Featured Local Dealer's Black Friday Junk Bin Firsts - Carausius, 1st Jewish Revolt, Nerva, etc.

This will be a let down compared to all those wonderful coins from the 2019 "best of's" everybody is posting. But I believe us bottom-feeders should throw out some junk now and again to provide contrast to the beauties.

So I stopped by my local dealer on Black Friday. He doesn't like to mess around with low-grade stuff, so his junk bins can be interesting. He handed me the $4 bin and said "I threw some ancients in there." First thing I saw was a very yellow, decaying plastic flip with "Carausius" written on it. And then a Nerva. I got very excited at that point. The rest is a blur - I was in a feeding frenzy.



Well, now that I've calmed down, I'd have to admit that they aren't pretty, but several of them were "firsts" for me (first Carausius, first Nerva, first Berytus, first Jewish Revolt). And the price was right and it took me many hours of fun (mostly) to attribute them.

I'm guessing on the Carausius - I couldn't believe how complicated his coinage is. This one has been varnished, I think - it has a kind of scary, possibly BD edge, but it is all very glossy and hard. I'll keep an eye on it, but I am afraid to touch it, basically (but I did put it in a new flip).


Romano-British Empire
Carausius Æ Antoninianus
(c. 286-287 A.D.)
Unknown British Mint
IMP CARAVSIVS P F AVG, radiate, draped bust right / SALVS AVG, Salus standing left with patera and sceptre, feeding snake rising from altar.
RIC 983 (see note).
(2.93 grams / 21 x 17 mm)

Attribution Note:

Several types of Carausius with SALVS reverse; this seems to match FORVM example with "early reign 'moustache' portrait"
cf. RIC V-2 983; Webb Carausius 1102; Hunter IV 75; Cohen VII 310; Linchmere Hoard 1102 (1 spec.); King Unmarked 13; SRCV IV -, Bicester



Judea, First Jewish War
Æ Prutah
Year 3 (68-69 A.D.)
Amphora with two handles and lid with paleo-Hebrew inscription Year Three around / Vine leaf on branch with paleo-Hebrew inscription The Freedom of Zion around.
Hendin 664; Meshorer 204.
(3.70 grams / 18 mm)



Sept. Severus & Caracalla
(208-211 A.D.) Æ 23
Berytus, Phoenicia
[IMPP CAESS SEVER ANT AVGG] Confronted laureate, draped, and cuirassed busts / [DEC-ENNAL ANT COS III COL BER], Astarte in temple, crowned by Nike on column.
BMC 122; AUB 86.
(10.84 grams / 23 mm)



Nerva Æ Semis
(96-98 A.D.)
Syria, Seleucis & Pieria
Antiochia ad Orontem
[IMP C]AES[AR NERVA AVG III COS], laureate head right / S•C within laurel wreath; Γ below.
RPC III, 3493; McAlee 422(c); Wruck 128, CRS 186,
(7.28 grams / 22 mm)

This Hadrian sestertius has been whacked, and so is bent. It was $12, but I just couldn't leave it. I felt sorry for it.


Hadrian Æ Sestertius
(134-138 A.D.)
Rome Mint
HADRIANVS AVG COS III [P P], laureate head right / FEL[ICITAS] AV[G], S-C, Felicitas standing left, holding branch in right hand and long caduceus in left hand.
RIC 750d; BMC 1499.
(24.61 grams / 30 mm)

Not ancient, but pretty - from Shah Jahan's father (of Taj Mahal fame), this is a "Jahangiri," a brief experiment in a heavier Mughal rupee, but the merchants didn't like it.


India, Mughal Empire
Jahangir (1605-1627)
Jahangiri Rupee (20% heavy)
AH 1016/2 (1607-1608 A.D.)
Ahmadabad Mint
kalima shahada, hijri date and zarb at bottom / nuruddin muhammad jahangir badshah ghazi.
KM 152.2
(13.72 grams / 21 mm)

Finally, a trio of Byzantines I found knocking around:



Post your uglies, your firsts, your junk bin treasures.

 

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Wow! What a fun group and a lot of enjoyment and education for the money! Way to go, @Marsyas Mike ! I love it!

 

my favorite was the India, Mughal Empire
Jahangir (1605-1627)
Jahangiri Rupee

 

Nice! I would have snatched up both the Nerva and the Carausius, and the Carausius in particular is a bargain. They are usually in rotten condition, and your example is fairly clear.

 

That's a junk bin I would like to find at my LCS !!

Q

 

Good Luck Anyway.

 

Wow, $4 each can't be beat.

 

Nice! I like the rupee and the anonymous follis the best. The follis has seen better days, but the image of Christ is fairly clear, and the reverse legends are all totally readable.

 

Great thread, @Marsyas Mike ! I think over time, as ancients collectors, our brains get re-wired to interpret beauty differently from most folks. I don’t think any of your coins are ugly. I see every scratch and scuff mark as an event in history.

Your Judaean War coin is my favorite!

 

Interesting coins at impressive bargain prices - Rupee, Prutah, and Nerva would all be my first picks from the box, all fun to attribute, impressive that you had enough to attribute the Severus and Caracalla AE23! Another Rupee - which I will have to puzzle a bit to reconnect to the attribution.

 

That is a beautiful coin. I have a tough time attributing these - I usually do a Google image search for "Mughal rupee" and hope I get lucky. I did a quickie search and found one that doesn't match yours, but it seemed kinda close (MA shops). Jahan issued a lot of coins (he had to pay for the Taj Mahal) so his come up a lot:

https://www.ma-shops.com/almanumis/item.php?id=2329

I would've never figured out the Sept. Sev/Caracalla from Berytus if it hadn't come in a flip, it is in such poor shape (although I like the thick green patina - it looks more like a piece of candy found under the couch than a coin). The Nerva looks bad, but his beaky nose is visible, so I might've figured it out on my own, but it too was in a flip, saving me a lot of time.

My "Jahangir" came in a flip with a partial attribution that turned out to be correct, so I got lucky. Otherwise, I'd probably still be looking (I should mention, it was in the $8 bin, so I paid a bit more for it - although I think it still comes in around melt!)