This coin was part of a 18-coin lot (17 bronze, this one silver) which I bought only because of this coin. I mean: what's not to like about a large silver coin, with a good detailed portrait and a mountain that still exists in the present day? Ruler: Hadrian Denomination: AR Didrachm Obs: ΑΔΡΙΑΝΟС СΕΒΑСΤΟС, laureate head of Hadrian to right; rev: ΥΠΑΤΟС Γ ΠΑΤΗΡ ΠΑΤ, Mount Argaeus surmounted by Helios standing left., holding globe in right., sceptre in left. Weight: 6.11g; Ø:2.1cm Catalogue: RPC III, 3087; Metcalf 92a; Sydenham 263 Acquired: 02-01-2019 CAPPADOCIA, Caesarea, minted between 128-138 AD
I always love a good Argaeus coin, and this is a nice one. Does anybody know offhand how many and which different emperors issued these?
There are many emperors. I don't have the complete list. They are available in silver and bronze. Search engines are helpful: https://www.cngcoins.com/Search.asp...R_TYPE_ID_2=1&SEARCH_IN_CONTAINER_TYPE_ID_4=1 Lucius Verus didrachm Commodus didrachm Septimius Severus drachm Septimius Severus AE27 Julia Domna drachm Caracalla Caesar drachm Elagabalus AE26 Gordian III drachm Does anyone know on what date they observed the new year and incremented the ET number? How many of the bronzes equaled a drachm? The ones I really want are bronzes with twin portraits (Macrinus/Diadumenian and Elagabalus/Alexander). The item shown is termed an an Agalma or votive offering statue honoring the mountain which explains how some (mostly AE's) are shown on a table or altar. That also explains how the mountain appears to be composed of shapes not necessarily 'real' rocky.
Nice coins @dougsmit! I particularly like the Caracalla drachm. Is the color on that accurate? Looks like a nice, glossy black patina.
The Caracalla is a beautiful glossy black. All silver coins can look forward to being black when toning reaches the end of the road. Cleaning resets the clock.
Septimius Severus Ar tridarchm Caesarea in Cappadocia. Rv Helios seated left on Mt Argaeus (I hope its more comfortable than it sounds) 210 A.D. Syfenham 403b 9.12 grms 25 mm
Thanks for all the responses. I didn't know there were that many mount Argaeus drachms! I took some time to restore some parts of the coin: Above, the coin before restoration (the differences in colour are due to lighting, the picture below is more true to the coin). The green spots (copper deposits) and brown spots (iron deposits, less visible, but above Hadrian's nose and hairline) were treated gently with a citric acid solution, applied with a cotton swab (to avoid exposing the whole coin). The dark spots (obverse, 11'o clock, reverse 2 o'clock) were treated by immersing that part of the coin in a sodium thiosulphate solution. I like how the coin turned out. Hadrian looks rather stern. Feel free to comment, I had loads of fun doing it
