C-Gall SUPER UPGRADE!

I'm the kind of collector who doesnt really need multiple copies of one emperor. I try to keep upgrading an emperor until I reach a point that I'm pleased with.

For $10, I just picked up this incredible Constantius Gallus large module FTR. This blows my previous one out of the water and I doubt I'll ever get another C-Gall again after this glorious specimen.

Former:

A ragged flan, but a decent large size. it was suitable for a while but I knew that I needed a better one.
21mm
RIC VIII Thessalonica 137A, TSA

I got "side-grade" where the coin is better in some ways but worse in other ways. It had a better flan and was larger, but worse details. Still not good enough.


23x20mm
Cyzicus RIC VIII 94



New:

21mm
Mintmark SMNS unlisted in Wildwinds.
Possibly Nicomedia RIC VIII 85.

Incredible, just incredible. A bit of weak strike on the soldier's head, but the rest of it is just glorious. I especially like the barbarian's lobster claws! he sort of looks like a skinny Michelin man too.


Please post your SUPER upgrades!

 

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Brilliant. Nope, nothing comparable. Just, Brilliant.

 

Wow. Great upgrade - congratulations, hotwheelsearl.

This gives me an excuse to post my only Constantine Gallus - I just got it in an unidentified lot on eBay. Took me a while to attribute it - the flans a bit crowded, and I am still pretty shaky on LRBs.



Constantine Gallus Æ 15
(352-355 A.D.)
Rome mint
DN FL CL CONSTANTIVS NOB CAES, draped & cuirassed bust right / FEL TE[MP-REP]-ARATIO, soldier spearing fallen horseman, bare-headed, reaching backwards. Mintmark RS.
RIC VIII Rome 274.
(2.35 grams / 15 mm)

 

Not bad for an unidentified lot! Gallus doesn’t seem to get the recognition he deserves - I ain’t complaining, how else could I get that coin above for just $10?!

 

Great upgrade! Coingratulations

 

I have a few C Gallus that are relatively nice.

Obv:– DN CONSTANTIVS IVN NOB C, Bare, bust draped and cuirassed right
Rev:– FEL TEMP REPARATIO, Soldier spearing fallen horseman, who is bare headed, reaching backwards
Minted in Antioch (Gamma | _ // ANA), A.D. 350-355
Reference:– RIC VIII Antioch 134


Obv:– DN CONSTANTI-VS NOB CAES, Bare, bust draped and cuirassed right
Rev:– FEL TEMP RE-PARATIO, Soldier spearing fallen horseman, who is bare headed, reaching back towards the emperor
Minted in Alexandria (G|_//ALED),
Reference:– RIC VIII Alexandria 74 corr. (C2)

 

Nice score for ten bucks. Coincidentally, I just recently received a C Gall upgrade as well.

My first, 6 years ago, was from one of Frank Robinson's cheap lists.
CONSTANTIUS GALLUS
AE2. 4.63g, 23.2mm. Alexandria mint, AD 351-354. RIC VIII Alexandria 79. O: DN CONSTANTIVS NOB CAES, bareheaded, and cuirassed bust right. R: FEL TEMP RE-PARATIO, helmeted soldier carrying shield, skewering rump of fallen horse, fallen horseman reaching out; •S• in left field, ALEΓ in exergue.

While the old one was actually good enough for me, the new one is nicer, and has a great provenance. Also Alexandria mint, same issue, but different workshop.

CONSTANTIUS GALLUS
AE2. 4.32g, 22.9mm. Alexandria mint, AD 351-354. RIC VIII Alexandria 79. O: DN CONSTANTI-VS NOB CAES, barehead, draped and cuirassed bust right. R: FEL TEMP RE-PARATIO, helmeted soldier carrying shield, spearing fallen horseman; •S• in left field, ALEΔ in exergue.
Ex Giovanni Dattari Collection of Late Roman Bronzes

 

Those are nice.... Nicer than mine.

 

What kind of recognition does he deserve? He did little to earn his appointment as Caesar other than having the luck of being Constantius II's nephew, and once appointed he proved to be so cruel and corrupt that Constantius II quickly had him recalled and executed. A terrible, absolutely repellent piece of human garbage, if you ask me (although no one did).

But, yeah, I have one, too:

(Bronze) AE2
Constantinople mint, first series
Obv: D N FL CL CONSTANTIVS NOB CAES
Rev: FEL TEMP R-EPARATIO - Soldier spearing fallen enemy horseman
CONSA in exergue; Γ• in left field
RIC 107
22mm, 4.7g

 

I try very hard not to buy coins that I will plan to upgrade. There are many coins competing for my limited budget and buying a sequence of coins is just a waste of money. Certainly I have bought and resold coins along the way but they tend to be mistakes and duplicates. I make enough mistakes without doing it on purpose. Of course much of this is due to the fact that I do not consider all coins of one emperor to be the 'same' and have many more emperors in 10+ examples than I do in just one. For those who want to have just one, I do suggest that it is better to hold off and buy a coin that you can like rather than liking the first coin that comes your way. According to my records starting with my first computer files in the late 80's, I still have ~89% of the coins I bought and cataloged since that time. That does not count coins (perhaps a hundred?) I bought as part of group lots but never intended to keep. That is a lot of mistakes.

 

Thanks, Doug Smith, for the resonantly sage advice.

 

Nice upgrades all!

 

I received an Alexandrian C-Gall on Friday and it has a desirable pedigree:

Ex Zumbly (albeit only briefly )
Ex Giovanni Dattari Collection of Late Roman Bronzes

This is one well-traveled coin!



Thanks, @zumbly!

 

Lovely!

 

Love that nose!

 

Here's a pretty good upgrade and it brings up the question Doug raised about buying a coin when you know you'll want an upgrade. I bought it anyway, in part because it was an ex-@Zumbly and in @Severus Alexander's auction but mainly I just really wanted a coin depicting the abduction of Persephone. Here's the first one:


MACEDON, Stobi. Caracalla (198-217)
AE 23.6 mm, 5.8 gm
Obv: M AVR ANTONINV AG; laureate and cuirassed bust right
Rev: MV-N-I-CIP STOBE; Hades in galloping quadriga right, carrying off struggling Persephone
Ref: AMNG III 12 var. (bust seen from front); Varbanov 4052 (R5, same dies)
Ex Zumbly

And the more recent acquisition:

 

Great coin TIF! I have always had difficulty counting the elephant Quadriga legs on my Tibereus Divo Augustus Sestertius, but counting the horses legs on your coin raises that difficulty to new heights!

 

Yep. I think there are nine rear legs at the hoof end and eight at the thigh end. I wonder if the engraver was aware of what he'd done. Kevin strikes again?

 

Great coin! I didn't do nearly as well as you with my similar upgrade (different mint):

My first Gallus:


The upgrade:


I'm wondering if I should have a go at reducing some of the dirt.

 

Truly great upgrade, TIF.
...Might as well ask you this. Regarding the hole in the middle of the reverse (also pretty ubiquitous in the larger Ptolemaic AEs ...and even some jetons, back to c. the earlier 14th century), what was the minting process involved in that? Never stumbled onto an explanation, in any context.