Coin #3 - Guess the CTer 2021

Welcome to Round 3 of Guess the CTer 2021. For the latest updates on the game, to check what other coins have been posted and to review the clues to the possible prizes please check out the master thread.

[Ancients] Guess the Cointalker 2021 (Master Thread)

Coin #3

Roman Empire
Severus Alexander
AE Sestertius, Rome mint, struck AD 231
Wt.: 18.76 g

Why I Added the Coin to my Collection
This coin is in my collection because I love the busts on large bronze coins. Compared to a small silver denarius the portrait stands out as BIG, and this example benefits from a nice green patina.

This is one of the coins in my collection that I have owned the longest. Although it is not in the best condition I love it as much as some of my better coins and could never let it leave my collection. It has a special spot in my heart for sure. I remember the day I got it as if it was yesterday.

How the Game Works
I have enlisted the participation of four well known CoinTalk members (plus myself). Each of us has submitted a photo of a coin that we have never posted to the forum along with a brief description of why we included the coin in our collections. See below for the list of members who have agreed to participate.

@Parthicus
@Curtisimo
@Cucumbor
@bcuda
@Theodosius

The goal of the game will be for members to try and match each coin with its owner (one of the 5 members listed above). There will be a separate thread for each coin posted every 3 days and each thread will produce a winner. The winner’s name will be chosen at random from the participants in the thread but you can earn multiple chances to win based on the following rules.

1. Guess who the owner of the coin is and give a reason why you think that. (Ex.: I believe that this coin belongs to Curtisimo because he once gave himself a concussion trying to skateboard down a half pipe without ever practicing.) This is the minimum requirement for entry into the drawing. You must post a comment for your guess to be counted. Please include a reason with your guess.
2. Anyone who posts a photo of an ancient coin along with their guess (related or not) will receive an extra chance to win.
3. Anyone who gives a particularly well thought out or amusing reason why you guessed a certain person will receive an extra chance to win.
4. Anyone who guesses correctly will receive an extra chance to win.
5. Anyone who is a young numismatist (age 18 or younger) will receive an extra chance to win. If you are a YN please say so in your entry post.

In total there can be up to 5 chances to win for each member in each thread!

A Note to the Volunteers
If you would like to follow along with the results of the poll feel free to vote for yourself or at random.

A Note to Poll Voters
The poll option is intended just for fun. To have your guess counted you MUST comment in the thread.

 

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This round I am voting for the great @Theodosius .


(Not sure if this resembles our Theodosius or not...)


Why? Because Theodosius has shown some beautiful big bronzes in the past. I am even proud to say that this one resides in the FurryFrog collection:

MACEDON. Thessalonica
Septimius Severus
AD 193-211
Æ29, 12.4g
Obverse.: AY K K Λ CEΠ CEYHPOC ΠEP, laureate, draped and cuirassed bust right.
Reverse.: ΘΕΣΣΑΛΟΝΙΚEΩΝ; Nike advancing right holding wreath and palm.
SNG ANS 855 var. (Nike advancing left)
Ex: @Theodosius


Is this Theodosius' coin? I have absolutely no idea. All strategy I thought I had at the beginning has pretty much gone out the window already. I have a 1 in 5 chance of being correct so I'm just gonna roll the dice!

 

Last things first; I LOVE the party hardy Marty attitude of the Barbarian in your excellent graphic! Maybe a foretelling of prizes to come

On to the game.
You all are not even trying! That or you did a big coin swap before the contest started???
So clearly something Cucumber would gladly add to his collection The time period, the writing, heck even the comment about liking big busts is good old Cucumber. He must've thought it so obvious that no one would pick him... so obvious that yes it is indeed from his collection!

Here's a big bust lady to satiate your appetite. Bon Appétit:

 

I believe this belongs to @bcuda same reason as the last round, at this point I'm just guessing and hoping for the best!

 

bronze from late Rome that
creates the same feelings in me as the mystery OP;
ultra large portrait of
Diocletian, on bronze,
adds a lot to this coin when also considering it was one of my first ancient coins:



Diocletian 284–305 A.D. follis RIC VI 29a Genius struck 295-296 in Ticinium
IMP C DIOCLETIANVS PF AVG / GENIO POPV-LI ROMANI
Genius standing left, modius on head, naked but for chlamys over left shoulder, with patera and cornucopia. Mintmark PT.
28g 10.05mm

 

Bcuda is my guess. Mainly because I'm running out of people to choose from. (I'm terrible at this game)

 

I'm going to guess bcuda on this coin because of a thread he posted on January 4, 2021. In that thread he wrote "I had only seen pictures of them (folles) in books when I first started in ancients but never realized how large they really were until I found one metal detecting when I lived in Spain." Coin #3 sure looks like a metal detecting find . In his thread he posted a handsome follis of Maximian, AD 286-305, Rome mint, RIC 100b, pictured below.



I have a follis of Diocletian from the Rome mint that looks remarkably similar to his follis , pictured below.


Diocletian, AD 284-305, Rome Mint, 1st Officina. AE follis: 10.88 gm, 27 mm, 12 h (struck AD 302-303). RIC VI 105a.

 

Bcuda!! (I changed my mind because I just realized that bcuda's name probably stands for Barracuda) and because:

• My step maternal grandfather’s twin brother was killed by a Barracuda in the Caribbean when they were boys.
• I am putting an almost identical pair of tender cucumbers in my salad today (with red bell pepper, rough-chopped raw escarole, red onion, poisonous olives* and Italian parsley)
• CurtisimoTG has two soldiers announcing Round 3
• It is Twosday
• 2day I got a coin in the mail
• The coin I got today has two fellas on the obverse & sweet croc on the reverse.

I can't help trying to rescue these guys and bringing them home for some TLC whenever I come across them in poor condition. Here is a photograph of it as I received it. At some point I will post photos in a separate thread of the progress I hopefully make.



* A friend of mine calls any olive that is not green "poisonous."

This coin measures 25mm

 

@Curtisimo.... I changed my vote!! I better change it up top, too. Yikes. Sorry!

 

Glad you said that. I voted in my post but not the actual vote. Whoops!

 

I'm going for bcuda too... because he is just the sort of gentleman to have an attachment to a Severus Alexander bronze acquired many years ago!

My first Roman coin was this Sev Alex As and you won't be able to pry it even from my cold, dead fingers:

 

A great coin with that "je ne sais quoi" (patina? style? texture? sheer massiveness?...), that sets it apart! Thanks to some insight from members after round 2 - I have made more updates to my prediction engine. A "deception factor" has been added to cross-reference cookies and evaluate the deviousness of esteemed contributing members, and a normalization factor now accounts for the reality that all coins have been or will be owned by @zumbly. The estimated probabilities of ownership for Coin #3 are:

• 51.7% probability @Severus Alexander
  
• 28.5% probability @bcuda
• 19.8% probability @Curtisimo

We can confidently rule out the first choice as "invalid option" and I guess I have another insect to track down in the coming days. As we can see from this thread - human intelligence has surpassed the bot in both speed and accuracy. Despite the unsurprising outcome, I have selected @bcuda as the owner of Coin #3. I will add to the thread, this coin minted in Rome about 100 years later.

Julian II "The Apostate", AD 360-363, AE1 or Majorina, minted at Nicomedia.
Obv: D N FL CL IVLI-ANVS P F AVG, diademed, draped and cuirassed bust right
Rev: SECVRITAS REIPVB, bull standing right, two stars above; palm NIK[G?]• palm
Ref: RIC VIII 122

 

I love your prediction engine posts, @Sulla80!!

 

It's all coming up bcuda today!

I knew it before the coin even was posted. I'm that good!

Why, you wonder? Because Jupiter is aligned with Neptune, there's an unusually strong SW wind today and the book that fell on the floor opened up on page 147. Also, I couldn't find any blue socks in the drawers earlier this afternoon. Obvious, isn't it, once you see the signs..? I'm not superstitious, but, c'mon, how many hints do you need..?

My only Severan portrait:

 

Our generous benefactor dropping a little foreshadowing... take heed players

No worries. I go off the vote in the comments

 

I completely agree though I am now becoming alarmed that you might be accidentally creating Skynet!!!!

 

I chose @bcuda . It just “felt” like him. No other reason.

I decided without looking at other posts. However, now, it appears a lot of us “feel” the same!

CARTHAGE SPAIN


Carthage Iberia
218-208 BCE
AE 13
1/4 Calco
Barcid Military Mint - 2nd Punic War
Tanit
Helmet

 

I voted for @bcuda, largely because I'm persuaded by @Sulla80's scientific approach to the problem, and, as we all know, science wins!

SEVERUS ALEXANDER
Potin Tetradrachm. 14.14g, 23.2mm. EGYPT, Alexandria, RY 2 (AD 222/223). RPC Online Temp 10249; Emmett 3139.2; Dattari (Savio) 4373. O: Laureate, draped, and cuirassed bust right. R: Tyche standing facing, head left, holding rudder and cornucopia; L B (date) to upper left.
Ex Hermanubis Collection

 

My vote goes for @Cucumbor, because when a coin of Severus Alexander is shown he always is very enthusiastic, and sometimes in his own words, even jealous in a good way:

"Severus Alexander is among the emperors you find the best coins of in terms of style and preservation, for quite decent prices."

"That Severus Alexander reverse is really something special : spectacular"

"I'm very jealous of the Severus Alexander / wolf and twins.
It would be my #1 any day"

it goes on and on - I rest my case

My only Severus Alexander Sestertius:
Rome, 231 - 235 AD
30 x 28 mm, 21.31 g
Orichalcum
RIC IV 645b; Cohen 509;
Ob.: IMP ALEXANDER PIVS AVG, laureate bust to right with draped far shoulder; border of pearls
Rev: PROVIDENTIA AVG, Annona standing left holding anchor in l. hand and grain ears in r. hand over modius; S C across fields; border of pearls

​

 

This ought to be from @Curtisimo . He has often posted late Roman bronzes and the OP coin is bronze (if not late Roman). He notes the OP coin was acquired long ago and he now collects higher-grade coins and he has posted some.

I collect late Roman AE and can, nevertheless, have this coin too:

Severus Alexander
24 mm. as
PM TRP VII COS II, 228 AD
Unusual coppery "red" color.
RIC 480. Sear II 8076v. BMC 462.

The parallels are just too great! @Curtisimo !