I've just finished a hectic few days bidding in the Noble Auctions. At least I could do this during my normal waking hours as this is an Australian auction house! None of this staying up until 2am while I wait for a CNG auction to close. Oh wait, that will happen tonight! First i must say - wow! The ancient coin market is very strong! There were a lot of ridiculous hammer prices for poor style and common coins, too many to mention. Feel free to review the results if you're curious. I needed the Anthemius solidus, wretched as it was, and I was the underbidder - but I wasn't going to pay more than I felt it was worth (and I'd seen better ones hammer for less!) So I missed out on all my coin targets ... except this one: Valentinian III, (A.D. 425-455), gold solidus, Ravenna mint, issued 440-455, (4.35 g), obv. diademed, draped and cuirassed bust to right of Valentinian III, around D N PLA VALENTI NIANVS P F AVG, rev. emperor Valentinian III standing facing, holding long cross and Victory, with foot on serpent, VICTORI A AVGGG around, R V across, CONOB below, (S.21265, RIC 2010, DOC 841-3, C.19). Graffiti in obverse field, good very fine and rare. This is quite the upgrade on my current Valentinian III which is this miserable nummus: The nummus is going to be sold to a new home! I'll put it up on eBay (or if @John Anthony can assist in auctioning it here - i'd be most grateful). Feel free to share to your late 5th century western emperors! I have a few holes in my collection at the declining end of the empire.
A very nice Valentinian III, I have never had the wallet to consider Gold coins, and a beautiful example at that..!
@GregH That may be the biggest upgrade, I've ever seen. Very nice. There's something magical, about gold coins. It seems like, during the 5th century AD, the Roman gold coins deteriorated in quality, but not nearly as badly as the bronze coins. Here are group photos, of my 5th century AD Roman coins. ------------------------------------------------------- Coin 1 : Honorius AE3, Western Roman Empire, Minted From 401 AD To 403 AD, Antioch Mint, RIC X 99, Weight = 2.45 grams, Diameter = 15 mm, Obverse Has Honorius Facing Front Holding Spear And Shield With Cross, Reverse Has Constantinopolis Seated On Throne Holding Sceptre And Globe With Victory ------------------------------------------------------- Coin 2 : Arcadius AE3, Eastern Roman Empire, Minted From 401 AD To 403 AD, Antioch Mint, RIC 97, Weight = 2.1 grams, Diameter = 16 mm, Obverse Has Arcadius Facing Front Holding Spear And Shield With Cross, Reverse Has Constantinopolis Seated On Throne Holding Sceptre And Globe With Victory ------------------------------------------------------- Coin 3 : Valentinian III AE4, Western Roman Empire, Minted From 425 AD To 435 AD, Rome Mint, RIC X 2123, Weight = 1.34 grams, Diameter = 13 mm, Obverse Has Valentinian III Facing Right, Reverse Has Camp Gate ------------------------------------------------------- Coin 4 : Leo I AE4, Eastern Roman Empire, Minted From 457 AD To 462 AD, Constantinople Mint, Sear 21461, RIC X 674, Weight = 1.11 grams, Diameter = 10 mm, Obverse Has Leo I Facing Right, Reverse Has Lion With Body Facing Left And Head Turned Toward Right ------------------------------------------------------- Coin 5 : Anastasius I AE Nummus, Eastern Roman Empire, Minted From 491 AD To 498 AD, Constantinople Mint, Sear 13, Weight = 0.98 grams, Diameter = 8 mm, Obverse Has Anastasius I Facing Right, Reverse Has Monogram
Yeah the celators took more care with dies for solidi. I guess they were simply copying the same numismatic themes for the reverse types for the last 50+ years of the Western Empire. The job of engraving dies for those tiny AE4s would have been much harder. You've got a nice set of AE3/4s there! Lucky Anastasius has his monogram - makes the attribution easier!
.i was dipping my feets in Nobles auction....but i didnt bid..the coin i wanted was already out of sight for me pocket book at present...
Here's my smallest Valentinian (II) at 12mm I was hoping it was VIII but high hopes doesn't translate to reality.
Very nice! I also upgraded my ratty bronze for AV, although mine was a tremissis. For 1/3 the gold it clocked in at less than 1/3 the price of a solidus - This one however was actually struck at Constantinople under his cousin/father in law Theodosius II I also decided to keep this lot bycatch, ratty but relatively complete, and I believe one of his last issues from Rome I also finally got to sit down with my little baggie of ambiguous AE4s, and I believe that most/all of these are also Valentinian III
