Beefy Provincial Cheapie

Discussion in 'Ancient Coins' started by furryfrog02, Apr 27, 2020.

  1. furryfrog02

    furryfrog02 Well-Known Member

    This came in the mail today. I paid the princely sum of $2.84 on ebay for it. It isn't beautiful but I like it. It was listed as a Caracalla from Paultilla, Thrace. It is about 30mm and a whopping 17.29g. The listing also said it was ex Savoca. It came in a little plastic "Savoca Coins" bag but that was the only thing linking it to that so who knows...

    I looked on RPC and acsearch but couldn't find a match. Am I missing something? If you can help out, I'd appreciate it!
    IMG-6884-removebg-preview.png

    Show off some of your Beefy Provincial Cheapies :)
     
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  3. ancient coin hunter

    ancient coin hunter 3rd Century Usurper

    Beefy indeed! Nice pick-up.
     
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  4. Roman Collector

    Roman Collector Well-Known Member

    It is indeed Caracalla from Pautalia. Its obverse reads ΑVΤ Κ Μ ΑVΡΗ ΑΝΤΩΝΕΙΝΟC and the reverse reads ΟΥΛΠΙΑC ΠΑΥΤΑΛΙΑC. It is the tetrassarion denomination.

    It is similar to Ruzicka nos. 670-675, but not a match in the details. Moushmov 4284 would be a match, but the reverse description in Moushmov is vague.
     
    Last edited: Apr 27, 2020
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  5. furryfrog02

    furryfrog02 Well-Known Member

    Thanks! Is there somewhere I can see that online? I haven’t heard of Ruzicka before.
     
  6. Roman Collector

    Roman Collector Well-Known Member

    Unfortunately, Ruzicka is not online as far as I know. It is at Moushmov online, no. 4284.
     
  7. furryfrog02

    furryfrog02 Well-Known Member

    Awesome! Thanks for the help. This was a good learning experience for $2.84!
     
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  8. Roman Collector

    Roman Collector Well-Known Member

    Here you go, @furryfrog02 -- the listings in Ruzicka Die Münzen von Pautalia:

    20200427_184836.jpg
    20200427_184811.jpg

    It's closest to 671, but the eagle isn't standing on a globe on your coin.
     
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  9. furryfrog02

    furryfrog02 Well-Known Member

    How many variations are there? I suppose we probably have no idea.
     
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  10. zumbly

    zumbly Ha'ina 'ia mai ana ka puana

    Many worse ways you could spend $2.84! :)
    The volumes that include Caracalla aren't on RPC online yet. They have a list of what's published, online, and in progress:
    https://rpc.ashmus.ox.ac.uk/volumes

    Varbanov lists three varieties (5066-5068) with the eagle standing on a thunderbolt. With this bust type, and the legends on your coin as indicated above by @Roman Collector, your would be Varbanov 5067.
     
  11. dougsmit

    dougsmit Member

    This is the best way to spend $2.84!
    No one knows how many variations there are of most coins. Books can tell you what is known to them but no author checks every collection and is bound to miss something. Add to that the possibility that someone out there is digging and might find something new. This is why I dislike catalog numbers. People tend to force numbers on their coins. With so many minor variations, we tend to say something is a match even though there is some little difference like what the eagle is standing on or how many lies secure the king's clothing or where legends split or any number of things. Many coins are listed as xyz VAR. indicating that the match was less than perfect but the closest available with the amount of looking that was done. The worst offender here may be RIC volume V which has a couple dozen variations covered by a single number. The best case is when there is a die study like Boehringer did for Syracuse tetradrachms. That does not mean there is not a possible new find (a die that shattered after a very few strikes???) but few coins have had this treatment. We learn a lot from studies that are even 50% complete but we should not fool ourselves into believing we know all there is to know because we read a book. My specialty of the Eastern denarii of Septimius Severus occupies 30 pages in RIC. In the meantime, the British museum and a hundred private collectors have been adding to the list. If they redid that volume asking even the ones they knew might have something (including half a dozen that post here), the new lists would take twice the space and be out of date as early as 'when the ink dries'. Not having any idea is part of the appeal of collecting these things.
     
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  12. ancient coin hunter

    ancient coin hunter 3rd Century Usurper

    Well, cheaper than a 6" sandwich at Subway.
     
  13. furryfrog02

    furryfrog02 Well-Known Member

    I agree, @dougsmit...not having any idea is part of the appeal. With modern US coins, there are only so many things one can collect. I know that for 2000, there is a Philadelphia mint Wide AM and the normal Close AM. That's it. I mean, I guess there could be some absolutely minute variations that have yet to be discovered....but who cares? Maybe someone in 2,000 years will care. Let's be honest though, there is almost no way a copper plated zinc cent is going to survive 2,000 years in the ground haha.

    When it comes to Subway, @ancient coin hunter don't get me started...I've had the misfortune of eating Subway on 4 different continents and every time it has made me sick.
     
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