Coin Talk

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

As most of you know, I tend to dredge the bottom in terms of ancient coins. Sometimes I find treasure though and I wanted to share my recent treasures with you.

Ladies first. She was part of a 5 coin lot and was actually only $5 but the alliteration for the title wasn't as nice

Helena
AE follis
Cyzicus
324-325 AD
Obverse: FL HELENA-AVGVSTA, draped bust right with double-row pearl diadem, and necklace
Reverse: SECVRITAS-REIPVBLICE, Securitas standing left holding branch and hem of robe.
Mintmark SMKB

Next is a group of 4 coins that were just listed as "Ancient Roman Coins". I looked closer and was pretty excited to see what I saw. I won this lot of 4 coins for $32.01...or $8 a piece. I think I did pretty alright.

In alphabetical order:

Aurelian
AE Antoninianus
Siscia
274-275 AD
Obverse: IMP C AVRELIANVS AVG, radiate, cuirassed bust right
Reverse: CONCORDIA MILITVM, Aurelian and Concordia facing and clasping...

I've been posting on the ancient board for awhile, but I thought I might trot out some of my coins here for a change.

I've been focusing my collecting on Italian Renaissance coins, specifically those with dies that can be attributed to an individual Renaissance artist. So far I have coins by Cellini, Francia, Cesati, and Caradossa. Leone Leoni, Galeotti, and Poggini are all on my wantlist. I also consider Paduans by Cavino to fall into this category.

Post you Renaissance coins and Paduans (and medals, but especially coins)! For the purpose of this thread let's consider coins minted between 1400-1650 to be "Renaissance," especially if they show classical influence or naturalism, or are from Italy.

Without further ado, here are my coins:


Papal States.Clement VII (Giuliano de’Medici), 1523-1534, Rome mint. Doppio Carlino, AR 5.01 g. CLEMENS·VII PONT· MAX Bearded bust left with ornate cope with figures of saints and medallion. Rv. Mintmark of...

Roman Republic
M. Junius Brutus
AR Denarius, Rome mint, struck 54 BC
Dia.: 20.5 mm
Wt.: 3.56 g
Obv.: LIBERTAS; Head of Liberty right
Rev.: BRVTVS; Consul L. Junius Brutus walking left between two lictors, each carrying fasces over shoulder, preceded by accensus
Ref.: Crawford 433/1, Sydenham 906, Sear 397
Ex Michael Kelly Collection

This coin was struck in 54 BC by the most famous of Julius Caesar’s assassins. On it he proudly commemorates his ancestor (Lucius Junius Brutus) who according to legend expelled the last king of Rome in 509 BC. This was obviously a pointed message at a potential tyrant… but which tyrant?

Brutus Opposes Pompey
Because Brutus famously chose to side with Pompey after Caesar crossed the Rubicon in 49 BC it is often forgotten...

Back in 2014 this example was reported in another forum; the OP showed his example of 1857 FE and the unexpected result of his TPG submission.




The one detail noted (after the TPG opinion) was the notch seen in the "T" of CENT and this may be the marker for other counterfeits.



Fast forward to now and this latest FB posted example; in researching it I found the 2014 post. And of course this latest one also shows the "notched T".



I sent a note to expert Richard Snow and received the following- " it's a defect in the transfer process".

Continued research lead to this L&C/Amazon listed example:



https://www.lccoins.com/default/1857-flying-eagle-cent-ms62-uncertified.html



I did send a note to L&C to discuss and am awaiting a response.

Best, Jack.

I have had these two coins for a long time in my collection. However, these are much better pictures which finally reflect the way the coins actually look in hand.
Both are JR-2 varieties for their years.

Please feel free to assess the grade you think these two early dimes deserve.

Thanks!

Spes in Latin, in general, means "the expectation of something desired, hope."[1] Spes was an early Cretan goddess called Ἐλπίς (Elpis) in Greek. She was the one force left in Pandora's box after evil had escaped into the world. Spes was ruler of the underworld and of death's cousin, sleep. Her plant was the poppy, but otherwise nothing is known of her legends and meaning. In Greece and Rome, Spes became the personification of hope, worshiped in temples dedicated to her as early as the fourth century BC.[2]

In Roman mythology, Spes was originally a nature goddess. She represented at first the hope of fruitful gardens and fields, then of abundant offspring, and lastly of prosperity to come and good fortune in general, being hence invoked on birthdays and at weddings.[3]

Of her numerous temples at Rome, the most ancient was appropriately in the Forum Holitorium (vegetable market), built by Aulus Atilius Calatinus at the time of the First Punic War, and burnt...

I’ve been looking for one of these for some time. Most MS examples I found had some ugly brown or black toning (assumptively because of the frostier luster). I’m a fan of blast white silver perhaps with some radial toning, but the color here is very out of character for me. This is literally my dream coin at least for a then-15-year-old this was a big purchase. Now I have one!


Small and poorly done collage by me, using sellers pictures. This coin is rather well struck for the type. The ‘ENN’ in Centennial on the reverse is especially prone to the weak strike. On the other hand, the obverse is fantastic as well, both men have visible faces that do not look like Squidward with a worn or weakly struck face and nose. Personally, the face of the man on the left was my biggest qualm with this type. This specific coin is fantastic. Even MS-66 coins seem to have more weakness in the center of the reverse than my example!


Some...

Recently, we aquired the 1972 50FR W. African States FAO. This coin was mostly stumbled upon, as one of set that included a Uragay coin that we were looking for. The set that I obtained was Page 2.A of the FAO coin sets. The 50 Frank coin stands out among its peers, not just because of its condition, and the toning which was lost evenutally to the conservation by ANACS, but the truly unique design. While the reverse, with a 50 Fr value stated upon it with a series of local food crops (,peanuts, rice, cacao and coffee), the reverse was a stunning representation of statues of a very stylized sawfish that traditionally was used to weigh valuables (gold according to th Europeans, but that is contended in the literature). At first I thought it was a mask, but research lead me to understnad that this was not the case. The sawfish itself is a powerful cult figure in the Akan and Baoule people of West Africa....

I only have in my german vocabulary 10 words; nine are related to numismatic and one to to my favorite album from the rock band U2. So when I read in a recent CGB auction the term abschlag d'aureus, I was not sure at all what they were talking about. The wise thing to do would be to ask someone who knows both the german language and coins; so I communicate with one of our member, @Julius Germanicus. He explained me that the word means "discount"in a financial setting. But in a numismatic context, it "is a coin that is struck using original dies but in a metal that does not match that of the normal denomination. This could be either a trial strike in billon for a silver or gold type (several Aurei and Medallions are only known from corresponding trial strikes) or a presentation piece struck in silver or gold of a coin usually struck in a lesser metal". Here is the coin in question with its equivalent in gold:



The German term...