Capricorn (Dec. 21- January 21)

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Fun idea for a thread and very nice coins, @lordmarcovan!

The capricorn was the emblem of the city of Parium in Mysia, so many of the coins from this town have a capricorn on the reverse.


Cornelia Supera, wife of Aemelian, Augusta, 253 CE.
Roman provincial Æ 20.5mm, 3.78 g, 7 h.
Mysia, Parium, AD 253.
Obv: G CORN SUPERA, diademed and draped bust right.
Rev: C. G. I. H. P., Capricorn right, cornucopiae on back; globe between legs.
Refs: RPC IX, 382; Sear GI 4408; SNG Von Aulock 7448.
Notes: Sear describes as a star, but his exemplar in the British Museum depicts a globe with an equinoctial cross, giving it the appearance of a star.

 

SHOWSTOPING Vespasian
And very cool intaglio.
I would love to see an imprint from it
A strangely desirous rarity of early Augustus Ihave laying around:

Rhoemetalkes I with Augustus (Circa 11 BC-12 AD). Ae.
Obv: ΣΕΒΑΣΤΟΥ.
Fasces and capricorn right.
Rev: ΡΟΙΜΕΤΑΛΚΟΥ.
Male head right above curule chair, decorated with monogram.
RPC I 1705; Jurukova 168.
Rare
Condition: Near very fine.
Weight: 2.86 g.
Diameter: 16 mm.
Ex Savoca

 

I'm guessing your sign is Capricorn . The denarius is a lovely coin .

 

I no longer own this coin--is that cheating?--so I don't have all the specifics:

Gallienus
Augustus, A.D. 253-268
Billon Antoninianus
Sole reign (A.D. 260-268)
Rev: NEPTUNO CONS AVG - Capricorn, facing right.

 

I have 2 coins .... with 3 capricorns. Both are among my favorites.

I love the portrait and general aspect of this coin

Mysia, Kyzikos, 17 mm 3.2 g
Bare head of Augustus, r. / ϹƐΒΑϹΤΟϹ, capricorn, l., with head turned back; monogram including ΖΚ
RPC I, 2245, F.W. Hasluck, NC 1906, 27, no. 3, AMC 1183



.... and a coin type I managed to lose 2 or 3 times, including one with superb details because I was too cheap. But this will do especially because of the portrait




Divus Vespasian after AD 79. Rome
Denarius AR
19 mm, 2,71 g
RIC II, Part 1 (second edition) Titus 357;OLD RIC II Titus 63; RSC Titus 497
Date Range: AD 80 - AD 81
Obv: DIVVS AVGVSTVS VESPASIANVS, Head of Divus Vespasian, laureate, right / Rev: Capricorns, left and right, back to back, supporting round shield inscribed S C; globe, below

 

TITUS
Fouree Denarius
OBVERSE: CAES VESPAS AVG TR P COS III, Laureate head right
REVERSE: Foreparts of two capricorns springing in opposing directions, supporting round shield inscribed S C; globe below
Struck at Rome, 80/1AD
3.06g, 18mm
RIC II 357 (Titus); RSC 497

 

Capricorns:

Divus Vespasian AR Denarius, 80 AD Rome Mint. Obv. Laureate head right, DIVVS AVGVSTVS VESPASIANVS / Rev. Foreparts of two capricorns springing in opposite directions, supporting round shield inscribed S C; globe below. RSC II Vespasian 497 (ill.), RIC II-1 Titus 357 (2007), old RIC II Titus 63 (1926), Sear RCV I Titus 2569 (ill.), BMCRE Titus 129. 17 mm., 2.84 g., 6 h.



Julia Paula (first wife of Elagabalus), AE 21, 219-220 AD, Mysia, Parium [Parion in Greek]. Obv. Draped and diademed bust right, IVLIA P-AVLA AVG / Rev. Capricorn right, holding globe between hooves, cornucopia above, CGIHP [Colonia Gemella Ivlia Hadriana Pariana -- colony founded by Julius Caesar] below. RPC [Roman Provincial Coinage] Vol. VI, 3858 (temporary); RPC Online at https://rpc.ashmus.ox.ac.uk/coins/6/3858; Lindgren & Kovacs 289 [Lindgren, H.C. & Kovacs, F.L., Ancient Bronze Coins of Asia Minor and the Levant (San Mateo, CA 1985). 21 mm., 5.67 g., 10 h. (Purchased from VAuctions, Pars Coins, Sale 354, Lot 195, Nov. 16, 2020.)

 

L.M. Please accept my condolences for your loss. I don't put a lot of stock in zodiac signs either but many people do. My mother was born under the Aries sign as was I & my twin brother . My brother was really into astrology & the occult .

 

Augustus, denarius...

 

@lordmarcovan my sincere condolences for your recent loss, I know very well how one feels when one loved one is not anymore with us.

It gives comfort to think they are now safely on the other shore, to borrow a Buddhist concept, and that they dwell gently "in that place where there is no time." and as they say in a Jewish prayer: "May you know no more sorrow”.

A Capricorn in your mother's honor:
Antoninianus, Rome, 267 - 268 AD, mintmark digamma ς = 6th officina
18 x 22mm, 2.668 g
RIC V 245; RSC 667-670; Sear [1988] 2982; Göbl 732b (21 spec.); SRC 10293;

GALLIENVS AVG Head of Gallienus, radiate, r. /NEPTVNO CONS (AVG) Capricorn r., ς in ex.

 

@gsimonel I think that on your Antoninianus reverse there is a hippocampus, a rarer reverse than the Capricorn. The hippocampus is usually associated with the legend naming Neptune.

 

Here a divus vespasianus, ( coins of the Roman empire in the British museum vol. II ), Titus nr 132, plate 47.9.
3.52 gr, 17.82 mm

 

I believe you are correct. It does look more like the head of a horse than that of a goat. Thanks for the correction.

 

Gallienus AE Antoninianus

Capricorn or hippocamp?

 

I clearly see a hippocamp a rare reverse
https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Hippocampus_(mythology)

 

@cmezner, @gsimonel, and @ancient coin hunter, it's easy to tell the Gallienus zoo series Capricorn from the Hippocamp. Both have reverse legends naming Neptune, but the Capricorn has very distinct goat horns, as opposed to the Hippocamp's much shorter horse ears, and, sometimes, a visible mane. Also, the Hippocamp is always officina 9 (signifiied by an N), while the Capricorn is always officina 6 (indicated by a sigma). Finally, the Hippocamp is actually more common and can face either left or right; the Capricorn is rather scarce and faces only right. Most of the Gallienus capricorns one sees are part of the legionary series, not the zoo series. See my chart of all the zoo series types at https://www.cointalk.com/threads/gallienus-zoo-series.388656/#post-7996973.

I don't have a zoo series Capricorn, but here's my Hippocamp. As you can see, no goat horns!

 

I understand it is the other way round: the hippocampus is scarcer than the Capricorn. A search for Gallienus hippocampus at acsearch gives two results, while a search for Gallienus Capricorn gives 161.

See also the OP by @rrdenarius at https://www.cointalk.com/threads/gallienus-with-hippocamp.318699/

 

I think you will find that most of those Gallienus capricorns -- I just counted 67 of the 75 most recently sold, on the first page of the ACSearch results -- are from the legionary series (with the LEG number on the reverse instead of NEPTVNO), not the zoo series. Only 8 are from the zoo series. By contrast, a search for Gallienus hippocamp yields 104 results (not 2), all of them, I believe, from the zoo series. That's consistent with the fact that I seem to see the hippocamps for sale more often than the capricorns from the zoo series. And with the fact that many so-called capricorns of the Gallienus zoo series for sale are actually hippocamps. For example, there are six so-called Gallienus capricorns for sale on MA-Shops. Every single one of the six is clearly a hippocamp. I haven't checked V-Coins, but I suspect that the same problem occurs there as well. And/or the problem of supposed zoo series capricorns actually being legionary series capricorns.