Coin Talk

Liberalitas was the personification of the Roman virtue of generosity.

Liberalitas was employed as a propaganda vehicle by Roman leaders. From time to time, a political leader of the Roman Republic or an emperor of the imperial era would display his largess by issuing a congiarium or liberality. The leader would distribute money to the people for various reasons -- to ease economic hardship among the people, to increase the leader's "approval rating," etc. Tiberius gave a congiarium of 75 denarii (300 sesterces) to each citizen. Caligula gave the same amount of three hundred sesterces on two occasions. Nero, whose congiaria were the earliest known examples represented numismatically, gave four hundred.

A civil servant charged with the task would use a tessera, or counting board, to quickly count out a share of money to distribute to the people attending the congiarium (donative event). The tessera...

Mar. 1–3, 2019. Tennessee State Numismatic Society Spring Show, Camp Jordan Arena, I-75 Exit 1, Chattanooga, Tenn. Fri. Mar. 1 10 am–6 pm, Sat. Mar. 3 10 am–6 pm, Sun. Mar. 4 10 am–3 pm. Very large show, 200+ dealers. One of the best regional shows in the South. We will be at Booth 316, please come by and shop and say hi!

We have bought enough new material that practically everything we show in Chattanooga will be brand new! Be sure to come by.

More info at www.tsns.org


Matte 1909 VDB Lincoln Cent PR64RB PCGS

Kind regards,

George

A Young Numismatist is generally defined as a coin collector under the age of 18. A YN is also considered usually of lower numismatic budget, and compared to adults, are much an amateur in the field of numismatics. I am here to explain my views on numismatics specifically on the subject of YNs. For simplicity, adult numismatists will be the acronym “ANs” while young numismatists will be “YNs.”

I would first like to start off by showing how I can see both sides. For me being 16, adulthood is rapidly approaching, much sooner than some of my younger counterparts around the shops and shows. I would consider myself in the gray area of the two. I have the main resources, knowledge and abilities to keep up with ANs, to an extent, yet mainly I am still seen as a YN, which I do not mind. I have been given compliments on how my general and numismatic knowledge rival adults, which explains how a person should be less regarded on there age and more on their abilities.

So I will tell a short...

I bought this coin a few months ago cause I was fascinated about the cruel scene on this republican denarius. The Romans had no problem at all showing a severed head on the reverse of this coin. It's unthinkable that this kind of scenes would be displayed on modern European coins.

On this coin you can see the Roman general Marcus Sergius. In battle he lost his right hand. In two campaigns he was wounded twenty-three times . He was twice captured by Hannibal but managed to escape. He fought four times with only his left hand, while two horses he was riding were stabbed beneath him.
He was probably the first man ever with a prosthetic hand.
What a guy !

This coin makes me think how many different brutal, bloodthirsty, cruel scenes there are on the reverses of ancient coins. Mine is number one


M. Sergius Silus, denarius
3,84 g. 18 mm.
Obv. EX S C ROMA*, helmeted head of Roma right.
Rev. Horseman galloping left with sword & severed...

I already posted this in “Coin Chat”, but wanted to also share with the ancient coin enthusiasts. Greek coins I have encountered at the British Museum:

Thousands of people (the balcony was full of kids) showed up at the launch of the Massachusetts America The Beautiful quarter. I went with little expectations. I was surprised at the pomp and circumstance. This is the first ATB for 2019 and the 46th overall. Alabama will be the 56th and final release in early 2021. The 50 states, Washington DC and the 5 US Territories are represented (look here: THIS LINK ).

The coin itself is quite nice. The design honors the female workers specific to Lowell, Massachusetts mills. The ceremony was as much about women and their place in the work force of historical America as much as about the ATB quarter. The people who spoke kept it short and eloquent.

Marc Landry, the Associate Director of the Numismatic and Bullion Directorate at The Mint was the only male on the stage. The audience was primarily kids under 10 (YAY! SCHOOL TRIP!). Some high...

I have always wanted one of these coins. 'No self-respecting Flavian collector should be without one', or so I told myself. It can be very difficult to find a specimen in good condition and fine style. Luckily, I did.



Domitian
Æ Quadrans, 3.32g
Rome Mint, 84-85 AD
RIC 251 (R). BMC - .
Obv: (No legend) Rhinoceros stg. l.
Rev: IMP DOMIT AVG GERM; S C in centre
Acquired from Marc Breitsprecher, February 2019.

A few years into Domitian's reign an extraordinary issue of quadrantes were struck featuring a rhinoceros on the obverse. Although the coins are undated, their production can be narrowed down between late 83 when he assumed the title Germanicus and 85 when the consular date XI appeared on the quadrantes. The type is highly unusual and breaks with the standard obverses that were normally featured on the quadrans. One may ask, why a rhinoceros? Certainly the animal was rare in Rome and most difficult to obtain. The rhinoceros depicted on the coin...

Dear friends of ancient mythology!

Marsyas is a famous tragic figure of the Greek mythology. Here I will tell his story. But first a coin.

1st coin:
Phrygia, Apameia, pseudo-autonomous, c.3rd century AD
AE 19, 3.29g, 225°
obv. ΔH - MOC
Bearded bust of Demos, draped, r.
rev. AΠA - MEΩ - N (starting at 3 o'clock)
Marsyas, nude, with waving nebris behind, tip-toed walking r., playing on double
flute
ref. SNG Copenhagen 200; SNG München 137; BMC 50
VF, sand patina

Mythology:
Marsyas was a Silen or Satyr, an attendant of Pan, who found the flute, which some time before was invented by Athena.

But seeing her face in a mirror and how awful it looks when she played the flute and how all other goddesses were laughing about her, she throw it away with the curse that he who would raise the flute should suffer the worst fate. This Marsyas didn't know! He learned to play the flute better and better and when he felt at top of his art he coltish...

Now I consider myself pretty knowledgeable on the Lincoln Wheat cent, and have an eye for spectacular, well struck wheat cents. Many members here have posted wonderful examples that I find myself drooling over.

But in this thread I would like to discuss the late stage die strikes. These cents themselves have their very own uniqueness. The few examples I will be sharing will hopefully show how die wear effects grades and at the same time show the difference between die wear and circulation wear.

The early years of Lincoln wheat were tough on the mint. Through the 1920s there are many examples, especially by the branch mints, struck with overused and just awfully worn dies. Now we all know about the most famous of late die state Lincolns. One in which the obverse die was drastically damaged and then paired with a less worn reverse die. I'm talking the 1922 No D cent or also weak D. 4 die pairs exist all showing excessive over worked dies. Obviously die pair number 2 is the most...