Roman Denarius: A Little Sculpture in Silver

Yes I love the coins of Syracuse here is a nice one of mine of Persephone from around 300 BC. :kewl: Traci

 

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Awww man, One nice coin you got there! Where did you get it??

 

I know this thread is years old, but I just wanted to comment on Eduard's Denarius from his original post. Beautiful coin, I can see why you like it so.
Do you still have this coin? I am curious to see the reverse....
Awesome portrait of L. Verus though, very distinct and high relief. You make a good point that every single Silver Denarius is a piece of art, some nicer than others of course, but high grade examples like these are truly amazing little hand held masterpieces of artwork.

And svessien's Severus Alexander is quite nice as well. As are the Syracuse silver coins, beautiful.

 

Hi, Rex. Interesting you dug up this old thread.

Yes, I still have this Lucius Verus denarius. Here is what the reverse looks like. It is the Mars reverse. You will notice that the reverse is not as well defined as the obverse, in fact probably struck from well worn dies (rather than wear), or a weak strike. It is certainly different from the obverse.

 

Still a very nice depiction of Mars, I like it. Great coins!

 

These are beautiful ancient coins. It reminds me that I am in possession of a Severus Alexander I inherited from my father-in-law about 20 years ago, and he got it some 20 plus years before that from a Dr. friend of his that collected coins. I always thought it was fake, and teased him about it, but haven't thought about it until I saw this thread..

I guess I'll have to take a couple pics and post them for you guys to tell me if it is real or not. He was sure it was, but that was back before the internet and so much knowledge from it just a few key strokes away...
Man these old coins are gorgeous!

 

Another Beautiful Artwork in Silver

Viper: Yes we would love to see a photo. Sounds interesting.

I figured I would post a couple of, what I think, are my most beautiful Roman Silver coins that are in my collection. I find the first one of Elagabalus, struck in AD 218 with Roma seated on the reverse, to be an absolutely beautiful portrait, with very high relief, and a great very young face, well he was only 14 in 218 AD when this coin was struck.
The second one is actually an AR tetradrachm of Antioch Syria of Emperor Gordian III, struck in AD 240 with a great portrait and fantastic eagle reverse, also nice silver and quite a large coin. These are two of my most prized and cherished coins.

Just thought I would share...

 

Those are great, especially the Gordian III

 

My inherited Severus Alexander...

This is my first attempt at posting pics here and of course it's more difficult with the coin in the 2x2 w/plastic, but this was how I inherited it, and wasn't sure I wanted to take it out. I honestly know very little about it, and haven't touched oe even looked at it for almost 20 years. Just remembered I had it when I came across this thread. Please let me know what you guys know about it.. Like I said in my first post, I didn't think it was for real, but my F-I-L swore it was.

After seeing the coins many of you have posted here, now I don't know what to think. I figure (hope) you guys will know..

Thanks,
Mark

 

From the looks of it, your coin is real and the reverse is "P M TR P II COS P P, Mars the Pacifier standing left, olive branch in right, reversed spear in left." Looks to be RIC IV 23, RSC III 231, SRCV II 7895.

And you can take it out and hold it if you want, ancients arent as glued to the rules as U.S. and world coins. Still best to hold by the edges though.

 

Hey Mat, No kidding huh? Thanks for the information.
Man, my F-I-L was right, and all that razzing I used to give him (all in fun btw) I guess I owe him an apology and a thanks in a quick prayer. I had no idea. I've always been happy to have it, just thought it was a replica or just couldn't believe it was real..

"Looks to be RIC IV 23, RSC III 231, SRCV II 7895." I have to apologize for my ignorance, but what does that signify or identify in laymans (dummy) terms?.. :blushin6:

I'll take it out and handle it carefully, and maybe get some better pictures.

How collectible are these? Are there a lot of them around?

Thanks again,
-Mark

 

Thats the reference #'s for that particular coin. Several reference books for ancient coins have different #'s for each coin. More info can be found at http://www.forumancientcoins.com/moonmoth/references.html

Ancient coins are very common and can go for a few bucks to thousands. Decent ones can be had for about $30-$60.

As far as yours, which is Severus Alexander from "The Severan Period", is a very common emperor and has many reverse styles & coins in general. Yours could fetch about $40+ in that condition.

I am still a newb to ancients myself so if I am wrong about any of this or you want more details about your coin or the world of ancient coin collecting in general, Doug and various others are the guys to ask!

 

Thanks again Mat for the information and reference link. Thanks too for the approximate value, as I'm always interested in knowing, (aren't we all?) but this coin not only had sentimental value, but now that I believe it's the real deal and that old, it's value to me is not measured in $ as many of my other coins/currency would be.

I took it out and was surprised at how thin it was, and how much better surviving detail there is. I assume it's sliver, as heard a distinct 'tinggg' when I dropped (about an inch) it lightly on the countertop.

The pics below are as good as I can muster from a 12 year old 2.11 mp camera. Need to update that one day.

In any case, I'm glad I found this thread and found my old coin. I always thought highly of it, but even more so now. After the pics, I gently wiped it down and put it back in the 2x2 cardboard and plastic tomb.

I'm grateful to have it from my father-in-law who really enjoyed it before I got it! :thumb:

 

No problem & the photos look good. Its for sure silver. Not sure what that white is around the portrait. But overall it looks like a nice piece. Probably about very fine grade wise. But enjoy it & if your interested in knowing more about the guy on the front, check out the link below.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Severus

 

Mat, I figured out what the white is around the outline of the face and lower left (flat areas). It's actually where the coin is less or not tarnished.

If you look at the pics in the holder (posted earlier) and then the top pic of the side of the coin in my last post you can see the coin is tarnished, but the flash and or other light must have messed with the color levels in the "old camera" I have and showed less (or no) tarnish than is actually present on the face and back pics out of the plastic.

I looked at it last night with a 10x magnifying glass, and indeed the "white around the portrait" and in the lower left is just non tarnished areas. It's wierd how lenses, lights, levels etc. interpret what the camera picture will produce.

Thanks again for your help and information. I've learned a lot more than expected already!

-Mark