After being in denial for so long I can now confirm that I have admitted to myself what has been obvious to others for a little while. My name is Martin and I DO collect LRB. I stumbled across a small dealer recently. All the ancients that he had in stock were three lonely LRB. I felt obliged to buy all three as each had some small thing that appealed to me in some way, making them in some way interesting. Coin 1:- Constans as Caesar - AE3 Obv:- FL CONSTANTIS BEA C, Laureate, draped & cuirassed bust right / . //dot DSIS dot. Rev:- GLORIA EXERCITVS, Two helmeted soldiers standing with spears & shields, facing two standards between them Minted in Siscia, (// dot DSIS dot), A.D. 334-335. Reference:– RIC VII Siscia 238 (R1) This is an example of the unusual form of this obverse legend as they were experimenting with the naming for the young Caesars. Coin 2:- Valens - AE3 Obv:– D N VALENS P F AVG, Diademed, draped and cuirassed bust right Rev:– SECVRITAS REIPVBLICAE, Victory advancing left holding wreath & palm branch Minted in Rome (//SM leaf RB). 24th August A.D. 367 - 17th November 375 Reference:– RIC IX 24b Nothing really special other than the lovely jade green patina and the use of an Ivy leaf as part of the mint mark. Coin 3:- Gratian - AE3 Obv:– D N GRATIANVS P F AVG, Pearl diademed draped and cuirassed bust right Rev:– GLORIA ROMANORVM, emperor advancing right holding labarum & dragging captive Minted in Rome (R dot QVARTA) A.D. 367 -375 Reference:– RIC IX Rome 23c, type xii(b) Just interesting that these coins spell out the officina as part of the mint mark. Honest wear but a lovely chocolate patination. Martin
It's easy to see and 'read' why those particular LRB's appealed to you Martin---they are very lovely and have great eye-appeal and various interesting aspects for each one.
12 step time...well, you've made the important first step martin....admitting you collect LRB. now follow these steps.. 2 buy more coins 3 buy more coins 4 buy more coins 5 buy more coins 6 buy more coins 7 buy more coins 6 buy more coins 9 buy more coins 10 buy more coins 11 buy more coins 12 buy more coins
Martin, your third one has the officina number spelled out "R.QVARTA" (R for Rome). That is pretty unusual and desirable. Here is a page on officina numbers, including those spelled out: http://esty.ancients.info/RomeOfficina/Officina.html
I was like Martin in the mid 1990's. I bought a lot of Septimius Severus, a few Probus and almost nothing after 300AD. I started working with Victor Failmezger and learned enough that when I photographed his coins for his book we included nearly 100 of mine in the plates. LRB's can be addictive. I now have more LRB's than Severans. I might point out that none of these three are 'ordinary' types. Each has some little thing that adds a bit of interest. If we did a countdown of the 100 most interesting LRB types, the Constans and Gratian would be on my list. (Sorry, Valens, there are just so many neat LRB's.) There is nothing wrong with us buying common type LRB's also although I do have trouble sometimes with the number of beginners who buy horrid condition common coins at high prices when there are some nice ones out there.
http://www.amazon.com/Roman-Bronze-...w_p_img_1?ie=UTF8&refRID=0D45JQ0S7VKY9JNHE27Y Since I mentioned the book, let me plead no one spend $162 to $482 on this book. It was $50 new and, IMHO worth that but used copies might be found even below that if you look hard enough.
I strongly recommend the Failmezger book Doug mentioned. I use mine regularly. However, I also agree it should not cost a fortune.
Nothing but accolades from me. I started out with LRB and intend to continue. Here is my exact same coin of Constans, down to the officina.
I had said that this coin is a must have for Latin teachers (how many 4th declension genitives do you think are on coins?) but maybe it is just something any LRB collector should have.
One of my first ancients Constans AE3. 335 AD. FL IVL CONSTANS NOB C, laureate, cuirassed bust right / GLOR-IA EXERC-ITVS, two soldiers standing facing one another, each holding reversed spear and shield set on ground, two standards between them, SMANE in ex. RIC VII Antioch 89 (SMANΕ), R5 in RIC Heres another one. Constans AE 3 CONSTANS P F AVG, laureate & rosette-diademed, draped & cuirassed bust right / GLORIA EXERCITVS, two soldiers holding spears and shields with one standard between them, O on banner. Mintmark: A SIS star Siscia
