You asked ! Valens, Siliqua Treveri mint DN VALENS PF AVG, diademed, draped and cuirassed bust right VRBS ROMA, Roma seated left, holding victory and sceptre, TRPS at exergue 2.15 gr Ref : Cohen # 109, Roman coins # 4113 Valens, AE1 Aquilea mint, AD 364 DN VALEN - S PF AVG, diademed, draped and cuirassed bust right RESTITVTOR REIPVBLICAE, Valens standing facing, head right, holding standard and victory. SMAQP at exergue 8.55 gr Ref : Cohen # 40 (100Fr), RIC #6b Q
Cucumbor's coins are both very nice, but the AE1 is far more unusual than the siliqua. It is hard to tell with on-line photos, but that is a big coin, impressive in hand, and quite rare as a denomination, not just "rare" for some detail.
That said (posted), I'll go stand in the corner. Byzantium went on to live for a 1000 more years (give or take). Bet they never heard of Ritchie.......
I literally just noticed the hair being pulled up by the emperor's clenched hand. Man this coin is awesome! Just goes to show the high level of skill some of these late Roman die engravers possessed. And fortunately the years were very kind to my coin to preserve this particular die engraver's work Oh and I also can't forget the hammer man that struck well my coin!
Yup Jango, that sure is a great OP-coin (I just went back and noticed the hair-pulling as well ... an awesome addition) Your coin is nice too, 7Charles (ummm, I don't try to put standard grades to ancient coins => everybody has their own opinions regarding what makes a coin Good, Fine, VF, EF, etc) ... I like to use a more descriptive scale and/or comparative scale for grading ancients: Cull => brutal Good => interesting Fine => cool VF => sweet XF => awesome Mint => AJ-esque ... but if it helps, I think that your coin is pretty sweet, my coin-friend (it's kinda difficult to grade coins with sandy desert-patina ... some folks add style-points for eye appeal, while I'm sure that some folks consider it a flaw)