Welcome to Round 1 of CIT 2018! If you are unaware of the tournament I invite you to get caught up with all the fun on the following link: https://www.cointalk.com/threads/an...annual-coin-imperator-tournament-2018.320328/ I want to give a special thank you to the participants for volunteering to play the game. We have a great group of people here at CT. ........................................................... #9 @Clavdivs Diadumenian City/Mint Markianopolis Size (mm) 16 Weight (g) 2.99 Die Axis 0 Ob. Leg. M OPELLIC ANTWNEINOC Ob. Desc. Bare headed and draped bust of Diadumenian, right Meaning Marcus Opellius Antonius Rev. Leg. MARKIANO-POLEITWN Rev. Desc. Eros/Thanatos standing left, resting chin on palm, leaning on (extinguished) inverted brand Meaning (Coin) of the people of Markianopolis – A prince crowned by the gods References; Collection; Moushmov 591; Hristova/Jekov (V2) 6.25.41.1 (r6), p.127; Varbanov (Eng.) Vol.1. No. 1339; AMNG I 796, p. 251; Price: $6.45 Why It’s Cool: Marcus Opellius Antoninus Diadumenianus was the son of the emperor Macrinus (AD 217-218). Within 3 days of Caracalla’s assassination Macrinus claimed the Purple and shortly thereafter elevated Diadumenian to the rank if Caesar. In May 218 Macrinus was set to face Elagabalus at Antioch and at this time elevated Diadumenian to the rank of Augustus, making him co-emperor. After the battle was lostDiadumenian was bundled up by a group of servants and they raced towards the Parthian Empire, to the court of Artabanus V, to seek safety. The race was lost… Diadumenian was captured and executed in late June. He was only 10 years old. From a historical perspective coins of Diadumenian were struck in approximately 90 mints from Africa to Asia, from Arabia to Macedonia. Amazingly this was all done in less than a year. This shows that civic authorities were hedging on a long rule by Macrinus and hints at the efficiency of communication and coin production at the time. Why I love this coin: The seller attributed the coin to Hadrian… the seller’s pictures were absolutely terrible. While I am “new” I understood this was certainly no Hadrian. However, I am not embarrassed to admit that I did not know who was pictured on the coin. What sold me was the amazing Eros reverse! I just loved it and was determined to have it and learn more about it. Eros was worshiped as a fertility god and associated with love and sexual desire. Sometimes thought of as Thanatos, ‘god of death’, due to his association with the concept of life after death. The symbolism here, of the extinguished torch, may represent joy after sexual fulfilment, or hope for life after death. The great people here on Coin Talk pointed me in the right direction and a full attribution was achieved. We all know the great feeling of opening a package and seeing that the coin in hand looks much better than expected.. it’s great… but for me having that feeling, then finding it’s a Diadumenian with an Eros reverse at the price paid ($6.45) was pretty cool. Sometimes even the bottom feeders get a win! A big thank you to Curtisimo for running this great competition and for allowing us newbies to participate. I also want to thank everyone on Coin Talk for being patient, helpful and generally pretty cool with me as I learn. Cheers! The bust of a young child, thought to depict Diadumenian (Pinterest) ........................................................... #24 @Pavlos Bronze coin from Pontus. Mint between 80 - 70 B.C. Amisos mint. 23mm; 11,01g. Obverse: Head of Perseus right, wearing Phrygian helmet. Reverse: AMIΣOY, Pegasus grazing or drinking left, monograms below and left. Reference: SNG BM Black Sea 1213-7 Price: $45 Why It’s Cool: This is a bronze coin from Amisos, a city in ancient Pontus on the Black Sea. On the obverse of this coin is Perseus, the hero who slew Medusa. On the reverse, Pegasus is shown standing and drinking from a spring with the name of the town, Amisos, shown below. In Greek mythology, Pegasus was said to have been born from the blood that was shed by Medusa when she was beheaded by Perseus. Later, while Pegasus was drinking at the well of Pirene, the hero Bellerophon was able to throw Athena's golden bridle over his head and ride him, leading to the defeat of the monstrous Chimaera! This bronze coin was struck between 80 - 70 B.C during the reign of Mithridates VI Eupator of Pontus. Mithridates VI is remembered as one of the Roman Republic's most formidable and successful enemies and the greatest ruler of Pontus. He is also well known for regularly ingesting small doses of poison to gain immunity as protection against assassination. In the end, when he was defeated and cornered by the Romans, he attempted to commit suicide with this same poison, which obviously failed. Mithridates, who was of both Persian and Greek ancestry, may have favored an image of Perseus for his coins because Perseus was a Greek hero that was considered an ancestor of the Persians by many Greeks. Mithridates VI allowed his most important cities to strike their own copper coinage (of which Amisos was the most prolific). The years before the Mithridatic Wars saw a substantial increase in the minting of coins as the economy of the region was unified under the direction of Mithridates VI. During the wars, Mithridates VI funded his military campaigns by introducing new materials for coinage. Copper alloys were used widely for the first time in coins of the region, possibly as a means to substitute for a shortage in silver coinage. It is also possible that the copper coins were meant for use in the region of Cimmerian Bosporus. These Pontic coins circulated widely for many decades after the wars and were still a major part of the economy into the early imperial period. The Kingdom of Pontus during the time of Mithridates VI (shorthistory.org) ........................................................... A Gentle Reminder We have had a remarkably fun and friendly tournament so far and I want to thank all of our members who have contributed and commented Let's continue to do a good job of keeping our tournament friendly! Instead of focusing comments too much on why you didn't vote for one coin over the other try to focus on why you did vote for the one you chose! Remember that everyone gets 3 votes to choose which coin you think comes out on top in each of the three categories. With that I will open the floor to comments, pile-ons and shameless lobbying.
@Clavdivs, your writeup is heartwarming. I'm so glad you've joined The Family @Pavlos... another CT newcomer jumping right in! That's a very nice example of one of the less frequently seen types issued by the prolific Mithridates VI. Nice writeup! Must've been iocaine powder
Pavlos/ Clavdius great historical writeups! really neat coins Here is one of mine from Mithradates VI Eupator AV Stater 8.98g. 21mm. Kallatis Mint
Pavlos and I are both very, very new collectors. We have messaged each other once we had seen the bracket -he is an awesome guy with an intense interest in Greek history. I want to thank Curtisimo for creating this "competition" and especially for allowing us newbies to take part..... What a great coin and write up!!! But I have searched and searched and I can't find my coin on VCoins or any other sale sites......almost 90 mints, 483 known types with a Diadumenian bust were produced (in under a year) and this coin is not available for sale - I have only found one catalog reference to it..... sorry but I gotta try something!!!! I do have one question: why is Panzerman's car not gold???
I will second @TIF 's sentiments and say that I am glad that both you and @Pavlos joined us here at CT From my perspective either of these two entries would have been very formidable at any stage in the game. I remember getting Pavlos's entry and thinking "this coin is a giant killer in all three categories." I think it would have played well against any competitor so far. Then I got Sean's entry and knew it was one of the best value's and nicest stories that we've seen all tournament. Speaking of which, I am envious of your surprise score! That's a fun aspect of the hobby I have not experienced yet (i.e. learning something that was initially missed by me and the seller that makes the coin extra special). Nice one. As to @panzerman 's car... I can only assume it's because he drives something like this
I like the two coins very much and concur with Curtis. The Diadumenian provincial is a real steal and has an interesting reverse type to boot. If it were a coin I bought when I had just started out, I'd always have a soft spot for it. The Pontos is simply an outstanding example of this issue, bought for a very good price, and worthy of being a showcase coin in any collection.
Great coin Clavdivs and for a very good price, your write up is very interesting as well. I am not really into Roman coins but your type I would love to have in my collection!
Here's my reddish version of Pavlos' coin Amisos, AE23 Head of Perseus right wearing phrygian helmet AMISOS, Pegasus left, drinking 12.12 gr, 23 mm Ref : Sear #3639 Sadly I have nothing comparable to @Clavdivs' coin to show... Q
Well done @Pavlos. I will post something comparable to @Claudius' coin that I picked up recently. Caesarea, Cappadocia Size 16mm, Weight 5.21g Obverse - Diadumenian - bare head Reverse - Distyle temple with Agalma of Mt.Argaeus within. ETB - year 2 It was listed as Macrinus but I am 99% certain it is Diadumenian, purchased for $10.50 on the fleabay.
Another fun match comes to a close! Results #9 @Clavdivs - 57 #24 @Pavlos - 102 Winner Clavdivs wins the bargain category with his rare emperor while Pavlos takes the interest and eye appeal to come out on top. Thank you to both participants for participating. @Pavlos will advance to Round 2 to take on @Bing !
