Post your latest ancient!

I'd like to see a large image of your coin @Cherd . Something doesn't look right, but it may jus be the smaller image. Below is my example I purchased several years ago.

 

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Honestly, something doesn't look quite right about it to me either. However, it is in an NGC slab, and while that's no guarantee, I have to assume that those guys know a lot more than I do when it comes to these things.

I haven't actually received the coin yet, so I can't supply any in-hand pictures. But, here's a link to the sale page if you'd like to take a closer look. I'd very much like to hear them if you have any opinions.

https://coins.ha.com/itm/roman-repu...-61246.s?ic4=ListView-ShortDescription-071515

ps: I think there is something false about the surface color in the close up photos. The color of the coin in the slab looks more normal.

 

The larger image looks much better. It has cured my doubts. I ook the liberty of downloading larger images.

 

When it's blown up like that, the gouge in Octavia's cheek really jumps out at ya!

 

It's a nice coin and the markings on it only serve to make it unique.

 

Ya, it's a gap in my collection that I've been wanting to fill for a long time, and I'm perfectly happy with the coin. Heck, I was proud enough of it to want to post it in the first place I just like to take jabs at myself.

 

Rough and inexpensive coin at $40.. yet I have been very restricted with my budget the last year or so with two daughters in college (the oldest is attending a very expensive Law School).. grabbing a sestertius of Nerva has been on my bucket list for a few years. This picture doesn't do the coin justice as it has a very dark patina and you see much more of the famous Nerva nose in hand...this completes my "Adopted Emperors" collection in sestertii (my previous Nerva being a dupondius).

A rough coin has brought me a lot of joy!

I haven't added the new coin to the collage... but here is my simple collection...
My dupondius is a much nicer coin - but to meet my old goal of all sestertii is quite nice.. especially at $40

 

I received these three yesterday:



I was really happy with all 3. The two bronze coins were better in hand than on the picture, the Drusus being a really nice coin. Although a bit worn, I like the Herennius E ant a lot better than the typical aEF with worn out dies that you often see from him. Paid 146£ for the coins, a bargain in my opinion, but 35£ for shipping, which is monstrous. It evens out to a fair deal in the end, I think.

 

I've been buying more British and world coins than ancients lately, but here is one I got recently:



I've wanted a Lysimachos Alexander portrait for awhile, but they've always been too rich for my budget. I was glad to be able to snag this drachm for a good price. It's not the nicest grade, but I've seen worse!
One interesting thing about this coin is the bee on the reverse is facing right, not left. I was only able to find one other such example in CNG's archives. It seems to be a rare variety.

 

Photo credit to Stack Bowers. Lucania AR Stater, ca.540-510 B.C. NGC VF, Strike: 5/5 Surface: 5/5.

 

Congratulations, beautiful example! [Larger photos.] Toward 4-5h on the obv., I wonder if those are traces of overstriking? I see a faint dotted border, but the coin doesn't look double-struck, so I wonder if that's an under-type? I think some of them were struck over other earlier Italian staters, but not sure which.

As you probably know, it's ex-Collection of Mark Salton-Schlessinger (1914-2005) of the Hamburger-Schlessinger-Salton extended family of important numismatists, c. late 19th-20th cent. (He changed his name upon immigrating to US, but often used a hyphenated name.)

Unfortunately, I struck out in the Stack's sale in Jan. Hope I do better in the Romans coming up (not nearly as spectacular as the Greek). I did get some ex-Salton Library books from Kolbe & Fanning.

For anyone into numis. biblio. & bio. (including "object biography"/provenance), Kunker made the valuable volume below available free (in German or English trans.).

My biblio. notes:

Kampmann, Ursula. 2022. The Origins of the German Coin Trade: The Hamburger and Schlessinger Families. Osnabrück: Fritz Rudolph Künker.
Keywords: Salton, Schlessinger, Hamburger, provenance, biography, German numismatists.
See also: Kampmann's article (13 Feb 2022) in The E-Sylum Vol 25 (no 7): Article 16 [* highly recommend]. CoinsWeekly announcement (31 Mar 2022).
[Eng. trans. PDF on Issuu; direct link to PDF: https://www.kuenker.de/data/kataloge/Kuenker_Broschuere_Salton-Collection_en.pdf ]​

Here's my one coin ex-Salton (as a dealer, though he sold "collection" duplicates too), purchased by Ken Bressett in 1957 ($8!), from CNG's Keystone 6 in March:



The books (Kolbe & Fanning's photo): I was mainly interested in the Pozzi catalog, but I was thrilled to discover almost all the volumes had sheets laid in of the Saltons' typed notes and/or Mark Salton's correspondence with editors/publishers going back to the 1970s:


Relatedly, from my collection of sale catalogs, Mark Salton's father, Felix Schlessinger's 1939 final auction, while in exile in Amsterdam, shortly before the Nazis finally got him. Purchased from ANS Library Duplicates:

 

Curtis,

Thank you for the wealth of information on this coin. I was actually surprised that I was able to get it for as low a price as I did. Two subsequent lots went for over double of what I paid for my example. I only take occasional forays into the realm of ancient coinage. When I do, I tend to favor early Greek coins. I have just a few coins on a want list of ancient coins and I have learned to be patient and picky. I know it is a sacrilege but I do favor slabbed coins as I know what I am getting and I have neither the knowledge nor experience to be confident in my grading skills especially at the elevated price points of the coins I want to add to my collection. Thank you for taking the time to educate me, it is very much appreciated.

 

If you're only going to have a few ancient coins, this is a great choice! Personally, I don't send coins in to be slabbed (I have once or twice when selling a coin), but when I receive slabbed coins, I usually leave them in until I have a need to remove them for photography, measurements, etc. (often forever). I think they're perfectly reasonable as long as you don't feel the need to take the coin out. They do their job of protecting very well, and if nothing else, I think they're good for helping keep track of what a coin is and where it was bought (the NGC # will always be searchable to that auction).

My newest coin (just paid, not yet received) is an interesting Provincial Caracalla from Ariassus in Pisidia. I like this one for the young portrait which shows a very distinct smile. Quite an extreme contrast from the scowling Caracalla we're used to seeing, especially on his later Roman Imperial Coinage. (I know @Blake Davis collects Imperials, but thought I'd let you know of this Caracalla, too.)



I also like the photograph that Frank Kovacs took for the 1985 book on the H. C. Lindgren (1914-2005) Collection, illustrating this coin as No. 1264. Caracalla looks absolutely maniacal there:

 

I assume you got that Muse denarius from Minotaur Coins? I was watching that coin for a while

 

Marcus Furius L.f. Philus Denarius of the Roman Republic Period 119 BC Material: Silver Diameter: 19mm Weight: 3.86g Mint: Rome Reference: Crawford RRC 281/1 Provenance: Ex Dr. Gernot Heinrich Collection

 

You are correct!

 

I've been on a bit of a buying binge lately, here's a few of my new favorites:

Julia Titi, AE20, Ionia, Smyrna

Julian II, Majorina (Couldn't get the beard detail to show up )

Galeria Valeria, Nummus

Maximinus II, Nummus

One of the other coins was a Florian, but it showed up with one side of the slab smashed. Thanks a lot USPS!!

 

Hopefully I'm not tempting fate and the "shipping gods" too much by posting this recent eBay purchase before receiving it...

Roman Republic AR Denarius(4.26g). Anonymous, first anchor series. Circa 209-208 B.C. Rome mint. Helmeted head of Roma right; behind, X. Border of dots / Dioscuri galloping right; below, anchor; in linear frame, ROMA. Line border. Crawford 50/2

Privately purchased 9 September 2022, ex Harlan J Berk Buy or Bid Sale 121, 10 July 2001, 262

Strangely I only own I think 5 coins with HJB provenances, but two are from this single Buy or Bid sale, my new coin(lot 262) and a previous purchase of an exceedingly rare "RRC 46A"(cf. Orzivecchi Hoard paper by Debernardi) denarius, lot 266

 

Not posted these on this thread. My latest three (couple of months ago, now)

Lucilla 164 – 169 AD AE As Struck in Rome
OBVERSE
LVCILLAE AVGVSTAE: Bust of Lucilla, hair waved and fastened in a low chignon at back of head, draped, right
REVERSE
HILARITAS S C: Hilaritas, draped, standing left, holding long palm, nearly vertical, in right hand and cornucopiae in left hand.
Green patina 9.46 g. 27 mm RIC. 1741 (from Marcus Aurelius)

Antoninus Pius, AE As. 140-143 AD
ANTONINVS AVG PIVS PP TRP COS III, laureate head right
IMPERATOR II S-C, Libertas standing left, holding pileus (cap of
freedom) and rod (vindicta).
RIC. 738
11.35 g. 27 mm


CARINUS. Æ. Antoninian. Aequitas. 283-284 AD
IMP CM AVR CARINVS AVG, radiate, draped, cuirassed bust right
AEQVITAS AVGG, Aequitas, standing left, holding scales
and cornucopiae, A in right field
Lyons mint. RIC V-2, 212
2.88 g. 22 mm. (VF +). Brown patina