Nero Denarius. $19 I'm kind-of cheating here, but I'll post it anyway. I wanted an Alexander tet, so I bought a couple for $350 total, kept this one, and sold the other for $375. So this was an under $0 purchase for me. I ventured out of my collecting area for this and three other Greek coins, so I'd call them a "snack."
I also have way too many 'snacks' and quite a few previously uncleaned and unphotographed.....but here's a recent purchase from FAC for $12.00 plus shipping: Ae-19mm under Agathokles, 317-295 BC., Syracuse mint on Sicily. Av. head of Kore left Rv. bull butting left... with a black patina, weight is 6,20gr. SNG Munich 1230
Got a snack today DN CONSTAN-TIVS PF AVG Constantius II pearl-diademed, draped, cuirassed bust right FEL TEMP RE-PARATIO soldier spearing Horseman, bearded, 2 braids, reaching, reaching ALEB in ex. Γ in left field Alexandria 72 var (headwear)
This snack arrived today after nearly two months of being lost in the postal wilderness. A modest lot of LRBs that I won for $28 (including shipping) from a Forum auction. I really was only interested in the top left coin–the Constantine “Romae Eternae” reverse, a somewhat scarce issue of Constantine. This coin also appears in the bottom frames. I think I still see traces of silvering at 8:00-10:00 and in the helmet. (I need to learn more about which issues were silvered.) The rest of the coins are fairly common but are not unpleasing. Good obverse detail on the Constantinople commemorative. Top right looks like a DIVO CLAUDIO consecration ant, and the bottom center coin looks to be Salonina with a Fecunditas reverse. I don’t think I have a coin of her. I guess I do now.
As I research this Constantine coin a bit more, it appears that this left facing bust is a particularly scarce variant of an already scarce coin. It seems similar to one that @Victor_Clark posted to Wildwinds in 2005 for Rome RIC VII 150: Constantine AE follis. 318-319 AD. CONSTANT-INVS AVG, laureate, helmeted, cuirassed bust left, holding spear pointing forward and shield on left arm / ROMAE AETERNAE, Roma seated right, shield in lap inscribed X-V P R. Mintmark RQ. My mintmark looks more like R P. Still can't find it in RIC though. Might it be unlisted as well?
Yes, it is unlisted. The bust is almost identical to Rome 150 (H8 bust type), but the helmet on your coin is not laureate. It is an H4 bust and should be between Rome 149 and 150.
Well, that's a tasty snack indeed. Should I register its existence in some formal way? I don't think I've ever had an unlisted coin and don't really know what the best practice is if a collector runs across one.
There is not really a formal way. Perhaps the best site for unlisted coins of this period is http://www.notinric.lechstepniewski.info/ You can also post to my site- http://www.lateromanbronzecoinforum.com/index.php if possible, you should include the weight and diameter.
So... Kinda like an new apartment built, and the Post Office comes along I deems it address as Rome 149-1/2 Sorry, @Victor_Clark , I just HAD to be a smart-aleck. Having lived in TN for several years I learned that trait...
Many good things come from Tennessee. but seriously I like TN quite a bit and my family has been here many generations...all the way back to my fifth great granpappy
