On Boxing Day, I thought you were supposed to give the postman a gift but here it worked the other way and I got two coins from two different sources that were predicted to arrive next Monday. Neither will thrill most of you so they get one thread. The first is 'My Favorite Coin' take 3. It is a denarius of Septimius Severus from the Emesa mint with a reverse legend copied from Pescennius Niger and one of the dies dated COS I. If you have not read my reasoning behind 'My Favorite Coin' by now you are either new here or don't care. I first wrote about this type in a magazine article in 1966. On my favorites page I show my first two: http://www.forumancientcoins.com/dougsmith/f01.html Of course, my favorite pages two, three and four are related coins with the IVST reverse so you could say any VICTOR IVST is a favorite for what time I have left in the hobby. Today's arrival is my third of this type with the COS I obverse. It also come with other early Emesa obverses (some of which I have; most of which Martin has) but the one I got when I was a teen is still 'My Favorite Coin'. The new one is yet another die set for the three. This one has a distinctively ragged looking IVST on the reverse. I do have the same obverse die with a different reverse type. There is no reason a sane person would want a third example of this coin but I never claimed to be sane. This one cost more than the 1963 one but less than the one I got in 2005 which is the worst specimen of the three. Will I buy a fourth one? Perhaps. How many of these exist? I don't know. I was wrong for years thinking the first was unique so there are probably a handful now. I can justify owning as many die sets as I find and am happy to have it. The second coin today was purchased simply because I thought it was worth more than the $21.75 postpaid it brought the eBay seller. I'm not hard to talk into any ancient if it is decent and cheap. Similar AE folles of Licinius with Jupiter have been shown on another thread today but this one is Maximinus II from Heraclea workshop A. Notice the double G at the end of the reverse legend indicates that there were multiple recognized Augusti (Licinius, Maximinus II and Constantine). This is one of the unusual Heraclea marks using HT for Heraclea Thracia. What other mintmark included the province? We learned previously that Victory was presenting Jupiter with a wreath but this Heraclea shows that wreath with a very long tie trailing down. Also different from the Siscia coins shown is my eagle's wreath which is opened into a curve. These coins are not always as well struck as the ones we have been seeing here. I'm happy to have this one, too. Neither of these made my top ten of the year (although the spare Septimius might get shown on that favorite page) but that is another post.
I like the detail on the Licinius for sure. I still can't figure out where you find all these SS Eastern minted coins. I look, but I rarely see any.
Ditto what Bing said about the Sep Sev eastern mint coins. And the reverse on that Maximinus II... wow!
I forgot to mention. Thanks to the CT member who tipped me on the Emesa coin. It is not a very nice example in terms of grade but it is appreciated here.
Nice Boxing Day score!! (man, I hope that you tipped your mailman for delivering those two winnas!!) => I really like the Maximinus II (and yes, I did think that it was a Licinius until I read your coin-description) ... oh, and that's a very sweet price!!
If you read between the lines on these, you see that the Maximinus II is rated scarce while the other two rulers are common. The issue that follows this at Heraclea was only in the name of Maximinus with no Licinius or Constantine versions. RIC separates them by before and after Maximinus took Heraclea. When he was just 'the other' Augustus, the mint was not making as many of his coins but when he broke the peace and took the town belonging to Licinius, he stopped the issues for his opponents. Throughout the period, various rulers maintained various degrees of peace and tension with the other rulers. It can be interesting to align the coins with the politics of the day and perhaps better understand why some are more scarce or less well made than others. Diocletian set up a system to run the huge empire most efficiently by splitting power up among men who would be quite happy to be the sole ruler. Diocletian was actually about the only guy who liked the system. After he retired it was just a matter of time until someone killed off the competition and took the whole package. That was Constantine. My Maximinus was from the beginning of the end for that ruler. 313 AD was an interesting year for fans of violence in government.
As far as other mint marks that include the province, are you referring specifically to Thrace, or another mint mark from another province? What should I be looking for?
I am unaware of any other example. That does not mean there is not one but you may be looking in vain.
Ha, well you sent me on a wild goose chase. I looked through every mint mark in RIC VI, VII, and VIII earlier today, to no avail. I was sure you were posing one of your infamous quiz questions.
