Featured 8 Dollar Ancients?!?! Yes Please!

Discussion in 'Ancient Coins' started by furryfrog02, Sep 20, 2021.

  1. furryfrog02

    furryfrog02 Well-Known Member

    As most of you know, I tend to dredge the bottom in terms of ancient coins. Sometimes I find treasure though and I wanted to share my recent treasures with you.

    Ladies first. She was part of a 5 coin lot and was actually only $5 but the alliteration for the title wasn't as nice :)
    Helena, AE3, Cyzicus, SAECVRITAS REIPVBLICE, SMKB.png
    Helena
    AE follis
    Cyzicus
    324-325 AD
    Obverse: FL HELENA-AVGVSTA, draped bust right with double-row pearl diadem, and necklace
    Reverse: SECVRITAS-REIPVBLICE, Securitas standing left holding branch and hem of robe.
    Mintmark SMKB

    Next is a group of 4 coins that were just listed as "Ancient Roman Coins". I looked closer and was pretty excited to see what I saw. I won this lot of 4 coins for $32.01...or $8 a piece. I think I did pretty alright.

    In alphabetical order:
    Aurelian, Antoninianus, CONCORDIA MILITVM, Siscia, S XXI.png
    Aurelian
    AE Antoninianus
    Siscia
    274-275 AD
    Obverse: IMP C AVRELIANVS AVG, radiate, cuirassed bust right
    Reverse: CONCORDIA MILITVM, Aurelian and Concordia facing and clasping hands, S between.
    Mintmark: XXI


    This was incorrectly attributed as Galerius. From what I see on vcoins, this is worth much more than $8.
    Maximinus II, Follis, GENIO AVGVSTI, ANT.png
    Maximinus II
    AE Follis
    312 AD
    Obverse: IMP C GAL VAL MAXIMINVS P F AVG, laureate head right
    Reverse: GENIO AVGVSTI, Genius standing left, holding head of Sol and cornucopiae; star left, H right.
    Mintmark: ANT


    A Numerian for $8?? And from what I can tell, the MARS VICTOR reverse is fairly uncommon. Win/win.
    Numerian, Antoninianus, MARS VICTOR, Lyons.png
    Numerian
    AE Antoninianus
    Lyons
    284 AD
    Obverse: IMP C M AVR NVMERIANVS AVG, radiate draped bust right
    Reverse: MARS VICTOR, Mars walking right, holding spear and trophy, C in right field


    Another fairly uncommon emperor. This is, I believe, a quarter follis as the weight is 1.84g and it is 19mm diameter.
    Severus II, AE Quarter Follis, GENIO POPVLI ROMANI, SIS.png
    Severus II
    Quarter Follis
    305-306 AD
    Obverse: SEVERVS NOB C, laureate head right
    Reverse: GENIO POPVLI ROMANI, Genius standing left, modius on head, with chlamys over left shoulder, holding patera and cornucopiae
    Mintmark: SIS


    Thanks for looking! Any comments are welcome - especially if I got attributions wrong.

    Let's see some of your cheap treasures!
     
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  3. Mammothtooth

    Mammothtooth Stand up Philosopher, Vodka Taster

    Very nice Frog, looks like you kept your legs!
     
    +VGO.DVCKS and furryfrog02 like this.
  4. happy_collector

    happy_collector Well-Known Member

    That's a very nice pickup, @furryfrog02. Wonderful Helena follis. :)
     
    furryfrog02 likes this.
  5. hotwheelsearl

    hotwheelsearl Well-Known Member

    I've got some excellent coins for 8 bucks.

    Claudius with nearly full silvering:
    Claudius II RIC 266.JPG


    High silver Gallienus with an awesome reverse:
    Gallienus AR Ant RIC Milan 511.JPG
    Incredibly gorgeous Quintillus with toning. This is worth 10x that, easy.
    Quintillus RIC 76.JPG

    Strong silver on an uncommon FIDES Victorinus.
    Victorninus RIC 109 silvered.JPG
     
  6. furryfrog02

    furryfrog02 Well-Known Member

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  7. furryfrog02

    furryfrog02 Well-Known Member

    I was really happy to get this one. My daughter has complained at the severe lack of girls in our coin collection. She was glad to have a nice one to add :)
     
  8. ominus1

    ominus1 Well-Known Member

    that's just a good deal FF2...i love a good buy/deal...:)..i bought this Tacitus silvered covered still in the dirt it was found in for 10 bucks:) (its so good to be able to post pics again^^) IMG_0507.JPG IMG_0508.JPG
     
    Last edited: Sep 20, 2021
  9. Roman Collector

    Roman Collector Well-Known Member

    Wow, @furryfrog02! You made out like a bandit! Numerian and Sev Deuce, even! All of them have lovely patinas, too. What a score!
     
    furryfrog02 likes this.
  10. furryfrog02

    furryfrog02 Well-Known Member

    Have you thought of cleaning it up? I like it with the dirt but I think it would probably clean up beautifully.
     
    ominus1 likes this.
  11. ominus1

    ominus1 Well-Known Member

    ..heck no...but yeah...i will probably will one of these days...:)
     
    furryfrog02 likes this.
  12. furryfrog02

    furryfrog02 Well-Known Member

    Right?? I am still a bit in shock. I can't find any examples of my coins that sold for less than 4x-5x what I paid.
     
    Roman Collector likes this.
  13. furryfrog02

    furryfrog02 Well-Known Member

    The fact that it features Victory makes it even better :)
     
    ominus1 likes this.
  14. cmezner

    cmezner do ut des Supporter

    Got this Elagabalus for a bit more than $8 - it was in a lot of 11 pcs, each for $15. The reverse is really of the color shown which I like every much

    Æ Pentassarion, Moesia Inferior, Markianopolis, 218 - 222 AD, Legate Sergius Titianus
    There are more coins of Elagabalus issued by Julius Antonius Seleucus than by Sergius Titianus, possibly just due to the longer period of time that Seleucus was Legate.

    11.232 g, 25 x 25 mm
    Ref.: Varbanov 1470 (?) not sure if this attribution is right

    Ob.: AVT K M AVP C ANTΩΝEΙΝΟC laureate and draped bust right
    Rev.: VΠ CEPΓ TITIANOY ΜΑΡΚΙΑΝΟΠΟΛΙΤΩΝ Nemesis-Dikaiosyne standing left holding scales and cornucopia, wheel at her feet

    upload_2021-9-20_20-50-44.png upload_2021-9-20_20-51-5.png
     
  15. Victor_Clark

    Victor_Clark all my best friends are dead Romans Dealer

    I bought a group of 18 mostly lower grade coins found metal detecting for $63; but only wanted this coin. Averaged out it was about $3.50, but many of the others were in pretty sad condition.

    RIC_VII_London_1.jpg

    Constantine I
    A.D. 314
    20mm 2.8gm
    IMP CONSTANTINVS AVG; laureate and cuirassed bust right.
    ADVENTVS AVG N; Emperor mounted l., raising r. hand and holding spear; S-F across fields.
    in ex. PLN
    RIC VII London 1; LMCC 8.02.001
     
  16. furryfrog02

    furryfrog02 Well-Known Member

    That's an interesting reverse, @Victor_Clark .
    The other 4 coins that came with the Helena were not the best, but this was the other one that made the purchase worth it for me:

    The obverse is kind of cruddy but the Victory reverse is pretty nice :)
    slazzer-edit-image (43).png
    Cyzicus, AE follis. 2.49 g. CONSTANTINOPOLI, laureate, helmeted bust of Constantinopolis left, wearing imperial cloak, holding reversed spear / Victory standing left, foot on prow, holding sceptre and resting left hand on shield. Mintmark dot SMKΓ.
     
  17. Victor_Clark

    Victor_Clark all my best friends are dead Romans Dealer

    Your coin is from Heraclea. Note how the right side of the H is straight up and down and the center line is completely straight. If it was a K, the right side would be slanted up to the right at top and down to right at bottom and no straight center line. I have attached a Heraclea and Cyzicus for comparison.

    Heraclea120.jpg

    Cyzicus108.jpg
     
  18. dougsmit

    dougsmit Member

    Overall, I'd say you did well but my experience reselling lower grade coins suggests to me you should plan on passing those on to the young collectors in your house. VCoins is not a very good place to check values, IMO, and I have seen coins listed there for more than a year suggesting that the market agrees with me. In any business there are multiple ways of making a profit. One is to sell thousands making a few cents on each; the other is to make a giant killing selling one item. In all honesty, listing high and selling a few is easier since you don't have to replenish your stock as often. I recall a dealer who had a very good day at a show who was concerned that he had to buy something at that show or it would not be worth setting up at the show he contracted for the next weekend. Your coins are fully identifiable and interesting which make them worth every bit of their cost. The Helena is nice. What women would your daughter like to see added to her collection? There are rather few 'daughters' available compared to the wives and mothers. How many can you name that were not also, perhaps later, also a wife or mother. Didia Clara for $8 may be a problem. Keep looking. Point out to her that there are many females on the reverses of the coins. I'm fond of all the Minerva coins I have.
     
  19. ambr0zie

    ambr0zie Dacian Taraboste

    The most interesting cheap ancient coin I bought individually, for an entire 7 EUR+ premium is
    upload_2021-9-21_11-12-29.png

    CILICIA, Kelenderis (ca 425-400) AR Obol
    Horse prancing right
    Rev: KE Goat crouching left, looking backwards.
    SNG von Aulock 5643; Göktürk 9; SNG France 116; Demeester 143.
    0,55 g, 9 mm

    But in my first lot of 34 ancient coins, that costed 130 EUR including fees and shipping, I found interesting things such as
    upload_2021-9-21_11-20-1.png

    upload_2021-9-21_11-20-28.png

    upload_2021-9-21_11-20-54.png

    upload_2021-9-21_11-21-22.png
     
  20. Harry G

    Harry G Well-Known Member

    I've caught a few bargains - mostly on eBay. Here are a few of my favourites :)

    2 Aurelian DACIA FELIX antoniniani with almost full silvering. Bought in a lot of 100 other ants for about £3.50 each. I didn't know these were in there before I bought it (I have also since removed most of the blue stuff)
    Picture1.png
    Rare Carausius antoninianus with his bust left holding eagle tipped sceptre. Horrible condition, but it cam with about 8 other coins, and cost me £20ish total
    Carausius bust left 2.png

    Another Carausius antoninianus, this time overstruck on an antoninianus of Victorinus (you can just see his bust facing right on the reverse). £25 on eBay
    carausius overstruck.png
    Another Carausius antoninianus, this one barbarous, but with wolf & twins reverse. £12 on eBay
    carausius wolf and twins.png

    Another coin I made a post about recently. A rare antoninianus of Gallienus, VICT GAL AVG reverse. I think this came in a lot of about 20 coins, and cost me about £20 in total
    gallienus VICT GAL AVG.png

    An interesting barbarous antoninianus of Tetricus II, giving him the full title of "CESAR" in the obverse legend. Came with 2 other barbarous coins on eBay for £5 each
    tetricus ii as cesar.png

    One of my better scores is this antoninianus of Vabalathus for his sole reign. £30 on eBay, described as unresearched
    Vabalathus ant.png

    My biggest score is probably this follis of Decentius. It had horrible eBay pictures, so I got it (and 2 other okay coins) for £12. I don't collect these, so I consigned it to Roma. It sold for £480
    decentius 3.jpg
     
  21. furryfrog02

    furryfrog02 Well-Known Member

    Thanks for fixing me!
     
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