Completed themes... finally!

One of every provincial city shouldn't take long? Right? Here is a minor theme of cities in the province of Aeolis accumulated over 5-6 years. Share your completed themes or sets, big or small, and how long it took to accomplish.

 

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Love the Crispina as demeter.

My sets.

Lucilla, 2 years to complete.


Crispina, Less then 2 years to complete.


12 Caesars, 2 years to complete but always rotating coins.

 

Mat, beautiful coins and sweet presentation!

 

Cool trays @Mat !

 

I do not have a neat tray for these, but here they are in 2 posts. This is my 12 Caesars set in sliver. I am always trying to get better coins so the set is not static by any means. This is what it looks like at the moment.
It took me 6 months to assemble the first iteration of the set. It has changed a few times since as I have attempted to upgrade some of the coins.
001 Divus Julius Caesar Denarius. 40 BC. Q Voconius Vitulus, quaestor. 3.36 g
Obv:Laureate head right
Rev: Q•VOCONIVS above, S-C to sides, VITVLVS•Q / DESIGN below, bull-calf advancing left. Crawford 526/4, Sydenham 1133.
ex: Frank Robinson


002 Augustus. 27 BC-AD 14. AR Quinarius, Brundisium or Roma 29-27 BC, AR 1.63 g. Obv: CAESAR IMP VII, Bare head
Rev: ASIA RECEPTA Victory standing l. on cista mistica, holding wreath and palm branch; on either side, snake.
BMC 647. RIC 276. CBN 900

003 Tiberius. AD 14-37. AR Denarius. Lugdunum (Lyon) mint. Struck AD 15-16 3.23 g.
Obv: TI CAESAR DIVI AVG F AVGVSTVS, Laureate head right Rev: TR POT XVII, Tiberius, holding branch and scepter, driving triumphal quadriga right, IMP VII in exergue. RIC I 4 (R2); Lyon 122; RSC 48 Ex: Incitatus Coins


004 Caligula and Agrippina AR Denarius, aF, toned, bumps and marks, 2.680g, 17.8mm, 180o, Lugdunum (Lyon, France) mint, end of 37 - early 38 A.D.;
Obv: C CAESAR AVG GERM P M TR POT (counterclockwise), laureate head of Gaius right;
Rev: AGRIPPINA MAT C CAES AVG GERM (counterclockwise), draped bust of Agrippina Senior (his mother), her hair in a queue behind, one curly lock falls loose on the side of her neck,;
RIC I 14 (Rome) (R), RSC II 2; BMCRE I 15 (Rome), BnF II 24, Hunter I 7 (Rome), SRCV I 1825
Ex:the Jyrki Muona Collection, Ex: Forvm Ancient Coins

005 Claudius 41-54 AD. AR Denarius. Rome mint (18 mm 3.62 gr). Struck 46-47 AD.
Obv: TI CLAVD CAESAR AVG P M TR P VI IMP XI, laureate head right
Rev: CONSTANTIAE AVGVSTI, Constantia seated left of curule chair, hand raised to face. RIC 32 (R2), RSC 8 BMC 31.
Ex: Au Capital Management LLC3

006 Nero. AD 54-68. AR Denarius Rome mint. Struck AD 68.
(18 mm, 3.37 g)
Obv: IMP NERO CAESAR AVG P P, Laureate head right
Rev: Legionary eagle between two standards.
RIC I 68 (R2); RSC 356
Ex: CNG e-auction 370 lot 391 March 9, 2016

007 Galba AR Denarius12 viewsGalba. AD 68-69. AR Denarius. Rome mint. Struck circa July AD 68-January 69. 2.63 g
Obv: IMP SER GALBA CAESAR AVG, Laureate head right
Rev: DIVA AVGVSTA, Livia standing facing, head left, holding scepter and patera.
RIC I 186 (R); RSC 55.
Ex: Ancient Imports


008 Otho AR Denarius.69 AD Rome Mint. 3.08 g
Obv: IMP M OTHO CAESAR AVG TR P, bewigged head right
Rev: SECVRI-TAS P R, Securitas standing left, holding wreath & scepter. RIC I, 8,(R2) RSC 17.4

009 Vitellius Denarius. 69 AD 3.09 g
Obv: A VITELLIVS GERM IMP AVG TR P, laureate head right
Rev: PONT MAXIM, Vesta seated right, holding sceptre and patera. RIC 107(S), RSC 72, BMC 34.
Ex: Frank Robinson

010 Vespasian. AD 69-79. AR Denarius (18mm, 3.39 g, 6h).
Rome mint. Struck AD 74.
Obv: IMP CAESAR VESP AUG Laureate head right
Rev: PONTIF MAXIM Vespasian seated right, holding scepter and branch.
RIC II 685 (R); BMCRE pg. 27 ; RSC 386.
Ex: J. Eric Engstrom Collection
Ex: CNG E-auction 373, Lot 366

 

011 Titus. AR Denarius 19 mm (3.3 g), as Caesar, AD 69-79. Rome, under Vespasian, AD 77/8.
Obv: T CAESAR IMP VESPASIANVS, laureate head of Titus right.
Rev: COS VI, prow of galley right, sides ornameted with intricate cross-hatch and maeander patterns; above, star with sixteen rays. RIC 950 (R); BN 202; BMC 226; RSC 68.
Ex: Incitatus Coins


012 Domitian. AR denarius (18.1 mm, 3.36 g, 7 h). Rome mint, struck A.D. 81.
Obv: IMP CAESAR DOMITIANVS AVG, laureate head right
Rev: TR P COS VII, draped throne, back decorated with grain ears. RIC 3 (R); BMCRE 2; RSC 554a.
Ex: Agora Auctions

 

How do you determine when a set is complete? I know nothing about Aeolis or hundreds of other places but I do know there are coins uncertainly identified or assigned to a place not accepted by every student. There are cities not known to have coins and coins not assignable to cities. It seems several cities in Aeolis were out of business by the time Provincials started and your list matches those in Head so I assume it is complete. Congratulations on achieving the goal.

As far as sets completed, I have none. Martin and I might be said to have interest in completing a set of coins from Eastern mints of Septimius Severus. I became interested in the subject 50 years ago and have many coins not listed in RIC but not as many as Martin has. Worse, if we combine our holdings we still would not have a set of what we know to exist and Martin posts new things here on a semi regular basis. I once thought I had a set of the legionary types of Septimius Severus but someone came up with an error die from Alexandria with IIII in place of III which I lack. Oh, well. Being able to complete a set requires great care in selecting subjects.

 

Wow ancientone, congrats on completing that Aeolis-series ...

Ummm sorry, but I didn't see Gryneion in your completed set (yeah => it's back to the ol' drawing-board, my awesome coin-friend)

Aeolis, Gryneion, AE11
400-300 BC
Apollo & Mussel





Aeolis, Aegae, AE18
300-200 BC
Apollo & Goat Head



... that's a great collection => but now it's even better knowing that you have a new unicorn to chase, eh?

=> coins rock (and so does your awesome collection!!)

keep-up the great work!!

 

Um, Jan... I hate to tell you this but his set is Roman Provincials of Aeolis . The other cities were not provinces of Rome at the time those coins were struck, and apparently those other cities never became provinces, or at least not that numismatists have discovered.

 

I don't get it? ... so he has completed his set and once again I'm an a-hole, or there are still cities that the awesome dude still needs to collect? (gawd, I hate asking the nasty teacher for the answers!!)

 

It was an easy mistake to make . The answer is yes, he has completed his set (one per issuing province, not one of each coin issued by each province) unless previously unknown provincials are found or attributed to another city from Aeolis.

What I'd like to know, @ancientone, is what motivated you to form this set? I'm not asking because there is a "right" or "wrong" answer... just curious

[I certainly can't judge someone for their definition of a set. My first set was Pink Floyd Animals in Ancient Coins... not exactly a scholarly endeavor ]

 

Hmmm, still kinda sexy?

 

Get help

 

Thanks Doug! I'm just looking for one example from each city in a province. Would a provincial cities list be more complete than a Greek cities list with provincial cities names in the reverse inscription? I use a list compiled by Henrik Agndal at http://tjbuggey.ancients.info/orter.htm that seems to be accurate enough. Depending on the date, borders changed. A few locations are still unknown.

 

We are fine as long as we realize that there is always a chance a new find will change the game.

Trivia: Why am I showing a coin of Smyrna, Ionia? Smyrna was in Aeolis (actually on the border) but joined the Ionian confederation (places south of it) leaving Aeolis (places north of it) so this semi-autonomous coin is way too late to be needed for your set. This is like in the US where the western counties of Virginia formed a new state (West Virginia) at the start of the Civil War making it possible for letter collectors to find the same town names with two different state postmarks. I wonder if my cutter knew your Temnos cutter?

 

I didn't set out to complete a set of coins of provincial Aeolis, it just happened. I search only for cities not in my collection. I did say this was a minor theme.... Other provinces in my collection, like Thrace, will not be completed any time soon. I still need a couple of rare cities that just are not available.

 

Steve, anyone who likes Dread Zeppelin and Spinal Tap is not an a-hole.

 

Mat, love your Lucilla....WOW!

 

Nice sets @Mat

 

Congrats! Nice set!