Coin Talk

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...

This antoninianus is neither the best preserved nor the most skillfully engraved coin of Postumus in my collection – but it probably is the most historically interesting one:

Postumus, Gallic Roman Empire, AR antoninianus, mid–end 260 AD, Trier mint. Obv: IMP C POSTVMVS. P. F. AVG; bust of Postumus, radiate, draped, cuirassed, r. Rev: SALVS PROVINCIARVM; river god reclining l., head horned, r. hand resting on knee, and holding pitcher and anchor in l. hand; to rear, l., forepart of boat. 23mm, 3.15g. Ref: Mairat 14; RIC V Postumus 87.

On the reverse of this coin struck in the first months of Postumus' reign, we see a bearded and horned river god reclining in front of a ship. He holds a pitcher, symbolizing a river source, and an anchor. The anchor typically is an attribute of Laetitia and points to safety and stability. Its horns allow us to identify the main figure as Rhenus, the personification of the river Rhine, which constituted a...

I have finally accepted that I'm probably never going to get further in writing up these three coins -- all purchased at least a few months ago -- than I have already. And since I've already gone past them by posting the write-up of my recently-purchased Lucretius Trio denarius (Sol/Crescent moon & 7 stars), I might as well go ahead now and post the three with their incomplete write-ups. My apologies in advance for omitting additional information, such as different interpretations, that may be relevant and that I may (or may not) have originally intended to include -- but have utterly forgotten by this time!

58. Roman Republic, P. Nerva, AR Denarius, Rome Mint, 113-112 BCE. Obv: Bust of Roma left wearing crested helmet with feather or aigrette (instead of wing) and single-drop earring, holding shield (ornamented with image of horseman galloping) against left shoulder with left hand, and spear over right shoulder with right hand, crescent moon above, star (*) [= monogrammed XVI;...

On 8/13/2021 my coins and silver were stolen , around 8:10 pm my neighbor saw 3 dark skin color guys two wearing mask were heading to his house driveway and he look them through the window ,and those guys also saw him so they turn off and went to my house , my neighbor saw them went to my backyard and he call 911 around 8:20 PM , the operator ask him if he saw them breaking into my house, and he say he lost sight because he can't see well on his side of house , but he saw them went to my backyard , and police were never coming check out . I was arrived home 8:45 PM and I saw my front door were open , and I immediately checked my bedroom , my bedroom was totally mass , I call 911 at 8:47 PM told them my house were being burglary and they said gonna send police over , but after 12 hours later finally they send two police officers to my house that was next day morning 9am . Now I am done with coins habbit if I am lost all those coins . Here is what I lost during my house...

This is rather long but it describes how I was able to build my collection of 20th Century and earlier. It is not as impossible as many think. Of course, it is out of the range of possibility now. Several of these comments have been posted before. This is kind of a consolidation - the rest of the story.

Building a collection of circulated coins in “the good old days” was not all that difficult. All you needed was determination and dedication. If you think about it the total face value of 20th circulation coins is about $275. There were a max 5 different coins produced by each mint: Penny, Nickel, Dime, Quarter and Half. That is 91 cents. Given that most years there were three mints operating, that makes it $2.73 per year for a complete set for one year. Of course, some years there were 4 mints operating and some years only one or two. So, let’s just say that the face value of a complete Twentieth Century Circulation Set is $300. You now have determination and dedication but need...

A legionary denarius of Mark Antony is one of the many ancient coins I would love to have. But examples in really nice condition are too expensive for me, and the one time I bought what I thought was a decent example, from a reputable dealer, it turned out to be a fake -- one of many fake legionary denarii that flood the market. (Fortunately, the dealer gave me a refund.)

So at least for the time being, I'm settling for this "restored" Mark Antony legionary denarius, issued by Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus two centuries after the original. It's certainly not in what I'd call excellent condition (the galley oars can no longer be individually distinguished), but it otherwise shows a lot of detail, and the price was probably considerably less than half of what an original in equivalent condition would have cost me. Plus, there isn't the same concern about purchasing a fake!

Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus, AR Denarius [Restored Issue of Mark Antony Legionary Denarius Leg. VI,...

One of these Elagabalus with “horn” coins has been on my want list for years. I was very happy to pick up a wonderful example from AMCC 3. This coin has great centering, toning, detail and a very respectable provenance that is made all the nicer by its connection to a fellow CTer (@Shea19).

But what really makes this coin interesting is a question:

What is Elagabalus wearing on his head?


Roman Empire
Elagalabus (218-222)
AR Denarius, Rome mint, struck AD 221.
Dia.: 19 mm
Wt.: 2.84 g
Obv.: IMP ANTONINVS PIVS AVG; draped and “horned” bust right
Rev.: PM TR P IIII COS III PP; Emperor standing left, sacrificing over altar, standard on either side
Ref.: RIC IVB 51
Ex Shea19 collection, Ex CNG E-Auction 465, Lot 722 (part of), Ex Mike Vosper FPL 112 (11 March 2000), no. 35a


Answer #1: It’s a horn.
This...

TGIFF! And I got ...



Martin Beckmann's die-linkage study of the aurei of Faustina the Younger[1] has provided us with substantial clarity regarding the relative – and in this case the absolute – chronology of many coins issued for this popular empress. The sequence of die links documenting Faustina's earliest coinage ends with several examples of the VENVS reverse type depicting the goddess holding an apple and rudder, as on this denarius below.



This reverse type links...