Anyone bid in the Vico auction today?

I now have a total of 1 LRB after my auction win today. This coin of Constantine will take a place in my historical figures collection. It was the reverse that attracted me to this coin. I figured everyone should have a coin of Constantine.

I am not sure what to make of the provenance. If it is the same Dattari I did not realize he collected LRBs.

Constantine I. Follis. Constantinople (328-9) Marcas: B en el campo, CONS* in exergue

RIC VII 38 (R4). EF-/EF. Very scarce. Ex: Dattari

Jesus Vico Auction 147 March 9, 2017
If you won anything in today's auction please post it here.

 

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Wow, your first LRB ... congrats

Orfew, you are quite a ways from your 12 Caesar collection (it looks good on ya)

 

Holy eye appeal! Superb style and beautiful patina.

I don't have a LRB. Looks like I'll be the next one to jump on that train now that I'm doing AE coins.

 

Coingrats, first ones are always the best. And that one has some awesome details.

 

Wow, that's a fantastic example! Very nice choice, Orfew. Sorry, can't help with the provenance.

I have more than one Constantine (......), but the one with this reverse is probably my favorite.

CONSTANTINE I
AE3. 3.12g, 20mm. Constantinople mint, AD 328. RIC VII 32. O: CONSTANTI-NVS MAX AVG, rosette-diademed head of Constantine right, looking up to the heavens. R: CONSTANTINI-ANA DAFNE, Victory seated left on cippus, palm branch in left hand and laurel branch in right hand, looking right, spurning a captive kneeling left with head turned right; a shield at her foot and a trophy before her; gamma in left field, CONS in exergue.

 

For a first LRB you sure bought a top coin , congrats Orfew.

My favourite Constantine I from the Siscia mint:

 

Actually I am squarely within my focus. I have collected the 12 Caesars because I read Suetonius when I was younger and just recently read it again. I consider this time period to be foundational to western history. It was a very important time and is represented by some very important rulers. I would argue that at least eight of the twelve are among the most important rulers of Rome. This is the other reason I collected the twelve. That is, these rulers are important historical figures.

The other coins I have collected are also important historical figures. I would argue then that in fact I have not changed focus at all.



(by the way, I will never abandon the 12. Why would I? I enjoy collecting the area very much. Why should I stop doing something that gives me so much satisfaction?
Since I have the 12 I have been upgrading when I see better coins but I am being very selective concerning which ones I add)


Below is a list of the coins of historical figures I have collected so far.

Roman

Pompey the Great

Julius Caesar

Marc Antony

Augustus

Tiberius

Claudius

Caligula (Gaius)

Nero

Vespasian

Trajan

Constantine the great


Byzantine

Justinianus

Theophilos


British

Elizabeth I

Henry V

Winston Churchill (modern coin)

French

Charles VII

Napoleon I

Louis IX

Jeanne D’arc (modern coin)


Russian

Ivan the Terrible

Feodor I

Michael I

Peter the Great

Catherine II

Mongolia
Genghis Khan

Now here is a list of coins I am working on:

Roman

Sulla

Brutus

Cassius

Nerva

Hadrian

Antoninus Pius

Marcus Aurelius

Commodus


Austria
Franz Joseph


Byzantine
Maurice
Heraclius

Egyptian
Cleopatra VII

British
Henry VIII

King Cnut

Aethelraed II

French

Eleanor of Acquitaine


I would also like coins of these historical historical figures but I am working on the above coins first

Near East:

- Darius/Xerxes daric or siglos

- Parthia, Mithradates II

- Sassanian, Ardashir I and Shapur I


Biblical:

- Antiochus IV

- Herod the Great

- Pontius Pilate

- Herod Antipas

- Herod Agrippa

- Porcius Festus


Indian:

- Ashoka the Great

- Azes

- Nahapana

- Satakarni

- Chandragupta

- Raja Raja Chola

 

WOW, way cool Orf! I have many on your list (have and want). I think the same way about Historical Collecting.

 

Thanks @Alegandron I have long admired your collection. I could and probably will spend the rest of my life assembling this collection and I am perfectly fine with that.

 

Yeah, love your list. Fun to target them, and enjoy getting them. I am not a scholar, but I enjoy history for reading, as well as applying many of the principles (mistakes or successes) in the business world. Sometimes I just do NOT go for the "best" coins, rather, I enjoy HAVING many of the historical figures as placemarkers in time. Later I might upgrade or expand around that collecting niche. Just plain FUN for me. (I don't seem to trade/sell off when I upgrade though... just cannot let them go!)

 

That's a great list, and a very enjoyable collection focus! I'd suggest adding some Greek if you feel so inclined: Hannibal, Pyrrhus, Alexander the Great, Homer, among others.

 

Thanks @AncientJoe I am really enjoying it. Thanks also for the great suggestions. They are definitely on the list now!

 

I will say this...The portrait on the OP coin certainly lends credence to the Wildwinds page on Constantine which says he was an effeminate man who loved to adorn his body. He looks fab!

http://www.wildwinds.com/coins/ric/constantine/i.html

 

Great auction pichup Orfew! Sorry, but I collect everything
I was not going to bid, but....my arm got twisted and I picked this up....
AV 25 Pesetas 1877 Madrid Mint
Alfonso XII
SC

 

Orfew....nice list of historical figures! Mine is too long to list/ around 500+ and counting. One guy I still do not have is Genghiz Khan, hard to find high quality gold from him, all his coins are poorly struck, deplorable quality

 

I have one of those too, same year and everything. It belonged to my great-grandfather on the maternal side. It was one of the coins he carried with him when he moved to Cuba from Spain in 1880 at the age of 17. He kept it for good luck. I'll have to get it from the safety deposit box and photograph it one of these days.

It must have brought him lots of luck, because by age 58 he had lots of money, married a 22 year old (my great-grandmother), and didn't drop dead until he was 92 years old.

 

Sallent....thats an amazing story!
I had a great grandfather back in Germany. He stayed single until he turned 72. He married a 22 year old, lived happily everafter till he reached 95! Unfortunately, he never saved me any German States gold coins I have some from Cuba too. 1915 AV 20 Pesos Marti/ same size as US Double Eagle.

 

The interesting thing is my aunt has letters from my great-grandfather's oldest sister who stayed in Spain, written to him and dated from the late 1800s and early 1900s. They survived because my grandfather discovered and kept them after his dad passed away, and eventually passed the letters to his oldest daughter (my aunt) shortly before he died.

From the letter exchanges we've been able to piece a lot of the story. Apparently my great-grandfather and his youngest sister stole money from their mom so they could run away, and bought passages on a boat to Cuba. And a few years later their younger brother also stole money from her and he too fled to Cuba. For 3 out of her 4 children to have stolen money from her and ran away across the ocean to Cuba, she must have been one dreadful woman.

That means that the coin I have was actually my great-great grandmother's coin before it was stolen.

 

A nice win

 

This was a Vico win, also posted in the Ptolemy Hockey Puck thread. It's Ptolemy II, 46mm and 93g (also ex Dattari). I'm very excited about it. I just hope the dreaded Spanish mail system doesn't send it to Saturn...



I also picked up this ex Dattari ant. of Maximianus, to add to my small group of Farnese Hercules types:


It seems that Dattari cleaned many of his coins to bare metal, which have then toned in cabinet. (?)

I am totally down with the @Orfew and @Alegandron collecting plan. Though my threshold for historically important figure is perhaps distressingly low... I will never "complete" the collection, there's no way.