Curtisimo's 2017: An Overview and "TOP 10"!

Curtisimo I checked a few of my coins bought in 2016 , not an exact match but any resemblance with your 2017 buys

 

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Ha! Great minds think alike? These are all great. I love the Lysimachus with herm. Certainly one of the most interesting mint marks of the series

 

Bonus coin #1​

Curtisimo's Largest Coin of 2017​

Roman Empire
Trajan (AD 98-117)
AE Sestertius, Rome mint, struck ca. AD 115-116
Dia.: 32 mm
Wt.: 20.94 g
Obv.: IMP CAES TRAIANO OPTIMO AVG GER DAC P M TR P COS VI P P Trajan draped and cuirassed bust right
Rev.: SENATVS POPVLVSQVE ROMANVS at bottom FORT RED / S C Fortunate seated holding holding rudder and cornucopia
Ref.: RIC II 652

My Comments:
I was surprised that this ended up being my largest coin of 2017 since it is not a great deal larger than several of my other coins, such as my Lysimachus and Athenian tetradrachms. I intended to score a sweet Ptolemaic bronze this year but never pulled the trigger on one so that left Trajan here as the de-facto champion in this category.

This is still a great coin IMO despite the imperfections such as the flan crack and the reverse corrosion. Trajan's portrait in particular is pleasing to the eye and shows him as an older but still strong emperor. Trajan certainly wins the award for most honorifics included on a coin. This coin is literally crammed full of all the ways the senate and the people thought Trajan was awesome. OPTIMO is the most telling of these. The senate awarded Trajan the title of OPTIMO PRINCEPS which translates roughly to "Best First Citizen" after he avenged the Roman's humiliation at the hands of the Dacians under Domitian by conquering them and using the wealth from that campaign to beautify Rome.

The reverse of this coin shows Fortuna Redux which was an already established convention in the early empire of wishing an emperor a safe return to the city of Rome. Trajan was on a campaign conquering Parthia at the time (much to the delight of the Roman people). He became ill on his way home and never made it back to Rome despite this coins appeal to the ever fickle Roman goddess of luck.

Please post your Trajan's and your largest coins from 2017

 

Curtissimo,
Please forgive a couple of slightly off topic questions.

What is the name of that shadowing effect in your picture? What software does it require?

 

No need to apologize @lrbguy I enjoy answering questions related to coins

The shadowing effect on the collage photo is a simple "drop shadow" in Photoshop with some adjustments to size, distance and opacity.

The water effect is also done in Photoshop but required me to build a special bitmap for the displacement function.

 

Like the portrait of Trajan on your sestertius, Curtisimo congrats.

All about Victory on these asses:

 

Got it! Thanks! I'm using CS5, but normally work with a black background. I'm gonna play with this a while. As for the water effect, is that a 3D effect? Does it have a name, or is it entirely a custom effect you created?

 

I think you can change the color of the shadow to anything you want under "layer styles". So you could have a white shadow on a black background if you were so inclined.

The water effect is a custom filter I made. If you want to try and replicate it you can send me a PM and I'll try to write out instructions as best as I remember them.

 

MARCUS ULPIUS TRAIANUS
or later as
Imperator Caesar Nerva Traianus Divi Nervae filius Augustus:


RI Trajan AE Dichalkon Laureate hd L Rhinoceros walking L LI-Z yr 17 CE 113-114 12.9mm 1.25g Emmet 719 var. rhino normally right
Ex: SteveX6 collection - 2017


RI AE As Trajan CE 98-117 26mm 11.0g Rome Laureate Draped - SENATVS POPVLVSQVE ROMANVS Victory R wreath palm S-C RIC 675 -2017


RI Trajan CE 98-117 AR drachm Struck CE 114-116 Arabia Petraea Bostra - Camel SNG ANS 1158


RI Trajan AR Denarius 98-117 Riding Horse


RI Trajan AR Denarius 98-117 CE 3 Standards


RI Trajan AR Denarius 98-117 CE Soldier over Vanquished Foe

 

LARGEST STAMPED COIN of 2017:





Seller write-up:
Carthage.
Circa 201-175 BC.
Æ 15 Shekels
45 mm. dia. 7.5 mm. thick. 102 gm.
Obv: Wreathed head of Tanit left
Rev: Horse standing right; uraeus above.
Ref: MAA 104 ; SNG Copenhagen 400.
Comment: Original green patina.
Note: The largest Carthaginian coin and likely one of the largest coins struck in antiquity.
Very rare.

This extraordinary large bronze coin was likely issued under the administration of Hannibal, who, following defeat at the battle of Zama, was appointed as chief magistrate of Carthage. Hannibal worked effectively to restore the finances of Carthage. The annual payment of 10,000 talents to Rome as reparations for the war, and the loss of control over the silver mines in Spain made the issuing of a silver coinage impossible. The immense thickness of this coin also precluded any significant relief of the die's impression.

 

Wow that coin is a monster!

 

Curtisimo, really nice 2017 finds!! I would be thrilled to add any of them to my collection! Must say though the new style Athenian tet is a type I have long wanted and your is very nice!!

 

So beautiful!!!!

Thanks,
Jacob

 

Bonus Coin #2​

Curtisimo's Rarest Coin of 2017​

Roman Empire
Maximianus (AD 286-305)
AS Quarter Follis, Siscia mint, struck ca. AD 305-306
Dia.: 20 mm
Wt.: 2.0 g
Obv.: MAXIMIANVS AVG, laureate head of Maximianus right
Rev.: GENIO POP-VLI ROMANI, Genius standing holding patera and cornucopia
Ref.: RIC VI 169b, rare R2

My comments:
I think rarity is an interesting quality in an ancient coin but I almost never target a coin for that specific reason. I bought this coin in a lot and was pleased to note that it was listed as R2 by RIC (meaning that there were only 11-25 examples in the collections examined). This coin would have been valued at 1/4 of the larger post reform folli of the tetrarchy period. I will need to do some additional research on the dating of this piece which seems to indicate it could have been a post abdication issue.

Please feel free to post your rare coins from 2017!

 

To be honest, I admit I am out of touch with what coins are rare or just highly sought after. However, here is a coin I purchased this year and haven't seen many for sale or presented:

APOLLONIA PONTIKA
AR Hemiobol
OBVERSE: Anchor, A in field
REVERSE: Swastika with two parallel lines in each quadrant
Struck at Apollonia Pontika, circa 500BC
.28g, 6.54mm
SNG BM 149; Moushmov 3146
ex. Aegean Numismaics

 

This is one of the tricky ones. Even though the legend reads MAXIMIANVS AVG, this is in fact a coin of Galerius (full name Galerius Valerius Maximianus), issued after Maximianus Herculius had retired in 305.

There actually are quarter folles of Maximianus's struck at Siscia for a short period just prior to his retirement, and they're also rare, but the legends you'll find on them are IMP CMA MAXIMIANVS P F AVG or IMP CMA MAXIMIANVS AVG.

 

Thank you Z! I haven't researched this piece much yet outside of checking the RIC number. I'm not sure why my mind went straight to abdication issue without thinking that Galerius would have dropped the CAES from his coins already. Thanks for the clarification!

Merry Christmas my friend!

 

Exceptionnal rarity, even though you didn't get it "on purpose" !

Mine isn't ancient ancient, yet rather rare, and it's been my #1 coin for 2017, mainly because of its rarity (see the related thread here)

"Although the denier tournois is abundant for Gaston d'Orleans, there is no regular issue of any of them for his father in law, Henri II de Montpensier, and only a handful of silver essays is known to exist. For years I could only dream of having one of them in my trays someday. I even went to the Lyon Musée des beaux arts, for the only purpose of taking a picture of their specimen. When that one poped up at auction earlier this year, it had to be mine. My enormous bid having been successful, here it is in the end"


Henri II de Montpensier (1592-1608 ) essai du denier d'argent, frappe posthume
+ . H . P . DOMBAR . D . MONTISP Buste cuirassé à gauche
+ DNS . ADIVTOR . MEVS . 1609 Deux lis dans une couronne
1,73 gr - 18 mm
Ref : Divo Dombes #122

Q

 

Nice catch @zumbly !

 

Some great coins you have posted here @Curtisimo - congratulations!