Here's some of the coins I picked up in 2023 that I really like a lot. I mostly concentrated on completing a set of denarii from the Severan Dynasty but I did pick up a few late Roman coins as well. I wasn't able get more than 10 coins this year but I couldn't limit myself to a more orderly 5 coins so I just made it top 6 instead. These are the coins that I was most pleased with getting this year. So without further adieu, I'm just going to list off all the coins from when I first acquired them: 1. Julia Domna Denarius 3.32g, 20mm Draped bust of Julia Domna right "IVLIA AVGVSTA" Pudicitia seated left, head left, hands on her chest. "PVDICITIA" RSC 168 (Did some of my own research and I could be wrong but this may have been minted around 196-202 CE at the Laodicea mint) A pretty wide flan and the beautiful portrait of this important matron is a little off-center but I'm happy to see that nothing was left off of the coin and all of the legends are legible and easy to read. It might be my personal favorite of all the coins I've bought this year. 2. Septimius Severus Denarius 2,41g, 17mm Laureate head of Septimius Severus right "IMP CAE L SEP SEV PERT AVG" Victory advancing left, holding a wreath and palm. "VICT AVG TR P COS" RSC 682 Struck 193/4 (didn't say where it was minted, but I looked up other coins and it was probably in Rome itself) Not all of the legends are legible but I was struck by this portrait of Septimius Severus himself. It really looks like something that belongs in a museum or the collection of a person much wealthier than me and yet I was able to get this for less than $100! It's really one of the main reasons I've been focusing on collecting from the Severans this year other than just the fascinating history of this period, it's the goldilocks combo of classical Roman artistic skill before everything goes to hell with the Crisis of the Third Century and affordability since there's less demand for this more obscure era compared to the often astronomical prices that decent-looking coins from the Julio-Claudian era command (I'll need a serious pay raise if I'm ever going to get even a crappy, beaten-up coin of Julius Caesar). 3. Julia Mamaea Denarius 2.88g, 18.5mm Diademed and draped bust of Julia Mamaea right "IVLIA MAMAEA AVG" Vesta standing, holding palladium and scepter "VESTA" RSC 498 (Had to look up other coins to see when and where this was minted, I did see another coin like this that was minted in Rome in 227 CE, so perhaps that's the same for this too but I'm just guessing) The portrait of this coin is nice and that usually tends to be the thing I gravitate to most on coins but I particularly love the reverse on this one. It's a very elegant and minimalistic composition that I find quite attractive. 4. Geta Denarius 209-211 AD. Rome mint. Ovb/ P SEPTIMIVS GETA CAES, bare-headed and draped bust right. Rev/ PONTIF COS II, Geta standing left with globe and sceptre. Cat: RIC 61a Silver (Ar) 2,7g - 20mm I love the portrait on this coin, the hairstyle feels like a throwback to Julio-Claudian emperors like Caligula or Claudius who sported a similar look on their coins. 5. Constantius II AE-2 Æ-2 (22mm, 5.60g). Struck 350-355 AD. DN CONSTAN-TIVS PF AVG, Pearl-diademed, draped, and cuirassed bust right / FEL TEMP RE-PARATIO, Soldier standing left, holding shield and spearing fallen horseman; shield on ground to right; Γ // ANZ. (mint of Antioch). RIC VIII, pg523, #132. Brown patina. Encrustations on Obverse and reverse. - otherwise Good VF+. VERY SHARPLY STRUCK ! Moving on past the Severans here's a much later coin from Constantine's most Machiavellian son, Constantius II. Even though the appearance of emperors on coins by this time has become less individualized and more abstracted following the Crisis of the Third Century and after having moved from "princeps" to "dominus noster", this is still a very handsome portrait and the reverse is incredibly dynamic. I find it amazing how such a common and cheap coin could look this attractive (some encrustations aside). 6. Justinian Follis Theoupolis (Antiochia) AE Follis (36.8mm, 17.86g) Obv: D N IVSTINI-ANVS P P AVI Helmeted and cuirassed bust of Justinian I facing, holding globus cruciger in his right hand and shield, decorated with cavalryman, with his left; in right field, cross. Rev: Large M between A/N/N/O and X/ς above, cross; below, Γ; in exergue, CHЄЧΠο. DOC 216. MIB 144. SB 219. Very Fine. I just recently got this on my 30th birthday just a few weeks ago and I haven't actually made a post about this until now. I had a feeling since it was a follis that it would be pretty big by ancient standards but I ended up quite surprised by how big it turned out to be. It's certainly the widest flan of any ancient coin in my collection. For comparison my sestertius of Marcus Aurelius is not as wide though it is thicker and heavier. It's like comparing a redwood tree with a sequoia tree if you think about it. It's interesting how the portrait on this coin has become even more abstract from the previous coin of Constantius II that I showed. Even though it's not at all realistic anymore, I'm still very fascinated by the "mystical" and "transcendental" quality of imperial portraiture on coins (especially gold ones) going further into the Medieval Byzantine age.
Definitely the Julia Domna for me, particularly with that long-suffering look on her face. A nice lot of coins.
