A bunch of beautiful bronze and billon...

I'm spending the afternoon imaging some coins from a large consignment. Just thought I'd share...

Postumus double sestertius, Laetitia. If you're unfamiliar with these coins, they were struck in the early years of the Gallic Empire, and were typically overstruck on older sestertii. So they often have weak strikes that don't render all the detail and rough surfaces. This one is pretty good for the type - large, with a glossy black patina...

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Though Postumus relied on his army to stay in power, the safety of the provinces was not solely an army matter, for the coasts required protection also, and so it is reasonable that his navy deserved mention on the coinage. The issues which couple the reverse legends FELICITAS and LAETITIA with scenes of a galley probably show that the emperor by no means neglected his navy, and perhaps that it achieved success. The type of galley depicted on the reverse of the present coin could be a navis lusoria, which was a type of a small military vessel of the late Roman Empire that served as a troop transport. It was smaller and narrower than similar earlier vessels, and ideally suited to the rivers close to the Limes Germanicus; the presence of this type of vessel in the Classis Germanica is shown through the discovery of the Mainz Roman ships in 1981-2, thus proving that they operated on the Rhine and Danube. -Roma Numismatics

 

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Modern reconstruction of a Navis Lusoria...

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The genius of the Roman people, GENIO POPULI ROMANI, on a large follis of Maximian - I love the brown patina of this coin with devices highlighted by mineral deposits, not to mention great style and a super strike! Really beautiful in hand, this is a Ticinum mint coin...

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Here is Constantius Chlorus, the father of Constantine the Great, also on a large GENIO POPULI follis. A couple of interesting things about this coin. First, in this particular series, the officina number is given in Roman Numerals (I or II), before the mint (TR), in exergue. The use of P(rima) and S(econda) or A and B is far more common.

Also, depending on the mint and issue, the busts on these tetrarchical folles can go from very realistic to highly stylized. Here is the coin...

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...which you can see is a rather faithful rendition of the emperor compared to a contemporary bust...

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...contrasted to the same type issued by the Antioch mint, on which the bust is highly stylized...

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I had a Ticinum mint of this type, but for Constantius:

 

Nice

 

Here's Postumus again, on a billon ant with Mars reverse. It's a common issue, but an interesting coin for two reasons imo. The flan is quite ragged, but the strike is crisp and the dies hit the flan in such a way that no detail is lost despite the anomalous shape - it's not missing a single letter! What are the odds of that? Also, I've only found this pumpkin-silver fabric on Gallic ants, and I believe it has something to do with the alloy. It looks like they were just starting to mix more bronze into the silver but the pot didn't get thoroughly stirred...

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Here are two fabulous representatives of the Rome and Constantinople commems, both from the Trier mint...



Here's another style comparison. The personifications of Rome and Constantinople are always youthful in appearance, but the Western mint engravers tend to give them puffy cheeks, and they look like boys. The Eastern mint issues have leaner features and look more like teenagers. Here are two coins of the same types, from Siscia and Alexandria...



One more thing to notice about these types: Constantinople carries a scepter, the sign of nobility and rule. Rome does not. That's because these coins were issued after Constantine the Great moved the Roman capital from Rome to Constantinople in AD 330...

On 11 May 330, Constantine I refounded Byzantium, renamed it Constantinopolis after himself, and moved the capital of the Roman Empire from Rome to his new city. The new capital was Christian, old gods and traditions were either replaced or assimilated into a framework of Christian symbolism. Constantine built the new Church of the Holy Apostles on the site of a temple to Aphrodite. Generations later there was the story that a divine vision led Constantine to this spot. The capital would often be compared to the 'old' Rome as Nova Roma Constantinopolitana, the `New Rome of Constantinople.` Special commemorative coins were issued with types for both Rome and Constantinople to advertise the importance of the new capital. --FORVM

 

Salus was the goddess of safety and well-being. Here she is feeding her snake, on a billon ant of Gallic emperor Victorinus. This coin is another example of a ragged flan with full details - also the patina is colorful and interesting...

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A SOLDIER'S PRAYER

On the page discussing Salus, wiki refers to a poem written by centurion Avidus Quintianus on the construction of the fort of Bu Njem in the African desert, AD 202. The poem is in Latin on the wiki page, and I don't have enough skill to translate it myself, but I did find this translation by Rachael Maers (The Muse at Play: Riddles and Wordplay in Greek and Latin Poetry, p. 294)

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Get an eyeful of the strike on this aspron trachy of Alexius III, AD 1195-1203. They don't get any better than this! That's Christ on the obverse of course. On the reverse, Alexius is on the left and that's St. Constantine on the right. My knowledge of Byzantine coins is only in its infancy so I assume they mean Constantine the Great when they say St. Constantine. Does anyone know different? There were a few St. Constantines...

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Wow, a lot of winners in this thread (congrats on the cool coin-lot)

I especially love your first addition ... that nice big Postumus galley winna (great coin/photo)

... I have an AR antoninianus example ...



Thanks for the coin opportunity, JA ... cheers

 

That's a great coin Steve, I never get tired of seeing it! There is one ant in this lot that is better than billon, at least apparently. Valerian with Roma seated...

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When I first started collecting ancients I went through RIC volumes VII and VIII to learn the types, as so many LRB's were affordable and easy to collect. I came across some of the types that were issued by only one mint. One of these types was the VIRTVS AVGG NN types produced by Trier for Constantine I, Constantius II, and Constans, roughly during the same period as the two-soldiers-one-standard issues, AD 337-340.

I could not find ANY examples of these coins on acsearch and none for sale (at the time - our forum friend Victor Clark has one in his vcoins store now). Wildwinds does list a couple of very rough examples for Constantius II and Constans. So I was very pleasantly surprised to open an envelope and find this little gem, coming in at 15mm, 1.5g. I believe this is an exceedingly rare LRB in a fantastic grade...

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A very sweet selection that will get 2017 off to a good start.

I believe you have my address.

 

Great coins JA. I read "consignment" and also have heard mentioned from several "picked this up from JA." So my question is where might I find your stock to peruse?

 

Hello dadams, I've sent you a PM. Thank you for asking.

 

I like that one, nice.

 

These Jupiter types of Licinius are mostly common as dirt, but occasionally you come across one with real personality. First of all, this coin has a deep olive-green patina that's just gorgeous. Secondly, the obverse die is engraved very lightly with very sharp, delicate lines - the hairs on Licinius' head are literally as thin as hairs. Typically the dies for these types were engraved with more depth. Finally, the god seems to be throwing back his head in laughter and when I first saw him I thought, "That's jolly old Saint Jupiter!"

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And finally a really nice 2 Victory Vota follis of Decentius. He looks like a lot of the Amish kids running around my neighborhood. I say kids because they grow beards after they get married...

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So thank you for listening and I have one very strict rule about this thread: post whatever you damn please.

 

I love a Postumus Double Sestertius, like a double banana split only better!

I went big on this in one of John's sales last year and I am glad I did:


Maybe he needs a brother???