Lrbguy's 2017 top "top 10"

It has been an active and busy year for me numismatically. This list has been a stimulus for that, and I appreciate what it is we have here. My total coin purchases for this year got a little out of hand and number well over 200 specimens, so my top purchases for 2017 need to be grouped into two classes; a top ten list of coins important to my specialized study of the silver coinage of select Women of Rome, and my top ten for everything else. Here I will show the general group.

10 – reduced follis of Fausta

Daughter of Maximian who wed Constantine in 307. Elevated to Augusta in 324. When one builds a set of the folles for Fausta, there is a striking sameness to the appearance of her portrait. All of the mints made use of a portrait in which her hair is arranged in waves closely set and bound in a chignon at the back of her head. This contrasts with the styles for Helena which show a bit of variation within the style. However, something unique happened at the mint at Thessalonika sometime in 326-328. Three officinae issued the Spes Reipublicae reverse with an obverse portrait featuring an image labeled “Fausta” but patterned after the usual portraits of Helena. Of these workshops, officina gamma issued this reverse with this variant obverse only. This is one of those.





9 – Antoninianus of Caracalla with lion motif

This antoninianus of Caracalla is a favorite because of the remarkable lion on the reverse. He has a bristling mane and carries a thunderbolt in his jaws. All of that speaks of power and presents an impressive image to my eyes; precisely the impact the coin image was intended to have in the ancient world, I suppose. Though I am not partial to the coins of Caracalla, this reverse is an exception. I finally broke down and got one.




8 – Antoninianus of Salonina (Wife of Gallienus)

In my top ten there are only three antoniniani, but I had to include this one for Salonina. High grade examples of her coins, clearly stuck in full grade silver are not often seen. This is one of the best I have ever encountered, particularly with a Pietas reverse with children. It is quintessentially a women’s coin type, and fits in very nicely with my Women of Rome collection.





7 – Antoninianus of Julia Maesa

The Pietas antoniniani of Julia Maesa are some of the prizes of her coinage, so this high grade example was not to be ignored. I am particularly happy with it inasmuch as it comes from a long time friend and dealer known to all on this list, Ken Dorney. The Pietas reverse was used for both the antoninianus and the denarius, but only this type was used for all of Maesa’s ants.




6 – “Bare head” denarius of Vitellius

I was looking to replace the denarius of Vitellius in my 12 Caesars group, and was intrigued by this one. Until this came along I was not aware that in the first issue for this emperor he is bareheaded. The overall look for this portrait is actually rather attractive for him, and I did not hesitate to add it to the collection. I have not shown this coin here before.





5 - Posthumous denarius of Empress Paulina, wife of Maximinus Thrax

Back at the turn of this century I bought a nice denarius of empress Paulina, wife of Maximinus Thrax, from an online seller who allowed me payments on time. But I got out too far, and he had to call in some of my purchases, including the Paulina. Since then I’ve been hoping to fill that gap for something close to what that was going to cost. This one is nicer for only a bit more money, and I said “Now is the time.” No regrets. In addition, as her portraits go, this is better than usual and I’m quite pleased to have it. This is not her first appearance here.




4 – Drachm of Caius “Caligula” from Caesarea, Cappadocia

Going into 2017 I was three short of a complete set of 12 Caesars in silver. Since the rest of my set was in pretty good shape, I did not want to settle for less than VF, which made it tricky to get the tough ones ($$). In the case of Gaius (Caligula) I ended up settling for a non-denarius drachm of Caesarea Cappadocia, which was treated as an imperial issue in its day. It’s a bit scratched up, but has complete legends and clear images. It has appeared on the CT list before.





3 – Denarius of Claudius honoring his mother

Once I took the plunge for a denarius of one of my missing figures, I felt bold to try to capture a nice denarius for Claudius. CNG provided the occasion for a decent example (not great) and I went for it. Despite the slightly porous surfaces, the lettering is mostly complete and the features are clear. I have shown this coin here before.





2 – denarius of Otho

It was about April 2017 when I determined I would complete my 12 Caesars group in silver. Since I have examples of two of the missing figures in bronze, I determined that my first quarry had to be a denarius of Otho. When this one came along in a European auction house I decided to gave it a try, and set up an account. I was pleasantly surprised to come out on top, with a bid that was lower than I had supposed would be necessary. It was my first coin from a European house, but now has a couple hundred compatriots in my collection.





1 – Potin Alexandrian tetradrachm for Empress Annia Faustina

The most important coin I added this year, is a potin tetradrachm of Alexandria issued for Annia Faustina, the third wife of Elagabalus. This is part of my specialized collection of Women of Rome, which I pursue in imperial silver wherever I can. However, her denarii are excessively rare with only a handful of examples known worldwide. Indeed, considering the brief duration of her marriage all of her coins are rare, but this tet gives a nice portrait and a full spelling of her name in Greek but with close correspondence to Latin letters. I think it makes a good (quasi-silver) alternative to her denarius.

 

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This is a very distinctive coin, and one that I hadn't seen before in any search or auction. It's well centered and the legends are well preserved and readable. Quite a find!

Curiously, I was unable to find this coin in RIC. The obverse legend of A VITELLIUS GERMAN IMP TR P clearly makes it a type 2A with the bare head rather than laureate head, but RIC doesn't list this obverse/reverse combination. Do you have any more information on this coin?

 

What an amazing group---all are eye-candy!!

 

Love the Otho. Great portrait and detail.

 

All - great coins, but particularly Otho and Caracalla!

 

All awesome coins, #1-6 particularly so (though I have a special fondness for "my" grandmother, #7... that is a great example). That Annia Faustina... just WOW!!!

 

That Vitellius really caught my eye too. The portrait is quite Otho-like.

 

Great adds. All nice looking coins.

 

Beautiful coins with great detail, and that unique Otho is just fantastic.

 

Great coins lrb...
Love the Julia Maesa...nice neck
Look forward to seeing your women of Rome coins in 2018 hopefully will be able to contribute some of my own.
Saludos Paul

 

I found two other examples of this coin on ACSEARCH, one of which was misidentified as RIC 86 (which is a laureate head of Vitellius), and the other of which was (correctly) noted as having no RIC number.

It appears you have a fairly rare variant of this denarius, not listed in RIC!

 

Thanks for looking and for the kind comments everyone. I suspect some of these will pop up from time to time.

The BMCRE listings for Vitellius contain this notation between the Group I and Group II listings (p369):
"Hybrids between Groups I and II.
Obv. Bare head (I). GERMAN IMP.TR.P * (II)
Not in B.M."
with the footnote,
" * The following rev. occurs with this obv. : (a) XV VIR SACR.FAC."

I believe this note applies to my coin. There is no note or comment indicating whether these hybrids are proper for the issue or unauthorized, but normally hybrids are given separate listings after the main sections. This intrusion on the early listings is unusual.

I went back to the original auction listing, and in their attribution they reference RICA2 86 (the 2 is superscript referring to the revised edition I believe). I do not have the revised edition of RIC I.

That's about all I can tell you.

 

Very nice tet of Alexandria for Annia!

 

Some very distinctive specimens here with unusual depictions of the empresses, and that bare head of Vitellius....

Q

 

Great additions! You had a GOOD year

 

Gee, that list is a case of wow, wow and even more wow! You’ve certainly had a great year and those are some amazing coins. If I were to order my favourites (and I like them all), it would pretty much follow what you’ve done. That Annia Faustina is not only rare but beautiful... what an excellent score!

 

A list of showcase coins! What an awesome year for you!

 

Those are some great coins @lrbguy.. I really like the Fausta.

 

Nice top 10 @lrbguy! I like #10 (great portrai), #6 (for reasons listed above) and #1 (a fascinating empress)

Thanks for sharing

 

All are special but the Annia has to be my #1 as well. That reverse would make it a contender with an ordinary person obverse. The Salonina must be close if not the best of its type.