I surprise X-mas gift Just got pics so wanted to share. I really like the high profile of the strike and the die crack above the crab-claw-of-Sol holding the world is cool! I like die cracks I am not positive on the RIC ID. An example on ACsearch gave me the RIC 5 151 ID and on Wildwinds the 151 ID had a PXXT. Feel free educate me as to the proper ID Feel free to share yours! Aurelian AE Antoninianus. IMP C AVRELIANVS AVG, radiate, cuirassed bust right / ORIENS AVG, Sol walking left, treading down one of two bound captives on ground to either side, hand raised and holding an orb, star to left. Ticinum mint: QXXT RIC 5 151, Cohen 153, Sear 11572v
RIC ID's do not change for the differences in workshops that produced matching coins. They will list a coin P for Prima or the first shop but users are expected to have understood that means the same number applies to other shops, in this case Quarta or shop 4. However, your coin does not read QXXT as it should to be RIC 151 but QXXI which is not listed that I can find in RIC but is mentioned as a variant in the text where the authors speculate the coin may belong to Siscia rather than Ticinum. My advice is to abandon RIC for this period and go to the online update site where the coin is shown in several examples as RIC temp #1527: http://www.ric.mom.fr/en/coin/1527?...e=&Reference=&page=1&mod=result&from=advanced or (if the short form works?) http://www.ric.mom.fr/en/coin/1527 The fact that they have 19 of them listed suggests the lack of a RIC number does not indicate rarity but only confusion indicating why RIC volume V really is in need of the update. They give the reference: LV 4835-43 from a work unknown to me: Ripostiglio della Venèra. Nuovo Catalogo Illustrato. J.-B. Giard, volume I : Gordiano III-Quintillo (Roma, 1995) S. Estiot, volume II/1 : Aureliano (Roma, 1995) S. Estiot, volume II/2 : Tacito e Floriano (Verona, 1987) This stuff can require a bit more study than I have interest to support. I do not have an exact match. Mine is a Rome mint version which you are invited to try to find in the RIC temp site just for practice. Learning the workings of theeir search system will come in handy if you collect coins of this period but it may not seem easy at first. Enjoy the process.
Very cool surprise @TJC ! Here's mine: Aurelian, AD 270-275 Ae Antoninianus, 21mm, 3.9g, 6h; Rome mint. Obv.: IMP AVRELIANVS AVG; Radiate bust right. Rev.: ORIENS AVG; Sol advancing left holding globe, two captives below In Ex.: XXIS
Nice!! => congrats on scoring the new OP-winner, TJC Ummm, I happen to have one of these babies as well ... ... well, I guess my humble example doesn't have the Sol man, eh? => but it's still bringin' the long-necked goose!! Congrats again on your great new OP-addition
A nice OP coin @TJC Aurelian, Aurelianus IMP AVRELIANVS AVG, Radiate and cuirassed bust right ORIENS AVG, Sol walking left between two captives. V at exergue 3,30 gr Ref : Cohen #145 Q
Nice Xmas @TJC ! Aurelians: Having to put up with Vabalathus in his Empire... RI Ant Vabalathus 271-272 CE and Aurelian RI Aurelian 270-275 CE AE Ant Concordia-Milit RI Aurelian 270-275 CE AE Ant receiving Globe from Jupiter
I don't have an ORIENS AVG reverse of Aurelian, but here are a few Antoniniani for you. Aurelian's portraits are often comically distorted, with bull-necks, alpaca-necks, and so on. Mediolanum mint, issue 3, AD 271-272 3.61 gm; 20.6 mm Obv: IMP AVRELIANVS AVG, radiate, cuirassed bust, r. Rev: FORTVNA REDVX, Fortuna seated l., holding rudder and cornucopiae, wheel under seat; S in exergue. Refs: RIC 128; MER/RIC 1466; CBN 452; Sear 11539; MIR 16, Hunter p. cx. Siscia mint, issue 6, AD 272-274 4.28 gm; 23.3 mm Obv: IMP AVRELIANVS AVG, radiate, cuirassed bust, r. Rev: IOVI CONSER, emperor standing r., holding short scepter, receiving globe from Jupiter standing l., holding long scepter; *T in exergue Refs: RIC 225; MER/RIC temp 2210; Cohen 108 Uncertain Balkan mint, issue 1, AD 271-272 4.29 gm; 23.4 mm Obv: IMP AVRELIANVS AVG, radiate, cuirassed bust, r. Rev: LIBERT AVG, Libertas standing l., holding pileus and scepter. Refs: RIC 396; MER/RIC temp 2447; CBN 958; Sear 11555; MIR 270a; Cohen 119
One way collectors often handle this is to list it as RIC 151, var. (mint mark), meaning the coin is a variant of RIC 151. I'd also like to point out that, judging by the photo, the OP coin was heavily encrusted when found and recently cleaned using electrolysis. I can tell this by the surface roughness at 3:00 on the obverse and by the traces of remaining traces of surface crud on the obverse portrait and on the reverse around the edge between 12:00 and 3:00 o'clock. A lot of collectors sneer at the use of electrolysis, but notice how nice this coin looks. I don't know what it looked like before, but judging by the traces of crud that remain, I'd say it was likely covered in a think, black layer that obscured all detail. Notice, too, that the coin was NOT artificially patinated after the electrolysis. It drives me crazy when someone strips a coin down to bare metal with electrolysis and then tries to hide this with a fake patina. As this coin shows, there's no need to do this. In the very short time since this coin has been zapped it's already turned a nice, chocolate-brown color; it will continue darkening over time, albeit slowly. My point is that someone took an unrecognizable lump of black crud and through careful use of electrolysis restored a nice coin to collectible condition. There is nothing destructive or unethical about the process used to clean this coin. I think it turned out very nicely. Finally, and then I'll shut up, there seems to be something about the chemistry of some antoninianii of this time period that affords some particularly nice successes with electrolysis. Perhaps it is the silver wash, which seems to bond readily with chemicals in the surrounding environment. I have had several instances where coins covered with 1/4" of thick, black concrete yielded gorgeous results after zapping. Here's two of Probus, (the first of which was actually published in Coin World magazine years ago). Neither of these coins were recognizable as anything other than small black blobs when I received them: Serdica mint RIC 862 Obv: IMP C M AVR PROBVS AVG Rev: S-O-l INVICT-O - Sol in spread quadriga, holding whip Rome mint RIC175 Obv: PROBV-S P F AVG Rev: IOVI CON-S - PROB AVG - Jupiter, holding thunderbolt and leaning on scepter (BTW: of all the coins I've sold or traded over the years, these are the two that I most regret letting go of. Shame on me; I was a poor graduate student at the time.)
There are just so many you can't keep them all (so they say, anyway) but how do you decide which is a keeper and which is not?
Doug, The detail on the obverse of the top coin is breath-taking (as is the neck). Don't ever let that coin out of your sight.
