Your Best Buy in 2021 and Why ($1-$1,000 only)

I'll add one more:

ISLAMIC, Time of Muhammad & the Rashidun. Uncertain types. AH 1-30 / AD 622-651. CU Fals (27mm, 4.51 g, 6h).

Imitating an RY 12 Cyprus mint issue of Heraclius, with Martina and Heraclius Constantine. Struck circa AD 638-645. Three imperial figures standing facing, each holding cross / Large M; trace of cross above, Γ below, A/И/И/O and X/II flanking, C IΛ in exergue. DOCAB 4; cf. Album 3501 (for type); cf. ICV 124 (same); CNG E-205, lot 480 (same dies). Brown surfaces. Near VF.



One of the very earliest Islamic coins imitating a Byzantine coin with cross. The last one I bid on went for more than 4 times what I paid for this

 

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This is probably my best buy of '21 - $9.95 for a Nero sestertius. If it is genuine, that is. It is a bit small for type:


Nero Æ Sestertius
(c. 62-68 A.D.)
Rome Mint
NERO CLAVDIVS CAESAR AVG [GER(M) P M TR P IMP PP], laureate head right with aegis / DECVRS[IO] below, SC, Nero riding right escorted by a soldier riding right, holding vexillum.
RIC 170 or RIC 172 (see notes).
(21.51 grams / 31 mm)
eBay Aug. 2021 $9.95 BIN
Attribution Note:
Many varieties of this type:
Obv.: Laureate bust right with aegis, no globe at tip (thus not Lugdunum mint), CLAVDIVS in full.
Obverse legend variations (not visible on this specimen):
RIC 170: GER (no M),
RIC 172: GERM

 

Even if I bought a lot of coins in 2021, I can't choose a best buy without doubts. Because almost all the coins I got were types I wanted and I like all of them. And I made sure the prices I pay are below the usual market price.
I will mention 3 coins that for me are very important as they are all related to the country I live in. This is my definition of "best buy" - a coin type I wanted and obtained with a good price.
First would be a Trajan denarius with the Column. Found it in an auction by pure chance, as I lost a Column literally minutes ago and this one went unnoticed (almost missed it myself).



As the one I lost went for 160 EUR + taxes, being better but not by miles, I was not optimistic about this one. Getting it for 26 EUR was a big surprise.

Trajan AD 98-117. Rome
Denarius AR
19 mm, 2,60 g
RIC 292, RSC 558
Date Range: AD 112 - AD 114
Obverse Legend: IMP TRAIANO AVG GER DAC P M TR P COS VI P P
Type: Bust of Trajan, laureate, draped, right
Reverse Legend: S P Q R OPTIMO PRINCIPI
Type: Column of Trajan surmounted with a statue of Trajan; two eagles at base and a wreath with spirals and dots on column


Now a coin that might not seem much but it is a pretty rare pseudo-autonomous issue from Tomis (nowadays Constanta, Romania)



21 mm, 4,95 g.
Moesia, Tomis Æ21. Pseudo-autonomous issue, late 1st century AD. Laureate head of Zeus right / TOMEI-TѠN outwards around eagle facing right on thunderbolt, head reverted. RPC II, 411; AMNG I.2, 2509.

I can only find one other example, better, sold in 2020 for roughly the same price. Was hoping it will remain under the radar, but I got it with 60 EUR + taxes. Overall not a bad deal.

Last one will be a coin I recently acquired and it was on my wish list since I started collecting. One of the designs that cannot be confused - with obverse having the Dioscuri, one with head inverted and reverse with eagle on dolphin.



As the conservation is good enough, I was pleased I got it for 36 + taxes. It's good, even if it's a subdivision (obol or trihemiobol) not a drachm.
The surprise came when I tried to attribute the coin. I couldn't find anywhere the combination with left head inverted and the eagle and the dolphin facing right.
Turned out to be a rare variety, found in only one reference and rater R4. And better than the plate coin in the reference.

Moesia. Istrus circa 280 - 256/255 BC
Obol or Trihemiobol AR 12 mm, 0,77 g
Facing male heads, the left one inverted / IΣTΡIH, Sea-eagle left on dolphin, ΔI beneath dolphin.
Dima, Tabelul III, Grupa IV, Subgrupa VII, II – Pl XXI, 10

 

It would have to be this sela (drachm) of Obodas II. Early Nabataean silver is exceedingly rare, and early Nabataean silver that's well-struck, undamaged, and well-preserved is even rarer. The market demand, however, is quite low - Roman silver of comparable rarity would cost tens of thousands of dollars. Nevertheless, for a collector of modest means like myself, a retail price tag of $1200 is a challenge. So I was astonished to win this coin at a little over half that amount after fees. Apparently the other Nabataean collectors were asleep that day...



NABATAEA. Obodas II, with Hagaru I. Circa 30-9 BC.
AR Sela (drachm) 17mm, 4.52g, 1h; Petra mint.
Uncertain date but struck between 21/0 and 10/9 BC.
CNG 503 Lot 254

A few salient points for those unfamiliar with Nabataean coinage.

1. By the time this coin was minted, Petra was well established as the chief Nabataean stronghold and trading center.

2. On his coinage, Obodas II instituted the tradition of including the bust of the queen, sometimes jugate with with the king on the obverse, sometimes singly on the reverse. This tradition would continue until the end of the empire, even on the bronze coins. No other ancient coinage featured the queen on almost every type.

3. The busts on early Nabataean coins have simple facial details and a hairstyle that features ringlets. This is the "archaic" style.

 

Got this sestertius of Gallienus for under $400.

Gallienus (253-268) AE Sestertius 28 mm 14.8 grams, squared flan, struck between 253 and 260.

Obverse: Laureate, draped, and cuirassed bust right, with the legend IMP C P LIC GALLIENVS P F AVG

Reverse: Fides standing left, holding two standards, with the legend FIDES MILITVM, S C in field

Reference: RIC 214, Cohen 240, Göbl 74s







Got this gold Histamenon Nomisma for under $800

Constantine X Ducas, 1059-1067.

AV Histamenon Nomisma. (AV, 28 mm, 4.41 g, 5 h), Constantinople. +IhS XIS RЄX RЄςNANTҺIm Christ, nimbate, seated facing on square-backed throne, wearing tunic and pallium, raising his right hand in benediction and holding book of Gospels in his left. Rev. +KωN RAC Λ O ΔOVKAC Constantine X standing facing, wearing crown and loros, holding labarum in his right hand and globus cruciger in his left. DOC 1a. SB 1847.

 

My best buy this year was this coin with a heroic Herculean bust, not listed in RIC.







Maximianus
A.D. 289- 290
22mm 3.9g
IMP C M A VAL MAXIMIANVS P F AVG; heroic nude bust right, with drapery over shoulders.
CONSERVATOR AVGG; Maximianus holding sceptre, and Hercules, leaning on club; standing face to face, sacrificing at altar; B in right field
In ex. XXIKOY
RIC V Siscia 580


part of the coded series from Siscia

http://www.constantinethegreatcoins.com/CONSERVATOR/

 

I did get some nice coins in group lots this year, but I think the best individual coin acquired this year is the Lucilla sestertius, a remainder lot from the Roma E-Sale 82 in April 2021. This coin garnered zero bids, I think due to some heavy deposits on Lucillia's face, that, plus the somewhat rough surfaces on both sides.

This coin's price, with the conversion, was £55.80, or around $80.

However, with some soaking in distilled water and lots of careful, patient work, much of the deposits were removed.

Here's the coin before:



Here is the coin now:

Roman Empire, 164-169 AD
Lucilla (daughter of M. Aurelius)
Æ Sestertius
Rome
LVCILLAE AVG ANTONINI AVG F, draped bust to right / HILARITAS, Hilaritas standing to left holding long palm and cornucopia; S-C across fields.
Nice portrait.
RIC III 1742 (Aurelius); C. 31; BMCRE 1147. 29.17g, 30mm, 11h.
Lot 1393, Roma E-Sale 82
Very Fine

From the Vitangelo Collection.



The coin still has a primarily green patina. This photo was taken in natural light, witch tends to darken images.

 

I got this from Heritage weekly auction this year/ $600

 

A couple of best buys
Julius Caesar's portrait denarius with the addition of the famous comet from Marcantica, although worn I'm happy it only costed less than 100 bucks!


The iconic Trajan's column from a show for 35 usd!


And a nice early denarius from the same show for 40 usd!

 

Any JC portrait under 100 bucks has to be a great buy.

 

My bargain of the year was this (very rare as such) Julia Paula Sestertius for 160 GBP (185 Euros):


The next best thing on offer this year cost 1.200 CHF (1.150 Euros):


I prefer mine

 

As a general rule, I try not to seek out bargains because they are usually bargains for a reason. Nevertheless, I find myself watching some auction lots knowing I won't even bid unless it stops rising at a "bargain" bid. I'm rarely successful, but this year I won one coin that I regard as a significant bargain. I was totally floored to win this denarius of P. SICINIUS which hammered for 280 euros in a relatively high end sale this summer. The coin is Ex NAC 4A, Feb 27, 1991, lot 1661 (500 CHF.). The only real fault is the minor flan crack which I hardly noticed and was not even mentioned in the 1991 NAC sale listing.
Crawford 444/1a - Mint traveling with Pompey. Grueber provides quite a lot of information about the magistrates. Here is an excerpt: Early in 49, Sicinius was appointed a triumvir of the mint in Rome by the party of Pompey which was then in power. Who his colleagues may have been we do not know, as their names are not met with on the coinage of that time. On the arrival of Caesar, Sicinius left Rome, evidently in the company of C. Coponius, who was one of the praetors at the breaking out of the Civil war, and who, having espoused the side of Pompey, followed him into Greece, and had command of the Rhodian ships conjointly with C. Marcellus; For we find Sicinius during the same year issuing coins for Coponius in the East in his own name and that of C. Coponius (this issue). On those coins ... Sicinius still styles himself "triumvir."
This coinage which was evidently intended for the use of the fleet commanded by Coponius in the East, is of very exceptional nature, for we have an ordinary moneyer of the Roman mint still using his official title and striking money for a praetor urbanus who had vacated his office. To justify this action, the formula S.C. (Senatus Consulto) is added, in order that it might appear as if the coins were struck under senatorial authority. This instance is quite unique in the whole series of military coinages of the Roman Republic.

 

My favorite buy was this solidus of Anastasius I snagged at a Nomos auction for only 420 CHF.

 

I have been looking for a 4 ounce Roman scale weight for a few years. This one hammered for $19 and it will be on my top 10 this year.


Roman / Byzantine Four Ounce Commercial Scale Weight; 100 - 500 AD, dating depends on how you read the back of the weight.
Obverse – 4 dots; If the scale weight is 4 uncia it would have Гo Δ, but I can not tell if it is there.
Reverse – Cross? +? The mark on the weight, +, is similar to the mark on a Semis of C. Curiatius f. Trigeminus, see below. Weight: 105.7 grams.