Coin Talk

July 29th 238
Balbinus and Pupienus are murdered by the Praetorians, and Gordian III is declared Augustus. At the age of 13, he became the youngest sole legal Roman Emperor throughout the existence of the united Roman Empire. Sadly, he was not chose for his intelligence or his commanding habilities ; the greek historian Herodian wrote about his accession to the throne : " the praetorians took up Gordian Caesar and proclaimed him emperor, since at the moment they could find no other candidate for the office. (History of the Roman Empire 8.8.7)



He ruled for about six years and at the age of 16 he was married to Furia Sabinia Tranquillina, daughter of the newly appointed praetorian prefect, Timesitheus. His new father in law took quickly the control of the Empire. He spent the last three years of...

LMCC 3.01.024, RIC 37A
CONSTANTIVS NOB C
GENIO POPV - LI ROMANI
-/-//-
8.47g, 28mm 303-May 305 AD
Purchased from Asprey Coins, ex Spink Sale 8019 Lot 109


I've had my eye out for a nice Constantius from the London mint, for the obvious reason that it was his military action which brought Britannia back into the empire after the secessionist reigns of Carausius and Allectus, and it was under his authority that the mint was formalised and established.

I was pleased to find this example, minted towards the end of the period of the first Tetrarchy, and showing the fully mature style of portraiture that would become the relative norm for the remainder of the Mint's output until the rapid reduction in flan size could only support the smaller and less powerful portraits from around 313 AD onward. For example, compare the powerful and weighty bust above to a beautiful example of Constantine:


9.05.013 (cuirassed) or...

There is a trend from a few days ago talking about US collectors growing up wanting a Spanish Milled Dollar and the excitement of finally getting on. It is after all the first coin in the Red Book. Growing up in Canada I had a similar experience with Carltons. I don’t remember what was at the start of that book but I do remember what was the last regular issue... The Sovereign.

It was a strange coin. Gold. Different design (Benedetto Pistrucci fanatic St. George). Different head (Barehead v Crown head on coins of the day) . Mint Marked. Strange denomination (Pounds). Rare (~600k total)

As a Kid I can remember going up the Eaton’s coin counter in Pacific Centre Mall on Robison Street in Vancouver and window shop them. Sovereign were out of my price range but I have some proof sets and a Carson City Morgen I got from them. They had really friendly and knowledgeable staff its sad that the days of Department store coin counters are gone . It is now a...

Just received a new bit of fun today in the mail!
This is my 3rd Col Nems Chained Crocodile type with Augustus and his #1 general Marcus Agrippa BFF:

Nemausus Augustus Agrippa Crocodile 10,71 G/26 mm

I bought it primarily due to the countermark in front of/on Agrippa's nose! It may be "DD", Decreto Decurionum (The Decree). Though, it doesn't look entirely like the standard DD. Here are my DDs below (hopefully you wont be disappointed):


Augustus
Hispania, Julia Traducta. 27 B.C.-A.D. 14 Æ 25 (24.9 mm, 10.27 g, 4 h). PERM CAES AVG, bare head left / IVLIA TRAD, in two lines within wreath.
Countermarked “DD” (Decreto Decurionum) RPC 108; SNG Copenhagen 459.

It looks more to me to be the much more rare "PP", Pater Patriae (Father of the country). I have no examples of the "PP" to share.

Here is a pic from my phone which kind of makes it look like the double Ds, but for the fact that the countermarks circle is...

Damietta, in the Eastern Nile Delta, was a high prize captured by the crusaders of the Fifth Crusade in November 1219 and was recognized as a domain of the King of Jerusalem.

By this time, regnant King of Jerusalem was Jean de Brienne and the coinage of the realm was the reduced Holy Sepulchre denier, reintroduced at a lower standard and size and immobilized under Aimery de Lusignan around 1200:


Immobilization under AIMERY de LUSIGNAN (1197-1205) and successors, possibly to the first part of the reign of Holy Roman Emperor FRIEDRICH II as King of Jerusalem, around 1225 and briefly after
AR15x14mm, 0.45g billon denier, immobilized type, minted at Acre or Tyre(?) cca. 1200-1230.
AMALRICVS RЄX o; Cross pattee, annulets in 2nd and 3rd quarters.
+ DЄ IЄRVSALЄM; The dome of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre (Degenerate Type C).
Malloy 37c, Cox Class I.
Ex TimeLine Auctions, Session of September 10 2018, Lot 4796


But due to the...

The first of several coins I won at Pars Coins' most recent auction:

Sasanian Persian Empire. AR drachm. Kavad I, First Reign (488-497 AD). Obverse: Bust of Kavad I right, inscription before KaVAT (Kavad). Reverse: Zoroastrian fire-altar with two attendants star and crescent above, unclear date to left, mintmark ?ShY (either Shiraz or Takab) to right. This coin: Pars Coins Auction 7, lot 278 (July 14, 2020).

(note: historical section below contains recycled text)

Kavad was born in 473, the son of Peroz I (459-484). After Peroz' death, his brother Valkash was appointed by the nobles to rule, but proved unpopular and was deposed after just four years. Kavad ascended the throne in 488 AD, but as he was just 15 he was largely a figurehead for his advisors, particularly a Parthian-descended noble named Sukhra. In 493, by now more confident and worried about Sukhra's dominance, Kavad had Sukhra exiled to his native Shiraz. However, Sukhra still...

I've recently added a couple Maximinus coins to my collection and took the opportunity to do a little more research on the guy from many online sources. Here's what I found out:

• He was born in 173 AD (or 172 AD).
• Was of a 'mixed-barbarian' ethnic background (Gothic & Alanic?).
• Thrax means "the Thracian", but was not used until the 4th century and not contemporary.
• Is thought to have acromegaly.
• Joined the army in 190 AD (or so).
• Rumored to have met Septimius Severus and due to his limited Latin instead of talking to him he performed feats of strength for the emperor. Septimius took special interest in him and he rose through the ranks.
• In 231 AD, Severus Alexander rose a legion, Legio IV Italica, and placed Maximinus as commander.
• Maximinus led the legion in Egypt in 232 AD, was governor of Mesopotamia, and then led his legion in the German campaigns in West.
• The legion/army didn't like the softness and passivity of Severus' approach with the...

Hobo nickels are coins that have had their designs modified with files, engraving, chasing, and carving tools. The most popular coins to work with are Buffalo or Indian Head nickels, minted from 1913-1938. They were easy enough to work with hand tools and the Indian head provided subject matter that was ripe with possibilities. The most common theme was the transformation of the Indian head into a hobo wearing a derby-like hat. I bought the coin pictured below from a friend who had a coin shop in Leroy, NY about 8 years ago. The coin is skillfully worked and appears to be from the early classic period.


For comparison an unblemished 1913 nickel MS68, courtesy of PCGS


Hobo nickels vary in quality from very fine to crude and amateurish. Many soldiers returning from World War I were unable to find work and lived a hobo's life along with many down-and-outers who hitched rides on railroad trains, going from city to city looking...

About a year ago, I posted my experience in building a high grade type set over on the CU Forum and a comment posted on my ANA show report last month made me realize that some of you folks on Coin Talk may find my experience interesting and informative.

August 2008

When I got back into coin collecting after about 10 years or so, I became fascinated by the 7070 type sets that have been posted by the members of the forum. Just getting back into collecting after some time off, I figured the completion of one of these type sets would be fun and allow me to learn a little bit on each type, the goal of which would be to figure out which ones I like the most and help me direct my future collecting. I also liked the way the album looked when complete and didn’t care for slabs much, having never owned a...

I have a passion for German States coinage. It started with coins that depicted the Wildman and just snowballed from there. The coinage of Brunswick-Wolfenbuttel is what I find most appealing but by no means do I limit myself to pieces from this area. A common image is the leaping horse as depicted on the coin below.



I have heard some collectors refer to these as boring but some issues, especially the Thalers are anything but in my opinion. A well-struck high-grade example is particularly nice. I will be the first to admit that well-worn examples quickly loose there appeal. The design was used on denominations of Pfennig all the way up to multiple Thalers.

This piece is well struck but the surfaces are pretty dull.