Featured A Stupendous Act of Generosity from a CT Member: 32 Ancients Show Up in the Mail

In January I received a PM from CT member tenbobbit, asking if I was interested in a batch of ancients. I told him I'd look them over, warning him I'm a cheapskate bottom-feeder and I didn't want to insult him with a lowball offer. He sent over the photos and said he wanted to send them to me for free! I was astonished - but agreed, of course. A few days later a huge envelope came in the mail...

In our PM's, tenbobbit asked that I don't get carried away on this post, so I will just say, as I told him, I haven't had this much fun opening a package since my 10th birthday when I got a Marx Blue & Gray Civil War playset (which I still have). Thank you, tenbobbit!

Each carefully, individually wrapped:




I've never had a big lot of ancients like this, and I found myself reacting in an array of ways as I opened up each one. I thought I would cover the various reactions I have to this collection - not necessarily the "best" coins, but the ones that best cover the range, and the ones that most delighted me.

So here goes, in no particular order (I'll keep the attributions to a minimum on some of these to save space):

Colors: Gordian III Æs: Here is a pair of Gordian III's, an as (RIC 298b) and a sestertius (RIC 307a). I've wanted an as from this reign for a while - they are a bit scarce compared to the big ones and I just hadn't come across a budget one (well, I did, but the eBay seller never shipped it, so I got a refund). Notable about these two are the dramatic patina on both - the green on the sestertius is great, but never had I seen one like on the as - a kind of slate-gray-blue. Just lovely!


Countermark! I am very fond of countermarks, and the extensive series of Antigonos II Gonatas. I have a couple of these, but this is my nicest one in terms of the host coin, which is of a lovely style (some of these can be a bit crude). It even has a lagobolon symbol on the right reverse - the Ancient Rabbit-Bashing Stick of the Greeks. A great face on that Pan, don't you think?





The Appeal of the Incomplete: Seleucid Æ 18: As soon as I opened this one up, I sort of swooned a bit. Seleucid Æs have really been appealing to me anyway - something about all that Greek lettering flanking a little god usually leaning on a tripod or a bow or sitting on an omphalos, usually not entirely on the flan. Here we have Hermes standing on a base.

Despite it's small size, this one has a kind of monumental-looking flan. It occurred to me that it reminds me of the Rosetta Stone - which is far more interesting to me broken than intact. Can't defend this appeal (or the collecting strategies behind it), but with ancients, there is something about the lost or the occluded that really turns me on. And this one is great, especially the reverse. I believe this is Demetrios III c. 97-87 B.C., SC 2456; Hoover 1312.


Rosetta Stone photo from Wikipedia, Hans Hillewaert


The Appeal of Place - Jerusalem?: Remarkably, out of the whole lot, only one coin had been over-cleaned. This one perhaps had suffered from bronze disease. It was still quite interesting, what with it's architectural reverse, but what really lit me up was when I found it was from Aelia Capitolina, what the Romans called Jerusalem after they'd sacked it for a second time. They scraped off the Temple Mount and put up a big temple to Jupiter. History and its catastrophes! This was very difficult to photograph - it looks much better in hand.


This appears to be a rather scarce variety, and so I am not 100% sure of the attribution, so I am including everything, including my rationales under the photo (a single Agora Auction listing). Any corrections, as always, would be appreciated.

Elagabalus Æ 23
(c. 218-222 A.D.)
Judea, Aelia Capitolina
[IMP] C M A ANTONIN[VS] radiate, draped, and cuirassed bust right / [COL AEL CAP?] in ex., temple, Tyche-Astarte standing left, holding small bust & scepter; two figures of Nike between columns.
(8.26 grams / 23 mm)

Attribution Note:

This type usually has reverse legend around temple; this one has it in the exergue. Only example I found was:
Agora Auction Lot 53-103.
cf. Kadman 31; cf. Meshorer, Aelia 53; cf. Sofaer 123.
Noted as "Unpublished in standard references"

Herennius Etruscus from Antioch: For a while now I have been watching CT posts of these Imperial tetradrachms from Antioch and I've been watching them on eBay, but they keep lofting out of my price range. Thanks to this wonderful gift, I not only have one, but it is from Herennius Etruscus, a guy who is kind of hard to find for a bottom-feeder like me. It took a little work attributing this, since it is a new type for me, but I think I figured it out: Prieur 632; McAlee 1153c with three dots below bust.




An Unlisted Faustina II Dupondius? This one is a bit of a puzzle - I could only find it as an As, but the weight would indicated a dupondius. It has a lovely green patina which hides the color of the original metal, so I was hoping Roman Collector would weigh in with one of his masterful analyses. I found one very similar to it in a Nachfolger auction (see below) - mine is actually heavier.

Faustina II Æ Dupondius
(161-176 A.D.)
Rome Mint
FAVSTINA AVGVSTA, draped bust right / [DIANA LVCIFERA] -C, Diana standing right holding long torch in both hands.
RIC 1632 var. (dupondius?)
(13.36 grams / 23 x 21 mm)
Attribution Note: This type is only listed in RIC as an as. But the weight of this specimen makes it likely it is a dupondius. See:
Dr. Busso Peus Nachfolger
E-Auction 420 Lot 5326 Nov. 18, 2017
dupondius (possible die match?), weight 11.76 grams.
https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=4550011

A Faustina I as was included (RIC 1178) - making for a nice mother-daughter pairing. Note the As is bigger than the dupondius, but weighs 9.62 grams.


Part II follows (10 photo limit maxed me out)...

 

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!!

Wow wow wow... that was an incredible gift!

 

Here is Part II of the marvelous lot of ancients sent me by tenbobbit:

A Somewhat Botched Maximianus follis: I really like these big LRB folles, but this one is even more special - if I am attributing it right, it is from the Rome mint (RIC VI Rome 63), where something bad happened between anvil and hammer and die - I'm not very good with errors, but I think this is a double-strike or broken die or something along those lines. This is a big 'un - 9.86 grams.


Silver! Back when I first started collecting, this is the kind of silver I sought - toning in the fields highlighting the devices and legends. I much prefer this look to flashy white stuff. This one has some heft too - 3.35 grams. RIC 362, Ceres reverse:


Bzyantine: There were four Byzantine AEs in this batch and they are all quite handsome. The two half folles of Justin II from Thessalonica are quite nice for this issue (better than the ones in my collection - note the cross above the K on one, Theta above the other).


My favorite is this big follis from Heraclius, Nicomedia mint (SB 833). This one has a dramatic drapery across the emperor's shoulders - I found one other example similar to this; most don't go the full Batman cape route.


A Big Ol' Sestertius and the Beauty of Less-than-Perfect: I just love these big chunks of brass. Antoninus Pius here has an interesting Pax reverse - rather than just standing around waving a branch, she is setting fire to a pile of arms (RIC 777).


The Lucilla (? I think this is RIC 1756) is not going to be to everyone's taste, as time has not been kind to her. But I just adore it - something about Venus de Milo and her missing arms is going on here. You can tell from the back of Lucilla's head and neck that some very fine art went into the production of this one. Attached to try and make my point is a famous Egyptian sculpture of a queen in yellow jasper at the Metropolitan Museum of Art - yeah, I hope they find the rest of her, but I really, really like her the way it is now.




Viminacium: Rounding out the Provincials, here are a pair from Viminacium, Herennia Etruscilla sestertius and a dupondius from Gordian III. An interesting series from an interesting place, I was especially pleased to add a Herennia Etruscilla to my collection - not the most common of Imperial women.


Finally, a Mystery: I posted this one separately in an effort to figure it out, and got a lot of help (thank you all). tenbobbit told me he too had been puzzled by it. Thanks to CTers and Andrejze at kwintocoins.com (now a fellow CTer). Bosporos? Macedonia Koinan? Not knowing can be appealing too...maybe someday... This was an attempt to take a better photo than in my OP.
https://www.cointalk.com/threads/un...d-shield-guy-with-wreath.353992/#post-4046515


The rest of them are great too. And once again, thanks to tenbobbit, a person I know only via Coin Talk, who thought to reach out and make me a very happy collector.

 

I've said it before. I will say it again....I love this forum and its members!

 

WOW!! @tenbobbit is such an awesome guy. Some great stuff there, I especially like the Gordian as, the countermarked Pan, the early Rome follis that's doublestruck, and "Batman Heraclius"! Plus the great mystery coin, of course!

 

Wow! What an act of generosity by @tenbobbit !!

It may well be a dupondius. RIC3 does not distinguish between the as and dupondius denominations for the Antonine women; rather, it just calls all the middle bronzes "as."

The British Museum has three examples of this coin, BMCRE4 nos. 974-976. The footnotes read, "974. Dupondius (?). 975. As. 976 ... Dupondius." Here's the relevant page (p. 539):

 

What a kind gift, and an excellent person to appreciate them.

 

Thank you RC - I knew I could count on you!

 

I think -- based on the early hairstyle -- that the Lucilla sestertius is this one, with the LVCILLAE AVG ANTONINI AVG F obverse inscription:


Lucilla, AD 164-169.
Roman orichalcum sestertius, 25.14 g, 31.6 mm, 4 h.
Rome, AD 164-166.
Obv: LVCILLAE AVG ANTONINI AVG F, bare-headed and draped bust, right.
Rev: PIETAS S C, Pietas standing left beside altar.
Refs: RIC 1756; BMCRE 1161-65; Cohen 72; RCV 5505; MIR 16.

This coin also comes with the later LVCILLA AVGVSTA inscription, RIC3 1755, BMCRE4 1209-1211, but with a different hairstyle. Here's the British Museum example.

 

Just further proof that CT has some of the coolest and most generous folks around! Coingrats to you and hats off to @tenbobbit.
Ps, agreed on your pan having an excellent face. Though it might not be Antigonus II
FYI, Recent scholarship indicates that the Pan types were issued past the death of Antigonos II, through the reigns of Demetrios II Aetolicus, Antigonos III Doson, and possibly even into Philip V’s reign. Furtwängler(Beobachtungen zurChronologie antigonidischerKupfermünzen im 3. Jh. V. Chr, Obolos 7 2004, pp. 277-290) assigns this issue to AntigonosIII Doson, who led Macedon’s last resurgence before its final defeat (to the Romans) under Philip and Perseus.
Here’s mine:


Antigonus II Gonatas or III Doson
229-221 BCE, AE19. 4.08g, 18mm.
Obv: Helmeted head of Athena right. c/m: prow
Rev: Pan right, erecting trophy to right; B-A across upper field, monogram of Antigonos between legs. In left field, Macedonian helmet; in right field, wreath.

Moushmov 7308; SNG Copenhagen 1205-11; SNG Alpha Bank 1017-1019; Furtwängler Group 18.

 

Thanks again RC...it seems I guessed right for once! I looked at a lot of Faustina II, Lucilla and Crispina buns while trying to make a good guess.

 

Thank you ryro - this is very interesting, and in my humble opinion, quite plausible. There certainly are a lot of these Pan-types out there, in a wide variety of styles, which would certainly indicated a long period of issue.

Now for the $38,000 question: what about the countermarks? These were extensively countermarked (usually with a helmet, but I've seen bull, deer, and people/god heads as well). The countermarks are typically placed neatly on Athena's helmet. But who? Why?

 

I believe this is a Philip V (note the diamond shaped Φ between Pan's legs):

(No longer my coin.) This is also an Antigonos III issue (according to Furtwängler). Here's what I wrote about the countermark: "We’re aware of one other example of this very rare countermark on a bronze of Perseus (179-168 BCE), published online by Ed Snible. Byzantion countermarked prows on silver in the late 3rd c. BCE (cf. the Büyükçekmece hoard), and a few Byzantion countermarks (not prows) exist on bronze from the same period (see Stancomb 2007 The Numismatic Chronicle Vol. 167, pp. 25-32). Normally the Byzantion countermarks include an ethnic, although this could be a later product of that city. Another intriguing possibility is that this is a Roman countermark from the Third Macedonian War, which saw the complete subjugation of Greece."

Walter Holt is doing a study of these interesting coins, including the countermarks, so hopefully we will have some new info soon!

 

Very interesting! This is new information for me and I appreciate your sharing it.

It so happens that I have one of those silver "prow" countermarks from Byzantion:



Byzantion Drachm
CM on Macedonian Kingdom
Philip III Arrhidaios drachm
Kolophon? (c. 323-319 B.C.)
Countermark: 280-225 B.C.
Head of Herakles right, wearing lion-skin. / FILIPPOU Zeus seated left, monogram (?) left.
Countermark: ΠU over prow.
SCGV 1585 (countermark)
(4.00 grams / 17 mm)

"This BY over prow countermark, along with a nearly identical (one) using an archaic form of B resembling Π, was used at Byzantium. David Sear notes, "at this time [after c. 280 B.C.], the Byzantines were subject to continual threats by
Gaulish invaders, who were bought off by the payment of huge annual tributes. The impoverished city had to resort to countermarking foreign coins in place of a proper currency." (FORVM)

Here are a couple of my Pan countermarks (helmets, I think):

 

WOW....great coins, very generous indeed.

 

This is a wonderful coin!!

 

That is a great counterstamp @Marsyas Mike . Yet to add an ancient counterstamped coin to the collection. I like that the prow is so prominent and easily identifiable. Very cool

 

What a spectacular way to begin the new year ! tenbobbit is a special person .

 

...wow...cudos to you and @tenbobbit ..blessed are those who give & receive...

 

I'm really impressed, congrats for a very nice gesture @tenbobbit !

Q