Just received a package from a recent purchase (more to come in the coming days) and I decided to do a little bit more comparison on this Alexander Severus denarius I got. Severus Alexander Denarius, struck AD 231 at Rome mint. Obv: IMP ALEXANDER PIVS AVG, laureate and draped bust right. Rev: PROVIDENTIA AVG, Providentia standing left, holding grain ears over modius in right hand, anchor in left. Ref: RIC IV 252 It's not terribly uncommon at all and it's in pretty decent shape. But when looking on acsearch I noticed that the tie at the end of the laurel was different than any of the first handfuls I was seeing (shorter ties, both going at an angle left, and none of the tie ends going back right across the neck/shoulder). So I kept on scrolling and scrolling and eventually found a match for my obverse die: https://www.cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=170670 (Photo from CNG) And then I went hunting for my reverse die match, and low-and-behold I found that too: https://www.numisbids.com/n.php?p=lot&sid=548&lot=3157 (Photo from Gorny & Mosch) Anyway, I thought it was kinda exciting to find siblings of my coin. Here they are side-by-side for comparison: I also read up a bit more on die linking from Doug here: https://www.forumancientcoins.com/dougsmith/dielink.html Share your own die linked and/or matched coins?
Hopefully you had fun looking for it! Mine is the top one, bottom is from a Savoca auction. The reverse is a match. Antiochus Hierax Mint: Alexandria Troas AR Tetradrachm 242 to 227 BC Obvs: Diademed head of Antiochus Hierax with prominant cheekbone. Revs: ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ on r., ANTIOXOY on l., partially nude, with slight drapery on thigh, Apollo seated l. on omphalos, testing arrow and resting l. hand on grounded bow that has pellets that symbolize the handle. Horse symbol in exergue and two control monograms in left field. 29x30mm, 16.35g Ref: Sear GCV 6919, SC Vol.1 877.2
Here is a couple of obverse die matches My coin: Some coins sold on CNG over the years: Although the reverse of mine is not a die match with the reverse of the other two (whose reverses match each other), I have no doubt the same celator that created that reverse die for those other samples, also created the die which struck the reverse of my coin. The style is just too similar. Not surprising as this denarius was a relatively smaller issue and only a limited number of dies are known. The coin is not rare by any means, but it is definitely much less abundant than your average Republican denarii.
So much fun finding die links! But instead of showing one, I'll show my example of the type (one of my faves since my first Roman coin was the AE as version):
If I understand what you're referring to, I think it's just the arm of the anchor. The other side is hidden behind the goddess/personification.
Oh I guess that makes sense... It appeared to me like a cloth in the wind initially and threw me. Thanks for the clarity!
I've been collecting photos and studying dies, particularly of the issues before the time of the Social War, almost as long as I've been collecting the Roman Republic, so probably half or more of my coins I've found die matches for but here are a couple of my favorites: Cr. 106/1 "Staff" victoriatus - obverse die match to the BnF Paris example pictured below, (which is also the Crawford plate coin). I have found photos of 13 examples and have yet to find a reverse die match, and when I submitted this coin the reverse die was also a new one in Richard Schaefer's Republican Die Project My Cr. 90/2 anonymous victoriatus. Double die match to NAC 70 lot 14(Student Mentor Collection) and obverse die match to plate VI, 190 in "An Early Hoard of Victoriati" published in NC 1970 and now in the British Museum. Always exciting to find a die match to a coin with known hoard provenance.
What a beautiful OP Denarius! I have found die matches for most of my Sestertii. Here are two: My Salonina above (Göbl 490y, Pudicitia standing) is a double die match to the only other known specimen of this type below (Gemini LLC, 11.01.2005, lot 430): My Hadrian travel Sestertius (RIC 703 k) is also a double die match to the other two published specimens: For some of the rarer emperors, die studies exist which list and illustrate all known obverse- and reverse dies and and their combinations, citing specimens in museums, collections and auction catalogues.
I collect Roman provincial coins with as much zeal as imperial issues and I have found die-matches to at least half of my provincial issues, but one of my favorite examples is this, because they are obverse die matches but have completely different reverse designs. Moreover, it's not just that I have identified other coins online that are die matches but that I actually own both coins. Gordian III and Tranquillina pentassaria from Odessos in Thrace:
Clashed coins come in many degrees from barely noticeable to extremely bold. The Julia Domna second below is rather weak but becomes special when compared to the coin above it which shows no clash. The obvious explanation is that the clash damaged the die after the first was struck and before the second. I have to hold open the possibility that the top coin was struck long afterward and die wear had erased the damage but the first theory seems more likely. Easiest to see here is the incuse from the drapery at the back of the neck just right of Venus' legs and the faint profile of the face left of the column. The reverse of the second coin is slightly doublestruck at the left making the whole thing a bit confused.
That is very interesting!! (I'm trying to hold back from a joke having to do with a crack in the reverse die... oops! )
Another obverse die match between two coins in my collection but with different reverses. Triassaria from Marcianopolis: Julia Domna, AD 193-217. Roman provincial Æ triassarion, 7.77 g, 24.2 mm, 7 h. Moesia Inferior, Marcianopolis, AD 193-211. Obv: IOVΛIA ΔO-MNA CEB, bare-headed and draped bust right. Rev: MAPKIANOΠOΛITΩN, three nymphs standing facing, wearing tunics over long, lightly billowing skirts and clasping hands, the two outer nymphs with heads turned inwards and each holding a jug in her free hand. Refs: Varbanov 892 var (obv. legend); Staal 89.15 (plate 3, fig. 15, p. 157); BMC --; Moushmov --; SGI --; AMNG I (Pick) --; Lindgren --; Winsemann -- Note: Obverse and reverse die match to Staal plate coin (Gorny & Mosch Auction 108, lot 1421, April 3, 2001). Julia Domna, AD 193-217. Roman provincial Æ triassarion, 23.3 mm 8.55 g. Moesia Inferior, Marcianopolis, AD 193-211. Obv: ΙΟVΛΙΑ ΔΟ-ΜΝΑ CΕΒ, bare-headed and draped bust right. Rev: ΜΑΡΚΙΑΝΟΠΟΛΙΤΩΝ, statuary group of the Three Graces side by side, the center Grace from the reverse with arms extended around the shoulders of her companions who are both facing frontward. Refs: SGI 2313; AMNG I 603; Moushmov 417; Hristova & Jekov 6.17.26.2; Staal p. 107, 15.1.1 Notes: Obverse and reverse die match to Hristova & Jekov 6.17.26.2. You can read about the die study I did on the first coin here.
Very nice, RC! I remember them from your post and found it fascinating and the reverses beautiful and unique!
I do like die links as we discussed in this thread.... https://www.cointalk.com/threads/most-die-links-found.306251/#post-2915087
I'm embarassed to say I haven't done much die research on my coins, but I do have the Attic tetradrachm below with a (much nicer) die-mate that was for sale until recently on the Comptoir des Monnaies and Numiscorner websites. http://www.comptoir-des-monnaies.com/ https://www.numiscorner.com/ I would have liked to have bought the mate, but the price was a bit beyond my ancients budget. I got my coin from David Levav around 1990ish. The reverse of the Comptoir coin is different than mine, but also has a distinctive die break that could link it to others.
