I bought several coins this week and remembered it is also my 22nd anniversary tomorrow. The gift for this anniversary is copper and as luck would have it; these ancient bronze coins have at least 75% copper. So, happy anniversary to me! The first is this fantastic depiction of Maximianus as Hercules. The bust is described as cuirassed in the literature; but Maximianus is bare chested and only wearing a baldric. Maximianus A.D. 288 silvered Ӕ Antoninianus 21x22mm 3.6g IMP MAXIMIANVS P AVG; Radiate, bare bust wearing baldric, lion’s skin across shoulder and carrying club. HERCVLI PACIFERO; Hercules stg. l., holding branch, club and lion’s skin; in left field B. In ex. SML RIC Vii Lugdunum 375; Bastien 130 (2 ex.) S-P across the reverse might stand for Sacra Pecunia Maximinus II A.D. 305- 306 Ӕ follis 22mm 9.8g GAL VAL MAXIMINVS NOB CAES; laureate head right. CONCORD IMPERII; Concordia standing facing, head left, leaning on sceptre with right hand and holding fold of drapery with left; S-P across fields, B in right. In ex. ALE RIC VI Alexandria 52 Ex Jean Elsen 152 (9 Sept 2022) lot 810; Ex Jean Elsen 64 (2 DEC 2000) lot 605 Postumus A.D. 269 Ӕ Antoninianus 20mm 3.6g IMP C POSTVMVS P F AVG; Radiate, draped, cuirassed bust right. PACATOR ORBIS, radiate and draped bust of Sol right. RIC Vii Cologne 317; Cunetio 2465
she gets her pick of one of the coins...which I will hold onto for her! Actually she got 4 sweet copper cups...which I will probably use more than her.
and I just won another anniversary gift from the "death" workshop...well, actually a way to avoid the "death workshop" This coin is not in RIC for this combination of workshop letters. It has ΔE versus the normal Θ for workshop 9. Sometimes ΔE was used for workshop 9, instead of Θ, as some people at the time considered Θ the symbol of death because theta was the first letter of the Greek word for the personification of death- Thanatos VRBS ROMA A.D. 330- 333 Æ nummus 18mm 2.5g VRBS ROMA; Roma, helmeted, wearing imperial cloak. Rev. She-wolf left with twins (Romulus and Remus); above, two stars. In ex. SMANTΔE RIC VII Antioch -- here is the normal workshop VRBS ROMA A.D. 335- 337 17mm 2.8gm Obv. VRBS ROMA [City of Rome] Roma, helmeted, wearing imperial cloak. Rev. She-wolf left with twins (Romulus and Remus); above, two stars. In ex. SMANΘ RIC VII Antioch 91
Great coins @Victor_Clark as always. Really enjoy your posts and have learned a lot from them (sorry, don't mean to burst your bubble, but I've still got a long way to go, as learning goes, lol). But, you truly are a valued source of information. And, HAPPY ANNIVERSARY! Mine was Wednesday, 37 years! Congratulations, again.
This story about conventional gifts for anniversaries is funny but... What is it like if you must wait for 50 years to get a gold present? And 80 years to get something made of oakwood (a nice coffin?).
