Somehow those happy to overpay for coins allowed me to win two lots in the recent Ken Dorney auction. Certainly these are not coins that would appeal to most people but they are coins I did not have. First is an AE15 from Arpi in Apulia 325-275 BC showing a rather ordinary Zeus head and what I consider a cute forepart of a not so cute boar. Above is a spearhead. The coin has more wear than some I have seen but has a particularly clear reverse legend ΑΡΠΑ (the larger coins spell out APΠANΩN). This half denomination seems less common than the whole hog reverse double. Other than the piggy, the appeal to me was it being from an Italian city not previously in my accumulation. The second coin is really not very nice with strange damage to the reverse that I can not convince myself is 'just' damage to the coin. I bid thinking it had deposits but it appears that the 'deposits' are solid metal as if someone roughly dug the V out of the reverse messing up some other parts in addition. The reverse legend is mostly missing but was PAX AVG. I only bid on this coin because of Coin Talk and will hold off telling why I wanted the coin. Anyone who has been paying attention to CT for the last month might see the answer but I suspect most will not. Am I wrong? I would appreciate opinions on the Mairat number especially for those who have the plates not included in the online text. https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:5...afe_filename=Volume_1.pdf&type_of_work=Thesis Which is this in the 597-601 range? Dots are hard to see on an imperfect coin. Where does he define b and p? I'm guessing 597??? https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:5...afe_filename=Volume_1.pdf&type_of_work=Thesis Do post your similar coins and Dorney wins. According to tracking info, my package 'predicted' to arrive last week finally arrived at my local post office Tuesday morning but rather than delivering it to me, they sent it to a town 60 mile north of me where it was sent back last night. Covid has changed what we do for excitement these days. Who knew watching tracking could be so entertaining?
On page 345 he says "(b)=bar; (p)=palm" but looking at the plates, the distinction escapes me. The two plates that cover Victorinus are here and here but the pictures can't be enlarged with alot of detail. From the plates, here's one example of 597 with the "bar": And for comparison here's an example of 600 with the "palm": What am I missing? Here's my own, already shown in the other thread:
The plates are available as well online and for download; see the links at https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:58eb4e43-a6d5-4e93-adeb-f374b9749a7f
I like this one! A really ferocious looking boar. It reminds me of a little Cretan bronze I have which has just a head rather than forepart. CRETE, Lyttos AE14. 2.52g, 13.8mm. CRETE, Lyttos, circa 3rd century BC. Svoronos, Crete, 70. O: Eagle standing right with wings spread. R: ΛYTI, head of a boar to right. And also this delightful ex steve: PHOKIS, Federal Coinage AR Obol. 0.83g, 9.5mm. PHOKIS, Federal Coinage, circa 478-460 BC. Williams –; BCD Lokris 208 (this coin); HGC 4, 1062. O: Facing head of bull. R: Forepart of boar right within incuse square. Ex Stevex6 Collection; Ex Thomas Bentley Cederlind (CNG 375, 1 June 2016, lot 326); ex Cederlind 161, 25 October 2011, lot 41; ex BCD Collection (Numismatic Ars Classica 55, 8 October 2010, lot 208), purchased from Peus, May 1978
Bar: a long rod or rigid piece of wood.(important definition for frenchies like me). The Cunetio hoard pictures help us here : The « bar », a palm without branch… On your specimen, you have the palm, the star, the V (probably) and no dots (probably): so it should be Mairat 601 !
Firstly, here is my Victorinus which seems to be the V/*/palm variety with no dots. But I'm not 100% sure on that... Lastly, I was lucky to win two coins at Ken Dorney's latest auction. I didn't have the shipping issues that @dougsmit had. In fact, my coins arrived earlier than expected. I doubt anyone will find them that interesting (which is why I was able to snag them), but they are 2 new rulers that FFIVN and I did not yet have. I bid on several other coins with Victory on them but lost out on those. Licinius II for me Licinius II 317 - 324 AD AE Follis, Antioch Mint, 20mm, 3.04 grams Obverse: D N VAL LICIN LICINIVS NOB CAES, Laureate and draped bust of Licinius left holding mappa, globe and scepter. Reverse: IOVI CONSERVATORI, Jupiter standing left holding Victory on globe and scepter, bound captive crouching to left, E in right field, SMANT in exergue. Chinese cash coin for FFIVN: Western Han Dynasty Emperors Wen Di, Jing Di and Wu Di 180 - 87 BC AE Four Zhu, 24mm, 2.41 grams Obverse: BAN LIANG, no inner or outer rims. Reverse: No inner or outer rims. Hartill 7.17 var.
From a huge batch from CTer @tenbobbit here is what I think is the "palm only" type of that Victorinus - the additional information in this post is very helpful, so I need to update my attribution. I'm hoping to improve on the photo soon; sorry! Gallic Empire Victorinus Billon / Æ Antoninianus (269-271 A.D.) Cologne Mint IM[P C] VICTORINVS P F AVG, radiate, draped and cuirassed bust right / PAX AVG, Pax standing left, holding branch and sceptre, V in left field, star in right field. RIC 118; Cohen 79; Hunter 11. (2.86 grams / 18 mm) @tenbobbit Oct. 2021
EX-DORNY: For coins, all I can find are secondary purchases but I do have some of his FPLs from the late 1990s (35, 38-42 and 44-46, 46 being his last; if anybody needs a ref. check, let me know, that's what I collect them for). Sorry, not the best pictures (I find literature more difficult to photo than coins, which are hard enough!): I recently got these from Ken to add to my collection/small-but-growing-library of dealer lists and catalogs. I do like a good booklet size catalog (Kirk Davis is still going as far as I know), but the full magazine-size ones like this give a lot of space for commentary and photos. For all the benefits of digital publishing and online communities, I still miss this genre of numismatic literature and love to review print dealer lists, new or old. Aside from content and documentation of provenances, they also leave a great record of the history of the market. Interesting thing about these ones: they came out during the transition to the internet, so the commentary sections discuss nearly-forgotten websites like numismatists.com among others (including, if I'm not mistaken, the start of ebay). BOARS: The style of imagery on Doug's always reminds me of a jack-in-the-box. Or evokes a boar springing from seclusion, arms outstretched. That'd be a very unboarlike thing to do, though, based on my occasional run-ins with javelinas in the American southwest... Keeping with that tangent: I videoed this family, led by the big male, crossing the street on Christmas, 2019. Cuter than one realized boars could be, as a family strolling in the rain with their wee one; but rather terrifying when they get to charging and scrambling all around in a blind panic. A lovely Phokian Bull & Boar obol, @zumbly ! Hard to find without some porosity or roughness or crystallization. I've got a couple of the "B & B" obol BCD duplicates from Naville (their photo) and was happy to receive his little cutout photos for them too. Here's the better one; different dies, but otherwise similar type to yours I'd say: My favorite Boar is a tiny little thing from Caria, Euromos (AR Hemiobol, 8 mm, 0.50 g, 10 h; type HNO 6). I liked the rev. for its more "realistic" style than usual (Zeus Lepsynos, for whom there are remains of a temple in Euromos; as with many Carian fractions recently, some have wondered if it's Hekatomnos, which would be quite something if true, and one of the earliest ruler portraits on a coin, after Tissaphernes). But the boar is what really made me want it. He's really got a lot of character and well-struck for the type. It's very difficult to find one with so much of the design on the flan (this one seems nearly complete, even with the Λ behind the head of Zeus): Leu Web Auction 16 (22 May 2021), Lot 1033 ; Dr. P. Vogl Coll., acq. E. Beckenbauer, 1984. Does anyone know if this Dr. Peter Vogl is the same as the Vogl (born 1949) who is/was physics professor (emeritus and chair) at Technical University of Munich? Previous P. Vogl collection sales were Helios 5 (25 June 2010) [per WWE's (@Valentinian 's) annotations, “Highly Desirable/Among the Finest” for 641 RPC]; Naumann Auktion 63 (4 March 2018), 1-496 [Vogl Cilician; of the provenances & documentation, Shanna Schmidt Newsletter #58 commented “a lot of work went into purchasing these coins”]; and recent Leu auctions (Auc. 4 [53 lots] & mult. Web Aucs. [>590 so far]). [WWE also has Hess 257 (11/86) described as Vogl's RPC, but I suspect it's a copy/paste error.] TETRICUS: The parallel discussion of reverse brockages, where Doug posted his Tetricus brockages and mentioned selling the rest, reminded me of 1-2 ex-Doug Tetricus AEs included in an AMCC 2 "pick-bin" group lot (484). Auction photo, cropped to show "Tetricus I antoninianus, Salus, RIC 126; Tetricus II unofficial (“barbarous”) antoninianus": The consignor was unnamed for another AMCC 2 "pick-bin" lot (517), part of which is below, again edited from the auction photo. I'm embarrassed to say I have yet to individually catalog or photo the Tetricus I (x8) & II (x1). (I was after the 8 "Later" Roman Bronze Coins, incl. a rare var. Crispus, and common emperor-dragging-captive & fallen-horsemen AE3/4s.) As a neophyte to the Tetrici, these seemed great for a starter group (interesting, attractive, varied types); I hope I'll soon get around to learning some more of the Tetrici in the process of cataloging them! Not sure what's going on with the first two reverses, they look interesting... Also really like the way that SPES PVBLICA is portrayed in the fourth one (top right). Back to Dorney: As it turns out, one of my AMCC 2 "pick-bin" wins was a Septimius Severus denarius ex-Dorney, with flip (Inventory # 3183, purchased ca. 2016, per vcoins archive). Lot 452 (Rome mint, VICT PART MAX, RIC 295). Surprising amount of flatness in the central reverse for everything else being relatively crisp: Ok, sorry -- I guess that's what one calls "the sprawl"! (For those who watched True Detective.)
Thanks to those who posted regarding the palm. I am less than sure about the dots since a faint remnant of a dot could remain and be missed in the photo but that is of no importance to me. I would like to know how the damage was done.
I've bought a wide variety of Roman coins from Ken Dorney (plus one that was ex. Ken Dorney), over the last couple of years. All at retail; I've never participated in any of his auctions. He's one of my favorite dealers. Here are some of them (footnotes omitted from all descriptions). All the photos are his except the first one: Roman Republic, L. Aurelius Cotta*, AR serrate Denarius, 105 BCE, Rome Mint. Obv. Draped bust of Vulcan right, wearing conical cap (pileus) bound with laurel wreath, tongs behind shoulder with * [= XVI; mark of value] above; beneath chin, control mark “D” with single pellet below**; all within myrtle-wreath / Rev. Eagle standing three-quarters right on thunderbolt with wings spread and head left; in exergue, L • COT; laurel-wreath around.*** Crawford 314/1b, RSC I Aurelia 21 (ill.); BMCRR 1296, Sydenham 577, Sear RCV I 191 (ill.). 19 mm., 3.74 g. Purchased from Ken Dorney June 2021; with old coin ticket from 1950s/1960s [with Sydenham number but not Crawford]. Trajan AR Drachm, 115-Feb. 116 AD [before granting of Parthia title], Arabia Bostra (or Rome*) Mint. Obv. Laureate, draped and cuirassed bust of Trajan right, with paludamentum, seen from rear, AYTOKP KAIC NЄP TPAIANѠ APICTѠ CƐB ΓƐPM ΔAK [equivalent of IMP CAES NER TRAIANO OPTIMO AVG GERM DAC] / Rev. Bactrian (two-humped) camel, walking left, ΔHMAPX ЄΞ YΠATO ς [equivalent of TR P COS VI (sixth consulship)]. RPC [Roman Provincial Coinage] Vol. III 4076 (2015); RPC III Online at https://rpc.ashmus.ox.ac.uk/coins/3/4076, SNG ANS VI 1158; Sydenham 205 [E. Sydenham, The Coinage of Caesarea in Cappadocia (1933 & 1978 Supp. by A.G. Malloy)]; BMC 20 Cappadocia 65-66 at p. 54 & Pl. IX No. 16 [Wroth, Warwick, A Catalog of the Greek Coins in the British Museum, Galatia, Cappadocia, and Syria (London, 1899)]. 19 mm., 3.10 g. Purchased from Kenneth W. Dorney. (Coin is double die match to Roma Numismatics Auction, May 21, 2013, Lot 767 [https://www.numisbids.com/n.php?p=lot&sid=474&lot=767]; image of that coin is reproduced as Plate 14, No. 7 in Woytek & Butcher article cited in note below.) Philip I AE Octassarion (8 Assaria), Second Issue, AD 247-249, Syria, Seleucis & Pieria, Antioch Mint. Obv. Radiate, draped & cuirassed bust right, ΑΥΤΟΚ Κ Μ ΙΟΥΛΙ ΦΙΛΙΠΠΟϹ ϹƐΒ / Rev. Turreted and draped bust of Tyche right; above, ram leaping right with head turned back left; star below bust; ΑΝΤΙΟΧƐΩΝ - ΜΗΤΡΟ ΚΟΛΩΝ around; Δ – Ɛ [Delta – Epsilon] across upper fields; S - C across lower fields. 30 mm., 15.68 g. McAlee 990 (ill. p. 345) [Richard McAlee, The Coins of Roman Antioch (2007)]; RPC VIII Online (unassigned, ID 7493) (see https://rpc.ashmus.ox.ac.uk/type/7493); BMC 20 Syria 526 [Warwick Wroth, A Catalog of the Greek Coins in the British Museum, Vol. 20, Galatia, Cappadocia, and Syria (London, 1899) at p. 215]. Purchased from Kenneth W. Dorney, Feb. 2022.* Anonymous colonial civic issue, AE 23, 251 - 260 AD (Trebonianus Gallus to Valerian I), Troas, Alexandria Troas Mint. Obv. Draped bust of Tyche right, wearing mural crown, vexillum inscribed CO AV over right shoulder, CO ALEX TR / Rev. Horse (of Erichthonius?)* grazing to right, COL AVG, TROAD in exergue. RPC IX 505 (see https://rpc.ashmus.ox.ac.uk/coins/9/505); Bellinger A486 [Alfred A. Bellinger, Troy, The Coins (Princeton 1961)]; BMC 17 Troas, 46 var. [diff. legends]; see also id. 45, 47-50 var. [Warwick Wroth, A Catalog of the Greek Coins in the British Museum, Vol. 17, Troas, Aeolis, and Lesbos (London 1894)]; SNG Copenhagen 108-113 [Sylloge Nummorum Graecorum, Copenhagen, The Royal Collection of Coins and Medals, Danish National Museum, Part 20, Troas (1945)]. 23 mm., 5.80 g. Ex: Pars Coins; Ex: Kenneth W. Dorney. Diocletian, AR Argenteus, ca. AD 295, Heraclea Mint (1st Officina). Obv. Laureate head right, DIOCLETI-ANVS AVG / Rev. The four tetrarchs [the Augusti Diocletian and Maximian, and the Caesars Constantius Chlorus and Galerius], draped, sacrificing over a tripod altar, two of them on each side, before military camp gate with six turrets (four in front and two in rear), VICTORIA-SARMAT [referring to victories over the Sarmatians*]; in exergue, H A [Heraclea, 1st Officina]. RIC VI Heraclea 6 [see http://numismatics.org/ocre/id/ric.6.her.6], RSC V Diocletian 488j, Sear RCV IV 12612. Purchased from Kenneth W. Dorney, Oct. 2021. Ex. Ira & Larry Goldberg Auction 90, 2 Feb. 2016, Lot 3274. 19 mm., 2.70 g.
Donna -- since I'm slightly bibliomaniacal, I always enjoy the references and bibliographic detail in your descriptions, including the links to RPC, OCRE, and auction lots. I don't know what's in the omitted footnotes but I'm sure they're fascinating too! (Hard to explain exactly, but I usually think about the books, the coins, and the collections as being parts of a single phenomenon. None of them mean very much without the others, I guess.)
Thank you. I omitted the footnotes here because they're all quite lengthy, and in fact one of them is still incomplete: for the recently purchased Philip I octassarion from Antioch (my first large Provincial bronze not from Alexandria), I have to finish the portion of my write-up dealing with the usage of "S - C" on Provincial coins of Antioch, as well as the interesting controversy over the meaning of the frequently-found Δ – Ɛ (Delta – Epsilon) on such coins. (Namely, whether it refers to the four eparchies of the Province of Syria, or is simply an abbreviation for the Greek version of TR POT [tribunitia potestas], i.e., ΔΗΜΑΡΧ ƐΞΟΥϹΙΑϹ .) Other than that one, the footnotes can be found pretty easily by searching for posts of mine using the key words associated with each coin.
