Hello friends, I have six coins to share with you today. I accept paypal, personal checks and money orders. Shipping is $4 for First Class Parcel with tracking in the US, international is whatever the post office charges me. Customers using paypal will be charged an additional 3.5% for the fee. I've got some great coins from last year's inventory that are marked down to move. Hope you like them! Please PM me if you're interested - I am not entertaining offers on these coins as they are already considerably discounted. ________________________________________ 1. I’m always on the hunt for good examples of these iconic fractional silvers of Kyzikos. This one is exceptionally well-centered and nicely struck with minimal wear and clean, slightly reticulated surfaces. A real gem. (They can get pretty damn rough.) This particular variety, with the letter eta on the boar, is a little more scarce than others. What a fantastic ancient Greek fractional! Make this the oldest (5th-century BC) and smallest (0.4g) coin in your collection. Sale: $85, reduced from $125 MYSIA, Kyzikos. AR Hemiobol, 10mm, 0.4g, 3h; c. 480-450 BC Obv.: Forepart of boar left; H on shoulder, tunny fish to right. Rev.: Head of roaring lion left. Reference: SNG France 376; SNG Copenhagen 48 var. (E on shoulder) ________________________________________ 2. Let’s go from miniscule to enormous! Here’s an octobol of Ptolemy Philopater, the fourth Pharaoh of the Ptolemaic Dynasty. Ptolemy IV was a weak ruler, who indulged in orgiastic religion and literary dilletantism - under his rule, the empire declined. He is said to have built the largest human-powered ship, a galley known as the tessarakonteres. This is a huge, thick coin, the largest denomination in the Alexandrian 5th series. Nice smooth surfaces with minor mineral deposits. Win show-and-tell! Sale: $195, reduced from $225 Ptolemy IV, 221-205 BC Æ Octobol, 40mm, 71.2g, 12h; Alexandria mint. Obv.: Head of Zeus-Ammon right. Rev.: Eagle standing left on thunderbolt, cornucopia to left. Reference: SNG Milano 216 ________________________________________ 3. During Classical antiquity, the Illyrians were loosely-allied tribes living on the West coast of the Adriatic Sea, in the area now comprised of Croatia, Bosnia, Montenegro, and Albania. Prior to their conquest by the Romans in 168 BC, they churned out bazillions of these cow-suckling-calf drachms. A Serbian friend of mine told me you can’t plant a flower without digging up one of these drachms! That might be an exaggeration, but they are quite common. They are also notorious for small flans and off-center strikes. This example is no exception, but the strike is quite solid and the surfaces pristine. I liked the detail in the cow, calf, and running hound. (These coins come with many different minor devices, and since the flans are always too small for the dies, the running hound is rarely seen.) For an in-depth discussion of ancient Illyrian coins, Gyula Petrányi has a wonderful website here - I recommend it highly. Sale: $40, reduced from $50 ILLYRIA, Dyrrhachion. Xenon, magistrate. AR Drachm, 19mm, 3.2g, 12h; after 229 BC. Obv.: ΞΕΝΩΝ; Cow standing right, looking back at calf which it suckles, [eagle above], hound running right below. Rev.: ΔYP ΦΙΛ[O-ΔA-M]OY; double stellate pattern. Reference: Ceka 362, BMC 131, 132 ________________________________________ 4. St. Paul's pocket change! Here’s an important Roman Provincial type for collectors of Biblical coinage, minted in 1st-century Philippi. From wiki's article on Philippi... According to the New Testament, in AD 49 or 50, the city was visited by the apostle Paul (Acts 16:9-10). From the Acts of the Apostles (Acts 16:12) and the letter to the Philippians (Philippians 1:1), early Christians concluded that Paul had founded their community. Accompanied by Silas, Timothy and possibly Luke, the author of the Acts of the Apostles, Paul is believed to have preached for the first time on European soil in Philippi (Acts 16:12-40). According to the New Testament, Paul visited the city on two other occasions, in 56 and 57. The Epistle to the Philippians dates from around 61-62 and is believed to show the immediate effects of Paul's instruction. This coin would have been in circulation during the time of Paul’s visits to Philippi. These issues were hastily made in large quantities, and they’re tough to find in collectible grades. On this example the centering is excellent, all the devices and lettering are on the coin, and the surfaces have an attractive, natural desert patina. Sale: $59, reduced from $70 Macedonia, Philippi, time of Claudius to Nero AE19, 3.4g, 12h; Philippi mint, AD 41-68. Obv.: VIC - AVG, Victory standing left on base holding wreath and palm. Rev.: COHOR PRAE PHIL, three standards. Reference: RPC I 1651, Varbanov III 3229. ________________________________________ 5. As you might guess, Hilaritas was the personification of joy and merriment. From the Dictionary of Roman coins... On most Roman coins this legend has for its accompanying type the figure of a matron, standing with a long foliaged branch of palm in her right hand, which she plants in the ground. - Green branches are the sign of gladness; and thence among all nations, on occasions of both public and private, it was the custom to ornament streets, temples, gates, houses, and even entire cities, with branches and leaves of trees. In her left hand Hilarity holds the cornucopiae; sometimes a patera supplies the place of a branch; sometimes a hasta; at other times a flower; but the palm is the most frequent and peculiar attribute. Here is a beautiful denarius of Julia Domna, the wife of emperor Septimius Severus, a woman of prodigious learning and political influence. Sale: $95, reduced from $115 Julia Domna, 193-217. AR Denarius, 20mm, 2.7g, 6h; Rome, c. 196-211. Obv.: IVLIA AVGVSTA; Draped bust of Julia Domna right. Rev.: HIL-A-RITAS; Hilaritas standing left, holding palm frond with her right hand and scepter with her left. Reference: RIC IVa 555, p. 167 ________________________________________ 6. SOLD Caracalla gave his soldiers quite a few bonuses, increasing their annual salary and lavishing upon them various benefits. On his deathbed, Septimius Severus had warned both Caracalla and Geta to always mind the soldiers and ignore everyone else. Caracalla both admired and feared the military, and he had good reason to fear them: many a Roman emperor had lost his rule at the hands of disgruntled soldiers. On coins of this period, the god of war, Mars, is seen either strutting mightily or posing. Here is a beautiful example of the posing god - this coin has excellent style, a solid strike, and lovely surfaces. Sale: $75, reduced from $100 Caracalla, AD 198-217 AR Denarius, 20mm, 2.8g, 12h; Rome Mint, AD 206 Obv.: ANTONINVS PIVS AVG; Laureate, draped bust right, seen from behind. Rev.: PONTIF TR P VIIII COS II; Mars, in military dress, standing left, resting right hand on shield and holding spear. Reference: RIC IVa 83, p. 225
