Getting down to the last couple of my recent additions, I offer this hard to photograph (looks better in hand as they say) AE3 of Procopius. His reverse legend matches the common Constantius II types but the Reparatio comes on the left and Fel Temp on the right. A couple decades ago this was a very rare coin (R3 in RIC) not because it was a minor mintmark variation but because it was a Procopius. A few large hoards have made this ruler less than a super rarity but he is still a premium item worth compromising some of my quality standards to acquire. This is my only Procopius. It has a too thick patina that has been polished a bit more than appropriate hiding some detail that was on the coin. The centering clips a bit of the Chi-Rho in the upper right of the reverse. I keep telling myself to stop buying these shiny things I know I can't photograph but the seller was reasonably priced and, like they say, it is better 'in hand'. Some among you will post a reference that lists Procopius as a usurper under Valens and it is true that Valens killed him (in one of several different reported gory ways if you research the scanty records). It may be that Procopius was to be named as heir to Julian II but that emperor's death started a series of events that drove him to fight for the power. Most of what we have on him is from later writers with less than perfect records for reliability so we may never know. There is question about whether Procopius was a Christian (why I wish the Chi-Rho was clear on my coin) or pagan (see the beard like Julian's). Nicomedia is not the most common mint for Procopius but I believe this is SMNA (delta could be read but that would be unlisted). Here is your place to show your Procopius coins.
My only Procopius. Its in bad shape but I paid around $1.50 for it as it was part of a lot of 14 lower grade unattributed coins.
Cool Procopius coins, fellas .... sadly, I cannot add another example (yet) ... => great new score, Doug (I find it very refreshing to realize that you still have an extreme interest in these ancient coins, eventhough you've apparently been burnin' like a comet for the past few decades!!) => honestly, thanks for your efforts and your awesome info (you rock!!) Oh, and awesome addition Jango ... you're like a young Doug!! (keep 'er up!!)
Here is the story on ancient coins: There are a lot of them out there so you don't have to buy ones you don't want and will see again and again. There are a few that you will see once in a blue moon (actually worse than that - once when a blue moon falls in February) so if you pass on those you will not correct the error. The secret is learning which situation applies to each coin you see. I am not good at that yet.
I dont see the photo either in this thread but did when the thread was fresh. It looked like a decent coin. I also have those kind of glossy patinas. My Fel Temp "hut" is like that.
I checked IE, Firefox and Chrome and saw images with each so I have no idea what is happening. Does CT have a technical moderator we could ask?
I just clicked on my image to see it full size and when I refreshed by reloading page, the image was gone. Backing out of CT altogether and returning caused the image to return. This was with Chrome. We need to ask technical help from the moderators.
I still have the situation of being able to remove an image by enlarging it and then reloading the page. It always comes back when I leave CT and return through the menu page (just using back to return does not work). Since the process and fix are repeatable, it is not a problem but does seem to be a software bug that the people who developed the software might want to fix.
To me, Procopius has a lesson to teach. What should he have done if, if fact, the story is true that Julian sent him an Imperial Robe but died before making it official? He chose to return it to Jovian and asked to be allowed to retire. That seems to have been OK with Jovian but not with Valentinian/Valens who probably did not like the idea of someone around with a stronger case for legitimacy than theirs. Realizing they would not let him live in retirement, he made a grab for power which failed and probably caused Valens to select a worse death for him than might seem necessary. One could make a good case for his being the legitimate emperor but being right does not make one the winner in this particular game. http://www.roman-emperors.org/procopis.htm Above discusses the little that is known of the man. When researching him, be aware there was a later writer by the same name who gets a lot more coverage in search engines.
Interesting I can see it on my iphone but not on the computer. Anyway it's an interesting coin. Thanks for making the extra effort to repost it. Much appreciated!
