Ancient imitations

I would be very grateful for opinions on this next coin.



This is IMO a barbaric Solidus modeled on one of emperor Phocas (602-610 AD.) Mass is 4.52 grams. This came from a Stack’s mail bid sale 15 April 98, lot#19 where it was described as from an “irregular mint.” Earlier this coin was part of NFA Auction XVIII part II lot #739, associated with the Guy Lacam collection (whether this coin was in Lacam’s collection, or just part of NFA’s sale isn’t entirely clear to me.) Appears similar to some pseudo-imperial solidi of the Avars, but not a perfect match.

12/2020: I submitted this to ANACS and just received it back from them. They graded it AU50 and believe it is a Constantinople mint product. On the basis of style, the eccentric diadem larger than the emperor’s head, the retrograde R in PERP on the obverse, and the misspelled VCTORIA on the reverse, I believe they are wrong. Although misspellings on dies from the capitol mint are not unknown (I have a Solidus of Justinian I #26 which reads DNISUTINIANUS) poorly spelled and lettered inscriptions on dies for the gold coinage are rare in my experience, at least through the end of the reign of Constans II in 668. A major mistake on both the obverse and the reverse die seems unlikely to have come from the capitol mint.

Anyone have an opinion?

 

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@Hrefn, for what it's worth, I'm with you. Among the many indignities official Byzantine coins were subjected to, I can't recall frankly blundered legends being one of them.

 

Hrefn I agree with VGO.DVCKS, that coin screams barbarian. Your other 2 coins are gems, especially the Lugdunum solidus depicting Julian ! The Julian portrait is exceptional & done by a very gifted engraver. The long provenance on that coin adds to it's importance . I like Celtic & Barbarian coinage & this thread is loaded many great examples .

 

Whoever made this imitation, I think we can be pretty sure that it was not a Germanic tribe.

 

@Tejas, now that you mention it, if the prototype wasn't so anachronistic, I'd be wanting to think it was Arab-Byzantine.

 

A wonderful coin, but I would be careful with attributions to Avars or unknown Germanic tribes. These are mostly sales attributions, which are meant to increase the commercial value of a coin. I'm not even sure that Avars ever produced any coins at all. I think they stand in as default attribution, when a coin does not match an official mint style or the legends are blundered. It is the same with the famous "unknown Germanic tribe". With some clear exceptions, "unknown Germanic tribes" did not produce coins.

There are of course the known Germanic "tribes", which established kingdoms on the territory of the Roman empire (Goths, Vandals, Burgundians, Franks, Gepids and later Anglo-Saxons) and hence adopted or continued a coin-based economy. And then there are a few exceptions of coins and coin-like pendants that were produced outside the Roman empire, mostly in the Przeworsk (imitative silver denars) and Chernyakhov (imitative gold coin pendants) cultures of eastern Europe. (My coin above with the eight-legged horse belongs to the latter group and was probably produced by people that we would identify as Goths, but who likely called themselves Greutingi at the time).

If an imitation cannot be matched to either of the aforementioned groups, it is most likely the product of an irregular Roman or Byzantine mint, an ancient forgery or an official coin of particularly "poor" style.

I cannot say anything definitiv about the beautiful coin above, but my hunch is that it is an official solidus of somewhat "barbaric" style.

 

What I wrote above with regards to the Focas solidus applies here as well. The two coins are mind-blowing, but attributions to Germanic tribes are completely speculative guesses. In reality, nobody knows who made these coins. I have a large collection of migration age coins, which is my main speciality and I found that attributions to "unknown Germanic tribes" are most of the time wishful thinking.

The Leo Tremissis is particularly interesting. Large numbers of imitations of Leo Tremisses exist and for some reasons nobody ever succeeded in pinpointing the origin of these coins. Interestingly, there is also a large number of barbaric Leo Half-Siliquae, which are typically (and in my view wrongly) attributed to "unknown Germanic tribes". I think it is more likely that somewhere in the empire a makeshift mint was set up temporarily, which was tasked with producing coins to overcome an acute shortage and lagging qualified staff, they recruited illiterate goldsmith or other craftsmen to do the job. Its just a theory, but it is probably not worse then the theory of the "unknown Germanic tribes".

 

My Nero sestertius, barbaric imitation, countermarked ,26 gr..

 

You are correct, I falsely remembered the description saying Germanic but looking up the original listing by Kolner Munzkabinett this is what I found.

Manuel I. Komnenos, 1143-1180 AE-Tetarteron lokaler Beischlag Vs.: Kaiser steht mit Krone, Langkreuz und Kreuzglobus v. v., Rs.: Kreuzmonogramm wohl unpubliziert; vgl. Sear 1979; DOC 22. 2.57 g. RR breit, schwarze Patina, ss-vz

Bing Translate.

Manuel I. Komnenos, 1143-1180 AE-Tetarteron local supplement Vs.: Kaiser stands with crown, long cross and cross globe from v., Rs.: cross monogram probably unpublished; see Sear 1979; DOC 22. 2.57 g. RR wide, black patina, ss-vz

Still an interesting imitation.

 

For comparison, Hrefn solidus & a Phocus solidus from my collection.


Phocus, AD 602-610, Constantinople Mint, 5th Officina. AV solidus: 4.44 gm, 21 mm, 6 h.

 

Here' a fun Nero... It's an ancient Gallic (maybe?) imitation of the common Victory and shield coins.

It would have the legend:
IMP NERO CAESAR AVG P MAX T P P

(It's there but written backwards, copied directly from an example on to the die without thinking of the resulting coin having the mirrored impression... you can see the ...ESAR AVG P MA...)

 

Here’s a Tetricus II imitation as Augustus (obverse legend ending in “AVG”). Also there the PAX AVG legend with not Pax on the reverse:

 

Definitely. The German term “lokaler Beischlag”, which Bing translated as “local supplement” means that the cataloger thought that the coin was made by a local irregular mint. The term "Beischlag" is completely neutral and only indicates that a coin is not official.

 

Very interesting. I believe that these bronze imitations were the products of local Roman craftsmen, who were hired to produce coins in order to alleviate a temporary shortage of bronze coins. Often these coins were later countermarked to indicate that they were acceptable currency.

In contrast, Germanic tribesmen outside the Roman empire had no interest in bronze coins. At best they used bronze coins (or coins in general) as raw material for tools or jewelry, but they had no need to make such coins themselves.

 

I wonder if there is any evidence that the Avars (a semi-nomadic people) struck any coins. I think that attributions to Avars are much like attributions to "unknown Germanic tribes", i.e. default attributions for coins from irregular mints or of somewhat unusual or "barbaric" style. I think what is needed is find spot evidence that shows that these coins originated far beyond the Roman borders.

The Avars received large subsidies from the East Romans (up to 200'000 solidi per year in the early 7th century), meaning that they had a ready supply of official coins, which they mostly converted into jewelry, fittings for belts and weapons, cups and dishes. In my view, they had no need to produce imitative solidi.

 

Any opinions on this one?

Andronicus II with Michael IX imitative AV Hyperpyron of Constantinople. AD 1295-1320. Half-length figure of the Virgin Mary, orans, within city wall of six towers / Christ standing facing, crowning Andronicus and Michael kneeling to left and right, respectively. Sear 2396 (variant). 3g, 19mm, 6h.

And a genuine for comparison:

Andronicus II Palaeologus, with Michael IX. 1282-1328. AV Hyperpyron Nomisma (21mm, 3.07 g, 6h). Class IIb. Constantinople mint. Struck 1303-1320 (and later). Half-length facing figure of the Theotokos, orans, within city walls with four towers; sigla: K | N, cross above K, star above N / Christ standing facing, crowning Andronicus and Michael, kneeling to left and right respectively. DOC –; PCPC 128 (unlisted sigla); LPC p. 62, 1; SB 2396. Toned, clipped.


The script doesn't appear Greek to me, but even the official coins often have hard to decipher script. Any ideas on what language it might be and/or what area might have produced it?