I seem to be taking this collection seriously, so I figured I'd dedicate a thread to it. I'm not sure why I'm taking it seriously, however - perhaps it reminds me of sticking Lincoln cents in a Whitman folder as a kid. It's basically all about the hunt. None of these issues are common - they all rate scarce to R5 in RIC, and my object is to find an example from each mint. Lugdunum, Aquileia, and Heraclea remain elusive, not because I haven't come across any examples, but the examples I have found were being offered by dealers that insisted that their rarity equated to exorbitant asking prices. (I don't the collection that seriously.) At any rate, here's the current status... Trier is about to be filled with this coin, which is on its way... So what does one do while waiting impatiently for the other mints to appear at reasonable prices? Add a few varieties I suppose. I came across this one today, which gives me both of the officinae dedicated to minting these for Constans at Antioch, 5 (epsilon) and 7 (eta). The seller provides the following interesting information about its provenance... Sold on behalf of the Royal Ontario Museum. Ex 1903/5 Ihnasyah Hoard. Each individual coin comes in an archival flip and has its own ticket containing museum inventory number and pedigree information. Prior to the opening of the Royal Ontario Museum in 1912, the first Director of Archaeology, Dr. C.T. Currelly, purchased in Egypt a large hoard, or portion of a hoard, of Constantinian bronze coins, which were to form the nucleus of the Museum's collections. Containing coins datable from the period immediately following the Battle of Chrysopolis in AD 324 all the way to AD 346, the hoard, discovered, in 1903 or shortly before its sale, was purchased in 1905 at Ihnasyah in the Fayyum. Examined by J.G. Milne, the hoard, along with Milne's analysis, was published in 1914 in the Journal International d'Archeologie Numismatique. Totaling more than 6000 coins, the hoard included some coins from other periods, which made their way into the hoard at the time of the sale, since their patination is different from the rest of the hoard. In 1965, Frederick H. Armstrong published a revisiting of the hoard (Phoenix 19 [1965]), revising and amending the earlier work of Milne, and noting varieties missed in the earlier study prior to the publication of Late Roman Bronze Coinage.
cool "folder" and neat provenance on that last one! what's between the standards of the incoming trier coin?
Cool JA ... hey, here is a rookie question => so, apparently you're saying that there were 13 mints that minted the double standard coins of Constans, correct? ... oh, and you have 9 of them (10 counting yout Trier example) very cool good luck I don't have any double-standard examples (oh, I have one single example of Contans, but that seems good enough to me, know what I mean? ... a phoenix on the mound, blah-blah-blah) I love your stuff ... but I doubt I'll ever buy a double standard example (but again => your collection is awesome and I especially like the way that you've gone "retro" and tried to show US collectors that there are "limitless" collection-alleys!!) => very cool cheers (eat a bun, my coin-friend) ... you rock
Palm branch. Trier also issued varieties with a wreath between the standards. All told, there are some 65 or so varieties recorded in RIC. I don't expect to complete the set, but it's something to do when I get bored.
13 recorded mints in RIC. With the Trier coin, I've got 10. RIC does not record these types from London, Ticinium, Sirmium, or Serdica.
Cool "folder" JA! I have a few LRBs...and I like this reverse type. I gotta say, your latest pickup has a cool provenance too.
Way cool JA !!! I love the eye-appealing variety of the shades, tones and colors---makes each look totally unique even without the differing mints and right/left facing portraits etc...
It's pretty crusty, but I'm leaving it as is. With 6000 coins in the hoard, Currelly probably did little else than rinse and brush them off enough to make them identifiable. At least collectors have a shot at them now. I doubt they did little else but sit in a box, buried in a closet of the Ontario Museum. Who goes to a museum to look at LRB's?
Yeah, me too of course, but in general, museums don't like coins. They're too small and uninteresting to most. The best displays are two-sided, but you don't see those often. I saw some Roman coins at a display of Roman glass recently, at the Corning Glassworks. But they were thrown in as ornaments to larger pieces - as in a vase with a handful of coins next to it. It had nice feng-shui.
Found another today, with mint mark R star P. These come in wreath and star marks, each with P and S officinae, for a total of four varieties from the Rome mint. Two down, two to go.
That Trier is excellent! I remember this hoard of coins being sold in Triton early this year. They were sold in lots of 600+ coins. If I recall correctly, the quality was variable and I was wondering in passing how long it would take for the dealer who bought them to disperse them all. Seems you got one of the nice ones.
