CNG wins - Two rare sestertii and a nice surprise

Discussion in 'Ancient Coins' started by Finn235, Mar 4, 2020.

  1. Finn235

    Finn235 Well-Known Member

    Already posted them here, but why not again?

    Managed to snag two rare sestertii in the last CNG auction, both from the "summer haven" collection and both for bargain prices because the best bits of that collection were sold a couple auctions ago.

    Gordian III as Caesar
    M ANT GORDIANVS CAES, bareheaded draped bust right
    PIETAS AVGG, priestly implements, SC in exergue
    Gordian III Caesar sestertius priestly implements.jpg


    Gallienus
    IMP C P LIC GALLIENVS AVG, laureate cuirassed bust right
    VIRTVS AVGG S C, Mars standing left, holding spear and shield
    Gallienus sestertius Mars.jpg


    To offset these two, I also bought a large lot of reasonably priced Greek AR fractions to flip... but I fell in love!
    Mysia, Lampsakos
    AR Diobol
    Archaic style, 500-450 BC
    Janiform goddess
    Helmeted head of Athena left, within incuse square
    Mysia Lampsakos archaic diobol Janiform Athena.jpg

    A very common issue, but not in such smooth metal or charming style! A keeper if I ever saw one!

    There were some other goodies in the lot, but sadly no pictures just yet.

    Has anyone else gotten their little white CNG box yet? Let's see em!
     
    Tony1982, Ryro, ominus1 and 26 others like this.
  2. Avatar

    Guest User Guest



    to hide this ad.
  3. Justin Lee

    Justin Lee I learn by doing

    I really like your Gallienus!! A sestertius of his is on my wishlist (and/or an Alexandrian drachm)... I can dream, right? :smuggrin:. I didn't participate in the recent CNG, but did go 2 for 2 with wins in the Artemide Aste 50E over the weekend. Congrats on your superb wins!!! And on falling in love with your lot!! :shame:
     
    Last edited: Mar 4, 2020
    Finn235 and Pellinore like this.
  4. Roman Collector

    Roman Collector Well-Known Member

    Nice! You don't see Gallienus sestertii every day!
     
    ominus1 and Finn235 like this.
  5. Pellinore

    Pellinore Well-Known Member

    That's really special, a Gordianus III as caesar. He was junior partner of the infamous emperors Balbinus and Pupienus for three months only: April 22-July 29 of the year 238. As an unblemished youth in a world full of fighting, he must have embodied the hope of all the Roman Empire.

    The two coins I won in the last two electronic CNG auctions arrived a few days ago, and I'm mighty happy with 'em. One was on my bucket list for a long time: a Parthian tetradrachm of king Phraataces (2 BC-4 AD).

    I wanted this coin for a non-numismatical reason: it is dated 311 in the Seleucid calendar, the year from October, 2 BC to September, 1 BC. And I would like a coin nearing to the non-existing Year Zero as much as possible. (Yes, I know that Jesus is now estimated to have been born between 7 and 4 "BC". But I like calendars, special numbers and such - like we had a palindromatic day last February, 02/02/2020).

    Also, these coins are dated to the month, and this one is from the month of Artemisios or April 1 BC.
    Naturally, I would like a tetradrachm of December 1 BC or January 1 AD even more (let alone one flaunting the year 0)! But though not rare, these Phraataces coins are sought after, I noticed.

    5149 Artemisiou ct.jpg

    Phraataces (2 BC-4 AD). AR tetradrachm. Obv. Bust to the left, pointed beard, Nike flying at his left. Ear is visible. Rev. King enthroned to the right with bow; Date AIT (311), APTEMISIOV ("of April") = 1 BC. Sellwood 57.4. 26 mm, 10.13 gr.

    Remark that the Greek word 'Dikaiou' ("Of the Righteous king") on the reverse is placed from the center to the outside, but the name of the month is readable from the outside, like the coin should be held. It probably was deemed more important than that stereotype attribution of the king, who in all probability was not a very righteous man.

    (My other win will appear in this Celtic coin thread today or tomorrow).
     
    Ryro, ominus1, TheRed and 6 others like this.
  6. Al Kowsky

    Al Kowsky Well-Known Member

    I managed to score the handsome Serrate Denarius pictured below (in an NGC slab) from that auction, lot 286. At first I felt stupid for over-paying for it, $256.18, including buyers premium & tax :mad:. Then i did a little research & feel better now :D.

    CNG 462, lot 286.jpg
    Roman Republic, Q. Antonius Balbus. 83-82 BC. AR serrate denarius: 17 mm, 4 h. Rome Mint. Obverse: Laureate head of Jupiter, S C. Reverse: Victory holding plam frond & wreath while driving a quadriga. T control mark, Q.AVT. BAR. PR. Sydenham 742b, Crawford 364/1d. NGC graded the coin XF.

    The coin pictured below sold at a CNG Triton VIII (Jan. 10, 2005) for $920.00 on a $300.00 estimate. They graded it Superb XF with traces of horn silver.

    Triton VIII, lot 855.jpg

    The example pictured below was auctioned by Stack's, Bowers, & Ponterio last January for $2,040.00 :jawdrop:, with an estimate of $800.00-1,200.00. NGC graded it Ch AU*, Strike 5/5, Surface 5/5.

    Stack's 1-17-2020, lot 20075.jpg
     
    Tony1982, Ryro, ominus1 and 10 others like this.
  7. Pellinore

    Pellinore Well-Known Member

    Great patina on your coin, too.
     
    Finn235 likes this.
  8. Al Kowsky

    Al Kowsky Well-Known Member

    Finn235, The archaic Diobol is a little gem & the Gallienus sestertius has an unusually fine portrait compared to the millions of double denarii struck in his name :D.
     
    Finn235 likes this.
  9. Aethelred

    Aethelred The Old Dead King

    Excellent pickups!
     
  10. ancient coin hunter

    ancient coin hunter 3rd Century Usurper

    Great Gallienus and rare Gordian pieces. You don't see good sestertii from Gallienus every day, and they are quite pricey when in good condition ( and probably represent what he actually looked like as opposed to the formulaic portrayals on the antoniniani).
     
  11. Parthicus Maximus

    Parthicus Maximus Well-Known Member

    Both are very nice! I especially like your Gallienus, the portrait is quite realistic. I always find it bizarre to see how the quality of the coins declined so quickly during that time. Around five years after yours, they almost looked like barbarian imitations and all realism had disappeared.
     
  12. TheRed

    TheRed Well-Known Member

    Congrats on the 3 coins @Finn235 I love the Lampsakos diobol. I won the only coin I bid on, thought I had to go a bit higher than the estimates. It is a nice class C (misidentified by CNG as class E) half groat of Edward III with on less common reverse legend.
    Screenshot_20200226-160619~2.png
     
    Tony1982, Ryro, Johndakerftw and 5 others like this.
  13. Aethelred

    Aethelred The Old Dead King

    @TheRed Wonderful looking Groat, I looked at it, but was saving my pennies for a show.
     
  14. TheRed

    TheRed Well-Known Member

    Thanks Aethelred. I was saving up for the Baltimore expo in a few weeks, but I couldn't let such a great half-groat pass by. What show are you saving for?
     
    Last edited: Mar 5, 2020
  15. Finn235

    Finn235 Well-Known Member

    Thanks all and very nice auction wins!

    I plan on imaging the rest of the Greek coins tomorrow before listing them - any interest in seeing them with attributions here? Most are scarcer types of common cities (e.g. archaic Kyzikos obols) but a few I think might be unpublished.
     
  16. Finn235

    Finn235 Well-Known Member

    Who wants some itty bitty goodies?

    Some of the more interesting fractions from the lot

    First up, the second-best Lampsakos diobol

    lampsakos diobol archaic.jpg

    From the "unknown Cilicia under Achaemenid rule" bucket...

    AR Tetartemorion, 5mm 0.17g
    Facing bust of Arethusa
    Facing bust of Bes
    cilicia uncertain tetartemorion arethusa bes.jpg

    Struck from the same dies as this one, with the same die crack
    https://nomosag.com/default.aspx?pa...uctionid=5&id=432&p=1&s=&ca=0&type=webauction

    A popular type, Herakles / "Aphrodite" obol
    Cilicia unknown Herakles aphrodite.jpg

    Hemiobol, maybe facing bust of Herakles (with curly hair?) And unknown goddess
    Cilicia unknown hemiobol Herakles facing venus R.jpg

    Hemiobol, Athena / Tyche (this one looks a lot better in hand)
    Cilicia uncertain hemiobol Athena turreted goddess.jpg

    Troas, Neandria AR obol, Apollo/Ram
    Troas neandria obol apollo ram.jpg

    Mysia, Prokonnesos obol, Horse / oinochoe Ⲡ
    Mysia Prokonnesos obol horse oinochoe.jpg

    Ionia, Kolophon tetartemorion, Archaic head / incuse
    Ionia Kolophon tetartemorion archaic head.jpg

    Archaic Kyzikos hemiobol, tuna fish / incuse Kyzikos archaic obol tunny.jpg

    And this one was particularly hard to photograph
    Uncertain Asia minor AR tetartemorion
    Eagle / incuse with star pattern
    Asia minor uncertain tetartemorion eagle star.jpg
     
Draft saved Draft deleted

Share This Page