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Message:: [QUOTE="Curtisimo, post: 7885974, member: 83845"]Last month I posted a <a href="https://www.cointalk.com/threads/a-group-of-interesting-coins-greek-edition.384390/" class="internalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.cointalk.com/threads/a-group-of-interesting-coins-greek-edition.384390/">Greek Edition</a> of coins I found interesting but hadn’t yet posted to the forum.  This month I have a group of Roman coins that fall into three of the most popular collecting themes in Roman numismatics.<ul> <li>Hadrian’s Travel Series</li> <li>Falling Horseman</li> <li>Tetrarchy Folles</li> </ul>I hope you will all enjoy another vignette style write up. A Less Common Travel Series Denarius![ATTACH=full]1360284[/ATTACH] Roman EmpireHadrian, AD 117-138.AR Denarius, 18mm, Rome mint, struck AD 134-138.Dia.: 18 mmWt.: 3.15 gObv.: HADRIANVS AVG COSIII PP; Laureate head right.Rev.: ITA-LIA, Italia standing left, holding sceptre and cornucopiae.Ref.: RIC II 307; BMC 853; RSC 869Ex DePew Collection The “Travel Series” coins of Hadrian are a popular and well known series so I won’t rehash the background. I will say that the most popular types referring to Hadrian’s travels come in three forms: a personification shown with attributes of the region, the emperor lifting up the kneeling personification, and Hadrian’s ship.  I have always found the personification with attributes (like the OP) to be particularly interesting. The personification of Italy with scepter and cornucopia may seem like just another boring “someone standing there” type, but I find it interesting in this case. For one, Italy is not often shown personified in ancient art outside of coins. Second, the scepter is significant because it represents Italy’s sovereignty over the other parts of the empire.  This is perhaps not as aggressive a message as some of the coins showing Italy literally sitting on top of the world but it does show the high esteem reserved for the capitol region of the empire at this time.[ATTACH=full]1360288[/ATTACH] Left: A gold scepter from Southern Italy from the late Classical or early Hellenistic period.  Scepters were commonly associated with kingly authority including Zeus and Jupiter (photo courtesy of the <a href="https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/G_1872-0604-842" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/G_1872-0604-842" rel="nofollow">British Museum</a>) Right: Italia holding scepter as mark of authority. Just like he did in the provinces, Hadrian took a tour of Italy in ca. AD 126/7. While traveling he dispensed imperial favors which included construction projects, public works improvements and support for local religious sites all over Italy.  During this time he also oversaw construction or completion of two of the most famous Roman buildings in Italy: the Pantheon in Rome and the sprawling villa that bears his name in Tivoli. [ATTACH=full]1360289[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=full]1360290[/ATTACH] Pantheon, Rome: I took both of the above photos while in Italy in 2018.  The facade of the Pantheon famously states that it was made by Agrippa but the reconstruction of the current building was actually finished by Hadrian after an earlier building was destroyed in a fire.  The beautiful interior retains a lot of its ancient design elements due to the fact that it was consecrated as a Christian church in AD 609 and spared severe looting and destruction. (Author's photos) [ATTACH=full]1360291[/ATTACH]Maritime Theatre (Hadrian's Villa): Hadrian had an eye for architecture and this building may be one of the best showcases of his style.  This unconventional building is built around a circular, artificial island connected to the rest of the villa by bridges that Hadrian could remove if he wanted privacy.  Access to this building was probably restricted to Hadrian and his inner circle (pun totally intended). (Author's photo) [ATTACH=full]1360292[/ATTACH]Grand Thermae (Hadrian's Villa):  This impressive structure is one of several baths constructed around the villa.  The interior is one of the most impressive ancient spaces I have been in. (Author's photo) Despite a bit of honest circulation wear, the above coin is a great example of the high quality artistic style that marks Hadrian’s reign. This is particularly true of the nice style portrait. [ATTACH=full]1360293[/ATTACH] Bust of Hadrian:  I took this photo at the Uffizi Gallery in Florence. (Author's photo) A Falling Horseman with Nice Detail[ATTACH=full]1360285[/ATTACH] Roman EmpireConstantius IIAE Centenionalis, Heraclea mint, struck ca. AD 350-355Dia.: 22.5 mmWt.: 5.3 gObv.: DN CONSTAN-TIVS PF AVG; Diademed, draped and cuirassed bust rightRev.: FEL TEMP RE-PARATIO; Γ in left field, SMH (?) in exergue; Helmeted soldier spearing fallen horseman who is reaching back. Hair in braids, no beard. Plain shields.Ref.: RIC 82 Heraclea The Falling Horseman type is one of if not the most common of all ancient coins and has a huge number of variations.  It also has an interesting reverse design which is well showcased by a relatively large flan size. As such it is one of the most popular types to collect as can be seen by the number of CT members who specialize in it. This coin cost me less than a meal at a fast food restaurant and yet still has plenty of nice detail.  It lacks the mint mark which led me to have to do some research in order to make an educated guess about the mint and reference number.  Two sources I found very helpful were Doug Smith's webpage and the Helvetica page (particularly the spreadsheet to help ID).<ul> <li><a href="https://www.forumancientcoins.com/dougsmith/fh.html" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.forumancientcoins.com/dougsmith/fh.html" rel="nofollow">https://www.forumancientcoins.com/dougsmith/fh.html</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.catbikes.ch/helvetica/feltemps.htm" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://www.catbikes.ch/helvetica/feltemps.htm" rel="nofollow">http://www.catbikes.ch/helvetica/feltemps.htm</a></li> </ul>I consider my horseman to be “hair in braids, no beard” and “reaching." Along with other details, such as the legend breaks, this helped me narrow this coin down to a few options. Based on the style (and the plain shields) I assigned this coin to Heraclea and even more tentatively to RIC 82.  This was a fun and educational exercise made possible by a purchase of less than $10. The other item that fascinates me about these is the ability to associate the horseman with a specific Roman adversary (i.e. Parthian, Germanic etc.).  I have seen this alluded to in the sources above but I have not seen a study that lays this out clearly.  I would be very interested to read such a study if it exists. A Tetrarch and a Provenance Challenge[ATTACH=full]1360286[/ATTACH] Roman EmpireGalerius as AugustusAE Follis, Antioch mint, struck AD 309Dia.: 24.7 mmWt.: 6.06 gObv.: IMP C GAL VAL MAXIMIANVS P F AVG; laureate head rightRev.: GENIO IMP-ERATORIS; Genius, nude but for chlamys over left shoulder, standing front, head to left, holding patera from which flows in right hand and cornucopia in left; O over I in right field, ANT in exergueRef.: RIC VI Antioch 112aEx Minotaur Coins. Part of a Swiss collection formed in the 1960s and 70s with ticket Folles of the tetrarchy are a fun collecting field because they are not very expensive, have a wide range of mints striking for multiple emperors and are great in hand because of their size.  This coin was struck for Galerius at a time when the tetrarchy system had already started to break down. One of the things that draws me to the coin is the challenge of finding a provenance. This coin was listed as coming from a Swiss collection formed in the 1960s and 1970s purchased from Numiphil Basel.  Some of the tags from that sale had “Numiphil Basel” on them but this one did not.  I have no knowledge of this auction house or dealer.  Does anyone recognize the name of the auction house or the recognize the tag? [ATTACH=full]1360287[/ATTACH] Any info would be much appreciated! Please Pile On!With these three popular coin types I am hoping it will encourage a fun pile on thread!  Please feel free to post your;<ul> <li>Hadrian Travel Series</li> <li>Falling Horseman</li> <li>Tetrarchy Folles</li> <li>Any coins related to travel / Hadrian / FEL TEMPs / old collector tickets...</li> <li>Or anything else you want to post!</li> </ul>[/QUOTE]

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