Blast from the past: Julius Germanicus´ Top 10 Bronzes... of 2016 !

While still waiting for my last purchase of 2020 to arrive and browsing older top 10 lists on CT, I realized that I never posted a list for 2016

Back then I was a new collector and bought a Roman bronze a week in order to complete the portrait series as fast as possible. Maybe I should have gone for higher quality coins from the start, but then I would have never even started at all knowing how much I would actually spend to achieve this goal.

I have upgraded most of my older purchases since then, but these here shall be keepers:

1)

DRVSVS CAESAR TI AVG F DIVI AVG N – bare head of Drusus left / PONTIF TRIBVN POTEST ITER around large S C
Copper As, Rome mint, AD 23
RIC (Tiberius) 45, BMCRE (Tiberius) 99, CBN (Tiberius) 78, Cohen 2, Sear 1794

2)

IMP M OTHO CAE AVG - laureate head of Otho right /
large S C within laurel wreath.
Bronze As or 4 Chalkoi (?), Antiochia ad Orentes, AD 69
24,76 mm / 9,28 gr
RPC 4319 and pl. 164 (6 specimens cited); McAlee (The Coins of Roman Antioch) 323; BMCG p. 177, 213
“nearly EF with excellent portrait and nice brown patina” (Sear)

3)
GERMANICVS CAESAR TI AVGVST F DIVI AVG N - bare head of Germanicus left /
C CAESAR AVG GERMANICVS PON M TR POT - around large S C
Copper As, Rome mint AD 37/38
28,13 mm / 11,10 gr
RIC (Caligula) 35; BMCRE (Caligula) 49; CBN (Caligula) 73; Cohen 1; Sear 1821
“a pleasing very fine” (Sear)

4)
CORNELIA SALONINA AVG, diademed and draped bust of Salonina right, her hair in ridges and looped in plait on neck and up back of head /
PVDICITIA S C, Pudicitia standing left, drawing out her veil with right hand and holding transverse scepter in left
Orichalcum Sestertius, Rome mint ca. AD 262
27,98 mm / 11,64 gr
RIC -; BMCRE -; Cohen -; Sear -; Göbl & Alram (MIR 36), 490y and pl. 42 (citing the only other known specimen of this type, from the same dies = Gemini auction, 11 Jan. 2005, lot 430)
“very fine and very rare, only the second known specimen” (Sear)

5)
NERO CLAVDIVS DRVSVS GERMANICVS IMP - bare head of Drusus left /
TI CLAVDIVS CAESAR AVG P M TR P IMP S C - Claudius (?), bare-headed and togate, seated left on curule chair amidst arms, holding branch in extended right hand
Orichalcum Sestertius, Rome mint, ca. AD 41-42
RIC 93; BMCRE 157; CBN 125; Cohen 8; Sear 1896
“VF with nice brown patina, though with minor patches of surface erosion on both sides” (Sear)

6)

L AELIVS CAESAR - bare head of Aelius right
TR POT COS II S C - Spes advancing left, holding flower and lifting drapery of dress behind
Orichalcum Sestertius, Rome mint AD 137
31,37 mm / 25,87 gr
RIC 1055; BMCRE 1914; Cohen 56; Cayón 25.84 (die match with specimen in Kricheldorf Auction XXI, 6-7 April, 1970); Hill (The Undated Coins of Rome, A.D. 98-148) 825; Sear 3986
“VF, struck on a thick flan but with areas of surface erosion” (Sear)

7)


IMP CAES C VIBIVS TREBONIANVS GALLVS AVG - laureate, draped and cuirassed bust of Trebonianus Gallus right /
SALVS AVGG S C - Salus standing left, feeding snake arising from altar with patera held in right hand and resting on sceptre held in left
Orichalcum Sestertius, Rome mint ca. AD 253
30,09 mm / 18,83 gr
RIC 122a; Cohen 119; Hunter 44-6 and pl. 84; Sear 9679
“nearly VF with ‘Tiber’ patina, portrait of excellent style” (Sear)

8)

TI CLAVDIVS CAESAR AVG P M TR P IMP - laureate head of Claudius right, traces of oblong countermark PROB in front of emperor’s neck /
EX S C OB CIVES SERVATOS in four lines within oak-wreath
Orichalcum Sestertius, irregular mint, probably in Gaul, ca. AD 43
34,75 mm / 23,49 gr
RIC 96, note; BMCRE 120; CBN 155 and pl. XXV; cf. Cohen 39
“good F and unpatinated, bold portrait of provincial style with uplifted gaze” (Sear)

9)

M OPEL ANTONINVS DIADVMENIANVS CAES - bare-headed, draped and cuirassed bust of Diadumenian right /
SPES PVBLICA S C - Spes advancing left, holding flower in extended right hand and raising drapery of her dress behind
Orichalcum Sestertius, Rome mint AD 218
32,23 mm / 23,46 gr
RIC 219; BMCRE 155-7 and pl. 84, 7 (same obverse die); C 23; Sear 7454
“good F and rare, but with some surface porosity and with surface indentations above the prince’s head and on the ‘V’ above the head of Spes” (Sear)

10)

AGRIPPINA M F MAT C CAESARIS AVGVSTI - draped bust of Agrippina Senior right, her hair waved and fastened in long plait down the back of her neck /
Carpentum drawn left by two mules, the hood supported by statues of standing female figures, one at each corner, the side panel decorated with dancing figures surmounted by stars, the wheel with six spokes, S P Q R / MEMORIAE / AGRIPPINAE in three lines above
Orichalcum Sestertius, Rome mint AD 37-41 (posthumous issue under Caligula)
34,32 mm / 25,03 gr
RIC (Caligula) 55; BMCRE (Caligula) 81-5 and pl. 30, 5 (same reverse die); CBN (Caligula) 128-31 and pl. XVIII; Cohen 1; Sear 1827
„F/good F, some surface porosity“ (Sear)


Luckily I did not pay to dearly for my early buying frenzy. I bought nothing so bad that it wouldn´t resell (OK, I did loose some money on most, but it was worth the fun and interesting hobby!). By beginner´s luck I ended up with some genuine rarities.
And most importantly: I managed to return ALL the fakes that I bought in the beginning.

None of the coins here are perfect but I love them all dearly now and probably won´t part with any of them before I one day should decide to move on to some other hobby. But hey, how many ancients collectors actually did that?

Please let me know your favourites and share your beginner´s lessons!

 

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Drusus has an amazing high relief portrait but I like the Salonina the best.

as for my lessons - buying large lots of unclean is fun, but gets old quickly. I feel like every single one of us went through that phase at some point

 

I'm afraid the poll allows just one vote instead of three...

I like the Drusus, the Salonina and the Nero Claudius Drusus most

Q

 

Drusus is by far my favorite

 

Nice Roman bronzes! I just started buying a few As and Sestertius. Great to see the various designs.

 

All great Sestertii, @Julius Germanicus ! Agreed, I like that Drusus.

 

What an excellent idea and year for you!
I am with you on your top 2. But my #3 is your #10! Really cool reverse and not a bad portrait for a woman that is known for being hard to get a good portrait of.

 

I still find the saga of the Salonina to be one of the most amazing numismatic tales on the CT ancients board!

 

What a first year! It's not easy to find Roman bronzes in such nice condition. My three favorites are Drusus, Germanicus, and Nero Claudius Drusus.

 

Thank you everybody!

I think the Drusus has a better 3D effect because I took the picture freehand under the kitchen lamp whereas the others are from the Sear certificates.

Never bought an uncleaned lot but maybe should have instead of starting out with mid-price Sestertii right away...

I fixed the bug so you now have three votes

There may be an encore soon. I only bought a total of 10 coins this year (mainly imperial women by the way), so I do not have much choice for a 2020 Top 10 list anyway, while in 2016 I felt like a kid in a candy store with dozens of Emperors to choose from while there is now practically nobody affordable left missing in my Sestertius portrait gallery.

 

You got some outstanding coins! Congrats on a fine year!
Wish you a fantastic 2021!