Monogram mon… (oh wait Monday is already taken)

Welp, since there is already a medieval Monday, we can just call it monogram day
One of my collecting goals of this year are east and western Roman Empire monograms. Well so far it’s only really been eastern since late western Roman Empire coins are expensive as heck/difficult to find. I have, however, gotten two good examples of Marcian and Zeno.

Marcian is notable for standing up to Attila the Hun and stopping the gold payments to him. Zeno is notable for being eastern emperor when Rome fell and sending Theodoric to snuff out Odoacer, leading to the Ostrogothic kingdom in Italy I find something alluring about these monograms. Perhaps it’s because my initials can make a monogram anyways! Feel free to post any monograms, no matter ancient or medieval.

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

Zeno (476 - 491 A.D.)
Æ4
O: Pearl-diademed, draped bust right.
R: Monogram
Constantinople mint
14mm
.89g
Cf. RIC X 958

 

Frankish?

 

Libius Severus, Western Roman Empire
AE nummus
Obv: D N LIBIVS SEVERVS P F AVG, pearl-diademed, draped bust right
Rev: Monogram of Ricimer within wreath
Mint: Rome
Date: 461-467 AD (Libius Severus reigned 461-465 AD)
Ref: RIC X 2715



Odoacer, Kingdom of Italy
AE nummus
Obv: OD[O-VAC], bare-headed, draped bust right
Rev: Odoacer's monogram (letters ODOVA: “Odovacar”) within wreath
Mint: Ravenna
Date: 476-493 AD
Ref: RIC X 3502



Theodahad, Ostrogothic Kingdom
AR half-siliqua
Obv: D N IVSTI-NIAN AC, diademed, draped, cuirassed bust right
Rev: Monogram THEODAHATVS within wreath
Mint: Ravenna
Date: 534-536 AD
Ref: Metlich 61; MIB 55b; Ranieri 287



Baduila, Ostrogothic Kingdom
AE 2.5 nummi
Obv: Pearl-diademed, draped bust of Anastasius right
Rev: Monogram of Baduila
Mint: Ticinum
Date: 541-552 AD
Ref: MIB 87; Kraus 69; Metlich 94

 

Been looking for western Roman pieces like Severus. Do you mostly get these from bulk lots or individual buy em?

 

Monogram of Gelimer

 

I have a Leo

 

Lovely! I have a similar condition one on the way!

 

I bid on a Marcian last night but lost in the last few seconds

 

Marcianus (450-457), nummus (Constantinople)


Anastasius (491-518), nummus (Constantinople)


Justin II (565-578), pentanummium (Antioch)

 

Oh, I forgot this tiny little nummus from Emperor Anastasius. It's a bit crusty

 

Where are all the Greeks at?
Here's a few MSCs with multiple monograms:

 

These are far too rare to randomly appear in bulk lots. Severus is #156 on the ERIC rarity table - rarer than Nigrinian, and Gordians I & II, and you'll never find these in bulk lots either. A random unpicked-through lot of 10,000 coins would be unlikely to contain a single Libius Severus.

Miserable as coins of Libius Severus coins are, they generally sell for several hundred dollars.

Here's mine:


I will be selling it once i find a Libius Severus tremissis or solidus, as i'm not really a fan of small coins.

 

Well whenever you do, perhaps we can work something out; your example would be a nice upgrade to my current LS

 

No worries. I'm working on a project to upgrade my one-per-ruler collection. I'll let you know when my LS is available

 

Makes sense I would imagine gold for him looks way nicer.

 

I have almost the whole gang of monogram AE4's

Theodosius II


Marcian


Pseudo-Marcian


Libius Severus with Ricimer (and as much as I'm in the camp with @GregH about wanting his gold, IMO this is a keeper regardless because Ricimer's name isn't on the gold)


Anthemius


Leo


Zeno


Basiliscus (no Marcus)


Anastasius


And for good measure - pretty sure this one is Theoderic


Of the official monograms, I'm down to just Basiliscus and Marcus, Julius Nepos, and Aelia Zenonis. Zenonis is about the only one I have a snowball's chance of actually winning.

 

Be careful with Monogram western Roman coins, especially those after Libius Severus. Frequently i see them in the form of tooled Leos.

In my younger days i was fooled by this "Julius Nepos" which I paid far too much for:



It was attributed as:

Obverse: (DN) IVL (NEPOS PF AVG)
Reverse: monogram of Julius Nepos
RIC X 3222

What are the danger signs?
Well, the "IVL" on this coin is in an engraving style not typical of Roman bronzes of this size. This is likely a common 5th century Leo that has been re-engraved.

 

There is a pretty decent Julius on CNG at the moment. I think his coinage are the crown jewel of 5th Roman bronze right?