Well, I've added three more Marcus Antonius legionary denarii to my collection in the last couple of weeks, making my sub-collection just a bit closer to completion. Two of the three, although not rare, are somewhat hard to find. MARCUS ANTONIUS AR Denarius OBVERSE: ANT AVG III VIR R P C, Praetorian galley, thyrsos behind prow REVERSE: LEG VIIII, legionary eagle between two standards Patrae 32-31 BC 3.8g, 17mm CR 544/22; Syd 1226 ex Pegasi Numismatics MARCUS ANTONIUS AR Denarius OBVERSE: ANT AVG III VIR R P C, Praetorian galley, thyrsos behind prow REVERSE: LEG XVII, legionary eagle between two standards Patrae 32-31 BC 3.3g, 17.5mm Cr 544/32; Sear, CRI 374; Sydenham 1237; RSC 49 ex. PNP MARCUS ANTONIUS AR Denarius OBVERSE: ANT AVG III VIR R P C, Praetorian galley, thyrsos behind prow REVERSE: LEG IV, legionary eagle between two standards Patrae 32-31 BC 3.8g, 17mm Cr 544/17; Syd 1219 Here the legions I am still missing. A couple of these I may never find at an affordable price, but I am still hunting. The chances of finding a couple of these for sale are pretty low, but if any of my CT friends see one, I'd appreciate a heads up. Leg IIII Leg IIX Leg XVIIII Leg XXI Leg XVII CLASSICAE Leg PRI CHOR PRAET Show you MA legionary denarii EVEN IF you've shown them before
Neato! You're really forging ahead with the fleet this year, Bing. Some of the remaining may be harder to find, but at this rate you'll be done in no time. I'm still looking for an example of the Speculatores that you found earlier this year. I haven't shown this one in awhile, the first of my legionary denarii.
Congrats @Bing it's always a thrill to get long sought coins. As someone that is unfamiliar with these coins, which of the ones that you listed are difficult to find? On a more historical note, did the legionary denarii circulate in the wider economy, our were they limited to payment of the soldiers?
WOW @Bing ! Congrats. I REALLY enjoy the IIII for the add+4 for the Roman numeral Legio VIII. Very cool. I know there are both numeral variations, but the "incorrect" +IIII is always fun to see. I have a miniscule collction. Someday, I plan to ramp up my Legio collection, but there are too many other areas I am attacking. Besides, I do not plan to bump into you as you are on YOUR Search and Destroy Mission for them. My Legios: RImp Marc Antony AR Den 32-31 BC Legio III Ship Eagle Standards S 1479 Cr 544-15 RImp Marc Antony AR Den 32-31 BC Legio V Ship Eagle Standards S 1479 Cr 544-18 RImp Marc Antony 32-31 BCE AR Legio X Equestris - Caesar Denarius B bankers mark Eagle Galley Standards RImp Marc Antony Legio XVI AR Den 18mm 3.4g Mil mint 32-31 BCE Praetorian Galley Aquila 2 Stds Cr 544-31 RSC 48
Of the one's I'm still searching, Leg XXI and Leg XVII Classicae will be the easiest, while the Legios IIX, XVIIII and Pre will most likely be the most difficult (especially at decent costs. These denarii were issued to the legions, but were widely circulated throughout the Empire. The silver content is low in comparison to other denarii of the the same period, so people would spend them as quickly as they acquired them. That's one of the reasons that so many are wear worn.
What out Leg IIII Leg IIX Leg XVIIII Leg XXI Leg XVII CLASSICAE Leg PRI CHOR PRAET Bing's gonna get you too!
What a lovely VIIII, and the reverse on the IV is awesome!! Congrats. I can't wait to see your next ones...
Here's my Leg IIII And Leg XVIIII See what I did there Seriously Bing that's great you have so many. Would like to pick up a few more myself.
Funny. . But the sad thing is that so many of this issue are in not much better condition and lacking the legion identification. Otherwise, nice coin(s).
Very nice coins Bing!!! You are putting together an amazing set! The Legion VIIII is favorite of the three.
I'm not 100% convinced that LEG PRI, Crawford 544/13, even exists at all, so don't get too hung up looking for one. I've had serious doubts about every one of the handful of purported examples to come on the market. The BMC example illustrated in Crawford seems OK in the photo and has certainly been examined very very carefully by real experts, but I haven't seen it in person so I remain agnostic. Phil Davis
LOL, I REALLY like that comment. Can I STEAL that when needed??? Mine is a tough one to see at Legio V... So, I am going to play this like @David@PCC ... Mine is PRI Attribution: Phil does not need to have this in hand. He just KNOWS it!!!
I just saw the Frank Robinson results were posted and I won the LEG IIII in his sale. Of course you won't be interested in it because it is SS not MA. Sorry. This is my old one: Frank's is no upgrade but is a different obverse die and I do not mind having duplicates on coins like this when they go cheaply. In Septimius Severus, LEG IIII is only 'moderately' rare. It is a Reka Devnia 1; the 'really' rare ones are RD 0. A couple of the most common SS were in the hoard at over 200 pieces which is not all that many when you consider there were over 7000 SS denarii out of the 81k hoard total. The vast majority of people who want a Septimius legionary do not care which legion they get and only wild fools (like me) have the set. Since I mentioned Reka Devnia: I find it amazing that there were 9 Antony legionaries in the hoard which was mostly 2nd and 3rd century. Of the 9, four were not readable (worn out) and one each was from II, VII and XI. Two (therefore the most common of the legions) were from XXI which is on your list! There were also 20 of the Aurelius and Verus restorations but those don't count since they were 200 years newer than the 'real thing'. I'm not sure when most people consider the earliest date that RD is a somewhat accurate measure of rarity. I'd guess the Flavians. Obviously the 'most common' status for MA LEG XXI is a meaningless statistic just done to rub in the fact you still want one.
