Coin Talk

I’m rather excited by my recent acquisition, as I have been searching for a Scandinavian imitation of an English penny for some time now:

Scandinavia (?)
English Imitation, 11th c.
AR Penny, 17.53 mm x 1.7 grams
Obv.: Bust right, scepter right, imitating Æthelred II ‘Crux’ type
Rev.: Short cross pattée, imitating Æthelred II Short Cross type

This particular coin is somewhat enigmatic, which actually adds to the appeal to me. Unfortunately it’s find spot is now a mystery, but it is not unreasonable to assume this is a Scandinavian issue, as so many early Scandinavian coins imitated English types. Exactly which English type this imitates is also strange. The Obverse appears to be from the ‘CRVX’ type of Æthelred II:


Æthelred II Crux type. CNG Auction 105, lot 1197. NOT MY COIN

Obviously the clear difference here is that the bust is facing the wrong direction. Considering the crudeness...

Public Domain, Thanks to the Getty Museum Open Content Program

In a previous post, I shared a coin from Pergamon, Mysia. @Shea19 added a coin of Prussias II, King of Bithynia, who took territory from Pergamon....here's my new addition, a coin of Prusias II. Researching the coin has been a wandering path with stops in Pergamon, Bithynia, Thessaly, the Seleucid Empire, Rome and Carthage.

Kings of Bithynia, Prusias II Cynegos, reigned 182-149 BC, Nikomedia, Bronze Æ
Obv: Draped bust of Dionysos right, wearing ivy wreath
Rev: BAΣIΛEΩΣ ΠΡΟYΣIOY, the centaur Chiron standing...

Coins are History. Coins are Art. This is an open call to anyone interesting in discussing advanced coin photography. I appreciate the interest across the coin community in photographing your collections, but I’m not talking about better ways to shoot coins with your cell phone. I’m setting the bar much higher. I want to share images, advice, tips, techniques, best practices, workflows, editing, software and equipment to achieve professional quality coin photography and push the artistic boundaries of coin image presentation.

I am a professional coin photographer and I understand there are many others here at CoinTalk as well. Let's share our best shots and ideas, and the story behind them with like-minded people. You don't have to actually be a pro coin photographer, just shoot coin images like one, and I believe there are more of you out there than actual professionals. Perhaps others will be inspired to improve by seeing how pros do their jobs, and the difference a little of...

My article on this piece appears in EAC's Penny-Wise journal this month, but for those who haven't seen it, I've pasted a version of it below. Enjoy, and feel free to add any thoughts or comments! (Beware: lots of text)


THE ENGRAVED PATTERN “MATURE HEAD” CENT DESIGN MODEL: A WINDOW INTO THE MIND OF CHRISTIAN GOBRECHT
⠀
In the absence of contemporary documentation denoting the details of issuance of early proof Braided Hair cents (1839-1857), it has long been considered a possibility that several proof varieties of the type may have in fact been restrikes, perhaps created in the late 1850s alongside the backdated proof half cents of that era. For the years 1844 through 1849 in particular, all of the known proof-only cent die varieties (by “proof-only”, we mean that the dies used to strike them were not also used to strike coinage for use in circulation) display an identical irregularity upon the reverse rim, indicating that they were all struck using the same reverse die; from...

I've been wanting one of these odd Titus Caesar dupondii for quite some time. The story behind it is quite intriguing.



Titus as Caesar [Vespasian]
Æ Dupondius, 11.90g
Rome mint, 74 AD
Obv: T•CAESAR•IMP•PONT; Head of Titus, laureate, bearded, l.
Rev: TR•POT•COS III•CENSOR•; Winged caduceus between crossed cornuacopiae
RIC 762 (R2). BMC -. BNC 909. RPC 1992 (1 spec.).
Acquired from Aegean Numismatics, July 2020.

A truly remarkable dupondius. Struck in Rome, but lacking the traditional radiate portrait on the obverse and the de rigueur S C on the reverse. The reverse with crossed cornucopiae echoes similar types from the East. Traditionally, the issue this rather strange coin is from has been attributed to various different mints over the years. Ted Buttrey writing in the RIC II.1 Addenda commented extensively on it. Because both the Addenda has yet to see the light of day and Buttrey's thoughts on the subject are important, I have largely...

Dear friends of ancient mythology!

I think it's time for a new article.

The Coin:
Thrace, Byzantion, Severus Alexander, AD 222-235
AE 26, 7.68g, 25.92mm, 30°
Obv.: AVT K M AVP CEV AΛEZA[NΔPOC] AVΓ
Bust, draped and cuirassed, laureate, r.
Rev.: BYZAΣ
Head of Byzas, bearded, helmeted, r
Ref.: unpublished in all greater works
rare, F+/about VF, dark-green Patina


The bearded, helmeted bust of the mythological founder Byzas so far was known only on the pseudo-autonomous coinage from Byzantium. Schönert-Geiss, Münzprägung von Byzantium, vol.II, p.20: "The Byzas-series, which contains 66 ex. with 23 obv. and 37 rev. dies, could be dated exactly, since the same magistrates are named on their reverses as on portrait coins of the emperors. They fall into 5 issues
AD 128-135
AD164-169
c. AD 175
c. AD 176
AD 202-205
On this coin the head of Byzas appears for the first time as a rev. type, on a coin of Sev. Alex. The obv. die of this coin was...

I have just received in the mail one of the great rarities of Milanese coinage, the testone of Bona di Savoia:

Duchy of Milan. Bona di Savoia regent with Gian Galeazzo Maria Sforza, 1476-1481 Testone, ND, AG 9.60 g. Ref : MIR 218/1 (R3), Cr. 2/A. Obv: (head of St. Ambrose) BONA·7·IO·GZ·M·DVCES·MELI·VI· Veiled bust of Bona to right. Rev: (head of St. Ambrose) SOLA·FACTA·SOLVM·DEVM·SEQVOR Phoenix, with spread wings, standing left amidst flames. From the collection of a "Gentleman of the Royal House [of Savoy]," ex. Gadoury November 2018

Besides its great rarity this coin is fascinating for a number of reasons. Chief among them is the fact that it has the first portrait of a woman on Italian coin since ancient Rome. According to some sources it is in fact the only portrait of a woman on an Italian Renaissance coin, although this is only possible with the discounting of the tallero...

• A Bastien Intermediate coin for discussion - not in RIC.
  
• In his introductory notes to RIC VI, Londinium, Sutherland states that "Bastien is to be followed in regarding the umarked coins of Class I as an issue prepared in advance for Constantius' invasion of Britain in 296".
• Coin obverses depict right facing busts with bare neck truncation and laureate heads with the long laurel wreath ribbon laying on the neck. The Genius of the Roman People reverse depiction and inscription is standard with no mint mark. The inscriptional lettering is relatively large with delicate letterforms.
• Reverse axis is 6 or 12 o'clock.
• Weight range is 10.5 to 8.75 gm.

This is a Bastien intermediate follis - bare, truncated bust with small, compact, London style lettering, long ribbon tie laying on neck.

The coin obverses and reverses in this series replicate those of the Constantius Invasion coinage except in some instances the obverse busts are cuirassed (including some...

In 192 BCE, the ancient world was split into two spheres of influence: Roman and Seleucid. Rome in 192, had just come off their exhausting 17 war with Carthage, yet still found the will power to engage in greek affairs. Meanwhile, the Seleucids under the able rule of Antiochus III, had reclaimed the mantle of strongest successor kingdom after their victory over Egypt in 200 BCE, and the reconquest of Parthia and Bactria. Antiochus no doubt fancied himself becoming the next Alexander the Great, and made plans to expand into Greece and Thrace. I am no historian, but even a lay person could see that a conflict was brewing between the two rising superpowers that occupy roughly the same geographical area. I personally see a conflict between the Romans and Seleucids as inevitable, as both had interests that were conflicting and neither had the sense enough to back down.

Here are some scenarios that I put forward:

A Seleucid victory

• At best I see the...

248 AD
Philip the Arab is emperor for almost 4 years. But the Danubian legions are tired of him; they rebelled and proclaimed their own emperor, a commander named Pacatian. He managed to control Upper Moesia for a very short period of time (a few weeks to a few months). Philip responded to the revolt by sending Decius to solve the problem. On the approach of Decius, Pacatian was killed by his own troops sometime between the spring of 248 AD and the first months of 249 AD. Later Decius was convinced by the legions in the region to claim the position of Emperor and march on Rome. He challenged Philip in Macedonia and defeated him becoming the first Balkan Emperor of Rome. For 300 years, this usurper was only known by his coinage. But at the beginning of the 20th century, research were made showing that Zosimus (460-520 AD) and Zonaras ( 1074-1130 AD) reported the revolt in their writings.

Zosimus New history 1, 20: Priscus, their governor,...