Ancient Coins Secret Saturnalia

My wife and I opened our secret Saturnalia gift this morning and were extremely pleased with the gifts we received! Our Santa obviously took time to figure out the perfect gift for us, here it is:



It is Aelia Flacilla, the wife of Theodosius I, my CoinTalk name sake, who I selected because Theodosius was on the first ancient coin I ever received. I do not have a coin of his wife so she will fit perfectly into our collection.

Aelia Flacilla, AE4, struck circa 383 AD. AEL FLACCILLA AVG, mantled bust right in elaborate headdress & necklace. Reverse: SALVS REIPVBLICAE, Victory seated right, inscribing a christogram on shield resting on small column. 12.5 mm 1.3 g. scarce.

Along with this gift was a letter explaining I needed to put on my Toga (my wife very much wanted to see that!) get a drink of spiced cider (check!), and investigate our three gifts.

Looking beyond the Aelia we discovered two Chinese coins! These are not attributed on purpose so I can have fun identifying them. One is the typical round coin with a square hole and the other is a large oval shaped coin that is very satisfying to hold in hand. Included are some attribution hints inside a stapled up section of the letter. I really enjoy tracking down the attribution of unknown coins, so this will be a fun challenge. I will post pictures of these once I figure out what they are or give up (hopefully not).

This was a very thoughtful gift that will have us entertained for a good while. I can feel the Chinese coin bug already starting to take hold.

Thanks Secret Santa!

John

 

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For the large oval coin, try Japan It may save you some trouble.

 

OK thanks for the tip!

I know nothing about these coins but I am sure I will enjoy learning.

John

 

That Flaccilla gets around, I had it back in 2013 but traded it off to a VC dealer a few years ago.

 

That is my emperor's wife you are talking about!

 

A moment ago, the mailman delivered my Secret Santa's gift and before I try to photograph or research them further, I wanted to post this to put his mind at ease.....after-all, they did have to 'swim' across the pond!!

Four (4) exquisite 'Constantinian' reduced folli....all high grade with wonderful eye-appeal and three appear to be of Constans from different mints and one I believe is either Constantius (or Constantine I/II) and struck in Lyon) !!

Frankly, I'm overwhelmed by this generosity and Lord knows I'm still missing high grade example of LRB's !! It really is a perfect gift(s)!! Thank you sooo much!!

 

=> she sounds awesome (kinda like a fine wine ... ummm, or like some other kind of awesome thing)

Congrats on the amazing addition (I'd hold onto her => that's a very sweet coin)

Wow => again, I can't believe the awesomeness of these fricken Xmas gifts!! (outstanding)

 

I found this article in a subscription about Saturnalia.
Thought I'd share it.

http://ancient.us8.list-manage.com/...9d8bfba7986977db46&id=6b2e6f6b95&e=de886dbb3b

 

As a librarian, I was delighted to receive a coin from an emperor renowned for his abilities as a scholar. Constantine VII wrote a treatise on the etiquette and ceremonies of the imperial court; a biography of his grandfather, Basil I; and a treatise giving advice on the administration of the empire to his son Romanos II. He also compiled a 4-volume collection of excerpts from ancient historians (many of whose works are now lost) which has assisted modern historians to understand the past.

In A Short History of Byzantium (page 181), John Julius Norwich describes Constantine VII:

“He was an excellent Emperor: a competent, conscientious and hard-working administrator and an inspired picker of men, whose appointments to military, naval, ecclesiastical, civil and academic posts were both imaginative and successful. He did much to develop higher education and took a special interest in the administration of justice."​

Constantine VII, 913-959 AD
AE Follis 4.07 gm - 223mm
Constantinople mint
Obv: CONST bASIL ROM, crowned bust of Constantine facing, with short beard and wearing vertical loros, holding akakia and cross on globe
Rev: CONST-EN QEO bA-SILEVS R-OMEON, legend in four lines
Reference: SB 1761

I am absolutely thrilled with my Secret Saturnalia gift…thanks @Smojo!

These coins are frequently overstruck on folles of Romanus I of the type of SB1760….and these folles of Romanus I are often overstruck on folles of Leo VI, usually of the type SB1729. I cannot see any evidence of overstrike…but perhaps someone who knows more than I can see the overstrike?

Io Saturnalia!

 

WOW, NICE! I love a great historical tie-in: Your background, along with your new interests in the Byzantine Era... way cool! Great job @Smojo , and congrats @ancientcoinguru !

 

I was very pleased to learn that my SS gift had arrived to its recipient.

I have not yet received my SS gift and I will be traveling to a warm climate for the next 10 days. It will probably arrive to my office while I am away. I am leaving people behind and they will keep their eyes open for the package. I will take photos and post when I return home next year.

The possibility exists that it will arrive in the mail tomorrow before I leave. If not, then I have something really fun to look forward to when I return to The Great White North.

 

I can't take credit @Alegandron it was luck of the draw. Truth be known I had it misidentified. I'm just happy @ancientcoinguru likes it.

 

I just opened my Secret Saturnalia gift and I want to send a special thanks to @hoth2 for the very thoughtful way he chose these coins.

I now can say I have 2 Greek coin when before I had zero. Also included was a Jital supposedly of Genghis Khan. If so it will fit very nicely into my historical figures collection.

The Greek coins I appreciate because they do not fit my focus at all. @hoth2 took the time to search my posts and deliberately choose coins that were not my area of collecting at all. I appreciate this very much.

Before the photos I would like to ask anyone who can to provide more information about my new acquisitions. Any help is appreciated.

First, a very tiny greek coin (.38 g). The information included states this is a coin of Caria, Halikarnassos minted from 420-360 BCE. According to the information insert the obverse is the Ram's head, and the reverse is a youthful male head within an incuse square.



The second coin is almost 5 times more massive. It is a coin of Caria, Knidos struck from 300-210 BCE. On the obverse is the head of Aphrodite and on the reverse is the prow of a galley with a club below. It weighs 1.89 g.



The last coin is my Jital. According to @hoth2 this may be a coin of Genghis Khan struck from 1206-1227 CE. If anyone could help with the text, I would appreciate it.


Again, I wish to sincerely thank my secret santa for taking so much care in selecting my gift.

 

Secret Santa has delivered to me today. It looks like I now have my first follis of Galeria Valeria.


Galeria Valeria
AE Follis
Cyzicus Mint
26 mm, 7 grams
Obv: GAL VAL-ERIA AVG,
diademed & draped bust r
Rev: VENERI V-ICTRICI,
Venus standing left,
holding apple; Delta in left
field, Star in right field.
MKV in exergue.
Grade: VF w/ clear centered
details.
Other: RIC VI58, Sear 14597

I will strive to take better photos of this cool coin.

 

Yah, my Santa was soooo fricken awesome ... Gandalf Rocks!!

I've already contacted him and loved him up a whole bunch (hopefully a cool life-friend)



Yah, he was sweet ... a cool animal-card ... a very interesting Hannibal book, which my wife is already devouring!!

Oh, and a stupidly cool AR coin ... take a peek at my lousy home photos
=> (click on 'em)

Bruttium, Carthage Occupation, AR Half-Shekel
Circa 216-211 BC (2nd Punic War)
Minted under Hannibal
Diameter: 18 mm
Weight: 3.71 grams
Obverse: Wreathed Tanit, left
Reverse: Horse standing right; solar disk above, Punic letter 'ayin' below.
Reference: SNG Copenhagen 361-3; HN Italy 2016
Other: Fine … Xmas gift from Gandalf



=> Christmas 2016 is a total winner ... I love you coin-dudes

Cheers

 

Ah, you deserved it. You have made wonderful posts, you help bind folks together, and I thoroughly enjoy the coins that you have / share!

I was very concerned if you would like the coin. I read that book by Livy YEARS ago, and was bowled over at how he brought the War and the times to LIFE! Amazed how an author from 2000 years ago was able to grab me today!

I hope you enjoy the book, and then be able to truly appreciate how that coin is a very cool place marker in Human History!

I hope you, your wonderful Wife (she MUST be awesome to live with you! ), and your family have a fantastic holiday!

Kindest Regards,
Brian

 

Very cool

 

I was starting to get worried, but my Secret Saturnalia present arrived today. Unfortunately, the combination of a thin, scyphate flan and a less-than-gentle handling by the Post Office have created a bit of damage to the coin but nothing that a little glue can't fix. Meanwhile, here it is:

No accompanying info, but my immediate reaction is that it's a scyphate silver coin from the Byzantine empire. This is the first Byzantine silver I have ever owned, and despite the damage it's still a very cool piece. I am going to enjoy figuring out a more specific ID. Meanwhile, thanks to my partner for this coin- it's different from what I'm collecting right now, but cool enough to grab my interest anyway. My gift recipient has already posted here, so now I can head off to the non-numismatic portion of my holiday.

 

These are all so cool to look at. What a great community. Hopefully I'll catch it next time around!