Coin Talk

At first, this denarius of Faustina I seems unremarkable, but its existence is fascinating and raises more questions than it answers. I'd love to hear your thoughts, and by all means, post anything you feel is relevant!


Faustina I, AD 138-140.
Unofficial imitative issue?, 3.27 g, 18.0 mm, 12 h.
Ca. AD 140-160?
Obv: DIVA FAVSTINA, bare-headed and draped bust, right.
Rev: PIETATI(?) AVG, Pietas, veiled and draped, standing left, dropping incense from right hand onto lighted altar and holding box in left hand.
Refs: Cf. BMC p. 67, † note, RSC 234b, CRE 113 and Strack 462 (Budapest), all of which read PIETAS AVG.

Is this a fourrée imitation or a solid silver, official issue?

If this is an official issue, it must read PIETAS AVG, for no coins with a PIETATI AVG reverse legend and a standing figure sacrificing over an altar appear until the reign of Pescennius Niger. Many coins depicting Pietas were issued for Faustina I after her death, and this...

Well the $.20 pieces are a very short-lived coin. It was authorized by Congress on March 3, 1875 and as soon as they appeared in public there were complaints about the similarity, design and the size in relation to a quarter of a dollar.

This coin was only minted for 4 years and only 7 different issues exist. The first year of issue was 1875 and Philadelphia produced 38,500 pieces. Carson City produced 133,290 pieces and San Francisco produced 1,155,000 pieces. The following year, 1876, 14,750 pieces were produced at Philadelphia with another 1,150 coins in proof. Carson City only produced 10,000 coins with the majority of those coins never being released to the public. Most of them were melted at the Mint and it is believed that most of the Philadelphia coins were also melted.

The following two years, 1877 and 1878 just over 1100 pieces were minted in proof only. In these two years no pieces were made for general circulation.

The demise of the $.20 piece it is believed to be...

Eutropius IX, 21 : He thus became master of the Roman empire; and when the peasants in Gaul made an insurrection, giving their faction the name of Bagaudae, and having for leaders Amandus and Aelianus, he despatched Maximian Herculius, with the authority of Caesar, to suppress them. Maximian, in a few battles of little importance, subdued the rustic multitude, and restored peace to Gaul.

285 AD
The crisis of the third century in the Roman Empire is almost over. But not entirely. In Gaul, a group of peasants called the bagaudae rebelled against the grinding taxation and garnishing of their lands, harvests and manpower by the predatory agents of the late Roman state. After the death of the emperor Carinus, forty-nine cities revolt, including Paris, Sens, Troyes, Auxerre and Meaux. A man named Amandus took the head of this small army (with the help of Aelianus). After having been given the title of Emperor, he carried desolation everywhere, ravaging the...

I was really thrilled this week to have added a long sought after 'grail' coin! It has been on my numismatic 'Bucket List' for the better part of a decade.




Vespasian
AR Didrachm, 6.20g
Caesarea, Cappadocia mint, 76-77 AD
Obv: ΑΥΤΟΚΡΑ ΚΑΙϹΑΡ ΟΥƐϹΠΑϹΙΑΝΟϹ ϹƐΒΑϹΤΟϹ; Head of Vespasian, laureate, r.
Rev: ΤΙΤΟϹ ΑΥΤΟΚΡΑΤWΡ ΚΑΙϹΑΡ ƐΤ[ΟΥϹ] Θ; Titus in military dress, standing facing, holding spear and sword
RPC 1649 (10 spec.).
Acquired from Aegean Numismatics, June 2020.

Several issues of silver coinage were struck for Cappadocia during Vespasian's reign. They were produced in two distinct styles: Roman (with a six o'clock die axis) and 'local' (with a twelve o'clock die axis). The majority of Cappadocia's silver coins were struck in 'local' style, presumably at Caesarea and were somewhat supplemented by the 'Roman' style coins from Rome. Whether 'Roman' or 'local', all Cappadocian silver were produced at nearly 48% fineness. This remarkable...

Since my two favorite hobbies are coin collecting and astronomy, I'm always trying to share my spare times equally between them. But sometimes the opportunity presents itself to join the 2 together. In war-torn Syria, a white trail streaked the night sky above the ruins of the deserted city of Ariha, devastated by violence.


The appearance on Saturday before dawn of the Milky Way, a rare phenomenon that occurs especially in summer by moonless sky, created a striking contrast between sky and earth, immortalized by an AFP photographer through long exposure photos.



Beneath this vast cloud of stars, the skeletons of buildings, the rubble, the gutted facades and roofs seem all the...

Pirates, Indians, and Hippies!

Some time ago I read a newspaper article about a new California state park, Olompali State Historical Park, located in Marin County, north of San Francisco. I was finally able to visit the park and walk around the area.

The area was a large gathering spot for Coast Miwok Indians, later in 1843 the Mexican governor issued a land grant to a Miwok Indian chief, Camillo Ynitia.

In 1846 Olompali was the site of a small battle in California's "Bear Flag Revolt" which pitted some Americans against Mexicans.

In 1853 Ynitia sold the land to a James Black who then gave it to his daughter and her husband, Dr. Burdell, a dentist. The Burdells built a dairy farm and a house, and Mrs. Burdell had a large garden constructed.


Olompali State Park - Burdell House (remains)

In 1942 the Burdells moved out and the land was sold and leased to various groups, Jesuits for a retreat, then in the late...

SILVER 5 FRANCS COIN - BELGIUM - KING LEOPOLD II - Brussels Mint
Date: A.D. 1873



Obverse: Portrait head left - LEOPOLD II ROI DES BELGES (leop wiener below bust)

Reverse: Coat of arms within wreath between denomination 5 (left) F (right) with date 1873 below - L'UNION FAIT LA FORCE

Engraver: Leopold Wiener

NOTE: In studying Leopold II for a research paper I found a disturbing trend that there was much said about Leopold and the Congo, facts and data presented that, when an attempt is made to find the source one found there was no source or the source was someone who simply presented supposition that was then presented as fact in hyperbolic articles. I am not an apologist for Leopold. All that happened in the Congo rests square on his shoulders. I just disdain bad, lazy history.

This is a silver 5 francs coin of Belgium minted in 1875 depicting Léopold Louis Philippe Marie Victor known as King Leopold II of the House of...

Some months ago I bought a lot of 91 uncleaned large roman bronze coins.
I paid 230$ shipping included (around 2.5 $ for a coin) , but , as you will see from the photos , many of the coins are extremely corroded (bronze disease) or very worn. Even with this I took the risk , hoping to find at least one valuable coin which will justify my investment.

I'm not sure that all of the coins are coming from the same hoard/find (the majority for sure) , many of them are sertertius , around 12 ases and one dupondius , Claudius(41 AD) to Severus Alexander (235 AD) , till now. I'm sure that they are part of a larger hoard and the person who found all this has well selected and kept the best coins.

I cleaned around 30 coins , but unfortunately only 16 are in decent grade and can be posted here. In the next days I will try to post photos(before and after) with them.

These are the seller photos , they always put the best coins visible on top
...

This new Roman Provincial coin arrived from Ken Dorney today. I really love the coloring -- a green and red patina. It's from about 251-260 AD, and is an example of what used to be called "pseudo-autonomous" coins, a term now apparently considered inaccurate and obsolete, at least for coins from this period. John Melville Jones's Dictionary of Ancient Roman Coins prefers the term "quasi-autonomous," and I've also seen the term "colonial civic" used.

Anonymous colonial civic issue, AE 23, 251 - 260 AD (Trebonianus Gallus to Valerian I), Troas, Alexandria Troas Mint. Obv. Draped bust of Tyche right, wearing mural crown, vexillum inscribed CO AV over right shoulder, CO ALEX TR / Rev. Horse (of Erichthonius?)* grazing to right, COL AVG, TROAD in exergue. RPC IX Online 505 (see https://rpc.ashmus.ox.ac.uk/coins/9/505); Bellinger A486 [Alfred A. Bellinger, Troy, The Coins (Princeton 1961)]; BMC 17 Troas, 46 var. [diff. legends]; see also id. 45, 47-50...

So, I did something that I dont typically believe in and broke one of my own rules. I bought coins I wasnt familiar with on ebay. I have bought from this seller before and its a seller that I learned about on this forum. I didnt feel like I was taking much risk, especially since it was a 4 coin lot and I only paid 34 bucks for it.

I had seen this unidentified lot of coins earlier in the day but quickly dismissed them because I didnt know what they were and wasnt in the mood to try and nail down values for them. Fast forward to a minute before the auction closed, and I had just missed out on a coin I really wanted from the same seller.

I thought I had my initial target coin and was upset about missing out. Wanting to fill an emotional void from losing the previous auction, I reconsidered these 4 coins. The current bid was in the low 30's so I figured "what the hell" might as well try and get these for a decent price and if I lose its no big deal. I was kind of surprised when my...