Bargain basement ancients - again

It seems that a few of us are browsing through bargain basement coins at the moment and I am no different.

The coinage of Gallienus can be a very good area if you are willing to make compromises about the coins you get for your money. During this period the output of Rome must have been huge but the quality if the coins produced is very variable. The engravers were producing dies of good quality but the manufacturing process must have generally reduced the metal in each blank being used. There simply wasn't enough metal in most of them to produce a coin that would be considered perfect to a collector.

The flan was generally either:-

a) small and thick (as used on my coins below) leading to a coin where the bust and reverse type are well detailed but there simply wasn't any flan there for most of the legends so they simply aren't present.

b) full sized but thin, leading to a coin where all the legends are present but there simply wan't any metal left to fill the bust and reverse devices and so we lose detail in both and are left with flattened areas

The full sized, thick flan was the exception, which means that these coins attract a premium today.

This means that to the bargain basement hunter we can find half decent examples at low prices provided we are willing to compromise.

The following two coins from the Gallienus zoo series are such a compromise but at about $7 a coin are im my opinion great value and I will be looking out for more.

Gallienus
Obv:- GALLIENVS AVG, radiate head right
Rev:- DIANAE CONS AVG, gazelle walking left.
Minted in Rome. //XII
Refence:- RIC 181



Obv:– GALLIENVS AVG, Radiate bust right
Rev:– IOVI CONS AVG, Goat walking right
Minted in Rome (//S (Digamma)).
Reference:– RIC 207



Martin

 

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Those are exceptional compared to most of the Gallienus issues! Great bargain.

 

indeed nice pickups.

 

Better than any of mine.

 

Nice! I'd be a happy owner of both of these coins.

My $7 Gallienuses check both the boxes you mention, but neither are as nice as yours.

 

Gallienus Billon Antoninianus. 267-268 AD, 4.2g, 22.0mm

OBV: GALLIENVS AVG, Radiate head right.

REV: IOVI CONS AVG, Goat standing or walking left.

REF: RIC 207

 

Gallienus Billon Antoninianus. Mint of Asia. 267 AD, 3.9g, 21.53mm

OBV: GALLIENVS AVG, Radiate, draped & cuirassed bust right.

REV: AETERNITAS AVG, Saturn standing right holding scythe, PXV (short for TR P XV) in ex.

REF: Cohen 44. RIC V-1 (S) 606.

 

Gallienus BI Antoninianus, 3.0g, 24mm

OBV: GALLIENVS AVG, Radiate head right.

REV: ROMAE AETERNA, Roma helmeted, seated left on shield, holding victory on globe and spear right.

REF: Unlisted

 

Gallienus BI Antoninianus. Milan mint, sole reign, 2.0g, 21mm

OBV: GALLIENVS AVG, Radiate head right.

REV: ORIENS AVG, Radiate Sol standing left, holding globe & raising right hand.

REF: RIC 495

 

I haven't paid much for any of these coins. $9 for the goat, $10 for Saturn, $8 for Sol, $8 for Roma. All but the goat are scanner coins so they have slightly better details. I haven't gotten around to reshooting them yet.

 

I have the book AORTA by Rasiel Suarez. Bascially he says that for every decent Gallienus coin, there are a cart full of deplorable coins. It's very true. I've seen some really bad ones, as if mine wasn't low grade enough. Although, I've tried to get coins with decent flans and legends as best as possible.

 

I havent posted my bargain one yet, maybe tomorrow. But those are great, especially the reverse details.

 

It's very true, indeed. I've seen those carts up close; they've stopped by my house several times.

 

Way above examples Martin. Good choices at that price point.

 

Martin, your examples are far better than the few I have...at best, my one or two 'higher grades' resemble those that Zumbly posted...

But, I'll be in the hunt for those types as well---since my budget will be getting reduced more and more as the year progresses...

 

I use as a guide how I feel the evening I get home after buying a coin at a show. Some of these are feel goods fitting my desire to have a lot of coins not so bad that I feel the immediate need to upgrade. Others remind me I am an addict. Some make me want to run home and post them to Coin Talk; some can wait until someone else asks a question that showing the coin will answer. A few go straight to the give away box. Where we each draw the lines will be different.

Ras got this right as long as we allow for really big carts. I know I have developed a new attitude toward his coins based now on the fact that my cart is filling up. I suspect the same thing is true for most rulers but it is a lot harder to find a cartload of Pescennius Niger so my imperfect ones look better. Martin and I have some coins of Septimius Severus of which we are proud based on the fact that we have never seen a handful (maybe not the number you can hold with one finger) and ours is better than average.

I bought 25 coins Friday at the show. Of them only one was Gallienus or any other ruler after the Severans and before the Tetrarchy. I decided it was worth $12. It turned out when I got home I had one like it but with an A in the field. I'm getting better but I'm not cured.

 

Other than this 'forum', do they have a support group (like AA) for coin addicts like us???

 

some nice bargain bin coins martin...and DS.

i dig good zoo coin, i have one good one...and one not so good. i posted this recently, it was a gift from a forum member (thanks coin buddy!), but it is a pretty darn nice example of the type...so i'll post it again.

 

Nice!! => very cool animal-additions, Martin (top shelf, coin-dawg!!)

Yah, I merely have one humble Gallienus panther ...




..... *roar*

 

Yes. We've had this discussion before. It's a 2-step group.

1. Admitted we were powerless over coin collecting.
2. Bought some coins.