I didn't buy but a couple of coins last year, but at the end of the year I snagged this one from John Anthony and his JAZ Numismatics. VESPASIAN AR Denarius OBVERSE: IMP CAESAR VESPASIANVS AVG, laureate head right REVERSE: COS VIII, Mars standing left, holding spear and trophy Struck at Rome, 77-78 AD 3.4g, 19mm RIC 937; BMC 200, RSC 125 ex, JAZ Numismatics; Sulla Collection
Nice one, Bing! Here's mine, a rather smooth one: Vespasian Denarius (77-78 A.D.) Rome Mint IMP CAESAR VESPASIANVS AVG, laureate head right / COS VIII Mars standing left holding spear and trophy. RIC 937; RSC 125. (2.95 grams / 18 mm) eBay Dec. 2013
nice one Bing!..you need another goal to strive for after your Hercules completion of Mark Anthony's denarii..(IF the wife is ok wid it)
congrats, nice coin from a great collection with an interesting nose! I picked up one from him also. I said that if this coin leads me down the midevil period coin path, I'd send someone to roll his yard next Halloween. I thought this was a good Christmas coin. It is small, but the artwork is good. I like the Mother and Child. Obv.: FERDINAND·D·G·R·VNG; Fourfold curved coat of arms, Hungarian Arpad stripes, Hungarian double cross, Dalmatian leopard heads, Bohemian lion. In chest shield, Austrian bonds; 1569 above. Rev.: PATRONA· - ·VNGARIE; Crowned and glorified Madonna with Christ Child in her left arm, scepter in right hand on crescent; K – B in fields.
I know I do need something to focus on, but I can't seem to decide. SWo many nice coins, so many more to purchase. The wife is fine with my hobby. It's me not focusing.
Very nice coins @Bing and @rrdenarius. Mine from JAZ Numismatics, ex Sulla Collection: AR Denarius, Rome, 88 BC; moneyer Gaius Marius Censorinus 19 mm, 3.4 g die axis ↑→ (the description said 10 h, but when the obverse is upright, the reverse is a quarter-turn to the right, or at three o'clock) Ref.: Crawford 346/1d; Babelon (Marcia) 18; Sear RCV I 256; Sydenham 713 Ob.: Jugate heads of Numa Pompilius bearded, wearing diadem, and Ancus Marcius beardless, to r.; border of dots. Anepigraphic. Rev.: C• CENSO Desultor riding one of two horses galloping right holding whip in right hand. Numeral XX below horses, border of dots The strike is off-center, but I fell for the portraits on the obverse and for the galloping horses on the reverse, even though desultor's head is partially off-flan. Numa was the legendary second king of Rome, and Ancus Marcius was the legendary fourth king of Rome. "Numa appears as a mature, bearded man, revealing his stereotypical depiction as a representative of the Sabine race, as his beard represents the traditional rustic and frugal type who embodied the moral ideals of Rome’s past. The Sabine stereotype represented prisca virtus ‘old-fashioned virtue’ portrayed through a disciplined and austere image and unkempt and hirsute physical appearance, reflecting a rustic upbringing. Although the Sabine background certainly became a feature of Roman literature, the bearded, unkempt image of Numa on coins demonstrates that the stereotype had found physical expression by 97 BC." https://olh.openlibhums.org/article/id/4425/
A really nice coin, @Bing! I haven't bought anything from @John Anthony and JAZ Numismatics in his last couple of auctions, but two of the coins on my "Top 12 Roman Republicans" list for 2021, and one of the coins on my top Provincials list, came from John's JAZ auctions. He can always be counted on for great material!
..now that ain't a bad path to go down....collect'em all.. plus a few..not too expensive...and its fun!
Very nice coin @Bing !. I picked my first coin of Victorinus near the end of the year from @John Anthony. I really liked the portrait as well as the excellent Salus reverse.. Victorinus Æ Antoninianus, 22mm, 3.5g, 12h. Cologne Mint. Obv.: IMP C VICTORINVS P F AVG, radiate, draped and cuirassed bust right. Rev.: SALVS AVG, Salus standing right, feeding serpent in her arms.
Right on!!!!! Coinage from the Holy Roman Empire is number one... Artistic designs Vast array of coinage avaliable to collect/ no one on the planet could form a complete collection/ way to much $$$ Everything from the biggest (100 Dukaten) to the littlest 1/32 Dukat First to mint large format coinage like Talers/ 10 Dukaten First to produce "milled" coinage First to date in Christian calender Correct/ Ferdinand died in 1564/ Maximilian II then took over till he passed in 1576. John
Congrats, @Bing, on reentering the fray! @rrdenarius, for an initial venture, you could have done a whole lot worse! The thing I like most about those 16th-c. Hungarian denars is the way the Virgin and Child can evoke contemporary woodcuts. ...And I like anything that manages to put that much detail on that small a flan.
Even without the year, the legend is very legible: MAX · II · D · G · E · RO · I · S · AV · G · HV ·B · R
