Is this what I think it is?

Hi folks,
I was bottom feeding on eBay today after I lost a Valens Siliqua, much to my surprise I saw this!




I think the mint mark says Tertia or 3rd, referring to the officinae workshop at Rome.
I checked Warren's page to make across reference but he did not have an specific example for Gratian. Perhaps it's rare?
The bad news is that I think it has a spot of BD on Gratian's shoulder.
I had better pick up some verdicare then.

So is it what I think it is and if so does it have BD?

 

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Saw this one but I had my eyes on a few other coins so I pass this by. Interesting catch.

 

Thanks.
Man that would have been odd for us to be bidding against each other for this coin.

 

Good news from the dealer. The coin is BD FREEEEEE!
"No its not bronze disease , the bronze disease is light green powdery thing , this is solid and i had the coin for over five years if it was bronze disease it would have eaten it by now . thanks for your purchase hope you enjoy the coin specially with the variety it has in the obverse legend letters"


Who's for a drink!

 

Congrats my friend. I'll tip a glass to you and the coin.

 

Rome has rather distinct portraits for the emperors of this time period. Here's my Gratian AE2 of Rome:



Interestingly enough it has the same black/sand patina combo as my rare Justinian half-follis, also from Rome and struck 160-ish years later.

 

Nice pair.
Rome also has a very distinct style for their Siliquae as well.
Not my coin but you can see the distict hair style. Compare this to my coin from Antioch with a bowl haircut.

 

If we are talking bowl haircuts, plenty can be found on Italian coins of the Ostrogoth and early Byzantine periods. Here's a Justinian pentanummium from my collection that definitely is sporting this hairstyle (mint is probably Rome but definitely Italian based on style).



My half follis above has it as well but the detail from the hair is mostly gone.

 

Very nice. Eventually sometime this summer I hope to acquire a few "Byzantine" Siliquae from Italy.

 

Speak of the devil I have one of those too (actually a half-siliqua)! Kinda junky but it was what I could afford at that moment and I really wanted one. I also need to shoot my own photos of it. Its a Justinian from Ravenna.

 

I like it!!
I am looking at a half Siliqua at the moment actually, though it's from a Western Roman Emperor.

 

As you said, these types are from Rome and were issued for Valentinian I, Valens and Gratian on the GLORIA ROMANORVM, and SECVRITAS REIPVBLICAE type bronzes. They have either RPRIMA (first), RSECVNDA (second), RTERTIA (third) and RQVARTA (fourth) mint-marks. Unfortunately RIC just groups them all together and calls them Scarce. It's unknown what the true rarity is for any particular Emperor or workshop. I personally think the QVARTA type are the toughest to find, but that's just my opinion.

 

Congrats Mag-Max!!! that's a wonderful coin!!!

 

Thanks guys!
I paid a grand total of $8.50 for it
Go me!

 

i love a good bargain bin score, nice MM!

here's my only gratian, a nice AE 2....

 

Nice find. Love eBay and love bottom feeding.

 

Easily my best unattributed find from eBay. Got a great deal on it.

Domitian, Roman Empire (revalued under the Ostrogothic Kingdom)
AE as/42 nummi
Obv: CAESAR AVG F DOMITIAN COS II, laureate head left, countermark XLII (42) in left field
Rev: VICTORIA AVGVST, Victory advancing right, standing on prow, holding wreath and palm branch, S-C across fields
Mint: Rome (struck 73-74 AD; revalued 498-526 AD)
Ref: RIC 677

 

Congrats on your OP-score ... oh, and great thread-additions, coin fellas

Yah, these two are definitely amongst my most humble examples ...



Valens



Gratian


... oh well, $20 each (delivered)

Not great, but not horrible (*tick* on both of these Roman rulers)

 

Love the detail on this one Chris, most of all the bust.

 

If we are posting AE-2s now, then you guys can excuse me for posting this beauty.