Every coin tells a story, first, about its users, then much later, perhaps, about its subsequent custodial collectors; if we could only hear it! I recently acquired a coin about which I know one of its stories, one which brings together both me and its previous custodian, a life long friend, who, in the early 1960s taught me to love beautiful Greek and Roman coins, although I was to later veer from his wise precepts and come to love Byzantine coinage best. (As an aside, Yes, I DO find Byzantine coins beautiful. Although most of my friends ((including my best friend, who is also my wife)), tease me for my questionable taste, I find support for it in what Sappho has to say about beauty in her fragment 16. Regarding beauty, she writes, “some say it is an army of horseman, others, of foot soldiers, or a fleet of ships that is the fairest thing on the black earth, but I say it is what one loves”.) But my story is not about what I find beautiful, it is about a connection between a coin and a dear friend, and it is to CWB that I offer these lines. In April I purchased from Gemini XIV, lot 584, a Trajan Decius sestertius struck on an oversize flan. The catalog entry notes CWB's comments about the coin: “This coin was offered to me in NYC sometime in the late '60s. Couldn't afford it, but weighed it and made the attached paper rubbing.” What induced me to bid on it WAS that pencil rubbing and its connection with the coin. My friend was later to purchase it from Classical Cash in Sept. 1997, and therein lies the connection that brings me into the story. With the coin, besides the pencil rubbing came also the original Classical Cash invoice from when my friend purchased it. Evidently CWB was not known to the firm at that time as he was obliged to supply a numismatic reference, which is noted on the invoice as “ Bidder, BB, friend of M...B...”, MB being I! Wow! The cycle is now run full circle, until it reopens to subsequent generations of custodians! First, the coin and its pencil rubbing. This leads to another interesting link, this time to a Volusian sestertius struck on a medallic flan. In the next photo my new Decius is center in the lower row, above which is a typical Decius sestertius, as well as a double sestertius of TD and a medallic flan sestertius of Volusian to illustrate the large size of my recent coin. The upper Decius is ex Gemini XIII, lot 321 (12.27 g. 28.4 mm. hr. 1. RIC 126d). In the lower row, from left, is a Decius double sestertius (37.03 g. 35.5 mm, hr. 12. RIC 126a). It also is from the CWB collection, purchased privately. My recent Gemini purchase was struck on a slightly larger but lighter flan than the double sestertius to its left (25.09 g., 36.6 mm, hr. 1. RIC 126d). The second link I mention concerns my Volusian (lower row on the right), struck on a medallic flan (27.33 gr. 38.9 mm. hr. 12. as RIC 253a). We can distinguish it from a true medallion because it includes the letters S(enatus) C(onsulto), “struck by authority of the Senate”. A medallion would lack those letters. Its reverse type of Juno Martialis makes its first and brief appearance on the coinage of Hostilian, Trebonianus Gallus, and Volusian, then disappears completely from the Roman imperial series. I also know of a Trebonianus Gallus medallic flan sestertius bearing this reverse type (Dix Noonan Webb sale 15 Feb. 2017, lot 187). Concerning this scarce type RIC IV, iii, p. 156 says “All that can be said for certain is that the type must be closely related to the events of 251 and, probably, to the family history of Gallus”. Whatever the circumstances, the fact that the rare type occurs not only on silver of the reign, but also on medallions, and as we can see, on sestertii of medallic like flans leads to the conclusion that it commemorates some important event. I mentioned that my new oversize Decius was earlier purchased from Classical Cash and this is where the second link comes in. By coincidence, I bought the Volusian in 2000 on ebay, also from Classical Cash. It's interesting to conjecture that the same firm had several mid century sestertii struck on such exceptional flans. But perhaps that is another story…?
Great writeup and lovely coins! All coins have a story to tell. I try to seek out coins with a known provenance as this is part of the coin's story.
@Voulgaroktonou , that is a fascinating post. Furthermore, the large-flan coins in it are remarkable. Thanks for writing them up.
I'm not sure I'd call 12.27g a typical sestertius. Mine of the type is 11.2g but my other Decius sestertii are higher. Is there something about the Victory type we are missing? 18g My Victory double is 32.5g which is light for a double.
Wonderful coins and a remarkable story! I bought a Decius sestertius with the same provenance in last year's Gemini auction. It was struck on an irregular flan and weighs a hefty 28 grams. TRAJAN DECIUS AE Sestertius. 28.32g, 32.7mm. Rome mint, AD 249-250. RIC 112a (scarce); Cohen 18. O: IMP C M Q TRAIANVS DECIVS AVG, laureate, cuirassed bust right. R: DACIA, Dacia standing left holding staff surmounted by ass's head or draco; S-C in field. Ex Behnen Collection (acquired from Coin Galleries, 24 June 1966) The weight of these bronzes seem to be all over the place. There was a beautiful double sestertius in Gemini XIV that, at 30.43g, is even lighter than Doug's. A ~12g sestertius would appear to be on the light side. Mine below is 18g. TRAJAN DECIUS AE Sestertius. 18.12g, 29.4mm, Rome mint, AD 249. RIC 105a. O: IMP CAES C MESS Q DECIO TRAI AVG, laureate and cuirassed bust right. R: GENIVS EXERCITVS ILLVRICIANI, Genius standing left, holding patera and cornucopia; signum to right.
Doug is right; it would be interesting to see if the victory types are consistently lighter than those bearing other types. And as Zumbly has correctly pointed out, the weights of the bronzes vary greatly, even as we see with the doubles.
Very interesting coins and stories. One wonders about the lost stories, too; I have several coins that I am certain came from old collections, but have no provenance otherwise. I even have the tags for some, but no name to put to them.
I'm sure there are thousands of lost stories we would love to have. One that lingers in the edges of 'lost' is the Bavarian Collection sold by NFA in 1993. Numismatic Fine Arts was way to big an auction house to handle coins of the sort but the Bavarian Collection had a story far beyond the 3500 junky coins. http://www.forumancientcoins.com/dougsmith/feac16.html Each coin was contained in a paper envelope handmade from scraps and described on tags enclosed which had also been recycled from old cardstock. The theory was proposed that the collection was formed by a German war veteran between 1890 and 1930 possibly from coins donated to him from charities; possibly while he was hospitalized from war injuries. I value the few coins I have which I got from Victor Failmezger more for the envelopes than for the coins. I would love to know the story. Victor wrote what he knew in an article for the Celator magazine. This envelope was crafted from a letter and retains a piece of the German postage stamp. Constantius II AE2 Centenionalis from the Bavarian Collection (#2799) Siscia mint, 3rd officina, Cohen 142 (3 francs value)
