AMCC 3 wins! Post em up!!!

I was hoping to see someone here winning the Theodosius II AE2 of Cherson

 

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I didn’t have any big targets this time, but I did win five coins from the pick bin I was happy to get. It crossed off some LRBs from my wish list, such as the scarcer Constantine with scales memorial coin, as well as a Theodora, stepmother of Constantine, who is hard to find in decent shape. A little something for everyone in that auction, at multiple price ranges. Thanks for all the hard work that goes into it.

 

Thanks to @Severus Alexander for a great auction. I always look forward to his auctions and FSR auctions. I have hit a wee bit of a bump in the road, as everyone does from time to time, so this was really fun and I won the following beauties-
lot 111 Julia Mamaea, lot 274 Herennia Etruscilla, lot 341 Helena

 

I missed out on a couple of higher end coins.. was expected.
But I did snag a nice Licinius II and a small Byzantine lot.
Very happy with the results - super fun auction!


Licinius II (317-324, as Caesar) AE3, issued 320-21. Aquileia, 3.33g, 19mm.
Obv: LICINIVS IVN NOB CAES; laureate head r.
Rev: CAESARVM NOSTRORVM; VOT • V in wreath, AQT in ex.
RIC VII 71 (R5)
From the Severus Alexander collection.
Rare! (As is often remarked, rarity estimates in RIC for late Roman bronze are not to be trusted, but this issue for Licinius at Aquileia is genuinely rare.)


Byzantine group (9 coins): includes Justin I follis, Constans II follis and half follis, Arab-Byzantine fals, Andronicus I trachy, Manuel I trachy, Isaac II trachies, and Alexius III trachy (trachies are better quality). The Constans II is ex Spahr, and includes his ticket.
57g total

 

I forgot to post my brother’s winnings. I managed to convince him to end his dry spell a bit.

He likes big and small, so, he’s happy.



Erin

 

Killer bidding mouse finger, Erin!

 

He was working yesterday, so, the pressure was on. Lol

Thank you, zumbly, for not going higher on the Tribute Penny. I really, really appreciate it!

I was very grateful for @Severus Alexander ’s description. Lol

I think I’m going to leave the Tribute Penny as is. I’m way too clumsy to attempt any kind of cleaning.

Erin

 

A minor correction.

Three of the coins shown above are stated to be from the "Erworben collection". But "erworben" is merely the German word for "acquired", not a collector's name.

 

I won several lots but the most important coin was this:



BITHYNIA, Caesarea Germanica: Septimius Severus (193-211) AE28. 11.85g, 28mm.
Obv: KΑ CΕΠΤ CΕΟVHPOC ΠEP; Laureate head right
Rev: KAICAPΕIAC ΓΕRMANIKHC Zeus standing left, holding sceptre.
Wildwinds “CNG 73, 62” (this coin)
From the JB (Edmonton) collection, ex CNG E-Auction 73, lot 62, 2003.09.17.
An excellent coin to represent Septimius Severus’s victory over Pescennius Niger.

Coins from this town, presumably named after Germanicus, are rare. Pescennius Niger issued a series of large bronze coins from here, celebrating the Greek pantheon, all rare (and popular). (Pescennius directed operations in the civil war from nearby Byzantium and Nicaea.) After Severus’s victory, it seems the series was very briefly continued in his name, but there are fewer of these coins even than those of Pescennius. Besides this example (which shares a type with one in the Pescennius series), we are aware of a Zeus seated type and a Tyche. CNG listed this coin as unique and unpublished in 2003 and as far as we are aware, no others have surfaced.

I am thrilled to own this coin. I was afraid it would go for multiples of the opening but I am happy it did not. The issue location and association with Pescennius Niger made the sale.

 

Taking a break from filling packages to say - Thanks so much everyone! I'm glad people had fun, and it looks like the auction was rewarding for consignors and bidders both. Very satisfying indeed.

I was so happy you got this one, Erin! Congrats!!

That was the rarity most deeply hidden in the pick-bin. Well spotted!!

Oops... How embarrassing. Thankfully most of those lots include information on where the coin was originally Erworben, and they include the original tags.

Many of you picked up some of my favourite coins in the auction, including:

and

Congrats everyone!! Better get back to filling envelopes now... don't worry, it's fun.

P.S. - What with 93% of the coins sold, consignors taking some unsolds back, and gifting others, there are so few available that there won't be a separate offering of unsolds this time. But if you're curious about any of them, feel free to pm me.

 

Be sure to keep your fingers safe. Don't need to be getting any paper cuts from filling all those envelopes

 

That is not the fingers I'm worried about...

 

Yeah I thought about too...which made me think of Christmas Story...


Also, the horrible taste!
@Severus Alexander you are a true hero. Thank you for your sacrifice!

 

This was the only coin in the sale that I was seriously interested in. I have no London mint folles in my collection and this looks to be an outstanding example with nice surfaces, fine style obverse, fresh dies, and ample silvering. I placed a pre-bid that was 60% more than the hammer price so I was very surprised and very pleased.

 

Quoting myself to clarify... Although this was the only coin I went for in this sale, I have to say I saw many coins that interested me as I watched the sale proceed. The auction did seem to have something for everyone, so I give kudos to @Severus Alexander, and look forward to the next AMCC sale.

 

My coins arrived in the mail today. My thanks to our very own Severus Alexander for putting on a highly entertaining auction!

I didn't have very much money to spend, but managed to get three group lots (Greek, Roman & Byzantine, and Byzantine, respectively), and some singles. If ladies are first, then I begin with this denarius depicting Julia Domna, the wife of Septimius Severus:



This coin, as with all the others I won, does not fit any long term collecting goals for me; I just liked the portrait. The coin actually looks even better in person!

The number one coin that I wanted out of this auction was this "comet coin," from Mithridates VI of Pontus:



Comet coins have been mentioned in several threads here on CoinTalk. What attracted me to this coin was the pair of depictions of a star and comet. One scholarly view holds that a pair of astronomical phenomenon that are mentioned in ancient Chinese literature correspond to the year of Mithridates' conception or birth, and to the year of the beginning of his reign. There is also a possibility that it was Mithridates who once owned the famous Antikythera Mechanism, which has been in the news quite a bit lately. Neither of these claims are certain, but the probabilities/possibilities are certainly fascinating!

This next coin I bought more or less purely for its reverse design, and because I can now say I have a coin of Constantine the Great:



Similar tower designs have been used on coins in various parts of the world all the way into the 19th century in the New World.

Nearly all the coins I won were copper--which is weird, considering I have an active dislike of copper coinage (too hard to see)--but this one is a silver denarius of Trajan. It was kind of an impulse buy:



Yay--so now I have a coin from the emperor who saw the empire at its largest.

My goal for most of the coins in the group lots that I won is to use them to learn, and eventually to sell them again. One coin that I found interesting, although it really is quite ugly as well as low-grade, was an 8 gram copper coin of Elagabalus.



Elagabalus routinely makes the various lists for "worst Roman emperors" because he was something of a transvestite and a homosexual. If you look at the empire under his watch, though, I don't think the empire suffered particularly, and I consider his placement in these lists to be nothing more than a matter of received prudishness.

For this post, I think that's enough, as the other coins I won were all low-grade, bargain-bin type coins. I was happy to get this baby-fingernail-sized little thing, though:



After all, who wouldn't want a coin from the reign of Ivan the Terrible?

 

As of today, Canada Post says they are already in the mail and expected to arrive on the 12th; upon arrival I'll share

 

Ah, good ol' Canada Post! I am very patriotic and love our mail service.

 

"Calling all in transit ... calling all in transit ..."

 

Can't take much to be better than the USPS at this point in the game...