts. In the years I have collected the Dafne issue, I have had only 6 examples of the E2 compared to circa 15 of the E4 and around 25 of the E8 type.
Below is a chart on rarity from my Dafne page (http://www.constantinethegreatcoins.com//DAFNE/)
Thanks for the link, you have a very informative and easy to use website. your numbers are very close to the ones i came up with. I also noticed that, while E2 is significantly rarer, it's the E4 that usually commands a premium price-wise. This is one clear case where rarity doesn't necessarily correlate with a higher price.
Here are the datas based on the 72 samples available in the nummus-database. http://www.nummus-bible-database.com/rechercher-une-monnaie.htm?page=1&personnages=&ateliers=&collections=&vendeurs=&motscles=&numric=&numnbd=&legendes=13&nombreResultats=50&btRechercher=Rechercher
E2 = 4 (5.56%)
E4/E5 = 13 (18.06%)
E8 = 55 (76.38%)
The other very interesting feature is that 16.67% of the 72 coins in the database are from Victor's collection. ;)
Any thoughts on why (although clearly rarer) E2 dafne's go for less than E4's?
Is it just the popularity factor (E4 being more desirable because of the christian implications)?
Quote from: seth on October 09, 2013, 06:00:35 PM
Any thoughts on why (although clearly rarer) E2 dafne's go for less than E4's?
If I have one of each type in similar condition, I will always price the E2 bust higher...but not by much. The E2 bust, at a higher price, generally only appeals to the specialists. I suspect that most collectors that only want an example of the Dafne type will opt for a cheaper E8 bust type (which they can get in much better condition) or spend a little more for the eyes to heaven type (which appeals to a broad range of collectors) rather than spend a bit more for the E2.