ANCIENTS: A very small coin show

Today I went to a coin show that I never would attend except it was 5 miles from my home and I was bored. There was one dealer with ancients (he had everything from US to tokens to foreign tokens and just plain junk). I bought two coins although I knew I would be disappointed. All his ancients were in those stapled cardboard 2x2's so you really had to guess what was inside. Neither coin looks as good out of the shiny celophane but both look better than my first photo attempt.

Best is my first added Parthian Bronze in years. It is Orodes I AE 15 with horse reverse. These are usually junky so this is not all that bad.

The other is a slight upgrade of my Julian II bull from Arles and has a patina with shine that is going to require reshooting until I get it right. I'm too tired now and should know better than even to try.

 

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Nice coins, like the bull especially.

 

I like the Julian. :yes:

 

I'll pile on. The Julian is not a bad coin at all.

 

They're nice coins. The offering was better than the small coin show I went to last week, which was a big fat zero.

 

I think JUlian is just camera shy :/ Nice additions Doug

 

Notice that Randy's is Constantinople while mine is Arles AKA Constantia. Arles was the only one that added the eagle in front of the bull.

 

Great coin, Doug (oh, and randygeki) ...

=> the addition of the eagle is very cool (I wish I'd known that when I bought my Julian!! ... *rats*)

=> here is my eagle-less version (but I'm still pretty happy with it):

 

Nice to find a few gems in a small show, when you buy online you have to go by the pic. hoping the light is right, buy at a show you can hold them look at from every angle, the best part you can make a deal, our show is in its last day, looking to make that last deal before they go...:smile

 

Lucky. All i usually find is corroded lrb.

My son is named Julian, so i have gotten really familiar with the coin types. I haven't bought a silver or gold yet, but its on the shopping list.

 

i always dig julian ii bull coins, but i actually like that parthian quite a bit. most pictures of those i've seen have been in pretty rough condition, that one is not bad shape really.

 

I assume you know that yours is an R3 variation RIC 313. The eagle ones are only R. From what I have seen all the bulls seem to sell according to condition alone with no great care in the for such things as the minor variations. RIC even separates them out for spacing varieties as to where in IVLIANVS the break is placed.

 

Yeah. I had a period of time that someone was selling some parthian bronzes. I bought about 20 in the last six months. They are the only ones i own. Much scarcer than the silver. One ruler is nly available in copper, from the Margiana mint. I got a few of these.

 

Like my #13 above?

 

Think so, but yours is in kinda rough shape. I have the name of the ruler at home, but not here. This seller seemed to have quite a few of them, and you know me five is better than one. That may be my one strength as a collector, i am willing to buy over and over scarce coins when they are temporarily more available.

I think i just have been around long enough to remember over and over and over again things being available for six months and then rare for a decade again, kicking my own butt for not buying when i could have. I think coins are a lot like financial investing, just like a loss is felt five times worst than a gain is appreciated, losing out on coins makes you feel worst than getting the coin makes you feel good.

 

JULIAN II AE1 (Double Maiorina)
A.D. 362 – 363
Arelate mint, 1st Office
Diameter: 26 mm
Weight: 9.2 grams
Obverse: DN FL CL IVLIANVS PF AVG. Pearl diademed, draped and cuirassed bust at right
Reverse: SECVRITAS REIPVB. Bull standing right, 2 stars above, wreath at end of legend. PCON in exergue
Reference: RIC VIII 316
Other: full details in both sides … precious black patina ... scarce in this condition … better in hand. VF+

Doug => RIC 316 (VIII, Arles), LRBC 467

=> this is what I get when I try my Rookie-skills, where:

Bust = 6
Obverse = 5
Reverse = 9
Type = 1
Mint = 4

... or am I being an arse?

 

Reverse: SECVRITAS REIPVB "?"=> ummm, I thought this was "O1"indicating "1st Office" (this is the info from the seller) ...

... but I guess from what you are saying, I am assuming that it is actually "Q"/PCON (Omega?, or whatever Greek letter that is?) ...

yah, I have looked through ERIC-II and located the three RIC 313 (VIII Arles) variations ...

Doug => thanks for your help

 

I only disagree with some of the statements you made so I only quote above the pertinent parts.

IMHO the coin is not listed in LRBC but I'll leave this to be determined by those more in love with that reference than I. LRBC 467 has code c meaning there is a club to be found but they are light on details. RIC 316 requires obverse J16 or DNFL CL IVLIA-NVS PF AVG but I see this as the more common J8 or DNFL CL IVLI-ANVS PF AVG. Personally I consider making the separation between RIC 315 and 316 on obverse legend spacing is borderline ridiculous but RIC authors and I have many issues bigger than this one. Both, however, require a club following the PCON which I do not see. Perhaps the club is lost under the sand? I think not. RIC 313 has the PCON in exergue but shows a wreath above the exergual line on the right hand side of the middle. Your coin has a round thing following the PVB which I suspect is the wreath that RIC noted. (So does RIC 314 but that requires the J16 obverse legend and we covered that.) Let me point out that RIC used a fancy engraving of a wreath here that was used many places when the book was typeset and the exact form of the wreath varies here and there as would the exact placement since their code only separates the reverse into three sections. If that skinny thing is a wreath, I might have put in a note that it followed the PVB rather than the generic code for upper right (an inverted T separates the field into three parts) but they did it their way. LRBC lacks a listing with a code for wreath on page 106 where it should be near the club note for 467 mentioned above.

Lets also note that RIC lists all 5 of the wreath coins they quote as being in collections other than the British Museum. The BM lacking something is often a sign that it is not common. I'll suggest you search out images of RIC 313 to see what the wreath looks like on that style. I don't know anything beyond the RIC listing and I don't have one.

Here is a club coin:
http://www.acsearch.info/record.html?id=470681

Here is a 314 wreath an J16 legend:
http://www.acsearch.info/record.html?id=55438

Now I told you that your coin was not matched in the British Museum as of 1981 when RIC was issued and that I failed to find a 313 on acsearch. Wildwinds has a club coin but no wreath of either number. You should send Dane a photo of your coin with a note explaining why she should put it on Wildwinds. You should continue to be happy to have that coin which is not bad as just a generic Julian bull but is really special as an R3 that seems actually to deserve that rating. You should consider giving me that coin for my birthday next month (mail now, service from Canada is terrible at the moment). Finally you should be very careful not take the coin outside when it is cold. There is another thread on this site where a guy proposes cleaning coins by exposing coins to a temperature shock not all that far removed from what you get when you open your front door. Protect this coin. Thanks for sharing it.

I thought you didn't collect Roman???

 

Hmmm, very tempting ... but I think that I'm still gonna send you my two Pontos Medusas ... oh, or maybe my "average" crocodile?!!

That young dude is skating on very very thin ice ... it's a bit like reading that the kid is doing experimental surgery on puppies!!?

Where have you been, Ace?

stevex6's coin breakdown:

600-400 BC (archaic and good ol' Greek): 47 coins
399-150 BC: (Greek): 16 coins
149-50 BC (Roman Republic & misc-Greek, etc): 28 coins
49BC - 375 AD (Roman Rulers & Misc Asian Kings, etc): 57 coins
376AD - 1599 AD (Byzantine & Medieval): 6 coins

 

... is that Roman-nuff for ya?