Bought a couple more. Interestingly, the first was purchased in parallel/unrelated to the superb Agathokles Tetradrachm posted by AncientJoe, which only solidified my decision given how attractive this type is. It met price/quality ratio for me, as a step up would become significantly pricier. The Roman piece is outside my scope (whatever that is) yet is conditionally scarce and may remain with me regardless or be sold/traded at a later time - I scanned the universe of auction records and this one screams one of the finest. Have a look at Macrinus's hair (incl facial) - super quality - strike, centering and luster. SICILY. SYRACUSE. AGATHOKLES, ca. 317-289 BC. Silver AR Tetradrachm struck ca. 305-295 BC. 27mm, 16.89gr. Obv. KOPAÓ, wreathed head of Kore right. Rev. AÃAÈOKËEIOÓ, Nike standing right, nailing armor to trophy, triskeles beneath left wing. SNG ANS 679. NGC graded CHOICE XF*, Strike 5/5, Surface 5/5. Lovely patina. Roman Provincial. Macrinus (217-218 AD). BI Tetradrachm. 26mm, 11.73gr. Mesopotamia: Carrhae. Obv: Radiate, draped and cuirassed bust right, seen from behind. Rev: Eagle standing front, head right holding wreath in beak, crescent between legs, two pellets in exergue. Prieur 836.NGC MS 4/5, 5/5.
I agree => congrats on scoring two fabulous new coins!! (man, you're buying a lot of total winners lately => well done!!)
Wow! I like the Agathokles but that Macrinus is wonderful. It looks like it's nearly DMPL (if it were a Morgan dollar ) I particularly like these eagle-holding-wreath reverse types because of how similar they look to the "small eagle" design on early US gold.
Thank you. You guys are to blame for "converting" me to this theme purely on appreciation of the design work. Have started nibbling at the history.
