Yes I have a few of those. I still am pending on the last 3 offers I made on other Romans with that same dealer.
Excellent coins, Britannia! Looks like you've got some silvering left on the second one of that latest group.
I've got to learn more about Romans I virtually know nothing. So figured it's a start. I didn't even know that coin was silvered.
Nice later roman bronzes with some good variety there. That one with DOMINOR NOSTROR CAESS on the reverse is pretty cool
All of those are nice examples. The Romans didn't use the concept of an angel on their coins, though they did use crosses later in the empire. The one picture is the goddess Victory. Angels were used frequently on Byzantine coins however.
Oh. I guess that makes way more sense. Now that I think about that, you are right. Yay! I learned something today.
The one with Victory on it is a Constantinople commemorative coin. One series was struck for Constantinople, one for Rome.
At some point, the pagan Victory also became the Christian angel. In this transition, the image of Victory did not even change. She still had wings and is depicted with the victor's wreath and palm. "This is perhaps the only case in which the transition from pagan goddess to Christian angel is perfectly clear." Harold Mattingly, The Man in the Roman Street. New York: W. W. Norton & Company (1976) : 79. Palladas, a fourth-century pagan poet, wrote mockingly about the city of Constantinople and coins with Victories on the prow – "Here we are, the Victories, the laughing maidens, bearing victories to the Christ-loving city. Those who loved the city fashioned us, stamping figures appropriate to the victories." (Anth. Plan. 282)
Well I picked up the last 5 pieces of quality he had. How often do quality pieces common or not come about to the market? I am steering clear of ebay and focusing on reputable dealers just due to inexperience and the amount of fake items on ebay. I believe I will put together group by emperor and mint make for late era coins and add others as I can.
The victor’s wreath, as we will go to great length to argue in Potamikon II, was originally a symbol of cyclicality and rebirth, essentially “victory over death.” “Strategic victory” was a much later development, in my view. There is a good book on the victory type on ancient coins-I can’t recall the name at the moment- but many of the early Greek types he lists are nymphs in my opinion.