February's Ancient Coin Haul!

Magnentius AE2 - Centenionalis

OBV: DN MAGNENTIVS PF AVG

REV: Two victories placing a shield inscribed "VOT V MVLT X" "SV" below "VICTORIAE DD NN AVG ET CAE" "RPLG." in exergue.

REF: RIC VIII Lugdunum 128




Septimius Severus AE "Limes" Denarius

OBV: L SEPT SEV PERT AVG IMP VIII

REV: Providentia standing holding a wand over a globe and scepter "PROVIDEN-TIA AVG"

REF: RSC 592c, RIC 92v




Geta AE "Limes" Denarius

OBV: P SEPT GETA CAES PONT

REV: SECVRIT IMPERII, Securitas seated left holding a globe.

REF: RSC 183v, RIC 20v


These three are my latest purchases that I made today! These are the seller's attributions, photos and information so far. I'm going to recheck everything soon. I've been looking at those AE Denarii for some time, finally decided to get them. All of them are new emperors and so if they do arrive in the mail, will boost my Roman Imperial ruler count to 58!

I also purchased a bunch of coin pages for a three ring binder. Enough to hold 400 coins! I hope those pages fit the binder I have. Should be enough space for now. lol

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

Nice pick ups. I really like the Magnentius

 

What's a "Limes" Denarius?

 

Basically, these are bronze denarii coins, instead of the usual silver. No one really knows for sure but they were minted by people on the border, or in the Roman Empire as coins of necessity. Or they were officially minted in place of silver issues because of the shortage of silver to pay the armies.

Limes means "pathway" in latin, or used as a term to mark the boundary of the Roman Empire. So, these coins were believed to be minted over that boundary. Thus calling them "limes" or "limes falsa". Just a term that's applied to these coins even if it doesn't make sense.

 

I like all three, nice pickups.

 

nice!

 

Very nice Geta, coingrads.

 

i was going to ask that myself WC, good question (i thought maybe "limes" were green coins ).....and nice coins GG!

 

I am concerned about the "limes denarii," as a group. First off, while limes does sometimes mean pathway, it is better translate in this instance as "border." The term limes falsa does actually does not apply to these denarii. Limes falsa are cast counterfeits of bronzes of the 2nd and third century that are often found along the Rhine border. There is a good record of them from that region, as well as within the empire. In contrast, I know of no publications that list bronze denarii and no record of their being found in excavations.

I don't think they are fake. But I also don't believe any of the hypothesis put forth yet, primarily because there is no firm evidence.

 

I thought the same chrsmat...

That's why I asked!

 

Gil awesome coins, nice details, are you collecting the limes coins now...:thumb:

 

@Ardatirion: I do concur with what you just said and therefore I'm only going to call them AE Denarii. No one really knows about these coins.

I definitely will collect these AE Denarii as long as they are affordable. Some of them are really expensive even for the same grade and these two emperors. I'm going to be careful with them since I don't want to run into any fakes. I do think these are real and so I purchased them.

 

Gil-galad, It's nice to see a fellow Ohioan here!

Interesting new additions ... especially the "Limes" denarii.

 

Oh yeah, Ohio is a nice state!

Thanks guys for the comments.

Speaking of Ohio. I ordered the coins from a sub outside of Cleveland. The coins haven't even left the city yet and not supposed to get here until Friday. Funny though, I got coins from a friend in Florida in just two days.

 

Nice pickups gil-galad!

 

I like the centering and details on all three! :thumb:

 

While I certainly agree that the subject needs a lot more study, I am not so restrictive on the term Limes (pronounce it leem-ace rather than like the fruit). I don't recall seeing many of these coins until the 'opening' of trade with the former Soviet bloc countries. That alone suggests that the borderlands that spawned these coins was not the Rhine that produced copy bronzes (the asses I have heard called 'Cast in Gaul' - who first applied the name Limes falsa to them?). While you hear ideas and theories without evidence to support regarding the 'why' they exist, I'd first look for their origin farther east that the Rhine.

The problem with any study of unofficial coins is that you must not assume that anything you discover for one group of coins applies to all coins. It is more than likely that there were quite a number of shops producing coins other than the official mints. Even if you could prove beyond doubt that one group of coins was a semi-official municipal issue or connected in some way to Roman garrisons on the borders (Limes), you would know absolutely nothing about other coins. Some appear to be cast, some made from copy dies and some 'original' engravings. There are fully copper, silver washed, foil fourree and base silver coins as well as a few that are made in as good silver as we see from the official mints. All these have in common is what they are not - not what they are. Conventional scholars ignore these coins simply because they believe that it is meaningless to study them. While I regret this attitude, I am not sure I believe that there ever will be a good understanding of the subject and words like 'hopeless' seem reasonable to use. There was a time, for example, that modern scholars could not read Egyptian hieroglyphics but someone found the Rosetta Stone which opened the door to the language. Whether there is a document, inscription, mint site for excavation or something else that will serve as a Rosetta Stone for Limes denarii is something we can only hope for but not something which I would bet we will ever see. Meanwhile we each decide whether we want to collect them, own a couple samples or ignore them as meaningless trash. I have a few.

 

Gil-galad => nice Lemons

:foot-mouth:

... ooops, I mean Limes

:high5:

 

Alright, guys I just got my coins in today as well as coins pages for a three ring binder. If some of you didn't know, I use a scanner to take a photo of my coins and sometimes they don't turn out well. That is the case with the two AE Denarii. They do look better in-hand but still darker than the original dealer photos. It looks like the Geta coin has a trace of silver wash on it.

 

I still like the Magnentius best. :thumb: