Choice Ungrounded Coin of Unknown Origins, Yours for only 12000 dollars

If you think CNG has even considered that they might need, in this day and age, to soothe buyers' concerns with any kind of collecting history for this coin of Zenobia, ruler of Palmyra, you'd be overestimating the sellers and buyers of dugup antiquities:

Instead of saying where it was since before the source country (which was?) established regulations controlling the handling of such objects CNG gives a potted history of  Odenathus, Zenobia, Vaballathus and Aurelian and how beautiful Zenobia was reputed to be. I would imagine the average coiney is capable of looking that up in Wikipedia - but what they really need is some details about where that coin came from. It says it is in 'choice condition', but enlarge the photo and you can see the surface is flaking off in places with no mention of measures taken by previous owners to stabilise it. A more detailed condition report of this specific coin might be a better space-filler on the page than tall yarns of imperial ambitions.

Despite the patronising and evasive description, some coiney has such a desire to get his hands on it, that he's currently bidding: $11777. And yes, I bet it is a he.

And yes before any smarmy coiney triumphantly announces that "Barford did not notice it was minted in Antioch and he does not know Antioch is not in Syria" - he did and he does. The coins still should not be being offered without a collecting history.

I was alerted by Judith Weingarten who sent a comment here