Coin Talk

Another low-grade, poorly-described couple of ancients just came in from eBay (thank you US Postal Service!). Not everybody's cup of tea when it comes to collecting, but it keeps me out of the taverns (somewhat) and costs very little. Under COVID-19 quarantine , and a bit bored (the taverns are closed!), I am going to inflict this on you folks!

Something that surprises me about this kind of collecting is how I will occasionally get something that is "rare" that seems like it ought to be common. From what I've seen on CT over the past couple of years, ancient rarities are actually pretty common as a category, if that makes sense. Yesterday a low-grade Hadrian as and a cute little Ptolemaic bronze showed up in the mail ($9.95 for the pair, free shipping!).

The Ptolemy is indeed a common type (Svoronos 1426 /1427, Ptolemy V, VI/VIII or IX-XII, depending on who you ask). Here is a typical auction description for one of these (from acsearch):

So this post is more of a beginners guide, but I thought I'd share this for the enjoyment of advanced collectors and new collectors as a whole. Feel free to post your regnal date Ptolemaic coins for others to try and figure out.

Ptolemy XII Auletes or Neos Dionysos

Ptolemy XII Auletes, famously known as Neos Dionysos, was the half brother of previous ruler Ptolemy XI Alexander II who ruled only 19 days in 80 BC. Neos Dionysos, however, enjoyed two reigns from 80-58 BC and then again from 55-51 BC.

The reason to know this information: Tetradrachms were struck in all periods of Neos Dionysos’ reign. They are labeled 1st reign and 2nd reign. Tetradrachms labeled 1st reign were struck from 80-58 BC and 2nd reign Tetradrachms were struck from 55-51 BC. They continued being struck during his absence.

What makes it simple is that all the Tetradrachms were struck at Alexandria or Paphos—and there isn’t any major varieties.


Analyzing the Regnal Dates...

Hadrian
The Roman Emperor Hadrian (117-138 AD) enjoyed visiting provinces of the Empire, spending more than half of his time outside of Italy. In these tours, the first of which began in 121 AD, he would inspect the borders, encourage military discipline, and launch building projects. In 122 AD, he began the ~six-year construction of the well-known Hadrian’s Wall which stretched 73 miles from coast to coast to mark the northern limit of Britannia. Hadrian had been nicknamed “Graeculus” (“little Greek”) as a youth, and as a philhellene world leader, sought to make Athens the cultural capital of the Empire.

In 130 AD, Hadrian visited Iudaea. He found Jerusalem still in ruins, 60 years after its fall in 70 AD during the first Jewish-Roman War of 66-74 AD. General Titus led the siege of Jerusalem and the destruction of the Second Temple. Proceeds from war spoils and Jewish slaves were used to construct the Amphitheatric Flavium (now known as the...

Many amateur astronomers had the chance to observe Sunday in the sky of East Africa, for the summer solstice, a rare solar eclipse of the type "ring of fire".
This astronomical phenomenon, which occurs only once or twice a year, began shortly after sunrise in central Africa, crossing the Democratic Republic of the Congo , South Sudan, northern Ethiopia, before taking the direction of Asia, to finish in the Pacific Ocean, south of the island of Guam, at 9:32 GMT. In this type of eclipse, the Moon passes in front of the Sun, in an alignment with the Earth sufficiently perfect to hide it. But not entirely, as during a total eclipse: the Moon not being close enough to Earth, it is an annular eclipse, that is to say that at its maximum, there remains a ring around the Sun, called "ring of fire". Only 2% of the Earth's surface...

Public Domain image, C. Comiers, "Pratique Curieuse", 1735.

The Sibylline books were consulted by Romans from the time of the republic through to the end of the Empire. The books were destroyed with the temple of Jupiter in 83 BC, but a copy was found and arbitrated. Augustus moved them to temple of Apollo in 12 BC. There are many references to these books over time, here are just three for illustration. Livy writes of the books being consulted in 399 BC after bout of pestilence:


This resulted in a lectisternium being set up for the first time i.e. a couch (pulvinar) for images of the gods to recline with a meal served to them on a table. Seutonius reports...

I accidentally started this on another thread, but I thought it might be fun to list animal on ancient coins in terms of rarity. I will throw something against the wall, if you disagree or want to add to it, just post and we can update it. It could actually be helpful to newcomers to the hobby if they want to buy a coin of their favorite animal to know how challenging it will be, (*cough* rhinos *cough*). Sorry, it still greaves me personally the low number of rhino coins, but I digress.

Here is a rough attempt to start it:

Very Common: Eagle, horses, lions, elephants, snakes
Common: Dolphins, "fish", bull/cow, Owl, bee, turtle,
Scarce: Pigs/boar, camel, crabs, mollusks, dogs/wolf, chickens, ducks, gazelle/deer, crocodile, goat, peacock, crayfish, rabbit/hare, donkey/mule, scorpion, octopus
Rare: Hippos, Ostrich, swan, stork/ibis, leopard/snow leopard, raven, fox, moose, manta ray
Very Rare: Apes, (1 type), rhino (2 types), Bear, (know of 1 now), seal
Extinct:

I had Bear as...

By 1872 some of the scandals that would plague the Grant presidency were coming to light. Chief among them was the Credit Mobilier scandal which involved the construction of the transcontinental railroad by the Union Pacific Corporation. A group of leading Union Pacific stockholders founded Credit Mobilier of America as a purchasing and construction company. The company's mission was to construct the tracks for the railroad's westward expansion. During this period the Federal Government was paying the Union Pacific Railroad Corporation generous subsidies for each mile of track it laid. Through overbilling and creative bookkeeping, Credit Mobilier reaped huge profits for its stockholders.



After vice presidnet Schuyler Colfax was implicated in the Credit Mobilier scandal, he was dropped from the Republican ticket in 1872.

To keep Congress on board with the scheme, company officers sold shares of Credit Mobilier stock at deeply discounted...

Two coins acquired back in November (yes, I'm finally catching up):

Coin 1. Sasanian Persia. AR drachm. Kavad I, 2nd reign (499-532), Royal Year 36. Obverse: Bust of king right, Pahlavi inscription before "KaVAT AFZUTU" (May Kavad Prosper). Reverse: Zoroastrian fire-altar with two attendants, star and crescent above, to right mintmark DYNAS, to left date 36. This coin: Picked from a dealer's "choose-your-own" pile of Kavad I drachms at the Baltimore Whitman coin show, November 2019.


Coin 2. Sasanian Persia. AR drachm. Kavad I, 2nd reign (499-532), Royal Year 34. Obverse: Bust of king right, Pahlavi inscription before "KaVAT AFZUTU" (May Kavad Prosper). Reverse: Zoroastrian fire-altar with two attendants, star and crescent above, to right mintmark AS, to left date 34. This coin: Picked from a dealer's "choose-your-own" pile of Kavad I drachms at the Baltimore Whitman coin show, November 2019.

Kavad was born...

BRONZE MEDAL - LEIPZIG WAR COMMEMORATIVE
Year: 1913



City of Leipzig Bronze Medal / Völkerschlachtdenkmal: Peoples Monument of the Battle of Leipzig - 100th Year Anniversary of the Battle of Nations.

This medal is dated 1913, it commemorates the 100th year anniversary of the Battle of Leipzig, also known as the "Battle of Nations". The Medal depicts the Völkerschlachtdenkmal (Peoples Monument of the Battle of Nations) in the city of Leipzig Germany. It depicts the giant armored statue of St. Michael standing guard at the base of the monument as well many other collosal statues both inside and on the exterior. This is one of several different medals and coins issued depicting the Völkerschlachtdenkmal.