Coin Talk

I am very excited about this coin but it was a hard one to write up because it has so many different points of interest in its favor. I chose to break the write up into 4 parts: The Moneyer, The Trial, The Temple and The Provenance. Thanks for reading!


Roman Republican
Q. Cassius Longinus, moneyer
AR Denarius, Rome mint, struck 55 BC
Dia.: 20.2 mm
Wt.: 3.95g
Obv.: Head of Libertas right, wearing hair collected into a knot, decorated with jewels, and falling down neck, and wearing single-drop earring and necklace of pendants; LIBERT upward to left, Q • CASSIVS downward to right.
Rev.: Temple of Vesta, circular, surmounted by figure holding scepter and patera, flanked by antefixes; curule chair within; urn to left, tabella (voting tablet) [inscribed AC (Absolvo Condemno)] to right.
Ref.: Crawford 428/2; Sydenham 918
Ex Prof Dr Hildebrecht Hommel Collection, acquired from Hirsch, Auction 63, 1969, lot 2454, Ex Minotaur Coins...

OK, I'm not trying to wear readers out but I have been collecting and studying currency (and proof) issues of the Franklin Mint from the 1970s and 1980s and have made what are apparently discoveries, some of which I have shared on these boards. It is the passion of collecting I suppose...

Well, the mysteries surround mostly the uncirculated coins issued in (U) prooflike or (M) matte format.

A little bit of background without boring folks:

FM starting striking coins in earnest for foreign countries in 1970 and continued on through 1985, when their function as a minting facility dropped off (and mostly out) with a few nearly pointless exceptions. They made evidently large amounts of money selling proof sets and proof gold coins to the public and used to advertise in coin publications, newspapers and even by recall the TV. Supposedly to legitimize these as coins, they also issued specimen quality coins in sets and singly.
Mostly, the former were sold through the same outlets, the...

I've bought half a dozen Roman Alexandrian coins over the last few months, but decided to wait until the last one arrived to mention them, so I could post them all together. One is a type I never thought I'd be able to afford except in extremely poor condition: one of the Antoninus Pius Zodiac drachms. The kind I bought (a "Sun in Leo" variety) is clearly the most common, but examples still usually cost more than I'm able to spend. I was able to buy the coin I did only because it's very worn. Nonetheless, the main components of the design are still visible, and there's even enough of the obverse lettering remaining to determine where the legend breaks and be able to assign a Milne number! More importantly, I actually think the green and brown patina is rather attractive. The dealer assured me that there's no active bronze disease, and after receiving the coin I think I can confirm that he was right.

Here they are, with the Zodiac coin first and then the others in chronological...

Roman Empire
Severus Alexander
AR Denarius, Antioch mint, struck AD 223
Dia.: 18.38 mm
Wt.: 3.20 g
Obv.: IMP C M AVR SEV ALEXAND AVG, laureate, draped and cuirassed bust right
Rev.: LIBERALITAS AVG, Liberalitas standing left, holding counting board and cornucopia
Ref.: RIC IV 281 Antioch

When I first saw the Liberalitas type I really wanted an example because I thought that the object that Liberalitas was holding in her right hand was an abacus. In fact, this is what the authors of RIC (1938) noted it to be as well. As an engineer and a math enthusiasts, having an abacus on one of my coins appealed to me. My assumption was that an abacus might have been used in some way in the calculations that went into the emperor distributing money to the people (a congiarium). This would have made it a great attribute for Liberalitas (the spirit of generosity).

However, during my research...

I won this lot, final cost w/premium and shipping--- $225. It looked close to 150 coins(actually 131) in the box. There were 112 1909 VDB w/95% being VF and better, mostly better. 10 - 1909-P XF-AU, 3- 1910 XF, 1 - 1914 XF, 4 Indian cents and the coin I have uploaded. I've included a couple of pics from NGC to compare shape and location of MM.

Lot that I won:

https://hibid.com/lot/101286345/box-lot-of-1909-vdb-pennies/?status=winning&pn=5&q=&ref=past-bids

I vaguely remember hearing when I was younger that my grandmother had a gold coin stowed away somewhere. Her husband, my grandfather, is the one that got me started collecting about the time I was able to sit up on my own. We would sort pennies for hours and I would block out everything going on around us. It is some of my fondest childhood memories.

Despite that, I never really paid much interest to the gold coin story because I was concerned with stuff you found in circulation and it was impressed upon me that gold coins were expensive, thus, out of my budget.

I hadn't even thought about the coin for many years. Then, my mother moved in with us last year. She gave me some coins of my grandparents that she had held back. Mostly, low-end circulation stuff that she had held on to for sentimental reasons. Then, she mentioned the gold coin. Being a more seasoned collector now, I was interested.



Then she told me the story of how my grandmother had...

My newest acquisition is an attractive Justinian follis minted in Antioch, when it was known as Theopolis. I've turning more of my attention and efforts lately towards folles of Justinian, namely those that still have clear facial features and are the earlier, larger types (although I'd be willing to make exceptions for rarer types/mints). I'm also tempted to start a subcollection of Justinian folles from each mint that struck them (I already have Constantinople, Antioch, Rome, and Carthage).

I feel that these large, impressive coins represent well the height of the Byzantine Empire, when, driven by the ambition of Justinian, it was close to re-establishing total Roman control over western Europe and the Mediterranean basin.

Justinian I, Byzantine Empire
AE follis
Obv: D N IVSTINI-ANVS P P AVG, diademed, helmeted, cuirassed bust facing, holding globus cruciger and shield, cross to right
Rev. Large M, cross above, officina letter Δ below, ANNO to left,...

I want to preface this thread by saying that firstly I apologise for the length of this post, it was originally intended to be less than half this length, but with a man as impressive as Marcellus it's hard to stick to the word count. I hope that those of you who read this end up enjoying it, and I'm excited to hear your thoughts and see everyone else's portraits of this impressive hero of the early Republic. Hope you enjoy!



Marcus Claudius Marcellus, a legend in his own time and a man of mythical stature in ours. Consul five times over, and the only Roman to have ever definitively earned the Spolia Opima; Marcellus’ remarkable life and exploits reach beyond the pale of ordinary human abilities – raising him to the same hallowed station as Romulus himself. In the near-mythical reality of Marcellus’ life, Rome had found herself a man who combined the prowess for war of the semi-divine Aeneas and Romulus, with the unwavering civil duty of...

In another thread I posted an attribution guide I did in 1989 or 1990 (I don’t recall exactly) for Draped bust half cents. I also did a similar guide for large cents. There were a few positive comment so I thought I’d post the entire book here for anyone that wants a copy. Since the early 90’s some things have changed (my address, rarity ratings, there are a couple of new varieties) but the charts are still useful.

I sold these through Penny-Wise at the time and sold about 200 copies.

This is the entire book, as prepared in 1989.

I hope someone finds it still useful.

Barry Murphy