Coin Talk

I love the feel of Alexandrian drachms, but I also love the artistry on Alexandrian coinage. It isn’t quite as naturalistic as some Greek or Roman coinage, and they are often in pretty dreadful condition, but they have an originality and exoticism which isn’t found on a lot of ancient coinage. Because of that, I’ve made them a major part of my collection, and have specifically focused on those which display some form of Egyptian imagery. It’s been a while since I made a new thread, but I would like to share a few of these coins and invite everyone to share some of theirs as well. So, here are some of my coins depicting Egyptian (or ‘Egyptianizing’) deities.


Antoninus Pius drachm
Obverse: Laureate bust right
Reverse: Isis, crowned with disk, horns and plumes right, holding Harpocrates, crowned and holding lotus flower.
Struck at Alexandria in 146/7, 34mm, 27.1g, Dattari 2648, RPC 13597 (temp)

Depictions Isis and Harpocrates in one...

Continuing to finalize research articles on silver coinage casualties of the latest wave of deceptive counterfeits I move to another key “variety”, the Liberty Seated 1854 Huge O quarter.

Like the 1927-S this variety was included in our initial Coin Week article From the Brink to the Dark Side and also started with the purchase of a damaged genuine coin that was repaired and used to make the counterfeit dies. And like others in this series the repairs were accomplished with apparent skill until compared to images of known genuine examples, and then the affected details betray the efforts of the counterfeiters; if there were but one known example it could simply look like a repaired and tooled genuine coin, but when we can document more than one with the same key differences plus additional “circulation marks” we know we are on the trail of the counterfeits!

The original “discovery example” is still in the TPG holder as seen in the images and was initially considered...

Okay, I've been hunting high and low for well over 6 months to find a second example of the rare FS-901 DDR 1899 Barber Quarter . . . and I mean high and low . . . everywhere.

Only one is presently accounted for, and its asking price is $15,000 (L&C Coins). I've searched many venues, all grades, raw and certified, everything I can think of, and invested much time in this search, especially because it seemed necessary for me to look at the reverse of the coin to identify an example, which meant taking the time to actually look at both the displayed front side and then the more important backside for the error.

Finally, wanting a front-side diagnostic which could save me 50% of the time I'd been investing in my search, I carefully studied the obverse for the first time, and discovered something completely unexpected . . . the coin is not real . . . not in my opinion anyway.

Because links may eventually be rendered useless by the removal of the on-line photos, and because I can find...

I have found the Roman Provincial coinage of Antioch in Syria personally fascinating and has been a collecting focus of mine for about a year now (with a focus on bronze). Instead of simply posting my coins over and over, I'd like this to be a "Pile On" thread where we can all share our coins of Antioch, Emperor-by-Emperor, and crowdsource any information we have about the area during the reign of that emperor.

Okay, let's start with some basics...

Antioch in Syria was located at the head of the Orontes River and was called "Antiochia ad Orontem" (Antioch on the Orontes) by the Romans. It was located in the southeast corner of Asia Minor and was a thriving center of trade around the Mediterranean Sea.

...

Theodore Roosevelt became president in 1901 following the assassination of William McKinley. Roosevelt was an activist president who put his stamp on the office forever. In 1904 he was elected in his own right.

1904 Roosevelt - Fairbanks Campaign Button




As it had been for recent presidents of the period, the Inaugural Committee issued medals that celebrated the event. The medals were given to the Inaugural Committee, members of the president’s administration and, in increasing numbers, sold to the public to raise money for the celebration.

In 1905 there were two official inaugural medals, which is highly unusual. Charles Barber and George Morgan designed the more common piece. It is a fairly modest medal, three inches in diameter, with a portrait of Theodore Roosevelt on the obverse and the phrase, "Inaugurated President of the United States March 4, 1905," and sprig of flowers on the right side of the reverse. This piece was made only in bronze and...

Dear Friends of ancient mythology!

Here I would like to present a provincial coin from Maionia in Lydia. It shows a motive which belongs to the legend circle around Heracles, but is rarer than the coins which describe the 12 famous deeds.

The Coin:
Lydia, Maionia, pseudo-autonomous, AD 145-175
AE 19, 4.57g, 180°
struck under strategos Appa (time of Faustina jun.)
Obv.: MAIO - NΩN
Bearded head of Herakles l.
Rev.: CTP TO Γ - AΠΠA (from upper right)
Omphale advancing r., holding with r. hand club over r. shoulder and in l. hand lion's skin
Ref.: BMC p. 130, 20r
are, about VF, brown patina with some earthen highlights


Note:
The rev. means "when Appa was strategos for the third time"

Mythology:
This myth takes us back to the time after the 12 famous deeds of Herakles. Eurytos, the king of Oichalia, had promised the hand of his daughter Iole to the one who could defeat him in archery. Herakles took over and defeated him. But Eurytus...

This is an article which I started a while ago, but did not get around to finishing it. Recent discussions have inspired me to finish it.

To begin, let’s define what a “cleaned” coin is. A coin is “cleaned” when any material is removed from the coin. This includes everything from using canned air to blow off dust to using iron wool to scrub a coin clean. There are two levels of cleaning: “proper” cleaning and “improper” cleaning. If an experienced collector/dealer/grader cannot tell that a coin has been cleaned, then it has been properly cleaned. If they can tell, then it is improperly cleaned and should be considered damage. From here on out, I will used the word “cleaned” to refer to “improperly cleaned.”

When I look at a coin, I use a three-step process each time to determine if the coin is cleaned. The three steps are as follows:

1. Grade the Coin

2. Look at the Color

3. Observe the Surface Quality

Here is a breakdown of each step:

Step 1: Grade the Coin:

Half of...

The Newman Numismatic Portal Dictionary (https://nnp.wustl.edu/library/dictionary) defines a pattern as a coin which has not been approved for release, produced to evaluate a proposed coin design, or a term which includes a wide array of early strikes including die trials, hub trials, die adjustment strikes, experimental pieces and other trial pieces; anything that is different from the production run that is not a mint error.

I would not call a die or hub trial a pattern, nor would I consider a die adjustment strike to be a pattern (though you could have a trial or adjustment strike of a pattern). I feel like major sources seem to define what a pattern is differently from each other and there is not a consensus on this definition.

What do you all consider to be or not be a pattern?

To me, a pattern is a version of a coin that is proposed for release. I see several types, and think there is generally a consensus that what I've listed here as types 1-3...

Dear Friends of ancient mythology!

I was on search of a coin showing the apple of Hesperides already for a long time. But mostly it is only Herakles who is depicted holding apples in his hand, often behind his back (Herakles Farnese). Luckily I found this coin from Tarsos which is showing the trree with the snake too. And now we have the whole scenario. In fact only the Hesperides are missing!

The Coin:
Cilicia, Tarsos, Gordian III, AD 238-244
AE 35, 21.04g, 180°
Obv.: AVT KAI M ANT ΓOP[ΔIANOC CEB]
Bust, draped and cuirassed, seen from behind, radiate, r.
in l. and r. Π - Π
Rev.: TAPCOV MHTPOΠOΛEΩ
Herakles, bearded(?), nude, stg. facing, head l., resting with r. hand on his club,
holding over l. arm the lion-skin and in the outstretched l. hand five apples.; l.
beside him a tree with twigs, entwined by a snake.
in the upper r. field A / Γ, in the lower l. field M / K
Ref.: cf. SNG Copenhagen 383
very rare, good F/about VF, usual rough state like all coins of...

Byzantine history is, well, Byzantine. The complicated reign of Constantine VII illustrates it. There are more twists and turns than I can recount here, but some events are key to understanding this coin which is clearly overstruck.



The overtype is Constantine VII, 913-959.
27 mm. 6.14 grams.
Facing bust of Constantine VII, holding globus cruciger in left hand
CONST BA - S ... around
Four line reverse legend:
CONST/ENOEbA/SILEVSR/ROMEON ["N" looks like "h" on all of these coins]
Sear 1761.

(This coin and the next came in the mail yesterday. It was great fun to sort out their story.)

You can skip the next paragraph which identifies the undertype as Romanus I, Sear 1760 (the second next coin).

Clearly the obverse is overstruck on a previous reverse, the final two lines showing:
SILEVSRW/OMEWN [Note: The omega form is like W here but like O on the Constantine VII.] Remembering that late Byzantine coins usually have 6:00 die-axis, flipping the coin...