I am looking for advice regarding a Julio-Claudian family collection I am putting together - which is nearly completed. My parameters are: Copper or bronze only; portrait on obverse with legible name; price around -$150. Although these parameters are restrictive, it forces me to search more carefully for the items. Am I being too realistic in trying to obtain the remaining missing coins below? Julius Caesar; Scribonia (wife of Octavian); Octavia (wife of M. Anthony); Antonia the Elder; L. Domitius Ahenobarbus; Gn. D. Ahenobarbus. I have tried Vcoins and Numisbids etc etc but any suitable coin is either in silver or out of my price range. Is any member aware of any of these coins being available on the market? All suggestions welcome with thanks - osdet
Welcome osdet, in answer to your question, I think the Julius Caesar AE will be hard to buy for $150 as most of his portrait coins are silver, there is a couple of Macedon posthumous portrait coins that you might get for under $200, although the side with the portrait does not mention his name but refers to him in Greek as GOD. The other one that I am of aware of is also a a Macedon coin of Antonia the elder also with Caligula, this coin you might be able to get for under $150 and the Antonia side does have her name, both recently sold on NN auction. I am not sure about the other emperors you mention. Here are the two pics of the two coins I am talking about, the JC cost me $175 and the Antonia $94. There is an Imperial JC minted 38 BC but very expensive. Also an Antonia Imperial AE but also very expensive.
I would make an exception for Caesar (as the center of attention for all casual visitors of your collection) and spend, let´s say 300 USD, for a large, roman style, 30mm AE with a realistic portrait on it and Octavian on the flip side (RPC 620). Mine cost me 180 Euros, but the name is off:
Welcome. I can't offer any additional advice except to underscore that you will more than likely have to go far afield and buy provincials. AUGUSTUS (OCTAVIAN) AE Dupondius OBVERSE: CAESAR DIVI F, bare head of Octavian right REVERSE: DIVOS IVLIVS, wreathed head of Julius Caesar right Gallic or Italian mint 38 BC 30mm; 17.90 g CR535/v1, RPC620v
The portraits do look much more provincial on your coin. Hard to believe ours came from the same mint! This is what mine would look like in a better world:
Like everyone else, I think 'provincials' are your best bet and even then it may be problematic with some of the more trendy/scarce types unless you're tolerant of lower grade examples. Damn budgets always get in the way
For ancients from closer to the source (Belgium), see www.delcampe.com Here is the breakdown of 380 ancients currently listed: https://www.delcampe.com/en_US/collectibles/coins-banknotes/coins/antique/ Trade practice in Belgium is to call them "antique" not "ancient". Some sellers are from the U.S.
I am not aware of a coin depicting Scribonia, but I could be wrong. Octavia, will be more expensive, and likely in silver. Antonia, provincial. The other two you list are repepublican moneyers and will only be in silver.
There are no coins whatsoever that depict Scribonia. Octavia is most commonly available--co-depicted with Marc Antony--on silver cistophoric tetradrachms of Ephesus. They cost more than your budget. Antonia I appears on a handful of provincials in your price range.
Here's mine: Antony and Octavia AR cistophorus Ephesus, 39 BCE 25.6 mm, 11.71 gm Obv: M ANTONINVS IMP COS DESIG ITER ET TERT, Jugate heads of Marcus Antonius and Octavia to right; he wears ivy wreath. Rev: III VIR RPC, Cista mystica surmounted by figure of Bacchus, standing to left, holding cantharus and leaning on thyrsus; on either side, coiled serpent. SNG Cop. 408; SNG von Aulock 6555; Franke KZR 472; RSC 3; Sydenham 1198; RPC 2202; Sear 1513; BMCRR East 135
Many thanks guys for the helpful info. As suggested I will have to go for provincials and denarii in some cases. I am about to arrange my Julio-Claudian family tree into ontological order on a wall frame. If interested in my method let me know and I'll describe it - I don't want to bore anyone with my private projects.
All UV light affects coins in a certain way. I'm not sure how it affects bronze and copper. But it will eventually tone silver, key word is eventually. Some may take longer than others, maybe some won't at all.
