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Babies crawl!


Faustina II, AD 147-175.
Roman orichalcum sestertius, 24.65 g, 30.4 mm, 12 h.
Rome, AD 161.
Obv: FAVSTINA AVGVSTA, draped bust, right, wearing stephane.
Rev: SAECVLI FELICIT SC, draped throne on which there are two infant boys, Antoninus and Commodus, with stars above their heads.
Refs: RIC 1665n; BMCRE 939, 941; Cohen 193; RCV –; MIR27-6/10a, b Diad.

Next: baby (or more than one baby).

 

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next: more babys

 

The rev. legend is Pietas but the allegory is Fecunditas with 4 babies, the same as on the Faustina II sestertius... Why did they chose this type?

NEXT : sestertius or double sestertius of Postumus.

 

Postumus, Double sestertius - Cologne mint, AD 261
IMP C M CASS LAT POSTVMVS P F AVG, Radiate bust of Postumus right
LAETITIA AVG, Galley travelling left
18.12 gr
Ref : Cohen #177, RCV #11049

Next a sestertius of Postumus

Q

 

12hrs
Anonymous, minted circa 179-170 BC. AR Denarius (3.77g).
Next, your oldest denarius.

 

Not so old: C. Antestius, AR Denarius 146 BCE, Crawford 219/1e.



Next, your oldest denarius bearing an X as the mark of value.

 

Roman Republic, moneyer: Cn. Calpurnius, AR denarius, 189–180 BC, Rome mint. Obv: head of Roma right; behind, X. Rev: CN·CALP; Dioscuri galloping r.; in exergue, ROMA. 19mm, 3.87g. Ref: RRC 153/1.

Next: A different mark of value on a Roman Republican coin

 

next: another Roma Dioscuri denarius

 

L. Cupiennius, 147 BC.
Roman Republican AR denarius, 3.89 g, 17.7 mm, 3 h.
Rome, 147 BC.
Obv: Helmeted head of Roma, right; cornucopiae behind; denominational mark X before.
Rev: Dioscuri galloping right; L·CVP (VP ligatured) below; ROMA in exergue.
Refs: Crawford (RRC) 218/1; RSC Cupiennia 1; Sydenham (CRR) 404; RCV 94.

Next: Dioscuri, but not on a denarius.

 

next: dioscuri on a bronze coin

 

12 hours, this thing is pretty rough but I'm proud to say it's my first and only notable provenance from the distinguished Robert Tye who cowrote (alongside his wife) the standard reference for the series called Jitals.

Khwarazmian Empire
Ala ad-Din Muhammad
1200-1220 AD
AE Jital | 2.66 grams | 17mm wide
Kurzuwan Mint
Ref: Tye #246.3
Ex. Robert Tye

​

Next: Your most notable or favorite provenance

 

A follis of Constantine interesting because of its provenance.

Constantine I the Great, follis, AE 20mm, 2.77 g, 321-324.
Obv.: CONSTANTINVS AVG, laureate head right; Rev.: D N CONSTANTINI MAX AVG, VOT XX in two lines within wreath, exergue illegible.

I found this very circulated coin in an old wallet in my great-grandmother's attic, which was full of old things dating back from the 19th or early 20th c. It was a little leather wallet with small change still inside, copper coins from the late 19th c. There were coins from France but also from Italy or Belgium. It was the time of the "Union Latine" when coins from several European and even South American countries were equivalent and were mixed together in circulation, exactly like today's Euro coins.

But I did not know the Roman Empire too was a member of the Union Latine ! And as far as I know, nobody in my family has ever collected ancient coins. Trying to understand what this follis was doing in this wallet, I learned that before the 1st World War, in rural areas, it was not uncommon to accept old demonetized coins as small change, if their module was roughly the same as modern ones. Thanks to its 20 mm module, this old follis could be seen as the equivalent of a 2 centimes coin.

I do not think that it has been circulating all the time from the 4th c. It must have been lost in the 4th c., found on the ground by somebody in the 18th or 19th c., added to the small change he had in his pocket and started a second life in everyday circulation. Some people may have refused it, some others may have not noticed and accepted it, especially in rural areas where there was always a lack of small change.

NEXT : a very worn, smooth but still identifiable coin.

 

11.53 g 29 mm
RIC I (second edition) Claudius 94 Dupondius
From Date: AD 41 To Date: AD 50
Legend: TI CLAVDIVS CAESAR AVG P M TR P IMP
Type: Head of Claudius, bare, left
Legend: CERES AVGVSTA S C
Type: Ceres, veiled and draped, seated left, on ornamented throne, holding grain stalks in right hand and transverse torch in left

Next - another Claudius I imperial coin

 

next: standing Minerva

 

Domitian with Minerva holding thunderbolt and spear.

Next, Athena standing or attacking.

 

Athena attacking an anguipedal monster!


Volusian, AD 251-253.
Roman provincial Æ 29.1 mm, 11.2 g, 6 h.
Cilicia, Seleucia ad Calycadnum, AD 251-253.
Obv: ΑV Κ ΓΑ ΟVΙΒ ϹΑΒΙΝ ΓΑΛΛΟϹ, radiate, draped and cuirassed bust, right.
Rev: ϹЄΛЄΥΚЄ-ΩΝ ΤΩ Π|ΡΟϹ Κ-ΑΛV|ΔΝ, Athena advancing right, brandishing spear, holding shield, attacking serpent-footed giant hurling stone with right hand.
Refs: RPC IX, 1336; BMC 21.141,54; SNG von Aulock 5851; RG 4480 (SNG France 1055); SNG Levante 780.
Notes: Double die match to SNG Levante 780 and RG 4480=SNG France 1055 (BnF); obverse die match to BMC 54.

Next: Monster.

 

Kaliya is cursed serpent monster that terrorized the people who lived along river Yamuna, and baby Krishna controlled the serpent and removed it's curse by dancing on its head!
Next, a story depicted on a coin.

 

This coin definitely tells a story, even though there's a long-standing controversy as to which one:

Roman Republic, M. Herennius, AR Denarius, Rome mint, 108-107 BC.
Obv. Diademed head of Pietas right, wearing single drop earring and pearl necklace, PIETAS (TA ligate) downward to left / Rev. Naked youth (one of the Catanaean brothers, Amphinomous or Anapias) running right and carrying his father on his shoulder to escape from erupting Mt. Etna, or Aeneas carrying his father Anchises to escape from defeated Troy, with his father looking back (towards Mt. Etna or Troy) and raising his right hand; M • HERENNI (HE ligate) downward to left, Control-mark • above C in lower right field.* Crawford 308/1b, RSC I Herennia 1a, Sear RCV I 185 (ill.), BMCRR 1258-1285 [No. 1261 has same control-mark], Sydenham 567a. RBW Collection 1149. 19mm, 4.0g, 7h. Purchased at JAZ Numismatics Auction # 181, Lot 6, April 2021; ex. Frederick B. Shore; ex. Stack’s Public Auction Sale, “A Collection of Ancient Roman Coins,” June 14-15, 1971, Lot 127, at p. 16 [not illustrated in plates] (see catalog at https://nnp.wustl.edu/library/auctionlots?AucCoId=3&AuctionId=516472#search). [Footnote omitted.]



In my lengthy footnote, I explained why I lean towards the Aeneas/Anchises interpretation. See https://www.cointalk.com/threads/ro...as-or-catanaean-brothers.380718/#post-7568886.

Next: another coin depicting one figure lifting or carrying another. (Edited to add: I don't mean a horse or other animal carrying a human!)

 

Islands off Thrace, 500-480 BC
Thasos
AR Stater
Nude Satyr in kneeling-running stance to right, carrying off a protesting nymph / Quadripartite incuse square.
SNG Copenhagen 1010-1011. 8.44g, 20mm.




Next: A coin from the time of Sulla.

 

Fonteius. Mn. Fonteius C.F. Denarius. 85 BC. Auxiliary mint of Rome. (Ffc-717). (Craw-353/1a). (Cal-589). Anv.: Laureate head of Vejovis right, mongram (of ROMA?), below chin, thunderbolt below head. MN. FONTEI. C.F. (MN y NTE interlace), behind. Rev.: Infant winged Genius seated on goat right, caps of the Dioscuri above, thyrsus below, all within laurel-wreath. Ag. 3,68 g. Centered struck. Almost VF. Purchased from Tauler & Fau 4/2021
The moneyer is perhaps the brother of the moneyer M. Fonteius (see Crawford 347) and not inconceivably the tribune featured on the reverse of Crawford 429/1 (see the coin of P. Fonteius P.f. Capito below).The reverse recalls that the god Jupiter was suckled by the she-goat Amaltheia on Mt. Ida during his infancy, and depicts a statue that was within the Temple of Vejovis in Rome

Next up: coin from time of the Gracchi Brothers