Noch Ein Mal (One More Time)

Yet another Marcus Antonius Legionary denarius for my collection. This is number 22. Sometime soon I will put all together in a virtual tray, but time seems to get away from me these days.

From Wikipedia:
Legio septima Claudia (Claudius' Seventh Legion) was a legion of the Imperial Roman army. Its emblem, like that of all Caesar's legions, was the bull, together with the lion.

The Seventh, the Sixth, the Eighth and the Ninth were all founded by Pompey in Spain in 65 BC. With the Eighth, Ninth, and Tenth legions, the Seventh was among the oldest units in the imperial Roman army. They were ordered to Cisalpine Gaul around 58 BC by Julius Caesar,[citation needed] and marched with him throughout the entire Gallic Wars. The Roman commander mentions the Seventh in his account of the battle against the Nervians, and it seems that it was employed during the expedition through western Gaul led by Caesar's deputy Crassus. In 56, the Seventh was present during the Venetic campaign. During the crisis caused by Vercingetorix, it fought in the neighborhood of Lutetia; it must have been active at Alesia and it was certainly involved in the mopping-up operations among the Bellovaci.

Legio VII was one of the two legions used in Caesar's invasions of Britain, and played a crucial role in the Battle of Pharsalus in 48 BC, and it existed at least until the end of the 4th century, guarding the middle Danube.

Tiberius Claudius Maximus, the Roman soldier who brought the head of Decebalus to the emperor Trajan, was serving in Legio VII Claudia. An inscription in Pompeii revealed that a certain Floronius also served in the seventh legion. The inscription says: "Floronius, privileged soldier of the 7th legion, was here. The women did not know of his presence. Only six women came to know, too few for such a stallion."


MARCUS ANTONIUS
AR Denarius
OBVERSE: ANT AVG III VIR R P C, Praetorian galley, thyrsos behind prow
REVERSE: LEGVII, legionary eagle between two standards
Patrae 32-31 BC
3.8g, 17mm
Cr544/20, Syd 1224
ex. Lucerne Vcoins

 

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Spectacular!

 

Hello, Bing!

I may be mistaken, but there is something wrong in the style of this LEG that leaves me somewhat resentful. Be really very careful with forgeries producing from Spain.

 

This was purchased from a well known dealer. What makes you suspicious?

 

Looks OK to me. A great legion to have. Hilarious graffito too!

 

Hello, Bing! I will call you on private.

 

CONGRATS @Bing ! Nice capture! You are racking them up now.

I was looking at a Legio VII not too long ago! (Not yours). I will leave you at Warp Speed collecting those Legios!

How about III?


RImp Marc Antony AR Denarius 32-31 BC Legio III Ship Eagle Standards Sear 1479 Craw 544/15

 

Since it has been suggested that this coin may not be authentic, I would ask all the members here to give me their opinion. It is guaranteed by the seller, so if there is any question I will return it.

 

I looked at one of mine regarding the "G" in LEG:


RImp Marc Antony Legio XVI AR Den 18mm 3.4g Mil mint 32-31 BCE Praetorian Galley Aquila 2 Stds Cr 544-31 RSC 48
Ex: the @John Anthony Empire of Coins

Mine appears the same style "G" as yours... I am by no means an expert, but I feel yours is authentic... (and you know I never render an opinion).

 

My VII? has the question mark G as does my VIII solid. That is no problem.



This is just an opinion based on no facts since I do not collect these. 'Different' letter forms are common on ancients just like we have handwriting variations today. We need to get over expecting everything in Roman history to line up with what we learned in high school Latin. These people were just as varied as we are today. I don't offer opinions on coins being real anymore either but I would not have thought about that style possibly being wrong. If someone knows of a bunch of modern Spanish fakes, we need a thread showing them.

 

@Bing I am in awe of your MA denari, my one crappy example badly needs an upgrade.

 

Nothing about this coin makes me think it is a fake. I will admit I have not studied this issue as closely as some others but the style and fabric are consistent with what I'd expect of these denarii and the dies are not any of the fakes or suspect dies I've collected in my photofile. The off center partially flat strike is also consistent with my experience with Antony denarii.

That said, I would be very interested in hearing what anyone suspicious of this coin has to say about it.

 

Nice coin and impressive work on your set so far @Bing !

Same here lol. Mine's a nice even number (X) and the legion has a history that stretches to the late empire (my era ) so I still hold onto it.

 

No fakes of these on the forgery network but several legionary denarii on Ilya Prokorov's(sp?) site. None look as authentic and nice as yours Bing. Here are a couple of them:

 

@Bing you're MA collection has my trigger finger twitching. I've yet to add one but have looked at several.
I don't have the experience to say either way but personally see nothing that sends up a red flag.

 

I only have one Legio but I do not see anything in your OP that suggests a forgery.

So, great capture!!! And I love the history lessons!!

 

The style, strike and fabric all look fine to me, too.

 

Thanks all. I'm uncertain as to what the suspicion is other than the seller originates in Spain. I've bought from this seller a few times in the past and have never had doubts about the coins.

 

There have been more fakes coming out of Spain recently but it's also a country where substantial numbers of individual coins and hoards are found and lax laws mean finders can sell them in the open unlike Greece or Italy. IMHO the fact that a coin comes from Spain is not suspicious at all by itself. I've purchased multiple from both no-name sellers and bigger dealers alike.

 

22! Awesome! Yeah, let get that virtual try going bing!!


I still don't have one, so I'll post a pic of Floronius.




Too few. Too few.