Medallion from the Bement Collection

Sale: CNG 78, Lot: 1864. Estimate $1000.  Closing Date: Wednesday, 14 May 2008.  Sold For $4000. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

Constans. AD 337-350. Æ Medallion (31mm, 21.70 g, 6h). Rome mint. Struck AD 340-350. Laurel- and rosette-diademed, draped, and cuirassed bust right / Constans standing facing, head right, holding spear and globe. Ntantalia, Series C, 102 (V74/R9); Gnecchi 27 (pl. 135, 11). VF, dark brown surfaces, minor roughness, hairline flan crack, details enhanced on obverse (see below). Very rare.

Ex Clarence S. Bement Collection (Ars Classica VIII, 25 June 1924), lot 1511.

While the coin has not been altered since the Bement sale, it apparently was prior to that time. Under strong magnification, it is clear that the original patina had been stripped, the details on the obverse enhanced, and then the coin was repatinated. The fact that this was accomplished prior to the Bement sale is obvious by the character of the patina, which has a genuinely “old” appearance.