I have been aware for some time of the existence of the rare Double Antoninianii that were produced from the reign of Tacitus through to Carus. I know that Doug has an example from Tacitus with E//XI but these are not coins that seem to come on the market very often with only a single example in the records on acsearch. Tacitus Double Antoninianus Obv:– IMP C M CL TACITVS AVG, Radiate, draped and cuirassed bust right Rev:– CLEMENTIA TEMP, Emperor in military dress standing right, holding short eagle-tipped sceptre in left hand, receiving a globe from Jupiter standing left, holding long sceptre in left hand Minted in Antioch (H//XI) Emission 3, Officina 8. January – June A.D. 276 Reference:– RIC 211 Bust Type C. RIC Temp No. 4096 20.77 mm. 3.65 gms. 6 o'clock. Martin
Yeeehhhaaa => very sweet coin, Martin (congrats) ... oh, and I'm likin' your coin too, Mat ... Tacitus, eh? ... well, I only have an ol' gnarly Alexandrian example to toss-in (but I love this coin => it is from "my guy") ... and "no" that ain't active bronze disease (it's the nice, friendlier crusty hard-variety) ... Tacitus AE Tetradrachm Egypt, Alexandria Date: 275-276 AD Diameter: 20.9 mm Weight: 9.0 grams Obverse: Laureate, draped and cuirassed bust of Tacitus Reverse: Elpis holding flower and raising skirt Reference: Emmett 3975 => by the way, I classify every coin that states "... and raising skirt" as a total winner!!
Well okay, I'm gonna whip out my Takitoc too then Not a newsworthy variety but the provenance rocks. EGYPT, Alexandria. Tacitus 275/6 AD potin tetradrachm, 20 mm, 7.5 gm Obv: AKKΛTAKITOCCEB; laureate and draped bust right Rev: ET[OVC]-A; eagle standing left, head right with wreath in its beak Ref: Milne 4510, Emmett 3974, R1 ex Professor James Eaton collection, procured in the late 1800's, in his family until it became part of the TIF collection (Stack's Bowers,August 2013 Chicago ANA World's Fair of Money - Session F, part of a mixed lot of mostly Ptolemaic bronzes)
Huh => well Princess, I must admit that was a very sweet example of "you show me yours and I'll show ya mine!!" ... man, if only I knew you in Junior High!! => I love your new big-score Alexandrian hoard!! (you rock, CP)
Yes, I have two and will continue to buy them when they are too cheap. Warren Esty is selling a low grade one of the most rare type where the XI is replaced by IA (11 in Greek Numerals from a mint that used KA for XXI). I'm holding out to find one that someone does not recognize as special. Unfortunately the number of people who care about this interesting sidelight is not large. http://augustusmath.hypermart.net/coinlist.html near bottom
Here is my nicest example Tacitus: TACITUS Antoninianus OBVERSE: IMP C M CL TACITVS AVG, radiate, draped and cuirassed bust right REVERSE: CLEMENTIA TEMP, Tacitus receiving globe from Jupiter, Z in lower centre, XXI in ex. Struck at Antioch, 275-6 AD 3.2g, 22mm RIC 210, Z
This is a slightly less unusual Tacitus but not in the best shape. The obverse legend includes the title Invictus while the reverse is Perpetual Victory (VICTORIA PERPETVA AVG). It is from Serdica so has the KA alloy mark followed by gamma for the third workshop. I need to work on getting a better reverse photo.
I have one of these XIs in a very low grade that I bought from Warren Esty sometime ago. Unfortunately, I don't have it photographed... I'm currently about 6000 miles away from my collection, though in the general vicinity of where most of the coins I own were minted This is the other Tacitus that I own... it's a fair bit nicer to look at than the XI, but not even a fraction as interesting :
Thanks! It's been a litte challenging so far trying to take any sort of pictures with one hand cradling a struggling/sleeping toddler. I'm hoping my wife has snapped a few good ones. It's Labour Day holiday in Rome today and the Pantheon was like a mosh pit. On the upside, the late spring weather is beautiful and the view from the Aventine Hill was spectacular
