I won this at from the last Naville and was a bit worried I paid too much for it, that is until it was in hand. I had a wonder brown patina and a beautiful Alexandrian style. It's former Elvira Clain-Stefanelli collection as well. http://numismatics.org/archives/ark:/53695/nnan0128 Constantius II DN CONSTAN-TIVS PF AVG Constantius II pearl-diademed, draped, cuirassed bust right FEL TEMP RE-PARATIO soldier spearing Horseman, bearded, bare-headed, reaching, reaching ALEA in ex. Γ in left field Alexandria 72 var (headwear) From the E.E. Clain-Stefanelli collection.
Very pretty coin! The Naville sales are jam packed with lovely ex-Clain Steffanelli and Dattari coins. Congrats!
Superb, especially once I got past the nose which for some reason stands out to me! Wondering how many times that reverse "picture" occurred on a real battlefield?
Alexandria always has a distinctive style for which some of us have quite an addiction. This is a nice coin in many respects but not perfect. That will be the one you buy next (I have faith). My ALEA is not as great as yours in some respects but it is every bit as 'Alexandrian' which could be considered a fault by those who do not have the Alexandrian addiction. I doubt the facial structure of this mint's portraits was photographically accurate but it is quite distinctive. Yours is a bit odd in the fact that most Alexandrians of the type show the horse hanging more below the ground line. Few have anything as low as my ALEA. More odd IMO is that your coin only has two laurel ties while all four of my officina set have three. I corresponded with a gentleman about 25 years ago on this matter. He was working on a theory about the significance of laurel tie designs in the late Roman period and I keep telling myself that I need to dig out the papers he sent and refresh my memory. Randy, I hope you realize how strange the bunch of us must seem to the collectors who think the only thing that can ID a mint is a little letter under the date. You know Alexandria is not my favorite FH mint but it is special to me.
Doug, I think both Laurel & Hardy usually wore bow ties. (Sorry, I just really could not resist that opportunity!)
My ALEA is nowehere near as nice as any above. I bought it because of the unusual Rs on the reverse which seem to be made of strange retrograde Ns. I don't have ALEB. I have one ALEG. But somehow have THREE ALED This last one has may favourite of my Alexandrian portraits but sufferes from an uneven strike which many would find unacceptable. Martin
Thanks all and great coins @dougsmit and @maridvnvm ! Alexandrian FH definitely have interesting lettering. I find myself strange. I used to be happy with just a couple, then a couple more, and then with just a mint set........ and so on . I'd be interested to hear what the papers say. Was it just about FH or all LRB? Here are the rest of my RIC 72s two laurel ties two laurel ties
