Constantine I VLPP from Siscia with hippocamp on shield

Great coin @Victor_Clark !

 

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Super cool @Victor_Clark . I like the way symbols on ancient coins give us a peek at what they thought a couple of mellennia ago. I bought this coin because it showed an anchor. If you have a good imagination (and I do), you could say there is a griffin above the anchor. HNI calls it a KB in monogram with the K pointed left.

Greek, Bruttium, Brettii. 213-208 BC
Obv - Head of a Zeus right, laureate; behind, thunderbolt; below there should be
Rev - Eagle with open wings to the left, in the field on left an inverted anchor and above symbol (HNI says KB in monogram with K pointing left); around BPETTIΩN with – BPET to right and TIΩN to left.
Weight 8.37 gr.
Diameter 22 mm.
BB \ BB +; dark brown tone; well centered,
HNI – 1979 / 1980 – 1979 has an anchor reverse & 1980 has a thunderbolt obverse

 

This makes me wonder if this lot was consigned by someone who realized the coin was special but the auction house did not consider it worthy of separate listing and put it in a group of what they considered similarly worthless coins? Had the coin been written up as what you recognized it to be, it alone would have realized several times what the lot did.

Years ago I had the opportunity to buy coins from the estate of a collector who exceeded most of us in seeing things others might miss. I bought a few coins and later discovered something that had not been described by the dealer that handled the sale. This makes me wonder how many 'special' coins get recognized and then lost to recognition when they are resold by those who do not care or have the time to examine properly.

 

I'm sure the auction house just saw another cruddy LRB and threw it into a group. My max bid was more than 3 times what I paid though, so it worked out fine for me.

I have had similar experiences in the past. Once I bought a lot from Vauctions because there was an unlisted coin in it that I had sold years before. That lot was also sold as a generic group of late Roman bronzes.

 

Victor, awesome find!

Doug

 

I think notes about a coin's special interest belong on its flip. I use color to make sure the note is noticed. Most late Roman AE3s sell for prices based on their wear and "eye appeal." If there is anything special (something on the shield, cross on the column) that makes them worth more, it needs to be noted.

 

Now you see, you're getting me to rethink my ways. I rarely pay any attention to the bulk lots at the end of a sale, since most of the time I can't really tell what's in them and don't want the duplication. But it might be the ONLY way I'm going to come across some of these interesting special subtypes. Very nice find; congrats.