Message:

<p>[QUOTE=&quot;svessien, post: 8264845, member: 15481&quot;]I have to agree with Doug here: 300$ is still not «cheap»... Depends on what you buy, I guess.</p><p><br /></p><p>I bought this coin recently for 22€:</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1458052[/ATTACH]</p><p><u>Licinius I, 308-24 AD</u></p><p><br /></p><p><i>AE3 Follis, Ticinum 313-14 AD</i></p><p><br /></p><p>Obverse: IMP LICNIVS P F AVG, laureate head right</p><p><br /></p><p>Reverse: SOLI INVICTO COMITI, Sol standing left, holding chlamys across shoulder; raising right hand and holding globe in left, star in left field. Mintmark PT followed by dot</p><p><br /></p><p>Reference: RIC VII Ticinum 17; Sear 15293</p><p><br /></p><p>Size: 19 mm Weight: 2,41 g</p><p><br /></p><p>Reference : RCV 15293</p><p><br /></p><p>I think it was a good buy. Nice portrait, good details on Sol, nice patina. But I wish it had the star in right field and a cross in left. That would also have made it an interesting coin.</p><p><br /></p><p>Luckily, they had some interesting coins too:</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1458054[/ATTACH]</p><p>Claudius AE15 of Sardes, Lydia. KΛAYΔIOΣ KAIΣAΡ, bare head left / ΣAΡΔIANΩN, bearded head of Herakles left. RPC 2996; BMC 114-115; SNG Cop 519-520; Paris 1206; Waddington 5236; Imhoof MG 33; Weber 6907; Sear GIC 453; GRPC Lydia 362.</p><p><br /></p><p>My bid was 28€ for this one. What I find interesting is the portrait style. This is probably a portrait that is closer to the truth than most of the Rome/Lugdunum portraits. It is very close to the Pergamese cistophorius portraits. Looking at the different samples in RPC, one can see that the chin is shrinking and the nose is growing. I wonder which portraits were first and last?</p><p>The Herakles portrait on reverse is also nice. 28€ well spent, I think.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1458060[/ATTACH]</p><p>Gaius Caesar AE15 of Apameia, Phrygia. ca 5 BC. ΓAIOΣ KAIΣAΡ, laureate head right / MAΣΩNIOΣ ΡOYΦOY AΠAMEΩN, cult image of Artemis facing. RPC 3130; SNG von Aulock 8305</p><p><br /></p><p>This coin leaves something to be desired with regards to quality. But it is Gaius, son of Emperor Augustus! Portrait style reminiscent of his father. Had the celators of Apameia seen Gaius at all? Probably not. Still, a coin well worth 20€. And the reverse is the same as the well known pseudo autonymous issue with Zevs on obverse. I like that.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1458053[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Nero,&nbsp; AD 54-68.</p><p><br /></p><p><i>AE26 of Laodikeia, Phrygia, alliance issue with Smyrna, Ionia</i>.</p><p><br /></p><p>Obverse: NEΡΩN ΣEBAΣTOΣ, laureate head right.</p><p><br /></p><p>Reverse:&nbsp; ANT ZHNΩNOΣ ZHNΩN YIOΣ ΛAOΔIKEΩN ZMYΡNAIΩN OMHΡOΣ (ANT ligate), around in two lines and down the centre, the two Tyches of Laodikeia and Smyrna standing facing each other, clasping hands. (One Tyche often described as Demos).</p><p><br /></p><p>Reference: RPC 2928; Franke-Nollé 1197; SNG von Aulock 2242; BMC 265-269; SNG Cop 614; Paris 1535 and 2491; Waddington 7131; SNG Munich 409-410; Weber 7152; Mionnet IV, 723.</p><p><br /></p><p>Size: 25 mm Weight: 12,18 g</p><p><br /></p><p>Reference : RPC 2928</p><p><br /></p><p>Had to shell out 75€ for this one, which made me question if it really was a good buy, uncleaned and common and all. But I think the reverse makes this an interesting coin. Here are two famous ancient cities, committing their future to each other. That’s feelgood. I already have an interest in the Tetrapolis of Seleucis Pieria, Antioch, Apameia and Laodicea in Syria, being marked on their coinage in 147 BC. This coin makes me interested in what was going on between the two cities up there in Phrygia.</p><p><br /></p><p>I think I have spent half the amount of the OP now, so I’ll just put the rest into gold:</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1458063[/ATTACH]</p><p>Mamluks. <i>al-Zahir Sayf al-Din Jaqmaq</i>, AH 842-857 / AD 1438-1453.</p><p><br /></p><p><i>AU Ashrafi, Dimashq, date off flan. </i></p><p><br /></p><p>Reference: Wilkes 1046. Balog, Mamluk, -.</p><p><br /></p><p>Size: 13mm Weight: 3.38g</p><p><br /></p><p>Struck on a short flan<i>, otherwise,</i> very fine.</p><p><br /></p><p>Burji dynasty المماليك الشركس‎ was a Mamluk dynasty which ruled Egypt from 1382 until 1517, during the Mamluk Sultanate.</p><p><br /></p><p>Sayf ad-Din Jaqmaq (<a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arabic_language" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arabic_language" rel="nofollow">Arabic</a>: الظاهر سيف الدين جقمق; 1373 – 13 February 1453) was the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mamluk_Sultanate_(Cairo)" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mamluk_Sultanate_(Cairo)" rel="nofollow">Mamluk sultan of Egypt</a> from 9 September 1438 to 1 February 1453.</p><p><br /></p><p>Reference : Wilkes 1046</p><p><br /></p><p>Source : <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sayf_ad-Din_Jaqmaq" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sayf_ad-Din_Jaqmaq" rel="nofollow">https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sayf_ad-Din_Jaqmaq</a></p><p><br /></p><p>(With 150 CHF plus 18%, I think I went a little over the 300$ budget.)[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

Your name or email address:

Do you already have an account?

• No, create an account now.
• Yes, my password is:
• Forgot your password?

Stay logged in