Ancients: Postumus

Before I went to the coin show I won a Postumus billon antonianus on eBay for $8.55 postpaid. I consider that a fair price and suggest you get better coins if you are paying more. I'm sure part of the low price was that the coin had some hard green spots that are easy to remove. I have seen many better but it is a reverse I did not have and has decent detail on a porous flan. There are two Diana types of which this is the ordinary Lucifera or torch bearer. The other, which I lack but would like, shows Diana with a deer. Anyone have that one?

 

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Great pickup for $8. Dont see that reverse much.

Mine was $12 several months ago.

 

These are AMAZING!!!

 

8 bucks...dang.

you're lucky i didn't see it.

 

Nice coin! Mat's too. I'd love to have both, especially at those prices.

 

Doug, you and impeccable taste for an 8 buck kinda guy. I like the coin and I most certainly like the price.

 

Not bad for the $. I suspect the one with the deer it a bit more pricey?

Heres one of mine

 

Here's my only example of Postumus. I keep thinking I'm getting a good deal on these coins until I read what some of you on these boards pay.

LOL. Live and learn.

 

Due to Doug's bad influence, I now have 3 new Postumus ants in the mail (to join the 3 bought last month). They're not rare ones, and worse still, they don't cost $8.55... more like $21 each shipped. Getting tempted to buy coins is easy, learning how to nab the bargains is a whole different story .

Nevertheless, I'm looking forward to receiving them!

 

$8.55 is too cheap for a decent Postumus but that is the point. My new coin is porous and not a great coin. I bought it because I lacked the reverse and it was cheap. I have no problem with anyone paying $21 or $51 for a Postumus antoninianus as long as the coin they get is not a low end junker. We see both types sold. Let someone else pay $50 for $5 coins.

I paid CNG $50 for the one below (my most expensive Postumus ant). It has a small diameter but thick 4.69g flan and good style so I splurged. Lesser dealers would have got less from me. Funny how that works.

 

I'll post mine when they come and let the jury decide .

 

Wow Doug => that's a superb snag for $8.55 (I'm not sure where you're finding these coins for that price, but I'd keep fishing in that same spot!!) ...

Yah, I sold my soul to get my sweet Postumus cruiser ...

Ummm so, depending upon who you ask about my soul's worth (my ex-wife, or my lovely current wife), my soul and this coin are probably worth anywhere from $0.02 through $100 ...




$8.55? (*sigh*) ... man, I need to spy on Doug and find his cool fishing hole!!

 

Good thread, and nice coins, everyone! Wildwinds says, "Cologne and Lyons issued coins with seemingly identical obverses and reverses. Lyons coins have more (and curlier) hair above the brow and especially at the temples, his smile is a little more pronounced and his beard has a bit more detail."

I looked at quite a few of the busts on Cologne and Lyons coins at Wildwinds, and I believe my Postumus is from Cologne, RIC V(b) 323, p. 363. He isn't smiling, but the hair detail seems to jibe with the Cologne style. Any thoughts?

 

That page might need to be updated. After my explorations into Postumus's hair styles in this thread, I'm no longer convinced they necessarily gave Postumus a different hairdo in a different city. I still don't know the source of that theory.

Current thought seems to discount Lyons altogether as a Postumus mint, and it seems only Cologne or Trier should be considered, though there's disagreement over whether there were even two mints (and also which mint was the primary if there were two).

This page gives an order to the reverses struck at a primary mint (Trier) and secondary mint (Cologne). I believe it follows the study done on the Cunetio Hoard, which according to some CNG notes "clarified the structure of Postumus' coinage, and clearly defined not only the true identity of the Gallic mints, but also allowed the full reconstruction of the sequence of Postumus' coin issues."

 

Yeah, I opened that can of worms again. Thanks especially for the second link. So according to that analysis of the Cunetio hoard, my coin was minted in Trier, third issue, officina A. Who is the author of that page?

 

I found it on a Forvm thread... I believe the site belongs to a Vcoins dealer called Mauseus.

 

Man that's a nice price for that piece Doug.

 

Thanks - I'm not surprised. He's definitely one of the good guys: extremely knowledgeable, and a fair dealer.

 

My newP was from eBay so I just looked at all of the Postumus ants offered there now. The current bids range from $7.50 to $1377 (I'm sure many of you know whose listing that is?) or $150 if you want to disregard his listings. I will be bidding on none. Sometimes you have to kiss a thousand frogs before you find a prince(ss). I did see about three types I lack but none were appealing or reasonable. There were an awful lot of the most common types but that means nothing to those who don't collect by reverse. Next week we may get a new crop????

 

I see another one at $1822