And yet another Fallen Horseman

Well, I've occasionally been made to feel like an idiot on FORVM, so I'm just paying it forward.

 

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Wha? ... well, I never!! (how rude!!)

Ummm, since I've just been dubbed a Forum-idiot, I guess I have absolutely nuthin' to lose, eh? ... so, does this get me a point in Doug's highbrow name-game?

Thrax => Maximinus I

... or am I now a two-time Forum-Idjit?



Ummm, or how 'bout Julius Caesar ...

Julius => Fee-Fi-Mo-Mulius

 

Eh...we all have stuff we don't know. Just yesterday I learned that if I take my glasses off, cookies look just like coins. Do you have any idea how much money I could have saved if I had known that before???!!!

 

I'll have to try that.

 

And here is another Gallus. I know it suffers from an uneven strike which has lost the exe on the reverse but otherwise it has a lot of appeal. Plenty of sharpness in the portrait and detail on the reverse apart from the horse.

Constantius Gallus
Obv:– DN CONSTANTIVS IVN NOB C, Bare, bust draped and cuirassed right
Rev:– FEL TEMP REPARATIO, Soldier spearing fallen horseman, who is bare headed, reaching backwards
Minted in Antioch (Gamma | _ // ANA), A.D. 350-355
Reference:– RIC VIII Antioch 137

 

That Gallus is a perfect example of an ungradable ancient. What would the slabbers say? The top half of both sides is easily EF or mint state in their terms while the lower quarter is about good at best. The surfaces are perfect as far as deterioration goes but the lousy strike failed to erase the flan casting porosity leaving ugly texture on the detail free zones. They might say EF 2/5, 3/5 but who would take that grade and imaging a coin that looks anything like this one? Yes, this coin has a lot of appeal and interest to some people. If I owned it, I guarantee it would have made my new page on Wabi Sabi ancients:
http://www.forumancientcoins.com/dougsmith/wabisabi.html

I do not have such a strange Antioch but I believe my Gallus from Amiens is a bird of the feather. When such beauty and ugliness meet on a coin, we must be in ancients.

 

some of the details on that coin are among the prettiest i can remember seeing on LRB martin.

 

Wow Martin, that's a fantastic new FH (amazingly cool, congrats)

 

To put it in Wabi Sabi terms, I see Martin's coin as being 80% perfect and 100% beautiful.

I've come to realise that I'll never be the sort of person who owns a collection full of stunning, investment-grade masterpieces... even if I could afford them, which I can't. I'm just too tolerant (and even appreciative) when it comes to the imperfect. On the plus side, I guess that makes me a natural Wabi Sabi acolyte.

Great page, @dougsmit.

 

=> I totally agree with Z-Bro, that is a good and fun read (keep-up the good work)

Doug => perhaps this baby of mine (below) would work well in your Wabi Sabi article? (hey, please feel free to use any of my coins as examples in your articles => I owe a lot to you for all of the free info you've given me/us over the past several years!!)

Boeotia, Federal Coinage (Overstrike)
Head of Demeter/Kore & Poseidon



This is an example of the host-coin that lies underneath the counter-stamp (the host-coin is not my coin) ...





mmmm, Wasabi

 

My Fallen Horsemen hoard grows... Not quite as pretty as my Gallus but still pleasing. Pleasing enough to justify clicking on the image to see the full size version anyway.

Constantius II
Obv:- DN CONSTAN - TIVS P F AVG, Pearl diademed, draped and cuirassed bust right
Rev:- FEL TEMP RE - PARATIO, Helmeted soldier to left, shield on left arm, spearing falling horseman; shield on ground at right. Horseman is bearded and falls forward clutching horse's neck (type FH4)
Minted in Antioch. (Gamma | _ //ANB). A.D. 350-355
Reference:- RIC VIII, Antioch 135

 

Wow => another sweet pickup, Martin ... congrats

... but man, it seems like you have no eye for the L-Papius anymore ... you're only aiming at these LRBs??

 

I wondered if a fellow CoinTalker bought this fabulous coin. I saw it when it was listed and put it on my Vcoins wishlist, thinking I'd finally buy a nice FH. Later that day, it was gone...

Nice coin!

 

Mine is not nearly as nice but shown here to make the point that this mint at this time was making both FH4 grasping and FH3 reaching coins. Antiochs are good style and available in reasonable condition making the mint a good choice if you want just one horseman.

 

A nice coin !