Rarities according to you

I don't want to take away from the other post discussing rarities "according to the ERIC II tabel" but thought it would be interesting to see what coins you have that you consider a rarity. Heres a few of mine.

I consider my Constantius II one of my rarest FH


My unlisted Julia Domna eastern denarii




And this this very ugly but very rare Vespasian sestertius


edit: I should add this info provided by Curtis Clay

"The obverse die is A23 in Colin Kraay's unpublished Oxford dissertation, the rev. die P75. Kraay didn't know this die combination, but it is recorded by RIC 70 from a single specimen in the Termopolio Hoard from Pompeii, published in 1997.

These are rare types: only one other obv. die of the issue shows this combination of aegis and globe for the bust, and this is the only rev. die of the FIDES EXERCITVVM type used in the issue, though a second such die was used later in the year with Vespasian's name abbreviated VESPASIAN (no -VS).

To see what your dies looked like before the corrosion, see RIC pl. 18, 117 and pl. 16, 71 for the obv. and rev. respectively! There are the same two dies on well preserved specimens in other die combinations."

 

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That Domna is fantastic, great coin.

 

Salonina Pudicitia Sestertius, ca. 262, Goebl 490y (1, same dies)
(unlisted in RIC, Cohen, BM, and Sear).
One of the last Sestertii struck in Rome, the obverse die was also used for striking silver and bronze medallions.
Mine is the second known example.

 

Hi randy, this is a great idea for a thread.

Nice rarities you have there!
That sestertius of Vespasian specifically seems to be a very scarce type!
(only found one other in acsearch). I Don't believe I have ever seen that type before.

Of the top of my head, these would be my two rarest coins:

Pertinax Dupondius - Emperor sacrificing over tripod.
A relatively common type on denarii and as a sestertius, but extremely rare as a dupondius.





Vespasian Sestertius - Victory inscribing on shield affixed to palm tree.
(This issue is related to the wars in Judaea).
Apparently only two known (at least in on-line sources) with this specific arrangement of the reverse legend AVGVSTI VICTORIA.
The other examples is in the BMC.

 

Interesting thread and rarities
Here's one of them :



Constantine the Great, Follis
Nicomedia mint, 2nd officina, c. AD 311
IMP C FL VAL CONSTANTINVS P F AVG; Laureate head right
VIRTVTIE-XERCITVS Mars/Virtus advancing right in military dress, holding transverse spear and shield ; trophy over shoulder. B in right field. SMN in exergue.
4.88 gr, 22 mm
RIC-, C-, Roman coins -
RIC lists this type only for Licinius and Maximinus . "Iovi Conservatori and Virtuti Exercitus both appear for Licinius and Maximinus, emissions for the former being the more scarce: coinage for Constantine is extremely rare. Date, c. 311". Coin should be listed after NICOMEDIA 70c.
Please see Victor Clarks website for further information at :http://www.constantinethegreatcoins.com/unlisted/

Q

 

Very nice, great detail and such a rare coin with good surfaces, i would be happy to have in my collection.

 

Both nice but I love the Vespasian and it's patina.

 

Your Domna has to be my favorite. Sharing an obverse die with my Venus denarii with odd reverse legends suggests we need to study more here.

 

Great idea for a thread! A related thread idea might be "Show your book-rare coins which aren't rare in the reality".

 

My A-Pius drachm always makes me smile ... I've never seen another example

=> "please" post one if you have one, or know of one!

Yah, it's either fairly uncommon, or I'm merely lousy at finding coins on the internet

ANTONINUS PIUS, Alexandria, Bronze Drachm
138-161 AD
Egypt, Alexandria, year 8, (144-145AD)
Diameter: 33mm
Weight: 23.15 grams
Obverse: Laureate bust of Antoninus Pius facing right
Reverse: Serapis wearing the modius between the Dioscuri, LH in exergue
Reference: Reference: Dattari 1109
Other: Rare?



Serapis wearing the modius between the Dioscuri (pretty cool)

 

Awesome coins Randy! I don't have many imperials but here's a few scarce provincials.


Caria, Ceramos. Antonininus Pius AE33 Zeus Chrysaoreus


Macedon, Dium. Marcus Aurelius, 161-180 AD. AE 24


Mysia, Lampsacus. AE21. Volusian


Thrace, Byzantium. Pseudo-autonomous AE17. Hercules/Club of Hercules

 

What I consider my rarest (and most expensive) coin in my collection:

CALIGULA
AR Denarius
OBVERSE: C CAESAR AVG GERM P M TR POT, bare head right
REVERSE: DIVVS AVG PATER PATRIAE, radiate head of Divus Augustus right
Struck at Lugdunum, 37/8AD
3.5g, 18mm
RIC I 10

 

This Gordian III provincial of Hadrianople is a proper rarity, or at the very least a very scarce coin..

 

Nero sest. bust facing right with Securtias(?) seated facing right. Trajan drachm overstruck on Nabatean Rabbel ll sela. i've not found another Nero like this and John Anthony hasn't seen a Trajan with evidence other than mine.

 

Cool posts and thread!!

I suppose I have a few 'highly scarce' types but this example seems even more scarce since I have yet to stumble upon another offered at auction since I purchased it---and that was about 2 years ago. A classic example that scarcity and value are not necessarily the same thing, especially in fine condition

Thrace, Byzantion. Ca. 240-200 B.C. AR tetradrachm (26 mm, 12.43 g, 12 h). Athanaion, magistrate. Veiled and wreathed head of Demeter right / ΠY, Poseidon seated right on rocks, holding trident and aphlaston; monogram to left, [E]ΠI AΘANAIΩN[OS] in exergue. Schönert-Geiss 1002 (V13/R20); cf. SNG BM Black Sea 59-61. g Fine, light smoothing in fields.

 

..especially in fine condition...and in our collections

 

Have others, but will just post these two.

Way too lazy to "pile on" others.


FAUSTINA Sr. (138-141 AD)
AR Denarius
Lifetime Issue
O: FAVSTINA AVGVSTA, Draped bust right.
R: IVNONI REGINAE, Peacock seated on throne and scepter behind.
18mm
3.5g
RIC-340, RSC-221 BMC (Antoninus Pius) 145 (same reverse die)

Ex Robert Kutcher Collection (Triton X, 8 January 2007), lot 1606 (part of)


Lucilla (164 - 182 A.D.)
Billion Tetradrachm
EGYPT, Alexandria
O: ΛOVKIΛΛA C–ЄB ANT CЄ ΘV, draped bust right.
R: Elpis stdg. l. holding flowers & lifting skirt. LS=6th yr.
Alexandria Mint
24mm
11.33g
Dattari 3816, Emmett 2473, R5

 

I have 51 that were considered and described to me as "Rare", "Very Rare", one as "Extremely Rare" , "Scarce", etc. I just consider them all "Cool, Hard-to-Get".

This one is kinda cool. Produced by Hannibal after he lost to the Romans in the Battle of Zama. He had to govern Carthage and ensure their finances were in order, so they could pay indemnities to the Romans... This is a HUGE coin, my largest STAMPED coin:


Carthage 201-175 BC Æ 15 Shekels 45 mm, 7.5 mm thick, 102g WreathTanit Horse uraeus above. MAA 104 SNG Cop 400 RARE


This one is one of two known: mine and and one at the British Museum:

Etruria, Populonia
2 ½ asses , AR 0.85 g
3rd century BC
Obv: Radiate female head r.; behind, CII.
Rev: Blank.
Ref: EC 104 (misdescribed, Female head with an Attic helmet). Historia Numorum Italy 179.
NAC Comment: Of the highest rarity, apparently only the second specimen known. Dark patina and about very fine.
Ex: From the collection of E.E. Clain-Stefanelli
(@@ancientcoinguru further pointed out and had me further research E.E. Clain-Stefanelli's excellent provenance...
ANS Executive Director Ute Wartenburg reported that Elvira Eliza Clain-Stefanelli died Oct. 1, 2001. Mrs. Stefanelli retired in 2000 as the Senior Curator of the National Numismatic Collection in the Numismatics Division of the National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC. She was at the Smithsonian for forty years, and was responsible with her husband Vladimir for organizing and building up the National Numismatic Collection (from 60,000 to over 1,000,000 pieces.) She survived a Nazi concentration camp in WWII Europe, moved to Rome, and learned numismatics there. In New York she and her husband worked for Stack's and started the Coin Galleries division there. Her most recent publication was "Life In Republican Rome On its Coinage", a lavishly illustrated discussion of the themes which appear on the coinage of the Roman Republic, published in 1999. Her major contribution to the science of numismatic literature was her classic "Numismatic Bibliography", published in 1985.


Plate coin


Campania
AE
Apollo-Achelous
275-250BCE
SNG ANS 474
Ex: A random shooting in an auction...
Nicholas Molinari 15-June-2016 stated: "Your ... coin is a plate coin in Potamikon, number 343 in our catalog so Sambon 663; Taliercio IIIa.16; MSP I, 343, featuring Acheloios Sebethos as a man-faced bull. Taliercio cited three examples of this type, so yours is the fourth known of that particular variety."

 

All wonderful coins!