Finally added a second coin of Augustus

@zumbly

I cannot tell you what the stylistic cues are that differentiate the mints. I have been trying to figure that out myself LOL.

I can tell you I love your example...great toning and that interesting double-struck reverse. thanks for posting it here.

 

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thanks for posting these @David Atherton My first response would be...Ill take one of each please. Seriously though I would love to add examples like these to my collection.

 

Wow @Cucumbor What wonderful examples you have. I must admit that I am partial to the first one. There is just something about these anepigraphic obverses of Augustus that attract me. That does not meant I do not love the others you posted. they are all great.

 

all exceptional & beautiful coins !!!

At numismatics.org the cistophorus with the legend starting behind the neck is RIC 493, Pergamum mint, 27 - 26 BC, see http://numismatics.org/ocre/id/ric.1(2).aug.493 although they have no pictures for RIC 480. Maybe yours is from Pergamum and not Ephesus ? Interesting double-strike, great pick!

 

Fed Ex just delivered the coin. The coin is now an ex-slabbed coin. It is really cool to hold one of these cistophori. I hope you like the new photo.

 

Augustus is a fascinating figure in history! Great coin!

 

my Capricorn denarius is also struck on an oval flan like the one shown in the OP. Maybe on some days the mint didn't pay too much attention to what they were doing:
17 x 20 mm, 3.98 g;
Colonia Patricia, Lusitania, 18 - 17 BC
Ref.: RIC 126; RSC 21; BMC 347; Cohen 21
Obv.: AVGVSTVS Head of Augustus, bare, right
Rv.: Capricorn right, with cornucopia on back, holding globe with attached rudder

 

A very nice example @cmezner Thanks for posting it here.

 

I missed this post the first time around...lovely score! Maybe I should check out Heritage and look for the "undesirable" ancients also.

 

They do come up every once in a while. I have snagged a couple because they were largely overlooked.

 

Great coin, @Orfew! Augustus coinage is probably my favorite! I love all the different offerings and types. Though, I have yet to pull the trigger on an AR of his yet...

I just got this one last week and haven't had an excuse to share it:


Divus Augustus, AE As
Struck under Tiberius 34-37 AD
Obverse: DIVVS AVGVSTVS PATER, Radiate head of Augustus to left.
Reverse: Winged thunderbolt, S-C across field.
Reference: RIC I (Tiberius) 83

 

Has anyone of you figured out if the OP cistophorus was minted in Ephesus or in Pergamum?
According to http://davy.potdevin.free.fr/Site/augustus3.html there are RIC 477, RIC 480, RIC 493 and also RIC 488 (with lituus). The difference that I can see is that the legend on 488 and 493 is to the outer left while on 477 and 480 it is below the neck. Also the tail of the capricorn, is straight on 493 and 488 but curved on 477 and 480. Could these be the differentiating elements? Hmmm... Maybe not, guess I am not seeing something, because I have 3 of these cistophorus, two of them have a capricorn with curved tail and legend below the neck, but the third one has a capricorn with straight tail but the legend is also below the neck, not to the outer left as shown on davy.potdevin's Augustus. Any ideas?
Just showing one that I guess could be RIC 477, Ionia, Ephesus mint:
25 x 26 mm, 11.78 g; ca. 25 - 20 BC
There is a grafitti behind Augustus' head, horrible people who do that

 

@cmezner

Yours is Ephesus and is RIC 477 or 480. The reason is the broken legend on the obverse.IMP CAE-SAR. The only difference I see in RIC between 477 and 480 is the weight standard. According to RIC the weight standard for 477 is 12.10-11.95 grams. The weight standard for 480 is 12-11.90 grams. 477 is listed as scarce and 480 is listed as common.

Mine is Pergamum because it does not have the broken legend. It is not 488 because 488 has a lituus on the obverse. Therefore my coin is RIC 493. 488 and 493 are both listed as R2.

 

I believe all three shown on this thread are either 477 or 480. The obverse legend is broken, as described by RIC : "IMP CAE-SAR". I would guess mine (the first one) and Orfew's are 480, just on account of their weights being much lower than the weight-peak range, though to be honest I think suggesting a difference between 12.10-11.95g and 12-11.90g seems to border on splitting hairs.




As @cmezner points out, 493 has the obverse legend to the left (unbroken, between 7-10 o' clock), and would look like this (not mine):

 

which one? sorry, I can't see what you mean. All the ones of this type shown in this thread have the broken legend IMP • - CAE - SAR (can't see if the one posted by zumbly has a dot)
RIC 493 would be this one copied from http://davy.potdevin.free.fr/Site/augustus3.html ?


Regarding the weight standard, the difference is only between 0.05 to .10 grams? cng says that this one with a weight of 11.53 g, is RIC 480:
https://cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=49953

My apologies, I am just confused

 

sorry zumbly, didn't notice that you had written a new post

 

My apologies. You are both correct. Mine is either 477 or 480 just like the rest on this thread. This makes them all issues of Ephesus. As for the weight standard I am only reporting the differences as seen in RIC.

 

Great JOB Andrew! Beautiful cisto! Big fun having a big coin! Congrats my friend.

 

At least we have narrowed it down to two possibilities