After so many beautiful, well detailed high end Ancient coins being posted here on CT, I thought I would post one of my more recent acquisitions at the budget end of the spectrum. This particular coin was purchased for $10.50 plus shipping. GALERIA VALERIA AE Follis OBVERSE: GAL VALERIA AVG, diademed & draped bust right REVERSE: VENERI VICTRICI, Venus standing facing, head left, holding apple upwards and raising drapery, star left, B right; dot SM dot TS dot in ex Struck at Thessalonica 308-11 AD 6.14g, 24mm RIC 36B From Wikipedia: Galeria Valeria (died 315) was the daughter of Diocletian and wife of his co-emperor Galerius. Born as Valeria to Diocletian and Prisca, she married Galerius in 293, when her father elevated him to the position of Caesar. This marriage was clearly organized to strengthen the bonds between the two emperors. Galeria was raised to the title of Augusta and Mater Castrorum in November 308. Since Galerius fathered no child with her, Galeria adopted her husband's illegittimate son, Candidianus, as her own. When Galerius died, in 311, Licinius was entrusted with the care of Valeria and her mother Prisca. The two women, however, fled from Licinius to Maximinus Daia, whose daughter was betrothed to Candidianus. After a short time, Valeria refused the marriage proposal of Maximinus, who arrested and confined her in Syria and confiscated her properties. At the death of Maximinus, Licinius ordered the death of both women. Valeria fled, hiding for a year, until she was found in Thessaloniki. She was captured by the mob, beheaded in the central square of the city, and her body thrown in the sea. Galeria was sympathetic towards Christians, while Galerius persecuted them. She was canonized as a Christian saint with her mother
Nice grab at that price. She can be expensive & I dont know why. I never shared mine in her own thread cause at the time, replies were sparse. She was $30 at the time. Galeria Valeria (293-311 A.D.) AE Follis O: GAL VAL-ERIA AVG, diademed and draped bust right. R: VENERI V-ICTRICI, Venus standing facing, head left, holding up apple and raising drapery; K-Γ/P, ALE in exergue. Alexandria Mint 23mm 6.85g RIC VI 110
Awesome jw, good details and a great price, these coins seem to be larger. great pickup... Galeria Valeria..305-311g. Ae follis.. Obv. Galeria bust right. Rev.Venus standing left.. 24x26mm x 6.50g.
Great score, Bing (and the rest of ya) ... nice to see you buying-up some coins!! => sadly, I don't have an example to toss into the ol' mix ...
Nice addition Bing. I enjoyed the write up as well. Just a very cool hobby in which one can buy an almost 1800 year old coin with that kind of a story behind it for ten bucks.
I'm surprised more collectors aren't getting into it. Interesting historical artifacts at affordable prices. What's not to like about ancient coins?
I propose that ancient coins have a way of making us feel stupid. There is so much to learn and so many things that simply are not known that it can be overwhelming by those who need to be in control. For some of us, this is part of the fun; for others it is more a slap in the face than a challenge. This last group will collect something else.
nice budget coin bing! i picked up some budget LRB as of late and didn't post them. i'll try and get them up soon. i never let feeling stupid get in the way of having fun! that makes ancients even gooder!