A lot of half coins arrived this week. Inexpensive coins like these make great hands on show and tell items. One of them was my first Roman coin with a labyrinth. top row - Augustus / wreath and Augustus / shield with labyrinth 2nd row - Octavian / Bull and Tiberius / Bull 3rd row - both are Augustus & Agrippa croc coins. to the right is a small coin of Moesia Istros with Helios / Eagle holding a Dolphin Note - the labyrinth coin is not common. I found only one of acsearch - I like buying coins from Spain for the stamps. I have not collected stamps since I was a teen, but I still enjoy seeing them. Frank R and Ibercoin are two I like for this reason. Ibercoin has interesting cards with their lots.
I do not have any from Spain but this modern beauty from Portugal was cheap and a super beautiful design in my opinion.
Very cool! Spain does have some very fun and unique ancients with a cool artistry all their own. You have a very detailed half of one of these beauties that Ihad to get as the reverse appears to be a labyrinthine shield boss: I also picked up some Spanish Wonders from CNG that came from our own @bcuda 's collection a short while ago: IBERIA, Kastilo. Early 2nd century BC. Æ As (31mm, 26.02 g, 9h). Diademed head of male right / Griffin standing right, raising forepaw; to right, star above forepaw, KO (in Iberian) below. ACIP 2113. Earthen green-brown patina. Good Fine. From El Iberico Collection.
I have a handful Gades/Gadir AE "Quadrans" 2nd Punic War, local Irregular issue Iberian imitative "semis" Castulo AE "Quadrans" Sekasia AE As Bolskan AR Denarius From the Roman period, I mostly go for the extremely rare Imperial personages Nero and Drusus as Caesares under Augustus - they appeared posthumously under Caligula, but IIRC this issue under Tiberius from Carthago Nova is the only one to show them alive (There was a nearly identical issue for Germanicus and Drusus, but I already have them on another provincial) Same city was also the only place in the entire empire to issue coins for Caligula as Caesar under Tiberius Caesonia appears on two provincial issues, one from Judaea, and this one "as Salus" from Carthago Nova
I have no pre-Roman Iberian coins, and only one Roman Provincial coin minted in Hispania. The style is certainly distinctive, in both periods. Tiberius, AE As, 14-37 AD, Hispania Tarraconensis, Turiaso Mint [now Tarazona, Zaragoza, Aragon, Spain], M. Pont. Marsus and C. Mari. Vegetus, duoviri. Obv. Laureate head right, TI CAESAR AVG F IMP PONT M / Rev. Bull standing right, head facing, M PONT MARSO; MVN TVR in field above bull, C MARI VEGETO below, II VIR in right field [ligate letters underlined]. RPC [Roman Provincial Coinage] Vol. I 418 (1992); RPC I Online at https://rpc.ashmus.ox.ac.uk/coins/1/418; ACIP 3291a [Villaronga, L. & J. Benages, Ancient Coinage of the Iberian Peninsula: Greek / Punic / Iberian / Roman, Societat Catalana D 'Estudis Numismatics, Institut D 'Estudis Catalans (Barcelona, 2011)]; FAB 2450 [Alvarez-Burgos, F., La Moneda Hispanica desde sus origines hasta el Siglo V (Madrid, 2008)]; SNG Copenhagen 606 [Sylloge Nummorum Graecorum, Copenhagen, The Royal Collection of Coins and Medals, Danish National Museum, Part 43, Spain-Gaul (Copenhagen 1979), Parts 40-43 reprinted as one volume, 1994]. 28 mm., 11.98 g. Purchased from Tom Vossen, Netherlands, May 2021; ex. Aureo & Calico, Auction 364, 21 April 2021, Lot 1202. * * Turiaso was "a municipium of Hispania Tarraconensis, now Tarazona, situated on a small river that runs into the Ebro, to the south of Tudela." https://www.forumancientcoins.com/numiswiki/view.asp?key=Turiaso (quoting Stevenson's Dictionary of Roman Coins (1880)). See also https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/term/x51280 ("Located in the hinterland of NE Spain close to the Ebro river valley, c. 60km north of the ancient site of Bilbilis Augusta, the Iberian settlement named Turiasu later became an important Roman city called Turiaso. Under Visigothic rule it was called Tirasona and is now called Tarazona"). Tarazona is now in Aragon in the north of Spain. Under the Roman Empire, it was part of Hispania Tarraconensis, the largest of the three provinces in Roman Spain, along with Hispania Baetica and Lusitania. Under the Republic, before Augustus's reorganization in 27 BCE, Turiaso was part of Hispania Citerior (Nearer Iberia, i.e., closer to Rome, as compared to Hispania Ulterior). For a discussion of Turiaso's coinage, see the section entitled "Regio Turiasonensis Turiaso," in Sir George Francis Hill, "Notes on the ancient coinage of Hispania citerior" (Numismatic Notes and Monographs, American Numismatic Society 1931) at http://numismatics.org/digitallibrary/ark:/53695/nnan86651. The article includes, among other things, a list of all the names of magistrates (duoviri) found on the coins of Augustus and Tiberius minted in Turiaso, and notes that "G. Marius Vegetus [named on my coin] appears both as aedile and as duumvir. Under Augustus, both asses and semisses were struck by duoviri, and the aediles do not seem to have issued coins. Under Tiberius, as usual, the duoviri strike the asses, the aediles the semisses; but who was responsible for the sestertii or dupondii does not appear." As for the bull on the reverse, Kevin Butcher notes at p. 62 of Roman Provincial Coins, supra, that "A standing bull, probably connected with anniversaries commemorating the foundation of the various colonies, occurs at Caesaraugustus, Celsa, Calagurris, Cascantum, Ercavica, Graccurris, Turiaso, and Clunia." Oxen pulling a plow were certainly a common symbol of the foundation of colonies on Roman coins, so such an interpretation is not surprising, even though a plow is nowhere in sight! See Jones, John Melville, A Dictionary of Ancient Roman Coins (Seaby 1990) at pp. 121-122 (entry for “Founder”), explaining that the Romans “inherited a custom from the Etruscans of defining the boundaries of a new city by marking them with a plough,” so that certain coins showing plowing can be interpreted as a reference to the founding of colonies.
I do not collect Roman Provincial Coins and was not aware to the online version. Thanks for sharing. The half a shield coin above is RPC 1,4. There are 64 examples of the coin in their database.
Alfonso was King of Leon (1065-1072), Galicia (1071-1072), in 1072 he united Leon, Castile and Galicia in the Kingdom of Castile and Leon, which he ruled between 1072 and 1109. In 1077 he became Emperor of Spain and in 1085 he conquered Toledo and was crowned as King of Toledo. After 1085 he would style himself as "victorisissimo rege in Toleto, et in Hispania et Gallecia." This type presents him as the first Christian King of Toledo, and was minted starting with cca. 1085 and throughout Alfonso's entire reign and throughout the whole kingdom. This variation was minted probably in 1103, after the standardization of the coinage of Toledo. AR19mm, 1.34g, billon dinero, minted at Toledo(?), 1103. ANFVS REX; Cross pattee. + TOL'ETVO:; Chrismon (XPS) flanked by A and ω. A. Burgos #5, Cayon #905, A. Roma #3 (variante 6) Heavy specimen at 1.34g, fleur-de-coin preservation. From an old private Spanish collection offered by Aureo & Calico.
Cool coins and, agreed @rrdenarius , the stamps are a bonus! Some of mine of SPAIN Iberia - Castulo AE14 Quarter Unit Bust - BOAR w-star 2nd C BCE Iberia Castulo Late 2nd C BC AE As 25mm Bust Nose Hand Sphinx RR Anon AE Semis 211-207 BCE Saturn S Prow ROMA Sear 766 Craw 56-3 Spain Punic War
I haven't actively collected stamps since I was about 9 years old: despite his strenuous efforts, my father never succeeded in persuading me not to convert to coin collecting. But I also can't help saving envelopes containing coins that arrive covered with interesting stamps. Both from foreign dealers, and from two U.S. dealers (Frank Robinson and Kirk Davis) who use U.S. stamps (some of them rather old) to ship their coins. Here are a couple from Kirk Davis:
Spain......Yep cool coins come from here... Jaime II Aragon 1291-1327 Dinero (Billon) Approx 18mm diameter - 1.17gr Obverse - Crowned portrait facing left..Legend around ARA - GON Reverse - Double cross..Legend around IACOBUS REX Mint Jaca...Cru-364J Spain, Bolskan (Osca). Circa 150-100 BC. AE Unit (10.35 gm, 24mm). Obverse: Bearded head right; dolphin behind. Reverse: "BOLSKAN" in Celt-Iberian in exergue, rider on horse right, holding spear; star behind. CNH 8; SNG BM Spain 734; SNG Copenhagen 325. VF. Castulo, Spain AE As. 30 mm, 22g. 76-45 BC. ISCER SACAL, youthful male head right. CAST SOCED, sphinx right. Burgos (2008) 709; Ripolles 905; Villaronga 14. Iberia. Indigets. Emporia Æ AS...27.88mm/10.05grams..27-25 BC.. Obverse:Head of the goddess Pallas Athena wearing a Corinthian helmet with the visor raised and a large plume. Reverse: Pegasos flying right, laurel crown above rump; EMPO below. Villaronga, ACIP 1098 - R6 Ex Archer M Huntington Collection (HSA 1001.1.10234).
Excellent coins! You've assembled a nice collection of those halved bronzes. I'm still waiting on my win from Ibercoin to come in so I won't say too much about it except that it's an anonymous denarius(or is it?) and I believe it was likely minted in Spain. It was not described correctly at the auction so I'm not sure if anyone else picked up on it or not.
I do not have many coins that were minted spain but here's one....Interestingly enough Corduba was sacked by Julius Caesar due to its loyalty to Pompey and was later resettled with Augustan veterans. Roman Imperatorial: Cnaeus Pompey Jr. AR Denarius Date: 46-45 BC Obv: Head of Roma right, in Corinthian helmet; before, M POBLICI LEG PRO, behind, P R. Rev: CN MAGNVS IMP, Hispania standing right, holding two spearrs over shoulder and presenting palm frond to Pompeian soldier standing left on prow, armed and with sword. Diameter: 18.5mm Weight: 3.90 grams Mint: Corduba Crawford 469/1a Ex Classical Numismatic Review Vol XLVI No. 1 (Winter 2021), 559027. Ex CNG Feature Auction 115 (15 September 2020), lot 592.
I disagree with @rrdenarius, I do not think coins from Spain are just Fun. I do love your post rrdenarius I think ancient coins from Spain are exciting, thrilling, exuberating, vibrant, entertaining, fulfilling, invigorating, and a great diversion from a boring mundane life! So I guess if you do not know me here on cointalk I love ancients from Spain ! I will only post three pics so I do not flood this post.
Great set! I think the coins of Spain would be a good place to start a once a century set of coins. I bought a few unsold lots a few years ago and picked up at least 6 different centuries, 1100 to 1800.
Just got this latest addition from Emporion today after picking it up as an unsold from the last Kuenker auction Spain, Emporion AR tritetrartemorion 485-475 BC 0.63 gm O: ram head right R: pellets in cross pattern within incuse cross ACIP 6; Furtwängler group Qf This may be one of the earlier die types with the ram's muzzle curving down as cataloged by Furtwängler in Monnaies grecques en Gaule: le trésor d’Auriol et le monnayage de Massalia. The type was present in several diverse hoards which suggests widespread use for over a century, with over 70 found in the Auriol hoard. >75 obverse dies and >75 reverse dies identified. The significant weight variation may be different denominations or may have traded by weight.
