Recent rare hole fillers in my collection

Why do I care so much about trying to complete a collection that has been proven to be impossible to complete?!
And I know I'm not the only one...
That said, many of these characters don't really deserve their own write up as they didn't really do much, we don't know very much or they're just, well:

First off, finally completing my Skybox Suns set is the hardest looking sweaty, lanky, white guy, wearing glasses that you will ever see... Kurt Rambis!

(Flex on the Ram and the horns come out!)

Oh yeah, I got some coins too. I finally bought a decent Magnus Maximus, famous for losing Roman rule in England, with the Disneyland entrance campgate reverse:

Magnus Maximus AD 383-388. Aquileia
Follis Æ
12 mm, 0,90 g
very fine

Next up, they say you can't judge a book by its cover, buuut, between Felix's (LUCKY) eyebrows and mustache it's safe to say the man had a chest like a bear skin rug. And I just added one to cuddle up wi...I mean to my collection:

(If he chokes up on that bat anymore he'll be dusting off home plate with it)

Aaaand Johannes. A stop gap emperor who like the bizzaro world Alexander the Great lost every battle he was in:

JOHANNES
(423-425). Nummus. Rome.
Obv: D N IOHANNES P F AVG.
Diademed, draped and cuirassed bust right.
Rev: SALVS REI PVBLICE.
Victory advancing left, holding trophy and dragging captive; staurogram to left.
Weight: 1.00 g.
Diameter: 8 mm.

And now a rare card of the world's most blurry woman. That's right. You're not seeing some fancy effect from the prizm card makers. This Diamond will make you dizzy:

(Hopefully De shields on her face don't get in the way of De shots on De court)

And then some lady who we're still not sure whoes wife she was. A bald guy or more likely, his son, a short drunkard:

Magnia Urbica
Augusta, 283-285. Antoninianus (Billon, 24 mm, 4.13 g, 6 h), Rome. MAGN VRBICA AVG Diademed and draped bust of Magnia Urbica set to right on crescent. Rev. VENVS GENETRIX / KAS Venus standing front, head to left, holding plumed helmet (and not an apple) in her right hand and scepter in her left. Cohen 17. RIC 343. Areas of weakness and somewhat rough on the reverse, otherwise, good fine. Purchased from Leu Numismatik Dec 2021

And lastly, possibly the most rare of the group. A card that actually teaches while you look at it. Teaches the importance of wearing a cup:



And this Macrianus guy is pretty rare as well. Doesn't get much dorkier than a usurping fiscal officer. While marching Valerian's army back from Persia after that catastrophic failure he marched them right into a fight with a man who's name never ceases to make me chuckle, Aureolius, who soundly defeated and killed he and his son in Thrace. #winning

Macrianus
usurper, 260-261. Antoninianus (billon, 3.61 g, 20 mm), Samosata IMP C FVL MACRIANVS P F AVG: Bust of Macrianus, radiate, cuirassed, right. Rev. FORT REDVX Fortuna seated left, holding rudder and cornucopiae, star in left field. RIC 7; Cohen 5; Sear 10800. Very fine. Very rare.



Thanks for looking and learning with me. If you have any recent rarities, nerds, losers or boosers I'd love to see em

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

kool rare coins Ryro..i don't think ive heard or seen one or 2 of those...and i lQQk cause that's is/was(i'm putting it on hold for a bit to collect elsewhere) my goal also...'To Get Them All'...rated PG

 

Very good additions, Ryro. I like the feeling when adding a new face in the collection!
On my last auction, scheduled to arrive on Tuesday as Fedex didn't manage to be as fast as they usually are (grrrr) I concentrated in getting new rulers.
Herennia Etruscilla, Severina, Carus, Carinus, Numerian, Diocletian (yep, no Diocletian for me until this auciton) and a Volusian sestertius.

Here is the Herennia Etruscilla coin, not the best coin you'll see but I liked the portrait and I think it simply has character + nice coloring.


Herennia Etruscilla AD 249-251. Rome
As Æ
26 mm, 8,79 g
Date Range: AD 249 - AD 251
HERENNIA ETRVSCILLA AVG, bust of Herennia Etruscilla, diademed, draped, right / PVDICITIA AVG S C, Pudicitia, draped, veiled, seated left, drawing veil with right hand, holding sceptre in left hand
RIC IV Trajan Decius 136c

I checked auctions archives for this coin and it's not an expensive one (although I am very happy for getting it for 10 EUR). Even if I am fully aware that RIC rarity rating is not always relevant, I don't know how to interpret the RIC rarity for it, perhaps somebody could help.

 

Thanks! And very nice! I like her hair and 10 is a freaking steal
Here's my mint flavored coin of her:

Herennia Etruscilla - Roman Empress wife of Trajan Decius - Bronze 25mm (11.31 grams) Roman Colony of Viminacium, MOESIA SUPERIOR
Reference: Moushmov 48, SNGCop 164, SGI 4220. --
HER ETRVSCILLA AVG, draped bust right on crescent moon
P M S COL VIM, Moesia standing left between bull & lion, AN XII in ex. Former SAVOCA coin

And is love to see your Carus (tiara who we thought was Magna Urbica's hubby, but now they think it's his son's wife.
Anyways, his coins crack me up on account of him being the only emperor, aside for Gordian II, to show off being bald. Something the original Caesar tried so hard to cover up

CARUS

282-283 CE Antoninianus. Rome.
Obv: IMP C M AVR CARVS P F AVG.
Radiate and cuirassed bust right.
Rev: VIRTVS AVGG / ΓKA.
Mars standing left with shield and spear.
RIC 45.

And if course, the crying Cubby chuck C!

 

Speaking of nerds trying to collect one of each emperor, and of losers who get lucky sometimes ...



What's that, @Ryro, how am I coming with my own "one of each emperor collection"???

Well ...



I have made plenty of purchases for the "sake of completeness," which is to say I'm filling a hole in my Faustina collection. You say these coins "don't really deserve their own write up," but I say ...



No matter how mundane the space-filler, I can do a write-up, and even get it featured!! Here's the space-filler I'm talking about!!


Faustina I, AD 138-140.
Roman Æ as or dupondius, 9.30 g, 25.6 mm, 11 h.
Rome, AD 150.
Obv: DIVA FAVSTINA, bare-headed and draped bust, right.
Rev: AVGVSTA S C, Aeternitas-Diana with crescent on head, advancing left, with right hand holding starry veil which billows around head, and lighted torch in left hand.
Refs: RIC 1183; BMCRE 1587; Cohen —; RCV 4650; Strack 1284; Hunter 112.

Yep ...

 

Good stuff! Those ultra-late campgates look like Dr. Seuss illustrations to me.

 

Etruscilla's bronze PVDICITIA issues aren't as rare as RIC would make you think, but I'd call them scarce. They are difficult to find in higher grades. Here's the as in my collection, for example:

 

A decent coin and for me, two birds with one stone as I was looking also for a Spes reverse.

Carus AD 282-283. Struck December AD 282 - February AD 283. Ticinium
Antoninianus Æ
22 mm, 3,36 g
IMP CARVS P F AVG, bust of Carus, radiate, cuirassed, right / SPES PVBLICA, Spes, draped, walking left, holding flower in right hand and raising robe with left hand
Mintmark: /-//SXXI
RIC V Carus 82

@Roman Collector - thanks.
I knew they weren't rare as I found them in archive records and the prices obtained for average coins (better than mine) suggest the rarity is not spectacular.
I don't understand however why doesn't the RIC show any rarity index (again - I don't rely on this too much but I like checking in RIC)

 

Good call! Definitely something Seussian going on here:


Another hole filler:

Camera guy to Ron, "Hold the bat like you've never held a baseball bat before in your life."
Ron nailing it!

 

Yeah, but collecting all the Faustinas or MSCs is a noble endeavor. All the emperors is kinda...
Thanks for saying it so I didn't have to Kramer.

Speaking of hole filling in our specialized areas, I got this rare early Roman emperial beauty from Marc Breitsprecher:

MACEDON, Koinon of Macedon. Pseudo-autonomous issue. temp. Claudius to Nero, AD 41-68. Æ Assarion (13.5mm, 2.30 g, 12h). Beroea mint. Nike, holding wreath and palm frond, alighting left / Macedonian shield. RPC I 1621.

Speaking of having a featured article... been some time some any of mine have made the cut

Another hole filler for my 77 Padres collection Markie Lee staring at the sun thinking his massive glasses would protect his eyes. Nope. They just enhanced its intensity

 

Nice scores! I love those quirky little Mag max campgates.

MAGNUS MAXIMUS
AE4. 0.9g, 14mm. Arles (Arelate) mint, AD 383-388. RIC IX Arelate 29a1. O: D N MAG MAXI-MVS P F AVG, diademed, draped and cuirassed bust right. R: SPES RO-MA-NORVM, campgate with star between two turrets; SCON in exergue.

 

Thanks! That's a beauty
Now I've seen stars before:


but the thing atop the gate in your coin is either the Floating spaghetti monster:


or Cthulhu:

 

. Or, the forerunner of a certain spike protein virus we've all come to hate.

 

=




I can just read his mind, "Does this thing make me look stupid?"

Of course it does, Jay, of course it does.

 

I have so many holes in my collection......but at least have no coins with "holes" in them
Reggie put a few holes in the Dodgers/ Game six/ 3 homers to give the Yankees World Series Title in Oct. 8th.1977

 

@Ryro......Great additions....Very nice Magnus Maximus and that Magnia Urbica is always a difficult lady to find...Congrats on filling these holes mpressive!...

I didn't have an Augustus portrait in my collection hence my new avatar..Needed a Domitia and also picked up a Macrianus with a different reverse to the op.

Spain, Kelse-Celsa. Augustus. 27 BC-14 AD. AE Unit (10.98 gm, 28mm). Velilla de Ebro (Zaragoza) mint.
Obv.: IMP. CAESAR. DIVI. F. AVGVSTVS. COS. XII, laureate head right.
Rev.: CN. DOMIT. C. POMPEI. II. VIR. C. V I. CEL, bull standing right. Abh. 811. VF.

Phrygia, Eumeneia (near Civril, Turkey). Domitia, 81-96 AD. Bronze AE 15mm (2.47 gm).
Obv.: ΔOMITIA CEBACTH, Draped bust right. Hair rolled in front and in que behind,
Rev.: ΚΛ• ΤEΡEΝΤΥΛΛΑ ΑΡΧΙE /EΥΜE-ΝE-ΩΝ, Kybele enthroned to left, Patera in extended right hand, resting left forearm and hand on Tympanum (drum) at near side
RPC II 1388. Rare. gVF.

Macrianus. 260-261 AD. AE Antoninianus (3.31 gm, 22mm). Antiochia mint.
Obv. IMP C FVL MACRIANVS P F AVG, radiate, cuirassed bust right.
Rev.: SPES PVBLICA, Spes, draped, standing left, holding flower in her outstretched right hand, raising skirt with her left hand. RIC V 13; MIR 44, 1743b; RSC 13.

 

@Ryro : I think your campgate coin is from Arlate. TCO(N) you can read . Aquileia gives SMAQP and SMAQS for Mag Maximus.

 

Herennia Etruscilla As, RIC-136c: the omitted rarity code is probably just a misprint.

Cohen's prices for bronzes of this type: Sest. 8 fr., dup. 5 fr., As 5 fr.

RIC's rarity ratings in volumes 1-5 were often heavily dependent on Cohen's franc prices for the same coins

 

Nice little bronze. Magnus Maximus is one of the more interesting late Roman Emperors imo.
A tripe obverse die match for MM.

Magnus Maximus Siliqua
Trier mint
weight 2.05 grams

Magnus Maximus Siliqua
Trier mint
weight 1.96 grams




Magnus Maximus
Trier mint 2.11 grams

 

Thanks for bringing back this thread I had fun putting it together.
And what a beautiful Siliqua of Mag Max
No relation to Mad Max, sadly

Here's another LRB usurper who just didn't have what it took. Often described as the brother of Magnentius, I believe this is just an assumption due to them being Co-usurpers. But cannot remember where I read this.
Much like Dick Tidrow's mustache, many may be surprised to find with Decentius, there was a man underneath:

(One might even say that Decentius was a Dick Tidrow-man)