My 2017 Top Ten

Happy New Year!

My top ten consists of just a fraction of the coins I acquired during 2017, many of which could have been included in the list for various reasons. I experienced the same difficulties as many others in deciding which coins to include and in what order. Ultimately I decided to include coins that might be of general interest to most members of this forum, either aesthetically or historically.

After skimming the list it should be easy for anyone to see that my focus is the Severan era. Although the vast majority of coins in my collection are Severan imperial denarii, I occasionally stray from this narrow path and expand into other eras, denominations, or provinces. This variety seems to enrich the collection by providing context, and opportunities for comparison and contrast in terms of size, weight, color, iconography, and style.

Here they are, individually in descending order, with image and description. All photographs were made by me:

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10.

Antoninus Pius. AR denarius, Rome mint, second issue, struck 139 CE; 18mm, 3.24g, 6h. BMCRE 78 note, RIC III 37 (S; citing A.S.F.N. 1884, p. 43) var. (bare head), RSC II 100c. Obv: IMP T AEL CAES HA–DR ANTONINVS; head laureate right. Rx: AVG PIVS P M TR – P COS – II P P; clasped hands holding caduceus and grain ears. Rare, this variant even more so with bust laureate rather than bare head; none in Reka Devnia. VF.

From the estate of Thomas Bentley Cederlind.

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9.

Septimius Severus. AR antoninianus (posthumous issue), Rome mint. Restitution issue commonly attributed to Trajan Decius, circa 249-51 CE; 21mm, 3.92g, 7h. BMCRE —, C (S. Sev.) 800 (4 Fr.), RSC 800 (Trajan Decius), RIC IV 96 (Trajan Decius) (R2). Obv: DIVO SEVERO PIO; radiate head right. Rx: CONSECRATIO; rectangular, lighted altar with four panels on front and two steps below. According to HJB: “The rarer reverse type for Divus Septimius: no specimens in Dorchester hoard, compared to two specimens with reverse Eagle. Joaquim Blay’s online die catalogue of Divi antoniniani of Trajan Decius contains 49 Eagle antoniniani of Septimius, but only 23 Altar antoniniani, including the present specimen. Septimius is one of the four key emperors in the Divi series; undervalued by Cohen at only four francs.” VF.

From The Behnen Collection of Coins of Trajan Decius and His Family.

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8.

Caracalla. AR antoninianus, Rome mint, struck 216 CE; 24mm, 3.88g, 12h. BMC 177 var (differing bust type)., RIC 283b, RSC 368. Obv: ANTONINVS PIVS AVG GERM; radiate and draped bust right, seen from behind. Rx: P M TR P XVIIII COS IIII P P; Lion, radiate, advancing left, holding thunderbolt in his jaws. EF.

From the Yves Gunzenreiner Collection.

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7.

Elagabalus. Syria, Seleucis and Pieria, Emesa; 218–22 CE. Æ18. 4.77g. cf. BMC Greek (Galatia) 20, p. 240. Obv: laureate head right. Rx: eagle, wings spread, head left, wreath in beak, stands upon the Sacred Stone (baetyl) of Emesa. Rare. VF.

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6.

Caracalla and Julia Domna. Moesia Inferior, Marcianopolis, minted under Legate (Governor) Quintilianus, ca. 213-ca. 216 CE. Æ Pentassarion (27mm, 11.35g, 6h). Quintilianus, legatus consularis. AMNG 684, Moushmov 487, Varbanov 1029. Obv: ANTΩNINOC AVΓOVCTOC IOVΛIA ΔOMNA; laureate head of Caracalla right, facing draped bust of Domna left. Rx: VΠ – KVNTIΛIANOV MAPKIANOΠOΛITΩN; Caracalla on horse rearing right, preparing to hurl spear at fallen enemy to lower right; in field left, Є. VF.

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5.

Elagabalus. AR denarius, Eastern mint, struck 218–9 CE; 21mm, 3.92g, 12h. BMCRE 307 note, RIC 167, RSC 22. Obv: ANTONINVS PIVS FEL AVG; laureate, draped, and cuirassed bust right. Rx: CONSVL – II P P; Aequitas standing left holding scales and cornucopia. Rare; only three specimens in the Reka Devnia hoard. EF.

From the Peter Fischer Collection of Scales and Weights.

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4.

Geta (as Caesar). AR denarius, Rome mint, struck early 209 CE; 19mm, 3.29g, 6h. BMCRE S584, RIC 59a, RSC 114a var (beardless). Obv: P SEPTIMIVS – GETA CAES; youth’s bare-headed draped bust right, with incipient beard. Rx: PONTIF COS II; Bonus Eventus (RSC says Genius) standing left, extending patera above lighted altar and holding three wheat ears. EF.

Collector’s note: Incipient beard with bare chin and no mustache is not described as such in the references, which simply describe Geta as bearded; but this transitional-style depiction is nonetheless common on dies for this issue. Not only is this transitional-style portrait — between beardless youth and fully-bearded adult — an intriguing historical document evidential of Geta’s rapidly-changing physical appearance during 209, but it also aids in establishing a more accurate chronology for these issues.

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3.

Geta (as Caesar). AR denarius, Rome mint, 202–9 CE; 19mm, 3.33g, 6h. BMCRE S451, Hill 762 (R4), RIC 37b (R3) var (obverse legend)., RSC 162a. Obv: P SEPTIMIVS GETA CAES; older boy’s or youth’s bare-headed draped bust right. Rx: PRINC IVVENT around, COS in exergue; Severus, Caracalla, and Geta (or perhaps Geta and two knights) galloping right; the leader turns his head back and throws out right hand in gesture of encouragement. Rare; only one in Reka Devnia. VF.

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2.

Caracalla. Æ as, Rome mint, struck 209 CE; 29mm, 12.18g, 6h. C 467, Hill 1000, RIC IV 448a (S), Sear 7007. Obv: ANTONINVS – PIVS AVG; laureate head right. Rx: PONTIF TR P XII COS III / S | C in field; Victory standing right, left foot on helmet, inscribing shield set on palm. VF.

From A Distinguished Collection of Roman Bronze Coins, the Property of a Gentleman, DNW 139 (London), 15 February 2017, lot 151.
Acquired from Spink (London), 15 April 1935, no. G3384.

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1.

Geta (as Augustus). Psidia, Antioch; 211 CE. Æ33. 24.03g. SNG BN 1163; Krzyźanowska dies XVII/28. Obv: IMP CAES P SEPT GETA AVG; laureate head right. Rx: VICT DD NN COL ANTIOCH / S | R (Victoria Dominorum Nostrorum Colonia Antiochia, or Victory colony of our masters Antioch) / Senatus Romanorum. Nike standing right, holding trophy. Very rare. VF

 

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Here are 2017's top ten presented together in a 'tray', correctly sized relative to each other. Click the image to enlarge:

 

All top shelf stuff, "Clio" would be proud.

 

Some very interesting and glorious coins.

 

Clio is the bidder who outbids everyone? LOL.

 

Superb year end list. I love the laser like focus on one dynasty.

 

those are fine coins... i'm still bidding on one, so i won't be done with 2017 until an hour of so before it ends..hopefully

 

Nice variety of wonderful coins, all nice I couldn't pick a favorite.

 

Nicely done! Was this difficult?

 

amazing coins!

 

Real great top coins. Don’t be afraid of Clio; there’s enough for everyone.

 

Thank you. It wasn't too difficult for me, but I guess the difficulty depends on how comfortable someone is using Photoshop. The key for me was to keep the camera in the same position when shooting each coin so that all the raw images are sized correctly relative to one another right from the camera.

To make the composite 'tray' image, I used the composite images I had already made to show the obverse and reverse of each coin. For these I had to crop them, orient them, sharpen and color correct them, remove the backgrounds, and position them. Then I had to reduce the size of these mages to fit in the canvas area for the composite.

The key to making it easy was to reduce all the images by the same amount before dragging them onto the new Photoshop document. I determined that reducing all by 25% would work well for the size of the image I was producing. Then I had to align and position each side of each coin, add the type and the drop shadows.

So for me the issue wasn't technical difficulty, it's that it took me a lot of time to produce all of these individual coin images as well as the 'tray' composite.

 

Thank you very much! I did sneak in an Antoninus Pius, but he's an outlier and the only one I own.

 

Thank you! I had a hard time putting them in order. I somehow hit upon this ordering and stuck with it

 

That’s a terrific list of coins. The portraits on many of them are outstanding. I like #3 best for getting the father and brothers (on horses!) all on one side of the relatively small canvas of a denarius.

 

A great set for the year! I especially like the stone of Emesa and the unusual full spelling of "CONSVL" on the two Elagabalus, the intermediate portrait of Geta, the as (I'm fond of middle bronzes!), and finally, that huge bronze from Antioch is just awesome!!

 

Congratulations and thanks for sharing. That is a terrific selection of coins, very nicely curated and very nicely photographed too.

I’d be keen to see your other acquisitions for 2017 too. Are they displayed anywhere online?

 

Thank you for the compliments. I have a background in visual communication so I make an effort to present things so that they appear 'professional'.

No, they aren't. But I'm in the process of photographing my entire collection. I've been collecting ancients for close to seventeen years, and I'm just photographing them now! I am planning to create a website to display the collection, but it's in its early stages. I need to finish photographing first.

One idea is that I can post a "runners-up" 2017 top ten list. In fact, I'd be excited to post this as long as it doesn't seem like I'm posting too much stuff.

 

..post away..

 

Thank you. I have only a few provincials, and the Antioch coin I think counts as the most impressive in terms of size and heft. Also, I think the artistic style is quite accomplished.