C NORBANUS ROMAN REPUBLIC; GENS NORBANA REVERSE: Prow-stem, fasces, caduceus and grain ear REVERSE: Corn ear, fasces and caduceus
Pairs I'm missing half of: Balbinus & Pupienus, Macrianus and Quietus... somebody post, please! I must post Sev Alex and his domineering mater: Any "barbarous" imitation with its base type: And for something a little more unusual, Constantine X (1059-1067) w/ Eudocia, SB 1853, plus Nur ad-Din ibn Zengi (1146-1174) fals, Aleppo mint: Yes, that's Christ on an Islamic coin several hundred years after the initial Arab conquests. A blundered Greek legend is visible in the margins on this coin, including the "XC" for Christos (originally in the field on the Byzantine prototype), as well as Christ's nimbus. Northern Syria had only been lost by the Byzantines relatively recently, so Byzantine bronze–mostly anonymous types–probably still circulated in the area. (Note that this denomination corresponds to the bronzes before the reform of Alexius in 1092.)
Looks like a professional set up you got there Deacon, you make a lot of Christians very happy with your gifts. Congrats and blessings to you. My Variation on your theme:
Thanks, Andres! Those are excellent. I have a version in Spanish also. I gave a pair (including a tip) to the Honduran lady who makes my soup and sandwich when I visit Panera Bread and she was moved to tears.
An interesting idea. Many years ago I bought a portion of a hoard of Adoptive Period Denarii. While sorting through them I found two Trajans and were both struck from the same obverse and reverse dies. This is not unusual, especially with hoards, but many people go through them so fast they tend not to notice or dont care. Of course I sold them separately, but I think it would have been real cool to have either kept them or sold them together.
Cool post. Not sure if I have any that goes with pairs, maybe if I looked hard enough. I have a decent overstike of that Constantine X coin of yours. (I think anyway) It's an old photo & not one I desire to reshoot.
Hopefully I'll remember to revisit this cool thread ... I don't have access to my coin photos at the moment Oh, but fantastic examples, fellas ... I want to see more!
These two denarii of Julia Domna are die duplicates (same dies used on both sides). The first one is normal but the reverse of the second shows a die clash. I need to try for a better photograph to show it more clearly but it is what it is. There should be other pairs like this for other die clashed coins but I have never seen another set.
We don't always have both of the two coins that belong together. This Valerian resulted when two flans stuck together an were struck together. They later fell apart leaving this coin and another with a blank obverse and normal reverse. You can see the dent on this reverse that once contained the other flan showing that this was not a normal coin with the reverse filed off. I would love to have the other coin but have no idea what reverse it was. It would need to fit that edge profile. Cinderella's Prince had it easy compared to finding that coin!
Die links are when one die of a pair matches but the other is different. 99.999% of the time both obverse dies will be from the same ruler. Below are two coins with the same reverse die but one has a Septimius Severus obverse and the other Julia Domna.
Are the above three coins from the same obverse die or just from the same artist/engraver? Who cares? I do since the first one is from Marcianopolis while the last two are from Anchialus. Does this mean one mint made coins for both cities? Perhaps one artist made both obverses and I am wrong they are the the exact same dies. Does this suggest they were using hubs to duplicate dies? Few ancients did this. There is a need for further study here. Has anyone seen it discussed in the literature? I do not have Mouchmov etc.
The two types minted by the moneyer L. Procilius, the only moneyer of the gens Procilia. His affinity for Juno Moneta has lead numismatists to believe his family is of Lanuvian origin.
This thread would suggest a version of the game 'Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon' which many of you are not old enough or bored enough to know: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Six_Degrees_of_Kevin_Bacon Based on the theory that any two coins could be linked by shared characteristics, I suspect you could link any two Roman coins is fewer steps than six. Does that mean that anyone who buys as few as six ancient coins may as well be resigned to wanting them all? Pretty much, yes.
Obviously the Widow's Mite was the first thing that came to mind when I read the title of this post @Deacon Ray, I also think Shekels of Tyre should be sold in lots of 30, but that might be expensive!
How about cities? Two from Thessaly with nice unusual patina. Thunderbolts and bows from Selge. Philippopolis
This is a very interesting thread. I racked my brains trying to come up with examples (meaning I went thru my coins trying to reason why any of them should be sold in pairs). The best I could come up with would be these two, sestertii of Domitian and Trajan, both engaging in most emperor's seemingly favorite sport, i.e. spearing your downtrodden enemies...(bit of humor). Sestertii issued to commemorate victories in Germania (Domitian), and Dacia (Trajan):