Coin Talk

Rarity is an odd concept in ancient coins, where, as I have mentioned elsewhere, even collectors of modest means can own coins that are unique. Not that rarity is meaningless, with popular coins and types rarity does mean higher prices. But, to put the issue in more focus, consider the sestertii of Caracalla, in fact, the sestertii of the direct family of Septimius Severus generally. Sometime on or near 200AD, the Rome mint all but ceased the production of imperial bronzes, not striking these types, except in extremely small numbers, until 207AD or so. There were some imperial bronzes struck during this period of inactivity, but sestertii are extremely rare - despite close to 15 years of diligent searching I have not been able to buy a single example of a Caracalla sestertius struck from 200AD to 207AD - not one - and have all of one example as an As (RIC 415(c) - INDULGENTIA AVGG IN CARTH - to be posted).

The early sestertii of Geta as Caesar, are all extremely rare, since...

Until a couple of months ago, my earliest royal woman portrayed on a Roman Imperial coin was Hadrian's wife Sabina (unless one believes that Pax on the reverse of the Tiberius "Tribute Penny" = Livia). Since then, I've acquired coins depicting Domitia (Domitian's wife), Julia Titi (Titus's daughter), and now, Antonia, known as Antonia "Minor" or "the Younger" (36 BCE - 37 AD) (her older sister was Antonia Major/the Elder). Antonia Minor was the daughter of Mark Antony and Octavia Minor (Augustus's sister) and, therefore, Augustus's niece. She was the wife of Nero Claudius Drusus; the mother of Claudius I and Germanicus (as well as Livilla, whom she allegedly punished for her plot with Sejanus by locking her in a room until she starved to death); the grandmother of Caligula (Germanicus's son); and the great-grandmother of Nero through her granddaughter Agrippina the Younger, daughter of Germanicus and mother of Nero. Her death was either a suicide or the result of poisoning by...

This will be a random and sporadically updated thread- so apologies in advance!

But, in the past few months I have bought up quite a few large lots of coins, ranging from $2 per coin to nearly $50 per coin. Obviously most lots will have plenty of ugly/cull coins, but I felt the need to start a thread for the keepers and cream of the crop as I work through imaging them. Apologies in advance for the lack of verbose write-ups; short on time and sleep these days

That some of these were deemed unworthy of individual listings baffles me!

First up, some Romans
Tiberius, "Livia as Salus" AE dupondius - pretty worn, but still a highly coveted type!


Caligula for Germanicus, AE Dupondius, SIGNIS RECEPTIS type, also rough, and desirable in pretty much any grade!


Vespasian Dupondius / Roma - this is IMO the definition of honest wear - and I had already been feeling the itch for some nice Flavian AE...

I find the coins struck at Magnesia on the Meander under Themistokles in the later part of his life to be fascinating. When I began to research this coin I found that information on Themistokles after his ostracism is not very easy to find. This is especially true of his coins since many of the primary references are in languages other than English. Therefore, I decided to put together this write up in order to provide a general historic background for the life of Themistokles after his exile and especially to give a more accessible means of categorizing and understanding his fractional coinage and in particular the “tight-cap” head type.

I caution that I am not claiming that this write up is anything close to a comprehensive or a completely accurate treatment of the subject. It is simply a compilation of my own understanding after my research. I will also warn you all ahead of time that this is going to be a loooooong post… even for me.

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My one year anniversary in Coin-Talk is fast approaching. In a couple weeks it will be a year since I discovered this wonderful site that opened my eyes to the wonderful world of coin collecting. In fact I purchased my first coin this time last February, so it is a year proper since I started collecting ancients, even though I hardly knew at the time it would turn into a full-time hobby. It has actually come to the point that I can comfortably call it an obsession, but I am not here to point any fingers. I am fully to blame as I always had the tendency to surround myself with beautiful things. As I am writing this, I can hear the voice of Angela Gheorghiou singing "Vissi d'arte" from Tosca in my stereo, and I realise that we are a privileged few, for we have chosen to become guardians to treasures of humanity which is exactly what these ancient coins are. They are not our belongings, we are simply their custodians, making sure that we safeguard them for the generations to come. Or...

Happy New Year! Well, in Russia at least, where 14 January is ‘Old New Year’, since the Orthodox Church still uses the Julian Calendar. As if Russians needed an excuse to drink, they’ve given themselves two New Years, split by Christmas on 7 January.

The Russians have often done things their own way. The Cyrillic alphabet. Onion-domed churches. Vodka made from potatoes. And while other nations cast their planchets, the Russians sliced theirs from wire and beat them flat. That produced strange, misshapen flans that rarely fit the coin’s design.

Dmitry Shemyaka Denga, 1447

Moscow. Silver, 0.5g. Head right, barbarous unreadable legend around. Prince with a crown, К-H in fields, KHѦZЬ ВЕЛИКИ ДМИТРЕИ, ‘Grand Prince Dmitri’ (Huletski, Petrunin and Fishman No. 605B). Dmitry Shemyaka was twice Grand Prince of Moscow and a cousin and rival of Vasily II the Blind, great-grandfather of Ivan the Terrible. He was the second Muscovite Grand Prince...

Large Capped Bust Quarters Collection

I have tentatively completed my large sized Capped Bust quarter date set! Many are aware that bust quarters tend to be less plentiful than their other bust-style counterparts, and I definitely got to experience that first hand over the past couple years. While these are all in the Good to Good+ range, for the most part they are pretty decent when you consider how coins of this type have been abused over the years. I honestly wouldn’t be surprised if the majority of large capped bust quarters are either lower grade than my coins or damaged. It should also go without saying that I don’t have (and likely will never have) either the 1823/2 or the 1827/3/2, and at the moment I don’t have an 1824/2 (hence “tentatively complete”), but that may change in the future. That said, I did do my best to get respectable examples for the grade for each date, so I am overall very proud of the set. All mintages and rarity ratings are from Steve Tompkins’...

None of the coins of Faustina II issued under Marcus Aureus cause more confusion than those featuring the goddess Ceres holding a torch (Ceres Taedifera, "Ceres the torch-bearer.") Ceres holding a torch appears on three reverse types:

1. Ceres standing holding corn-ears and long torch; empress' intermediate hairstyle.
2. Ceres seated holding corn-ears (sometimes also with a poppy) and short transverse torch; empress' intermediate hairstyle.
3. Ceres seated holding corn-ears and long vertical torch; empress' late hairstyle.

This new acquisition falls into the third category.

Hello Cointalk friends, I stumbled across a reference to a giant medallion of Caracalla on Facebook and I thought I would share this most exquisite piece, which of course, is in a museum

This piece was discovered in Egypt as part of a hoard that comprised about twenty similar medallions (now dispersed among various museums), eighteen gold ingots, and six hundred gold coins issued by Roman emperors from Severus Alexander (r. 222-235 CE) to Constantius I (r. 293-306 CE). One of the medallions, now in the Calouste Gulbenkian Museum in Lisbon, bears an inscription that possibly reads "Olympic games of the year 274", a date corresponding to 242-243 CE. One wonders if Caracalla traveled to Siwa Oasis to consult the Oracle of Ammon, as Alexander had done. When I visited the Oracle a few years ago I didn't hear anything. It's also possible that Caracalla as he aged had a progressively worse mental illness, which might help explain his behavior.

The medallions may have been intended as...

The reverse of the Geta and Septimius is "VICTORIAE BRITTANICAE."
Caracalla is dated "TRP XIIII" (211AD).

I would love to start this article by quoting something from Herodian, then add something interesting but only semi-related to the topic, before posting a long section on the history of the period which these three coins were struck before discussing each coin. However, I am doing this on work time, but I was just so excited about getting the first coin above, a sestertius of Septimius Severus that is a match for the same type struck by Caracalla (rare) and Geta (ridiculously rare). So I am going to post the photographs first - tonight or this weekend will write the article these three coins deserve.

The Caracalla is RIC 483(a), Geta is RIC 186. Septimius is unlisted. Although the reverse scenes are identical, RIC states, for Geta for this type, that the towered figure at right is...