At last! I literally bought these coins on the Christmas eve, and only received them today! I'll be honest here, I got them from an Eastern European dealer who was selling a bunch of metal detecting finds on eBay, While I advice beginners to stay away from such sellers, if you know what you're looking for, then deals can be made, such as these two that caught my eyes, an early Hadrian denarius, with an unusual reverse as well as legends! and a very worn Aelius denarius that I practically stole for 20 bucks! Ar denarius, 118 AD Obv: IMP CAESAR TRAIAN HADRIANVS AVG Rev: P M TR P COS DES III (AET AVG) Aeternitas standing, holding heads of Sol and Luna Ar denarius 137 AD Obv: L AELIVS CAESAR Rev: TR POT COS II, Felicitas standing, holding caduceus in left, and cornucopia in right.
Nice coins for a very good price! Shipping from Europe is just going take longer, fraught with delays, given the immediate, serious crisis in Eastern Europe, along with sharp spikes in fossil fuel costs, which might affect the number of flights between the US and Europe. I did have luck with a FedEx delivery from Spain, which took about a week, but I'm not counting on that happening again.
While the coins arrived in my country on Jan 20, the rail line that connects eastern cities to my city that's on the West got cut off due to floods, and all the freights, including postage were stopped for more than a month, even the supermarket shelves were cleaned! which did not happen even during lockdowns!
Nice coins, @JayAg47 - well worth the wait. That Hadrian type is really interesting - I have a beater of the type: As it so happens, I just got my first Aelius denarius too - worn, but I could afford it: Aelius (Caesar) Denarius (137 A.D.) Rome Mint [L A]ELIVS CAESAR, bare head right / TR P[OT C]OS II, [C]ONCORD in exergue, Concordia seated left holding patera, resting arm on cornucopiae. RIC II, 3 Hadrian 2625; (old RIC II, Hadrian 436a). (2.73 grams / 17 x 15 mm) eBay Feb. 2022 Cks As for foreign shipments, this sestertius of Commodus is kind of awful, but I really liked the portrait, and because of the somewhat unusual reverse type, I was able to identify it, despite the loss of its legends. And it's green. Do you want to hear my other excuses? I like the portrait. And it was cheap. Anyway, it shipped from Hungary - Feb. 14 to March 1st, when it arrived in my local Post Office. However, the local PO sent it on to another town within the state! After that, from March 1 to the 5th it made it back to me, after some time in the missent pile. Commodus Æ Sestertius (190 A.D.) Rome Mint [M COMMOD ANT P FELIX AVG BRIT P P], laureate head right / [GEN AVG FELIC TR P XV IMP VIII COS VI] S C, Genius standing left, holding patera & cornucopiae, altar at left. RIC III 561; BMCRE 645. (16.20 grams / 25 x 24 mm) eBay Feb. 2022 (Hungary) Notes: Despite obliterated legends, this attribution seems to be the only possible one for the reverse type.
