AMCC 3 wins! Post em up!!!

My biggest win that didn't get swept away by the hysteria:


Very excited to see this mean greeny in hand:

LUCANIA, Thurium as Copia (193-150 BCE) AE As. 9.40g, 22mm.
Obv: Laureate head of Janus
Rev: COPIA in right field; Cornucopia, caduceus and I (mark of value) in right field.
HN Italy 1935. Very rare. cf. CNG E-Auction 374, 11.05.2016, lot 9 (hammer 260 USD); same dies as NAC Auction 84, 20.05.2015, lot 564 (hammer 2250 CHF)
Very rare and in fine style.

Hard to pass up ATG's grandpappy with the name legible:

Amyntas III (393-369 BCE). Aigai or Pella. 3.40g, 16mm.
Obv: Head of Herakles right wearing lion skin.
Rev: Eagle standing right, devouring serpent held in its talons.
SNG ANS 100-109.
Readable name. Amyntas was the father of Philip II and grandfather of Alexander the Great.

A unique ATG type!

Alexander III ‘the Great’, 336-323 BCE. Amphipolis, lifetime issue, 4.80g, 14-17mm.
Obv: Head of Herakles right, wearing lion's skin headdress
Rev: Eagle standing right on thunderbolt, head turned back; ivy leaf above.
Price 28
Not the usual Alexander!

A clear departure from my usual collecting habits:

Philip III Arrhidaios, 323-317 BCE. Salamis (Cyprus). 3.92g, 15mm.
Obv: Macedonian shield with facing gorgoneion on boss.
Rev: B A Macedonian helmet facing, caduceus to left.
Price 3158.


Demetrios I Poliorketes, 306-283 BCE. Pella. 3.37g, 15mm.
Obv: Macedonian shield with monogram in boss
Rev: BA-ΣΙ, crested Macedonian helmet
SNG Alpha Bank 969.

Athena with her MSC:

Philip V, 221-179 BCE. 3.66g, 16mm.
Obv: Head of Zeus to right.
Rev: B A Φ Athena Alkidemos advancing right, holding spear and shield
SNG Alpha Bank 1071-4

I've always liked the style of Herakles on these:

Lysimacheia, 309-220 BCE. 3.53g, 17mm.
Obv: Head of Herakles right, wearing lion's skin headdress
Rev: ΛYΣIMAXEΩN, Nike standing left, holding wreath and palm; monograms to right.
SNG Cop. 901-2 & 914-15; Moushmov 5499.
Scarce.
Lysimacheia was founded in 309 BCE by Lysimachos, one of Alexander’s generals and an important player in the wars following his death. His Thracian kingdom based at the city did not last long, collapsing entirely under pressure from the massive Gallic invasion of 279 BCE. After a pan-Hellenic effort to eject the Gauls, Antigonos II Gonatas defeated the last major group in the famous Battle of Lysimacheia in 277.

Another Sakkos for my growing collection:

THESSALY, Phalanna, late 4th c. BCE, AE Dichalkon. 6.20g, 17-20mm.
Obv: Head of Ares right .
Rev: ΦΑΛΑΝΝΑΙΩΝ, head of nymph right, with hair in sakkos.
Sear 2180
Flan flaw at 6 o’clock. (Actually rather interesting.)


PONTOS, Amisos, c. 125-100 BCE (under Mithradates VI) AE 17. 3.83g, 17mm.
Obv: Bare-headed bust of Perseus right
Rev: AMI-ΣOY, cornucopia between caps of the Dioscuri, stars above each.
SNG BM Black Sea 1129-33; BMC 65.
From the Erworben collection.

And that's ten, so I must not have gotten anymore
Cheers to @Severus Alexander for a wildly successful auction! Thanks buddy. This was a blast.
So, come on gang, let's see your wins... or painful losses!

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

I actually won 3 and was totally not expecting to win any. I did the Ron Popiel method of "set it and forget it" prebids. Most of them were blown out of the water before the auction even started.


In fact, I thought all of my prebids were outbid so off I went to take a nap with the youngest tadpole. Imagine my surprise when I woke up to an invoice email haha.

These are the 3 I won and I couldn't be happier:

I LOVE Alexandrian Tets and I don't yet have a Phillip.

EGYPT, Alexandria: Philip I (244-249). AE tetradrachm, dated year 5 (247/8 AD).
Obv: A K M IOV ΦIΛIΠΠOC EVCE, laureate, draped, and cuirassed bust right
Rev: Alexandria, mural crown, standing left, holding bust of Serapis and sceptre; L E (date) across field.
Emmett 3469, Köln 2736.

This one was a bit of a last minute one since I only started picking up English hammered coins very recently.

Edward III (1327-1377) AR penny, 4th coinage, post-treaty period, issued 1369-1377, archbishop Thoresby or Neville. York, 0.85g, 17mm.
Obv: EDWARD REX ANGLIE Z FR, saltire stops; facing bust.
Rev: long cross with quatrefoil at centre and pellets dividing +CIVI TAS EBO RACI with cross before CIVI for York mint.
SCBC 1648

Last but certainly not least; I have been looking for a coin that depicted Basil I for quite some time. I love that this coin is a "three-for" with Basil, Leo VI, and Constantine VII!

Basil I (867-886), with Leo VI and Constantine, AE follis. Constantinople, 7.18g, 27mm.
Obv: + LЄOҺ ЬASIL S COҺST AЧGG; Crowned half-length facing busts of Basil, wearing loros, between Leo and Constantine, each wearing chlamys.
Rev: + ЬASIL / COҺSTAҺ / T S LЄOҺ ЄҺ / ΘO ЬASILS / ROMЄOҺ.
SB 1713.


Now for the one that got away. I fell in love with it immediately and did lots of researched on previously sold coins to try and get a good idea of what they sold for. My prebid was blown out of the water and I had to let him go. Probably better for my marriage that I did.


Beautiful Nero hemidrachm



Now comes the hard part of waiting for them to arrive in my mailbox!

 

I stated this in the AMC Thread:

"My Target was spirited, but won. I would love to know who I was bidding against."

 

Thanks to @Severus Alexander for a great auction as always! Super happy to add some nice pieces to the collection.





Constans II (641-668), AE follis, issued RY 2 = 642/3. Constantinople, 3.43g, 23mm.
Obv: EN T૪TO NIKA; Constans II standing facing, wearing crown surmounted by cross, holding long cross in his right hand and globus cruciger in his left.
Rev: Large m between ANA and NEOς; above, star; in ex, ΓII (officina and year).
SB 1000

Pieces from this period are always super rough, but for whatever reason I am always drawn to them. “Superior example” in the catalogue, and I definitely agree with that, one of the better examples I have seen and I am super excited to get this one in hand.



CONSTANS II (641-668) AE follis, issued 654-9.. Syracuse, 5.77g, 24-26mm.
Obv: Emperor, cuirassed, and prince, wearing chlamys and holding globus cruciger standing facing.
Rev: Large M, monogram above, SCL in exergue.
SB 1109. Overstruck on SB 1108, in turn overstruck on SB 1107.

definitely an impulse buy, but same stands for above. Rough coins have a special place in my heart haha.



INDO-SKYTHIANS: Azes (c. 58-12 BCE) AR Tetradrachm. Ghandara, 9.70g, 24.5mm.
Obv: Azes right on horseback, holding whip; KR in Kharosthi to right
Rev: Athena standing right, raising hand and holding spear and shield; to left, YI above VI in Kharosthi; monogram to right.
HGC 12 637var. (symbols), Senior 98.164Tvar (symbols); see J.E. Cribb, "Indo-Scythian Silver Coins From Pakistan" in CH III, 55 (same rev. symbols).
From the Chris B collection
Extremely rare set of symbols, only one other on acsearch.


This series is super cool as well, have a couple smaller denominations but super excited to finally add a tetradrachm to the group. The horse & rider on this example seem to be quite well struck, looking forward to this hitting my mailbox!



YUAN DYNASTY: Kublai Khan / Emperor Shi Zu (1260-1294) AE 3 cash. 8.01g, 31.5mm.
Obv: Je Üen Tung Baw (in Mongolian Phagspa script)
Rev: Blank as made
Hartill 19.15
From the Severus Alexander collection; ex ancientnoob (Nathan Miller) collection; ex ArsCoin Wien.
Rare & very popular.

And finally for the #1 on my hit list, a kublai khan multiple cash. I’ve gotten stuck in a rabbit hole of civil war or conquest period Chinese Imperial cast coins, and have added a good number to the collection in the past year and a half. This one was sitting on my want list for a while, and seeing one pop up for sale in Canada with a good providence from a coin talker was too good of an opportunity to let go. Ended up paying over my budget, and had a spirited battle with the second bidder. Severus Alexander must be happy with this sale as it is from his own collection, super excited to be its next owner.

thanks again for the great sale, and looking forward to AMCC 4!

 

I managed to cross one off of my Byzantine list by buying an Isaac II Aspron Trachy, Lot 636. I’m posting on mobile so I can’t list the pic. Very interesting to see what others ended up with!

 

That's a nice looking Isaac II! I managed to snag one the other week off of ebay for a pittance. It wasn't labeled well and I swooped in
Learned a bit about him after the fact. He was not a great ruler.

 

I am eager to post my wins already but I don’t want to possibly jinx their arrival lol

 

I've never posted before arrival but I was too excited haha. Been waiting a long time for this auction!

 

I'd post mine, but y'all gotta wait for Faustina Friday!

 

My original list of Byzantine coins I wanted to collect came out of who I considered to be the best emperor or empress in a particular dynasty. Isaac II had the dubious distinction of being the “best” out the Angelid dynasty, but only because the others were worse than him!

 

Sorry buddy, but this one is coming home to Daddy.

 

Well, I'm glad it is going to a good home
It is a beautiful coin.

 

Sev had mentioned some hidden gems. There was an overstruck Greek that somebody went all, ride or die on. They beat me, but they had to bleed to get it... was that you???

 

Nope.

Looks like you had a great haul.

 

Caesar_Augustus seemed to be the provenance of my targets. There were some battles within the Tetrarchy!

 

I haven't share this one yet on CT but here is my Isaac II.

Isaac II Angelus, billon aspron trachy, Constantinople mint, 1185-1195 AD. MP-theta V to left and right of Mary, nimbate, seated facing, holding before her the nimbate head of infant Christ facing left , sometimes with star above each arm of the throne / I CAA KI OC to left, DEC PO TH C to right, Isaac, standing facing on the left, crowned, wearing divitision, loros and sagion (sometimes ornamented with star), and holding cross-headed sceptre and akakia, crowned by hand of God in upper right field. SB 2003, BMC 19-31.

I also purchased 2 books on Byzantine history last night. I can't wait until they come in so I can read up some more.

 

I wonder if anyone here won either of the two massive Ptolemaic octobols (lots 62 and 63)?

 

Yowza! Definitely not me!
One of those coins would be my entire ancients budget for the last several years!

 

I went a little nuts and ended up with 13 lots! But since I'm a beginner in ancients it is less a question of filling collection holes and more of just getting cool coins. I did miss out on the lot I wanted the most, that great little Parion hemidrachm with the Gorgon face.
Here's some of the wins:

ILLYRIA, Dyrrhachion, Philotas and Meniskos (magistrates) c. 229-100 BCE. AR drachm, 3.00g, 16mm.
Obv: ΜΕΝΙΣΚΟΣ; cow standing right, looking back at suckling calf, torch before, hound running right below
Rev: ΔΥΡ ΦΙΛΩΤΑ, legend in four segments around double-lined quadrilateral containing stellate pattern.
A. Maier, Die Silberprägung von Apollonia und Dyrrhachion 396.
From the Shea19 collection, ex. Savoca 6th Blue Auction, 07.04.2018, lot 276.

PERSIS: Vahšīr (Oxathres), 1st century BCE – 1st century CE, AR Hemidrachm (Type 1). Istakhr (Persepolis) mint, 1.81g, 14.5mm.
Obv: Bearded bust left, wearing diadem with three ties and torque with three segments; monogram to left
Rev: Vahšīr (Oxathres) standing left, holding scepter and sacrificing before altar to left.
K&M –; Tyler-Smith, Parcel 114-5; Alram 580; Sunrise 603.
From the arnoldoe collection.

 

A couple of bronze from Amisos:

PONTOS, Amisos: Mithridates VI (105-65 BCE), AE23, issued c. 85-65 BCE. 10.4g, 22.6mm.
Obv: Helmeted head of Perseus right.
Rev: Pegasos grazing left; AMIΣOY and monograms in ex.
HGC 7, 239.
From the Erworben collection, Ex Hirsch Auction 187 lot 1836, 1995.


PONTOS, Amisos: Mithradates VI, issued c. 111-105 or 95-90 BCE. AE21. 8.15g, 21mm.
Obv: Helmeted head of Ares right.
Rev: AMI - ΣOV; Sword in sheath; star-in-crescent to upper left, monogram to upper right and lower left.
SNG BM Black Sea 1164; HGC 7, 241.
From the Erworben collection.