Try 1 more. I bought these when I knew less than I know now. Problem is I still know very little. Aurilean Antoninianus 23.56mm 4.02 g RX/Emperor receiving a wreath from a standing woman, VF silvered
Nice looking Aurelian! Aurelian AE Antoninianus Obverse: IMP AVRELIANVS AVG, radiate, cuirassed bust right Reverse: RESTITVTOR ORBIS, Victory standing right, holding palm, and presenting wreath to Aurelian, standing left, holding a spear. A in lower centre Mintmark XXI RIC V-I 369; Sear 11598v.
Awesome coin! It's incredible how much history a coin like that has. Who knows who held that coin at one point? Maybe a Roman legionary? Perhaps a merchant? Maybe even an Emperor? It's survived for almost 1800 years which is amazing! I'm actually planning on making my first Ancient purchase soon when I can find a decent gold Solidus at a fair price. I feel like the gold & silver coins have a much higher likelihood of passing through a prominent ancient Roman persons hands.
If you want a coin that actually passed through a person's hands, you might prefer a well worn coin to one in mint state. I might argue that a gold coin, especially in mint state, most likely was never handled as an individual but was part of a potful used to store wealth or pay a large debt. For example, when this solidus of Theodosius II was made Rome was paying a tribute of 2,100 pounds (950 kg) of gold each year to the Huns. Was this coin in the package? We can never know.
That is a beautiful coin, though I prefer the gold coins with Victory on the reverse That being said, I would rather have something that was used daily by the masses. Sure, we may never know the names of those whose hands that coin passed through, but just knowing that it did, makes it much more interesting in my opinion.
.heck, i find having coins for a long time and THEN getting educated on'em is a super thrill to me...:i had this Aurelian follis in a junk box for over 10 years... i ID it as a 'wheel chair' reverse until recently when i took it out and lQQked at it again..
Hate to give away the secret, but Byzantine gold is probably the most affordable ancient gold. Lots of nice coins at reasonable prices can be found.
That’s probably because almost every time some European farmer sticks a shovel in the ground they find another hoard of them.
