What Your Budget Buys - $100 Edition

I've found a handful of nicer RR bronzes in this price range and even a few nice silver coins. Here are a few of my favorites:

~$107 from a Roma auction a while back after buyers fees. A beautiful early post-semilibral uncia with dolphins at the keel of the galley.

Roman republic Æ Uncia(7.81g, 22mm, 3h), anonymous "post-semilibral" series. 215-212 BC. Head of Roma right, wearing attic helmet; to left, • / Prow right; above, ROMA; below, •. McCabe Group A1; Crawford 41/10
Ex Thersites collection

$90 from a dealer who occasionally finds me nice RR bronzes at what I consider to be good prices. A nice for the type quadrans of the moneyer Pinarius Natta.

Roman Republic Æ quadrans(6.80g). "NAT" series(Pinarius Natta?), 155 B.C. Rome mint. Head of young Hercules right, wearing lion's skin headdress, ••• behind / NAT, prow of galley right, ••• below. ROMA below. Crawford 200/5; RBW 863(this coin); Sydenham 383c; Babelon Pinaria 6
Ex RBW Collection(NAC 61 lot 859), ex Aes Rude sale 55, 11/27/1993, lot 134.

$112.50 from Imperator Coins on Vcoins. While this coin is somewhat corroded and has some unsightly deposits, the fact that both heads of Janus are there and relatively well defined and the coin is overall well centered was what attracted me to it. The provenance is a nice bonus.

Roman Republic Æ as(30 mm, 27.09g). SAFRA(Spurius Afranius?), moneyer, 150 B.C. Rome mint. Laureate head of bearded Janus, I above / Prow right; above, SAFRA; before, dolphin; below, ROMA. Crawford 206/2; Sydenham 389; Babelon Afrania 2
Ex RBW Collection(NAC 61 lot 882), purchased from CNG, November 1992

~$118 in a recent Roma auction. A well centered denarius of the moneyer P Clodius M.f. Turrinus struck 42 B.C..
Roman Imperatorial period AR denarius(3.92g, 20mm), P. Clodius M.f. Turrinus, moneyer, 42 B.C., Rome mint. Laureate bust of Apollo right; lyre behind / Diana Lucifera standing facing with bow and quiver over shoulder, holding lighted torch in each hand; P•CLODIVS M•F• across fields. Crawford 494/23; Sydenham 1117; HCRI 184.

 

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Again I'm limiting myself to 2017 and later 2106 so the prices might mean something. I'm also omitting bulk lot coins which usually wouldn't be necessary in this bracket but this was a strange year for me.

Rather than giving standard catalog info, I will add a word on why I bought the coin or what made it worth $100 or so.

2017
Philip I Alexandria tetradrachm Serapis - $99 eBay - I could not resist this great Cerberus.


Trajan denarius showing his biological father - DIVVS PATER TRAIAN - $105 coin show



2016
This one will not impress most of you but...
Decentius AE3 falling horseman barbarous - $90 - VCoins
The most rare falling horseman is the Magnentius. This one reads Decentius which does not exist from an official mint. Yes, it is a barbarous junker but it is quite possibly the closest thing I'll ever see. This is the most rare coin in my collection. It does not exist but here it is.


This Justinian II 20 nummi K was struck on one quarter of a earlier 40 nummi of Constantine IV - $100 - Frank Robinson

I would have bought this one anyway but it carries a little extra interest because 'this coin' is illustrated in David Sear's Byzantine Coins and their Values. That means little except I remember noticing this coin many years ago when I first bought the Sear book. I was attracted to the precise quartering on reasonable centering of the overtype. I suppose it would be nice to have a little more undertype but I felt lucky to find a coin with which I had been familiar for so long.

 

My most recent purchase in this price bracket is a type I've wanted ever since I first saw it. It's an interesting example of how loopy the demand and supply curve gets with ancients sometimes, and how prices for a relatively little known type can vary wildly within a short space of time. In this case, it seems that a few people really wanted the type some years ago and paid through the nose to get their examples, and presently, the market is well and truly sated...

My example cost me $98 shipped from the most recent CNG auction, where 6 years ago this example offered at the same venue went for $575 before fees, and this one in 2013 went for $1900!



THESSALY, Pherai.
Alexander. Tyrant, 369-359 BC.
Æ Chalkous. 2.29g, 13mm. Rogers 521 var. (arrangement of ethnic); BCD Thessaly I 1314; BCD Thessaly II 706 var. (same); HGC 4, 583. O: Head of Jason right, wearing petasos. R: [ΑΛΕΞ]Α-ΝΔΡΟΥ, lower leg of horse right.
Ex BCD Collection

 

The following coins I've purchased in the last 6 months:

80 eur - Claudius A.D. 41-54. AE 21mm of Thessalonica, Macedonia. TI KLAU KAISAR SEBASTOS GERM, laureate head of Claudius left / QESSALONEIKEWN QEOS SEBASTOS, radiate head of Augustus right. SNG ANS 842; Varbanov 4235

110 eur - Plautilla, RIC 367, Denarius Obv: PLAVTILLA AVGVSTA - Draped bust right. Rev: PIETASAVGG - Pietas standing right, holding scepter and baby.

120 eur - Celts, Danube, Sirmia. AR tetradrachm, imitating Philipp II of Macedonia, 2nd C. BC. 11.00 gr, 22.00mm. Stylized head of Zeus right / Horse standing left.

 

I just don't go in the $100 range these days - too much bottom-feeding on eBay. But here is one I got in 1994 for $95.00. Kind of a scarce one. Badly off-center, but I really like the portrait of Octavian with his "mourning beard (er, sideburns)" for Julius Caesar visible. The few of these I've seen are pretty crude.



Roman Imperatorial Denarius
Octavian / Q Salvius, moneyer (40 B.C.) Military mint in Italy
C CAESAR III VIR R P C, bare head of Octavian right / Q SALVIVS IMP COS DESIG, thunderbolt (some legend loss). Cr523/1a, Syd 1326b.

 

Another call for your $100 coins, folks. A few more of mine...

$92 shipped from the most recent Frank Robinson auction, this ex Huntington/ANS collection quadrans commemorating Caligula's sales tax remission... what a guy, that Caligula!

CALIGULA
AE Quadrans. 2.95g, 19.5mm. Rome mint, AD 40. RIC 52. O: C CAESAR DIVI AVG PRON AVG, S-C flanking pileus. R: PON M TR P IIII P P COS TERT, legend around large RCC.
Ex Archer M. Huntington Collection (ANS 1001.1.15974); Jencek Auction 22 (10 June 2014), Lot 69

$120 for a neat and sweet Thessalian hemidrachm featuring a taurokathapsia (bull-leaping) scene on the obverse.

THESSALY, Pharkadon
AR Hemidrachm. 2.83g, 16.6mm. THESSALY, Pharkadon, circa 440-400 BC. BCD Thessaly I 1269 var. (arrangement of ethnic); BCD Thessaly II 616.2 (same rev. die); HGC 4, 292. O: Hero (Thessalos?), petasos and cloak tied at neck, holding band around head of forepart of bull right. R: Φ-Α-Ρ-Κ (retrograde), forepart of horse right within incuse square.
Ex BCD Collection

Six grams of melted-down, repurposed 7th century Byzantine church silver for $99... c'mon, this is literally what history is made of!

BYZANTINE EMPIRE. Heraclius, with Heraclius Constantine
AR Hexagram. 6.42g, 25mm. Constantinople mint, AD 615-638. DOC 64; Hahn MIB 140; Sear Byzantine 798. O: ∂∂ NN hЄRACLIЧ Єτ hЄRA COnS, Heraclius and Heraclius Constantine seated facing on double throne, each crowned and holding globus cruciger; cross between. R: ∂ЄЧS A∂IЧτA ROmANIS, cross potent on globe above three steps; K to right.

 

here is a reprodution too I did it with the same coin in my basement!

 

100 buck coins have become a sweet spot for me, I can actually afford them, and you can get some pretty nice stuff here.


This one was exactly 100 dollars including shipping, I actually said "Oh wow!' when it came of the the envelope....love it!





Azes (II?), Indo-Scythian Kingdom, Ar Tetradrachm, 1st century BC


O: King mounted on horse right, holding whip, Kharoshthi letter at right, Greek legend around: BAΣIΛEΩΣ BAΣIΛEΩN MEΓAΛOY / AZOY R: Pallas Athena standing right, holding right hand outstretched, holding spear in left, monograms at left and right, Kharoshthi legend around: maharajasa rajarajasa mahatasa / ayasa 24 mm, 9.6 g Reference: MIG 848k, Sen 98.374T



This coin was from a coin show, and was also exactly 100 bucks.




Sicily, Syracuse, 4th Republic, Late 3rd Century BC

O: Zeus Hellanios R: Eagle on thunderbolt, SNG Cop 788, 21 mm, 16.4 g


Should reshoot this, it deserves a better pic. One of these days.

 

I just picked up my latest Hadrian travel series denarius for $95. I'm very happy with it.

 

Yeah, nothing quite beats that feeling, eh . Both of those are very nice, Chris.

@randygeki : Have always liked that Claudius of yours.

@alde : Great score! ASIA is not the most common of the 'Travel series' and that example is nicely centered and has smooth, even wear.

 

My Alexander the Great drachm was around $90.

 

I was lucky to get it. Had to do so work (more fun than work) at the coin shop helping id ancients to get it at a sweet price.

 

And my Tiberius tribute denarius was about $100 uncleaned.

 

I remember this one... fantastic job, and way to go doubling (at the very least) the value of it. Just in case anyone wants to see the 'before' pics...
https://www.cointalk.com/threads/uh-oh-i-cleaned-a-popular-coin.298999/

 

OK. I'll play:


$101.


$98


$85



$95

Well, it goes on, many images I need to find.....

 

ALEXANDER III
AR Drachm
OBVERSE: Head of Herakles right in lionskin headdress
REVERSE: ALEXANDROU, Zeus Aetophoros seated left, holding eagle and sceptre. Forepart of Pegasos left in left field, X on W monogram beneath throne
Struck at Abydos 325-323 BC
4.2g, 17mm
Price 1505
Cost: $95


CAPPADOCIAN KINGDOM: Ariarathes V
AR Drachm
OBVERSE: Diademed head of Ariarathes V right
REVERSE: Athena standing left, holding Nike & resting hand on grounded shield, HDI monogram in outer left field, PAFI monogram in inner left field, HF monogram in outer right field, date GL in exergue
Struck at Cappadocia, Year 33 (= 130 BC)
4.2g, 18mm
SNG Copenhagen Suppl. 673–678. Simonetta p. 24, 20b
Cost: $102


TI QUINCTIUS ROMAN REPUBLIC
AR Denarius
OBVERSE: Bust of Hercules left, wearing lion's skin headdress, club over shoulder
REVERSE: two horses left, rider on the nearer horse, dot X; TI Q and rat below, DOS.S in incuse on tablet in ex.
Struck at Rome 112-111 BC
3.92g, 18mm
Cr297/1;Quinctia 6
Cost: $110


MN. FONTEIUS ROMAN REPUBLIC; GENS FONTEIA
AR Denarius
OBVERSE: Jugate heads of the Dioscuri
REVERSE: Galley under oar
Struck at Rome 108-109 BC
3.9g, 20mm
Cr.307/1, Fonteia 7
Cost: $100


MARCUS ANTONIUS
AR Denarius
OBVERSE: ANT AVG III VIR R P C, Praetorian galley, thyrsos behind prow
REVERSE: LEG III. Legionary eagle between two standards
Patrae 32-31 BC
3.19g, 17mm
RSC 27
ex. J. Grande collection; ex-ANE
Cost: $95

 

Don't think I'll be able to ever get over this ridiculous score of yours, Bing.

 

Does a group lot count?
I got these for an all in total of 106.37 each. Yep, 106.37 for an Eleanor of Aquitaine. I did however have to buy the others to get it. I do not mind they are all nice coins.




BRITISH COINS, Anglo-Gallic Coins, Richard I, Deniers for Poitou (2), no extra marks, 1.04g/1h, annulet in third quarter, 1.09g/5h (Elias 8, 8b; W 343; S 8008); Eleanor, Denier, Aquitaine, 0.69g/12h (E 11; W 9; S 8011); Edward I, Deniers (2), as heir to the throne, 0.92g/10h, as King, 0.88g/3h (E 13, 15; W 11, 13; S 8013, 8015) [5].Fine or better, last rare
Ex: The reverend Charles Campbell

 

Absolutely! These are not in my area of collecting, but that does look like a nice lot for the price.