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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Ardatirion, post: 2068617, member: 9204&quot;]Collecting tesserae has been an extremely rewarding venture for me. I am often able to acquire incredibly rare pieces bearing mythological and historical figures that are rarely seen elsewhere. In the context of the tesserae series as a whole, the following piece is not terribly exceptional. The shape and size is normal - circular, about 17-19mm. The obverse figure, Fortuna, is a common theme. But the reverse deity, while in a pose that is shared by most other gods and goddesses on tesserae, is notable. The figure is Silvanus, the Roman god of the forest and field, holding his scythe and tree branch. To my knowledge, the only numismatic appearance of Silvanus outside of the tesserae is on a handful of medallions of Hadrian, all from the same issue.</p><p><br /></p><p style="text-align: center"><br /></p> <p style="text-align: center"><img src="http://www.forumancientcoins.com/gallery/albums/userpics/18271/normal_K%F6lner_M%FCnzkabinett_Tyll_Kroha_-_5_December_2014_-_lot_406.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /> </p> <p style="text-align: center"><b>ROME</b></p> <p style="text-align: center">PB Tessera (17mm, 3.56 g, 12 h)</p> <p style="text-align: center">Fortuna standing left, holding rudder and cornucopia</p> <p style="text-align: center">Silvanus standing left, holding scythe and branch</p> <p style="text-align: center">Rostovtsev 2977; München 368; BM 397; Paris 390; Kircheriano 922-4</p> <p style="text-align: center"><br /></p> <p style="text-align: center">Ex Kölner Münzkabinett Tyll Kroha 102 (5 December 2014), lot 406</p> <p style="text-align: center"><br /></p><p>A side note - I bid on this lot via SixBid, not expecting to win anything, so I was surprised and pleased when it hammered at €58, two below the estimate and twelve below my bid. Silly me had failed to realize that there was a 22% (!) buyer&#039;s fee on the sale. Coupling this with higher-than-average shipping costs and a paypal fee (they initially wanted a bank transfer), and I paid almost €30 more. Oh, and their invoices? Handwritten. Maybe if the firm modernized a little bit and got some proper invoicing software, they could lower their fees and attract more bidders. But that&#039;s none of my business. <img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie14" alt=":angelic:" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" />[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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