Coin Talk

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...

Gordianus II and his father ruled for only 21 days. As he was proclaimed after his father and died in battle before him, Gordian II had, if only by a difference of some hours, the shortest reign of any Roman Emperor in the whole of the Empire´s history. His coins are even rarer than those of his father.



IMP CAES M ANT GORDIANVS AFR AVG - laureate, draped and cuirassed bust of Gordian II right, seen from behind
VICTORIA AVGG S C - Victory advancing left, wreath upward in right hand, palm in left; S-C across fields.
AE Sestertius, Rome, April 238 aD
30mm / 17.21 gr / 1h
Banti (I Grandi Bronzi Imperiali, Vol. IV-2) Nr. 6 (4 specimens listed, this coin illustrated on p. 238); RIC 7 (plate XII, Nr.4, same obverse die); BMCRE 29 (plate 42, Nr. 29, illustrating specimen from Naples, same obverse die); Cohen 13 (citing specimen in Paris); Sear 8472.
From the collection Richard van de Vyvere-Colens (1837-1912); Charles Dupriez Sale Nr. 112 Bis (M. van de...

During the first half of the 13th century, and while the Spanish Reconquista was in full effect, gathering barons and knights from Provence to Lorraine, Burgundy, England and Germany to fight against the Moors in the Iberian territories, a rather obscure conflict took place between James I King of Aragon (Jaime I) and the nephew of Ermengol VIII de Sant Hilari, Guerau de Cabrera, for the succession of the County of Urgel, in Catalonia. Starting after the death of Aurembiaix, Ermengol's daughter in 1231, the conflict between King James (who had supported Aurembiaix and now supported her husband Peter (Pere) of Bourgogne-Portugal), and the Cabrera faction raged until 1235/6, when an impoverished Ponc de Cabrera, the younger son of Guerau, accepted the King's terms under the mediation of the bishops of Lerida and Urgel, and surrendered the cities of Lerida and Balaguer to the crown of Aragon.

In turn, Peter abandoned his claims to Urgel and received Majorca, Ibiza and some Balearic...

Some anonymous folles ["Class I"] have been attributed to the Byzantine emperor Nicephorus III (1078-1081). He has one other follis type that is not anonymous, Sear 1888. It is quite scarce (although low valued in Sear) and rarely comes at all nice (remember, we are talking about Byzantine copper). The Sear plate coin is not pleasing--the photograph is hard to decipher.

So, I was very pleased to get this one:

23-22 mm. 5,55 grams.
Christ standing facing, IC XC either side, eight-pointed stars below, either side.
C Φ
N Δ
in quadrants of cross with big dot at each end. Eight-pointed star in circle.
According to Whitting, Byzantine Coins, the letters abbreviate
May the cross (C) protect (Φ)
Nicephorus (N) emperor (Δ) [Despot]

If you have an interest in Byzantine coins and don't have Whitting, you are missing out on a lot of pleasure and information. It has many excellent enlarged photographs and a lot of commentary.

I have many auction-sale...

Dear Friends of ancient mythology!

Here I want to share an article about the mythology of Troy.

But first: The name of the herdsman referring to on these coins has been passed down as Ordes, not Orodes as he is named in error in Bellinger! Orodes is the name of several Parthian kings.

1st coin:
Troas, Alexandreia, quasi-autonomous, AD 2nd-3rd century
AE 23, 4.5g, 23.25mm, 225°
obv. CO ALEX TRO
Bust of city-goddess (Tyche), draped and turreted, r.: behind vexillum inscribed CO/AV(?)
rev. CO[L?] AV TROAC
The herdsman Ordes, in short dress and wearing boots, advancing l., holding pedum
over l. shoulder, r. hand raised; r. behind him cattle leaping r., head turned l.; on the l. side grotto within laying cult-statue of Apollo Smintheus, above Apollo Smintheus stdg. r.
ref.: Bellinger A480 (Type 19); BMC 41
rare, about VF, weakness of strike on upper part of rev.

2nd coin:
Troas, Alexandreia, Caracalla, AD 198-217
AE 23, 6.99g, 23.29mm, 180°...

MAXIMVS CAES GERM – bare-headed and draped bust of Maximus right
PRINCIPI IVVENTVTIS – Maximus, in military attire, standing left, holding baton and spear, two standards set in ground to right
Sestertius, Rome September 236- April 238
31 mm / 20,36 gr
RIC 13, Cohen 14, BMCR 213, Sear 8411, Banti 6 (207 specimens)
ex Jean Elsen fixed price list , January-March 2019, Nr.140



Caius Iulius Verus Maximus was born ca 215 ad as the son of future emperor Maximinus Thrax and his wife Caecilia Paulina.

He reportedly lived in Rome during the rise of his father was engaged to a young lady named Iunia Fadilla, a descendant of Antoninus Pius. The wedding however never took place as Maximus was ordered to the German frontier to accompany his father on his military campaigns after the Thracian Giant´s succesful coup against Severus Alexander.

Maximus was raised to the rank of Caesar between 07 January and 16 May 236 and the roman mint...

Gallienus and Salonina had two sons depicted on coinage -- Valerian II and Saloninus. Let's see your coins of these two boys!

The year their eldest son, Valerian II (P Cornelius Licinius Valerianus), was born is not known with certainty; a date of AD 240 is a reasonable guess. Perhaps at the instigation of his grandfather, Valerian I, the younger Valerian was accorded the title Caesar shortly after Gallienus' elevation to the role of joint emperor with Valerian I, probably some time in AD 255 and no later than AD 256.

Valerian I and Gallienus soon issued coins in the boy's name with the idea of establishing an imperial dynasty extending to a third generation, something not seen in the Roman world since Commodus wore the purple. The most obvious allusion to this is the reverse type IOVI CRESCENTI ("the growing Jupiter"), which depicts Valerian II as the infant Jupiter riding on the back of the goat Amalthea.

The younger Valerian would have been a teenager -- 15 or 16 -- at the time...