For the past several e-sales, Roma has been auctioning coins from the Antonio Carmona collection. According to Coins Weekly, he has been an active member of the Asociación Numismática Española since 1970, and a vocal advocate in defense of legal and educational coin collecting. His collection consisted primarily of bronze coins from throughout the Roman Empire. Unfortunately, he did not record individual provenances but 450 coins were purchased from the collection of Ana Espuny in 2006, and a further 953 were acquired from Almoneda Los Remedios in Malaga, with the remainder being mostly purchased from auction houses such as Áureo & Calicó, Jesus Vico SA, José Herrero SA and others. Do you have any coins from Antonio Carmona's collection? Let's see them! Faustina II, AD 147-175. Roman Æ as or dupondius, 11.69 g, 26 mm, 12 h. Rome, AD 161-163. Obv: FAVSTINA AVGVSTA, draped bust, right, and wearing stephane. Rev: SALVTI AVGVSTAE S C, Salus seated left, feeding snake coiled round altar from patera in right hand and resting left arm on chair. Refs: RIC 1671; BMCRE 995; Cohen 201; RCV 5303; MIR 30-7/10a, b diad. Notes: Ex Antonio Carmona Collection.
A couple of Ex Carmona found their way into my collection. Each one has a Dacia reverse that I had been looking for. Many bronzes from the Carmona collection have the same kind of white deposits, like your coin @Roman Collector and my Hadrians. Not sure what to make of it. The two coins look fine in hand, a bit better than I had expected
Great acquisitions! He's letting go of some very nice coins. I got this one from the Carmona collection last month from Roma. https://www.forumancientcoins.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pid=171533 IMP CAES VESPASIAN AVG PM TR P P P COS IIII Laureate head right T IMP AVG F COS II CAESAR DOMITIANVS AVG F COS DESG II SC Titus and Domitian standing front, each with spear and parazonium Lugdunum (Lyons); 72 CE 25.00g RIC 1185 (R2) very rare, only 2 on acsearch. Ex-Roma e-Sale 87 lot 729 From the Antonio Carmona Collection. Improperly attributed to RIC 1186 Old cleaning scratches not as pronounced in hand. The lighting makes them appear deeper than they are.
Roman Empire. Nero (54-68). Æ Sestertius. Lugdunum, struck AD 67. Laureate bust of Nero right, IMP NERO CAESAR AVG P MAX TR POT P P / Nero, togate and bare-headed, standing to left on low platform, raising right hand in act of address, praetorian prefect behind, togate and bare-headed; standing before, three soldiers, the two foremost holding standards, the praetorian camp in the background, ADLOCVT COH. 26.17g, 35mm. RIC I 564. From the Antonio Carmona collection. Thanks for the info on him. I've been digging but couldn't find anything myself. Mr. Carmona had three of these Adlocutio sestertii of Nero for sale at Roma. This one spoke to me the most as the others had various scratches and flan flaws. Unfortunately I've yet to find any provenance for it (not for a lack of trying!) but maybe I should start digging in Áureo & Calicó, Jesus Vico SA and José Herrero SA catalogues...
The surfaces of the coins look similar to uncleaned coins from Spain that I used to buy in lots many years ago. My guess would be that coins like these were probably found in Spain.
Beautiful bronzes! Here are three from the Carmona Collection, all purchased from Roma: 1. Galba sestertius. I've been looking for an "affordable" sestertius to fill in the gap left when I sold my last example, which had a fair amount of corrosion. This coin has a nice strike, somewhat encrusted surfaces (okay with me), but also with some smoothing on the reverse in the middle of Victory. Oh well, what's done is done. Since this is an orichalcum (brass) coin, the light toning over time will mitigate that issue to some extent, but still, as a replacement for type that commands mega bucks prices in high grades, it fills the bill for me. Roman Empire, 68-69 AD Galba Æ Sestertius Rome SER GALBA IMP CAESAR AVG TR P, laureate head to right / Victory advancing to left, holding palladium and palm; S-C across fields. RIC I 456; BMCRE 104. 24.35g, 34mm, 6h. Very Fine Lot 931, Roma E-Sale 86 From the Antonio Carmona Collection. 2. Hadrian sestertius. This is a rather common coin, as these things go. It was and "impulse" purchase during the auction. It is mid grade, but a nice example, and another sestertius to help build up the Roman part of the collection. Roman Empire, 137-138 AD Hadrian Æ Sestertius Rome HADRIANVS AVG COS III P P, laureate head to right / SALVS AVG, Salus standing to left, holding patera and scepter, to left, altar with snake; S-C across fields. RIC II.3 2420; C. 1332; BMCRE 1557. 26.50g, 32mm, 12h. Very Fine Lot 800, Roma E-Sale 87 From the Antonio Carmona Collection. 3. Philip I sestertius. I have been looking around for a 1,000th Anniversary of Rome type sestertius of Philip I. Again, this is a mid grade coin, and is available, no go great rarity here. Roman Empire, 248 AD Philip I Æ Sestertius Rome Commemorating the 1000th anniversary of the founding of the city. IMP M IVL PHILIPPVS AVG, laureate, draped and cuirassed bust to right / SAECVLVM NOVVM, octastyle temple with statue of Roma seated facing in center; SC in exergue. RIC IV 164 corr. (rev. legend); C. 201; Banti 52. 14.54g, 28mm, 12h. Very Fine. Lot 1512, Roma E-Sale 82 From the Antonio Carmona Collection.
Septimius Severus Æ 29mm of Pautalia, Thrace. AD 193-211. AV K Λ CEΠΤΙ CЄVHPOC Π, laureate head to right OVΛΠΙΑC ΠΑVTΑΛΙΑC, Hera standing to left, holding patera and sceptre. Varbanov -, cf. 4742; CNG E-424 lot 279. 14.52g, 29mm, 6h. From the Antonio Carmona Collection
