Post your latest ancient!

Bought a coin today, Juba I. Caesar tore his beard, and I'm sure that was well deserved because history remembers him as a scoundrel:

 

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3 arrived today, here is the first

TRAJAN. Æ. Dupondius. 112-114 AD

Obverse: IMP. CAES. NERVAE TRAIANO AVG. GER. DAC. P.M. TR. P.COS. VI PP -Radiate and draped bust to the right.
Reverse: FORTVNA REDVCI. Fortuna seated left, holding rudder and cornucopia; SC in exergue.

12.62g 27mm. Woytek 484v; Vienna MK 8496-8497. RIC II 629 var (bust type); Cohen 166 var (bust type); BMC 992 note; Sear 3217

 

One of my latest.

 

No.2 of this mornings delivery

Antoninus Pius, Rome 148-149 CE
Obverse, Head of Antoninus Pius, laureate, right.
ANTONINVS AVG PIVS P P TR P XII Translation: Antoninus Augustus Pius, Pater Patriae, Tribunicia Potestate Duoecima.
Antoninus Pius, emperor (Augustus) father of the nation, holder of tribunician power for the twelfth time.
Reverse, Elephant, sometimes cuirassed, walking right.
MVNIFICENTIA AVG COS IIII S C Translation: Munificentia Augusti. Consul Quartum. Senatus Consultum.
Munificence (generosity) of the emperor. Consul for the fourth time. Decree of the senate.
9.41g, 26/29 mm. RIC III. 862a

 

Hi All,

My latest.



PTOLEMY I SOTER (306/305-283 BCE)
EGYPT, ALEXANDRIA, SERIES 2D, Subseries i: ca 295-284/283 BCE

Æ Dichalkon
Size: 14 mm
Weight: 2.95 g
Broucheion Collection P-2023-06-01.001

OBV: Alexander the Great, diademmed and horned bare head with long , curly hair, facing right. Dotted border.
REV: Εagle on thunderbolt facing left, wings spread. In left field: HP monogram. Legend: [ΠΤΟΛΕΜΑΙΟΥ] - ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ. Solid border.
Refs: Lorber CPE-B79; Svoronos 239, pl viii, 15-16 [17 listed]; HistMusFrankfurt 34.
Prov: From UK eBay.

- Broucheion

 

I received my winnings from Naville Auction 81 today (7 coins total). Perhaps I'll post more from this delivery, but I was most excited about the coin below.

It was published in the second-ever issue of The Celator in 1987 (on the cover, below the fold, back when it was on newsprint). So I like that the coin is not only an artifact of antiquity, but of 20th century numismatic thought & literature. (I'm not sure if Wayne Sayles' hypothesis about the coin's artistic inspiration held up, but even the scholarly false starts and dead ends are part of what's interesting about intellectual history & "object biography.")


I also tried to buy it last year at CNG. Unfortunately -- or fortunately, as it turned out -- I lost out that time.

But reappeared last month at Naville Numismatics' Auction 81 (Lot 205). This time with no provenance or publication history. (Also ex Cederlind FPL 84 [Spring 1989], no. 65. CNG gave no collection history, but I wonder if it was part of Sayles' coll. in 1987?) I got it for a vast discount from CNG's hammer. (For the opening bid, which was low).

CNG's photo (e-515, 231):

 

OK, so these came in like this... (made me feel like a smuggler)

 

@Kentucky May I ask from which country it was sent?

 

Beograd

 

I just bought it yesterday but i dont know any information on this roman coin

 

Hi @Moda888,

If you didn’t know what it was why did you buy it? How do you know if you didn’t over pay?

- Broucheion

 

Valentinian I Argenteus, struck A.D. 364-367.
2.96 grams

 

I just got this one as an upgrade...the reverse is especially sharp.



Constantine I
A.D. 323-4
18x19mm 3.6g
CONSTANTINVS AVG; laureate head right.
SARMATIA DEVICTA; Victory advancing r., holding trophy, palm branch, spurning captive std. on ground to right.
In ex. STR crescent
RIC VII Trier 435

 

I specialize in Islamic coins, and sometimes they have a lots of coins from different civilizations. That's why I buy it with the lots

 

I followed the Elsen auction today. Lost on all my watched lots, but snagged this beauty at starting bid, which made me very happy:




Sasanian Empire: Shapur I AR Drachm, 241-272 AD, 4.29gm, 27mm.

Obverse: Bearded bust right wearing 4 merlon crown with earflaps, surmounted by globe decorated with concentric arcs; Pahlavi script legend inside beaded border.

Reverse: Zoroastrian fire altar; on either side of altar, attendant facing outward, each attendant with staff in one hand, attendant to the right also holding a sword. Pahlavi script between each attendant and rim; "fravahr" (investiture wreath) symbol left of altar flame.

Reference: Göbl I/1, 23; Mitch., ACW, 811; Sell. 12 var.

Weight: 4.30g Diameter: 26mm Conservation: EF+

 

First Coin
Gallienus
Obv: IMP C P LIC GALLIENUVS P F AVG, radiate, draped and cuirassed bust right
Rev: PIETAS AVGG, Valerian and Gallienus standing facing one another, each holding sceptre and sacrificing over lighted altar between them.
RIC 446

Second Coin
Volusian BI Tetradrachm of Antioch, Seleucis and Pieria. AD 251.
Obv: AYTOK K Γ AΦIN ΓAΛ OYЄNΔ OYOΛOYCCIANOC CЄΒ, radiate and draped bust to right;
Rev: ΔΗΜΑΡΧ ΕΞΟΥCIAC, eagle standing facing on ground line, head and tail to right, with wings spread, holding wreath in beak; Γ between legs; SC in exergue
RPC IX 1799

Third Coin
Valerian I. Antoninianus. 255-256 AD. Samosata
Obv: IMP C P LIC VALERIANVS P F AVG. Radiate, draped and cuirassed bust right. Rev: RESTITVT ORIENTIS. The Orient standing right, presenting wreath to Valerian standing left, holding spear.
RIC V 287

 

Nice Shapur Drachm! I've been waiting for one for a long time to go with my Valerian Antoniniani with Parthian Captives (ironic, since Valerian was captured by the ruler in Persia!).

I did, however, manage to end a different years-long collecting quest this morning at Elsen 155...albeit one that may seem rather odd to many.

I finally finished my goal of acquiring at least one coin from each of the 10 major BCD Collection sales.*

Last on the list was BCD Olympia (Leu 90 in 2004). Got this Elis AR Obol from the 105th Olympiad, c. 360 BCE. Quite a distinctive eagle (Hera, too). Certainly a nice bonus to have also been part of the collection of important Belgian numismatist Marc Bar (1921 – 2015):



Happily (like many of the BCD coins), it is also the plate coin for HGC 5, 472:



The Leu 90 catalog images:


* The 10 major catalogs (in addition to many minor sales): BCD Akarnania-Aetolia = M&M GmbH 23; BCD Boiotia = Triton IX; BCD Corinth = Lanz 105; BCD Euboia = Lanz 111; BCD Lokris-Phokis = NAC 55; BCD Olympia = Leu 90; BCD Peloponnesos I & II = Leu 96 & CNG 81.2; BCD Thessaly I & II = Nomos 4 & Triton XV.

 

Congrats! I was actually shooting for a coin from Elis myself, but it went beyond my limit.
The Shapur was a really nice consolation. I have been looking at the pics several times after winning it, that's always a good sign.

 

Arrived yesterday
Reverse of APOLLO CONSERVA is a scarce variety. I bought it because of the reverse which I hadn't seen before

 

That is a great reverse type! Quite interesting and artistic (and "Greek") for a Gallienus.

Well, I have another "newest ancient" already -- another one I've been searching for, for a long time. But it's a bit of a change of pace:



Anyone who has tried to complete a "Fallen Horseman" mint set will know that Amiens/Ambianum is one of the hardest to acquire. (Along with Trier.) RIC VIII Amiens 48 (haven't noticed any die matches, but very similar to ANS' second example & the Fitzwilliam specs: https://numismatics.org/ocre/id/ric.8.amb.48)

At $9, and just advertised as a "Constantius II Fallen Horseman," I'm sure the seller was unaware of the significance of the "AMB" in the exergue, which makes it quite a desirable and rare (no matter what RIC says) specimen.