From CNG at last week's auction, was outbid on a few but won others that I really wanted. They were in my mail box today Pictures are all courtesy of CNG though they are not very good, possibly even worse than mine - the coins are way more nicer in hand. Didn't have a Monophthalmos and I particularly liked the Artemis running under Zeus throne Kings of Macedon, Antigonos I Monophthalmos as Strategos of Asia, AR Drachm Lampsakos, ca. 310-301 BC 4.19 g, 17 mm, 1h Price 1387; ADM II Series XVIII; SNG Cop. 888. Ob.: Head of Alexander/Herakles to right, wearing lion skin headdress, paws tied before neck Rev.: AΛEΞANΔΡ(OΥ) Zeus Aëtophoros seated left holding eagle with closed wings in r. hand, long scepter in l.; in left field, forepart of Pegasos left; below throne, Artemis Phosphoros running left with torch. A Macedonian shield Half-unit which I already shared in this thread: https://www.cointalk.com/threads/show-us-your-first-and-last-acquisitions.393059/ And this lot of 5 Republican Denarii, of which I was most interested in the Papius denarius, though I enjoy all five, don't have the measurements yet: Decimius Flavus, Rome 150 BC, possibly issued by Gaius Decimius, ambassador to Crete in 171 BC, and as praetor peregrinus in 169 Quintus Marcius Philippus, Rome 129 BC; much is not known about him. The horseman on the reverse is a Macedonian rider and at left there is a Macedonian helmet with goat’s horns, thus referring to the consul of 186 and 169 BC Quintus Marcius Philippus, who waged war against Macedonia during his second consulate. Quintus Fabius Labeo, Rome 124 BC, triumvir monetalis in 124 BC, was probably proconsul in Spain between 120 and 100 BC. Presumably the grandson of Quintus Fabius Labeo who was Consul in 183 BC Marcus Lucilius Rufus, Rome 101 BC, much is not known about him; he might have been the brother of a senator in 101 BC named Manius Lucilius that's why I think that the letters on the reverse M•LVCILI may refer to the senator and Lucius Papius, Rome 79 BC. Control marks shallow cup - rhyton ending in a horse (Crawford 384/1, type 33 at https://bonannocoins.com/l_papius/l_papius_db.php where all the known Papius denarii varieties are listed
Those denarii are great! The M.LVCILI with Victory driving is beautiful! One day, I will add a type like that to the collection. Congrats!
I love those Republican coins! The Papius gryphon is one of my favorite types, and the Rhyton/horse control mark on yours is very cool. That list of illustrations of control mark pairs, using the Crawford numbering system, is extremely useful. Mine (lyre & lyre key) is no. 127.
I cannot say that this auction win was recent. I actually bid on and won the coin December 15 2021. As i knew that I would not get the coin until January 2022 I counted it as my first purchase of 2022. Thus since then I have won something like 6 coins during the month of January. So what makes this coin special? I just got it yesterday some 42 days after the coin was shipped. However as much as I would like to put the blame on the Spanish Post Office, the real culprit this time was Canada Post. Somebody forgot to leave a delivery notice in my mailbox and the coin was sitting in the post office for some weeks literally only three blocks from where I live. Oh well Denarius of Vespasian Tarraco Mint 69-70 AD Obv Head left laureate. Rv. Libertas standing left holding pileus and scepter. RIC 1339 3.10 grms 18 mm One of my ongoing projects was to acquire a number denarii of Vespasian struck at mints outside of Rome. Over the years I had purchased a number of these coins but up to now an example from the mint of Tarraco eluded me. So I was pleased to get this one. However the wait did prove annoying. Despite being the first coin of 2022 currently it is my most recent auction acquisition.
I've been trying to cut down on the coin purchases due to a big tax bill coming up, so my recent acquisitions have been comparatively modest. I bit the bullet and purchased a leftover owl from Roma. This is yet another controversial coin, lot 679 from E-Sale 90. From a more recent auction, I went a little off the beaten path and acquired a Swedish copper plate money. The way I look at it, this chunk of copper might actually eventually replace bitcoin. The way I see it, people will realize that all that energy needed to create cryptocurrency is helping to spin the world's climate over a cliff. Why not just use these copper plates? They're tangible for sure! Just drop an 8 daler plate money (14.5kg) on your foot and you'll know. Let's get back to hard assets. This is a mere 1/2 daler copper plate money, of Charles XII, dated 1716, minted during the Northern Wars (1655-1721) with Russia, Denmark and some other folks fighting Sweden for control of the Baltic. Peter I of Russia prevailed, ensuring Russian dominance in the Baltic region. Sound familiar? History does come full circle, sometimes more than once. This copper plate money weighs a mere 371.51 grams. Pocket change.
That plate money piece, small or not, is very cool. I haven't seen any in a while. I had a 4-daler (I think it was) from the Nicobar shipwreck, once. About the size of an average hardcover book. How big is that quarter-daler? Half a chocolate bar? Coffee saucer?
The measurements for the 1/2 daler are 98mm x 100mm. It's amazing to think that these bulky and very heavy plates were actually used as a means of exchange in Sweden, but there was a severe shortage of silver coinage in that country that lasted for many decades. This copper plate money was produced up to the mid 1770s, I've read.
And collector demand is strong, especially for the larger denominations. I wonder how NGC goes about slabbing them.
With a clear Rubbermaid or Tupperware casserole dish, I expect. I’m a slabophile, but geez, wouldn’t that be ridiculous. I put mine on some little plastic picture frame easels with the COA behind it.