My biggest and heaviest ancient coin

Thank you, @ancientone!

 

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A coin that big in the modern world would be a Morgan dollar.

 

My heaviest ancient coin is a real lightweight compared to some of those Roman bronzes some of you guys have.


Ptolemy IV Philopator AE40 Pentobol (40.45mm, 44.2g)
222-204 BC
Diademed head of Zeus Ammon right
Eagle with folded wings standing left on thunderbolt, head right; filleted cornucopiaon shoulder; Λ between legs
Svoronos 1166; SNG Copenhagen 221

 

Good question. An elephant? or two? Oh! I see that they could just be bullion which is a reasonable idea.

I love seeing all these monster coins!

 

That’s a huge coin, Multatuli!
I have nothing even close. My largest is my Galerius Silvered Follis. Most of my Judaean and Nabataean coins are quite small by comparison. The largest of the Judaean coins is the 8-prutot which are the size of a U.S. quarter. Thanks for the interesting post, @Multatuli !

 

My Largest EGYPT / PTOLEMY:


Egypt Ptolemy IV 221-205 BC AE Tet 40mm 7.2mm thick 69.5g Zeus Ammon Eagle

 

My heaviest, TIF has a stunner though.....
http://www.tantaluscoins.com/images/coins/Ptolemy_IV_20130168__3.jpg
Ptolemy IV
Coin:
Diademed head of Zeus-Ammon right
ΠΤΟΛΕΜΑΙΟΥ ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ - Eagle standing left on thunderbolt; cornucopiae left Σ between legs
Mint: Alexandria (221-205 BC)
Wt./Size/Axis: 71.72g / 42mm / -
Acquisition/Sale: $0.00

 

That a PHAT SWEET coin @Multatuli !

I'd love to get an aes grave, but not going to happen in the near future. Here is my heaviest/largest AE republican.



Roman Republic, c. 169 - 158 BC, bronze as of A. CAE

Obverse: Laureate bust of Janus. Reverse: ROMA|I|A.CAE, prow r. Reference: Crawford 174/1. Ex. RBW, purchased from R. Schaefer 12/10/1993; 33 mm, 31.7g

 

That's Aes Grave as is incredible from whichever side you shoot it. What a fantastic example it is too. Congrats!

 

I bought this massive as in 1988 at a Glendining's auction in London and took it to the BM. The Roman curator was out so Martin Price (The Greek curator, who wrote the book on Alexander the Great) took me to the trays and we found six much like it, which made us both think it was genuine.

69 mm. Very thick (an inch?- sometime I'll get it out of the bank and measure its thickness). 368.7 grams, more than a Roman pound. This second issue is heavier than the first issue.
Apollo head left/Apollo head right
Crawford notes that Haeberlin in 1910 recorded 104 specimens, so it is not rare. I wonder if this is one of his 104?

 

Maybe one or two wifes??
In fact, the romans and other peoples of the region of Etruria and Latium took a long time to adapt the silver pattern like the south of the Italian peninsula that followed the drachm for long time before.
But I believe that it was very difficult to make some transactions, specially if you didn't have enough coined silver in order to facilitate.

 

I'm impressive! This type was cast probably before 270 B.C., and is really very rare. It strictly follows the pre-Punic War roman libral standard, decreased after 240 B.C., if I'm not mistaken.
Love it!

 

According to my SNG Italia Vol II Etruria: Populonia was minting Silver Obols and other coinage starting 500-450 BCE. Etruria (Rasna) were a different type people with unknown origins from the other Italia peoples.

However, agreed: the peoples of Italia had no Silver, so AES / Bronze was the precious metal of choice!

 

Indeed. Although many Etruscan cities also used massive Aes gravii, the Libral standard varied somewhat from that used by romans. Volaterra, for example, had a lighter standard than the roman one. And some cities of Etruria already had the use of silver more present in the transactions. Including 20 asses gold coins.

 

Agreed. the 25-As and 50-As golds are on my target list.

 

@Multatuli , in researching your Crawford 36/1 Aes Grave As, have you come across any others with similar reverse style? The reverse style on your coin is quite unusual. I've just looked through Haeberlin's plates and a few other sources and I can't find another reverse quite like it.

 

Wow that thing is "GARGANTUAN" (I've always liked the word "gargantuan", but so rarely get an opportunity to use it in a sentence.)
I would imagine the previous inhabitants of that spacecraft, thought US to be,( wait for it)................................. big.

 

Hello, @Carausius! This is was a doubt that I also had when I bought it. Of course that here in Brazil I couldn't show this coin to the better international experts in roman coins, but I did with that studied the theme here, at Sociedade Numismática Brasileira (Brazilian Numismatic Society). All the numismatists that examined it had a favorable opinion on the piece. In addition, we have the pedigree of the coin in the last 120 years, that before the industrialist who owned it, in the thirties of the twentieth century, the same belonged to a collection of a german baron. And looking at its characteristics, weight, size and thickness, patine, although cast, it really seems to me to be real. I think it's a variant of the Vecchi 51. But in fact, it's as far as I can get at the moment. I have ten more Aes Gravii, but all of them acquired and well-known numismatic houses, which I will later place there!

 

!

Looking forward to seeing them

 

I appreciate your reply. I strongly recommend that you find experts in Roman Republican coins to look at it. In this case, I suspect your photos will suffice for their review. While size and weight and patina are certainly important, they are not the only criteria for authenticating coins. Style can be equally important, particularly where style is far removed from other authentic specimens. Correct style is often the most difficult thing for forgers.