Post your latest ancient!

Actually, I think that for http://numismatics.org/collection/1964.79.56 their description of the third monogram is wrong; it is not Lorber monogram 68 (E). It is Lorber monogram 58 (ΔΦO).

 

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Hi @cmezner,

Wow, that and monogram 40 (should be monogram 375 = https://dms3.gbv.de/sz-svg/2/375WerzLorber5_S.svg ). Good catch.

- Broucheion

 

Just got in this very nice portrait denarius of Faustina the Younger, daughter of Antoninus Pius and wife of Marcus Aurelius.

 

Lately I've been thinking of collecting a set of the whole Severan Dynasty since I've found that they really hit that sweet spot between being having high quality coins that are more affordable than the Twelve Caesars/Adoptive Emperors and even though it's a relatively obscure period of Roman history (which helps to keep the prices cheap because of lower demand), it's also just an incredibly fascinating time of transition between when the Romans were unstoppable and when everything goes to hell during the Crisis of the Third Century.

The two denarii I had before today were already part of the Severan dynasty with Caracalla and Alexander Severus but now I welcome into my collection my first portrait of an empress, this lovely denarius of Julia Domna!




Roman Empire, Julia Domna 193-217, Silver Denarius

3.32g, 20mm
Draped bust of Julia Domna right "IVLIA AVGVSTA"
Pudicitia seated left, head left, hands on her chest. "PVDICITIA"
RSC 168

There wasn't as much info to go with this coin compared to the ones I buy from the vendor I normally get coins from (Forum Ancient Coins). I instead got this from Aegean Numismatics through VCoins so I did a little bit of research looking up the RSC 168 coin type and I could be wrong but I believe this coin was minted at the provincial Laodicea mint from Julia Domna's own native Syria and the date can be narrowed to 196-202 CE, so while her husband Septimius Severus was still in charge of the empire. I wasn't given a coin grade but if I have to guess and unless someone with more experience is able to correct me, I'm going to say it's about a VF or so. All-in-all, a beautiful coin.

 

One of my latest, purchased to go along with a presentation I did this past week on the Dead Sea Scrolls. The coin carries a few connections: first, being from the time period when the Qumran community was flourishing and engaged in writing the scrolls; second, the coin's issuer, John Hyrcanus I, being the son of Simon Thassi, who has been identified by some as being the "Wicked Priest" referred to in some of the Qumran texts; and third, the coin's inscription being written in the same type of Paleo-Hebrew script that was used in many of the Dead Sea Scrolls.

Ex Forum Ancient Coins.

 

That's a really nice example of the paleo-Hebrew inscription, very well-centered and crisp. Great detail overall!!

If it weren't ex-Forum I'd have wondered if someone strengthened the details, but Forum is very familiar with these types and I doubt they'd let that get by without notice.

Very well chosen!

 

Thanks! I had the same thought - it's an unusually strong and crisp strike - but I trust Forum to be able to spot any funny business.
Of course it wasn't very cheap, but seeing that the inscription was the main reason for purchasing I wanted one that was better than usual!

 

I've been continuing to collect coins from the Severan dynasty and I finally got to the man who started it all, Septimius Severus. Not all of the legends are legible but I love the portrait on the obverse, it really complements the piece I bought of his wife a little bit ago and I got it from the same website as that one.



Roman Empire, Septimius Severus 193-211, Silver 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

 

First of four to arrive today.
Lysimachos, Kingdom of Thrace, AE 20mm, 5.20 gr. Generous flan. Lysimachia mint. 305-281 BC. Helmeted head of Athena right / BAΣIΛEΩΣ ΛYΣIMAXOY, above and beneath lion leaping right, spearhead and M on O monogram below. Mueller 74.

 

Number 2
Septimius Severus AR Denarius, Rome 207 AD. 20mm, 3.31gr.
RIC 207, RSC 493, BMC 531
SEVERVS PIVS AVG, laureate head right / P M TR P XV COS III P P, Africa standing right, holding out folds of drapery containing fruits, lion at feet walking right

 

Number 3
Julia Domna Denarius. Rome, 215-7 AD. 19.8mm, 3.12gr.
IVLIA PIA FELIX AVG, draped bust right / VENVS GENETRIX, Venus seated left, holding sceptre and apple, Cupid standing right, legs crossed, resting his right hand on her right knee. RIC IV-1 389b. Rome mint. RSC 205; Sear 7099.

 

And number 4
ROMAN EMPIRE, Geta, as Caesar. 209-215 AD. AR Denarius.. Rome, AD 200-202. P SEPT GETA CAES PONT, bare-headed, draped and cuirassed bust right / SECVRIT IMPERII, Securitas seated left, holding globe in right hand. RIC 20b, BMCRE 240-243, RSC 183a, Cohen 183 - SEAR RCV II (2002), #7200, page 565

 

Here’s my latest.

 

Wow, just gorgeous!
From Roma?

 

Yes from Roma eSale 111, Lot 179. The artistry of Apollo reminded of the Apollo Belvedere though this coin predates the original Greek statue (now lost) by about 100 years… true Classical Greek style. I found one other example of the same obverse and reverse dies, Numismatica Ars Classica NAC AG, Lot 1084, Auction 114, 05/06/2019, Ex Sotheby's sale 28 October 1966, 183 which attributes the coin as Robinson Clement 64, and ANS has that reference in their library so I hope to confirm it soon.

 

Here is my latest purchase a beautiful Perintos Tetradrachm. I just love the push me pull me horses on the reverse which is believed to be the mint mark

 

That is a lovely coin! Those big silver Lysimachos tetradrachms are hard to beat.

 

Some of my recent purchases:

I'm always partial to a nice Claudius coin, and this one, though worn, has a good strike and eye appeal. The reverse type with Constantia is by no means scarce, but it does appear with less frequency than the Libertas type; nice ones don't show up too often. I also like the contrast between the wear and dark patina.





The second coin is a type I've been keeping an eye out for for a little while, ever since reading Barry Cunliffe's book The Extraordinary Voyage of Pytheas the Greek. The story of Pytheas is a fascinating one - a Mediterranean Greek of the early Hellenistic era travelling across Gaul, Britain, and even Iceland in the Arctic Circle! Unfortunately, though Cunliffe does a great job reconstructing the voyage, there's just not much meat on the bone when it comes to our information about Pytheas or his travels. His book, On the Ocean, has been lost to us and only bits of it are preserved in later writers such as Strabo the Geographer.

A coin from Pytheas' native Massalia, struck around the time he was active there, was too hard to pass up! This one has nicer surfaces than most I've seen; the metal is sound and though the obverse is a bit weak it's still a very attractive specimen IMO.





The third item of interest is not a coin but an artifact: a Roman iron nail from the hoard found at Inchtuthil, Scotland. This massive hoard of around a million nails was discovered in 1960 at the site of the old Roman fortress, which had been abandoned by the Twentieth Legion in the late 1st century AD. Holding this piece of history and contemplating its strange journey through time is what makes this hobby so captivating to me!

 

I'm still in the process of collecting denarii from the Severan period (any other coins I get from this era I'll save for one big post next time) and I made it to one of the most notorious emperors in Roman history, the one and only Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, aka Sextus Varius Avitus Bassianus, aka Elagabalus. I was specifically looking for this type as I feel it best sums up his reign in just one coin and this was probably the one in the best condition I could find as of right now on VCoins. The obverse is a bit faded for my liking but I wanted to find a portrait with the suggestive horn on top of his head and I really like the design of the reverse with his nickname actually being mentioned at the end.



Title: Elagabalus (AD 218-222) AR Denarius / Emperor Sacrificing
Attribution: RIC IV 131 Rome
Date: AD 218-222
Obverse: IMP ANTONINVS PIVS AVG, horned, draped and cuirassed bust right
Reverse: SACRED DEI SOLIS ELAGAB, emperor standing right sacrifcing from patera over altar, holding club in left hand, star in right field
Size: 19.67mm
Weight: 2.74 grams
Description: VF

 

Constantine I
A.D. 307
Ӕ follis 28mm 8.7g
FL VAL CONSTANTINVS NOB CAES; laureate head right.
CONSERVATOR AFRICAE SVAE; Africa standing facing, head left, in long drapery with elephant- skin head-dress, right holding standard, left tusk, at feet to left lion with captured bull, in right field I.; SE in left field, F in right.
In ex. Δ
RIC VI Carthage 58