Coin Talk

I recently purchased this wonderful As of Geta, RIC 129(b), Aesculapius standing between two snakes, in distyle temple. The coin is large - almost 27mm, I’ll post the weight shortly. The coin was struck in that mysterious period when the Rome mint was striking very few bronzes - this was more than made up for by the beautiful bronzes that were struck throughout the empire, especially in the East. It may be that the bronzes from the Rome mint during the period of low mintage were struck as presentation pieces - the beauty of this coin certainly points to it being struck for a special occasion. Note the unusual left facing bust and the obverse inscription which fully spells out “Caesar” instead of the more common “caes.”

I apologize for the poor photo - I will try to put up better ones and include the weight but I wanted to share this as soon as possible. I am aware of only one other example of this type, including identical bust type and left facing portrait - from the same dies,...

One more coin to post before I get to my November Baltimore show acquisitions:

Indo-Parthians. Margiana mint. AE drachm. Sanabares (possibly c.50-65 AD, or else c. 125 AD). Obverse: King's head right, hair in distinct waves, crescent and star before. Reverse: Archer seated right, Margiana mint-symbol below bow, somewhat blundered Greek legend around "Basileos Sanabares" (Of the King Sanabares). Sellwood 93.1, Shore 477, Sunrise 503, Koch Group 8 or 9. This coin: Frank S. Robinson Auction 110, lot 111 (October 29, 2019).

This coin type is the last one listed in the late David Sellwood's catalogue of Parthian coins, and after I tried to do some more research I can see why he shoved these troublesome coins into the back of the book. It was struck in Margiana, an area in the eastern Parthian kingdom in what is now eastern Uzbekistan, in the name of "King Sanabares" Traditional scholarship has placed Sanabares as a rebel against the Parthians...

Another level of counterfeit early dollars has been hitting the internet and TPG’s over the past several years.

One of the 1st we saw was an 1802 example from an internet venue back in early 2018. While we were discussing it in a Face Book Group I administer Coin Week also was also reporting it with an NGC article with the same images; apparently it was submitted for certification and kicked back and then attempted to sell raw. Upon further review NGC posted their article on 9/16/2014, so these have been “out there” for a while!

The Coin Week article: https://coinweek.com/counterfeits/counterfeit-coin-detection-1802-draped-bust-silver-dollar/

Images of the subject 1802:


This “coin” does not match any genuine 1802 variety and has one significant obvious feature we nicknamed the “flattened 1”. The internet listing was removed as a counterfeit.

Recently an apparent version with the “1801” date has been seen for sale on the internet....

Dear Friends of ancient Mythology!

Today I have time enough to add a new article about Egyptian mythology.

The coin:
Egypt, Alexandria, Hadrian, AD 117-138
AE33, drachm, 22.10g
Alexandria, AD 133/134 (year 18)
Obv.: AVT KAIC TPAIANOC - AΔPIANOC CEB
Bust, draped and cuirassed, laureate, r.
Rev.: Agathodaimon, bearded, erected r., and Uraeus-Snake, erected l., confronted;
Agathodaimon wearing shkent (double crown of Upper and Lower Egypt) and
holding kerykeion with his tail; Uraeus-Snake wearing crown of Isis (sundisk
between horns) and holding sistrum.
across field L IH (year 18)
Ref.: Dattari 7901
Very rare, VF


Agathodaimon:
Agathodaimon, lat. Agathodaemon, was in Greek mythology the 'good spirit' of grain fileds and vineyards. Usually the Greeks drank a cup of pure wine in his honour at the end of each meal (according to Aristophanes, Equites, 106). He was also regarded as the protecting spirit of the state and of...

Here's a recent inexpensive coin purchase that led me to a surprising realization about Parthian coinage:

Parthian Kingdom. AE chalkos (12 mm, 1.20 g). Artabanos* (c.10-38 AD). Obverse: Diademed bust left with square beard. Reverse: King on horseback right. Sellwood 63.21, Shore 575. This coin: Pars Coins Auction 3, lot 173 (2019), $30 final bid.

Artabanos* took the Parthian throne about 10 AD, during an unsettled time for the region. Vonones I had spent much of his life in Roman territory and proved too Hellenized/Romanized for the Parthian nobles- he didn't like hunting, feasting, or (the real deal-breaker) horseback-riding. The nobles induced Artabanos to give up his job as king of the Parthian dependency Media Atropatene (Azerbaijan) and fight Vonones for the throne. Vonones was forced to flee back to the Romans, and Artabanos took up the Parthian crown. During a later dispute with the Romans over Armenia, Artabanos was forced from the...

I thought I would post some positive news on our local coin show. The 71st street coin show is located at 2100 E. 71st street, Indianapolis. The show is hosted by fuba coins. Last Sunday was packed with dealers and visitors. 55 plus tables of all types of Numismatics were available. This show keeps growing year after year. I went to the Indiana State coin show the day before. The 71st street show is as good or better. The best part of the show is that a breakfast buffet is served in the hall next door and is delicious. It’s a donation breakfast with the proceeds benefiting different groups thoughout the year. If you are going to be in the Indianapolis area in 2020, checkout the schedule attached.

Some weeks ago, I tried my luck on a new auction on Biddr. Although I have maybe already too many Roman Provincial coins, I decided to go now for a few large Provincials with unusual reverses (@dougsmit inspired me to look this way, branching off from my standard Go for Portraits, Best Condition drive) on Zeus Auctions Nr. 1 (in Britain).

This is the first of them, a 32 mm coin from Anazarbus, Cilicia. It’s about 20 miles east of Adana, in the armpit of nowadays Turkey, not far from Tarsus, that other great city of Cilicia, where Paulus was born.

It’s a Koinoboulion type, that represents voting in a community council: the personification of the vote, a female holding a cornucopia, seating on a chair behind a flowering branch, tosses a pebble in a vessel. The surrounding text says something like ‘The metropolis of Anazarbos/ the freedom of the council’ and the year: ET Gamma-Xi-Sigma = 263, that’s 244/5, the first year of the emperor Philip the...

EGYPT, Alexandria. Hadrian Hemidrachm 136-37 AD Pharos lighthouse

Reference.
Dattari-Savio Pl. 95, 1935 (this coin). RPC 6233/; Emmett 1103.21

Issue L KA = year 21

Obv. ΑΥΤ ΚΑΙС ΤΡΑΙΑΝ - ΑΔΡΙΑΝΟС СƐΒ
Laureate draped and cuirassed bust of Hadrian, r., seen from rear

Rev. L KA
Pharos lighthouse surmounted by two Tritons, each blowing a trumpet, between a lantern surmounted by a statue, holding situla and scepter; entryway below.

11.31 gr
30 mm

Note.
From the Dattari collection.


Pharos was a small island located on the western edge of the Nile Delta. In 332 BC Alexander the Great founded the city of Alexandria on an isthmus opposite Pharos.

The Lighthouse of Alexandria, sometimes called the Pharos of Alexandria
contemporary Koine Greek pronunciation, was a lighthouse built by the Ptolemaic Kingdom between 280 and 247 BC which was between 120 and 137 m (394 and 449 ft) tall.

In 1968 the lighthouse was rediscovered. UNESCO sponsored an expedition to send a team of marine...

I wanted to share this medallion I once picked up at a flea market I frequently visit. I like to search for exunomia.


This is a similar medallion with the engravers name found underneath the bust - Kettle


England. Death of King George IV Brass Medalet

Title: England. Death of King George IV Brass Medalet

Attribution: BHM 1379; Mitchiner 6290-1; Fauver 1830-17b

Date: 1830

Obverse: Dies by Kettle. GEORGE IV KING OF GREAT BRITAIN, bare head left, KETTLE in small letters below

Reverse: BELOVED & LAMENTED around, BORN 1762 DIED LAMENTED JUNE 26 1830 within laurel wreath

Size: 25 mm

Weight: 5.32 grams


King George the fourth -
George IV (George Augustus Frederick; 12 August 1762 – 26 June 1830) was king of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and king of Hanover following the death of his father, King George III, on 29 January 1820, until his...

No, no I’m obviously not talking about the anatomic genital ligament of the human body...Rather, I’m referring to a specific type of iconography found on many roman coins : the rudder.
2000 years ago, ships were steered by a rudder looking like a large steering oar that was pivoted or even held by hand over one side of the boat. Therefore, a rudder depicted on a coin will resemble a large oar or paddle with a reinforcing rib down its central point.




Rudder of a Roman ship

Many deities are depicted with a gubernaculum ; Tritons and Venus, the greek goddess Tyche too, but the winner is certainly Fortuna ( according to Wikipedia : « Fortuna is depicted on around 1000 different Roman coins usually holding a gubernaculum. »)...