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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Marsyas Mike, post: 4340024, member: 85693&quot;]Another low-grade, poorly-described couple of ancients just came in from eBay (thank you US Postal Service!).&nbsp; Not everybody&#039;s cup of tea when it comes to collecting, but it keeps me out of the taverns (somewhat) and costs very little.&nbsp; Under COVID-19 quarantine <img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie18" alt=":bag:" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" />, and a bit bored (the taverns are closed!), I am going to inflict this on you folks!&nbsp; <img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie80" alt=":shame:" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p>Something that surprises me about this kind of collecting is how I will occasionally get something that is &quot;rare&quot; that seems like it ought to be common.&nbsp; From what I&#039;ve seen on CT over the past couple of years, ancient rarities are actually pretty common as a category, if that makes sense.&nbsp; Yesterday a low-grade Hadrian as and a cute little Ptolemaic bronze showed up in the mail ($9.95 for the pair, free shipping!). </p><p><br /></p><p>The Ptolemy is indeed a common type (Svoronos 1426 /1427, Ptolemy V, VI/VIII or IX-XII, depending on who you ask).&nbsp; Here is a typical auction description for one of these (from acsearch): </p><p><br /></p><blockquote><p>PTOLEMAIC KINGS of EGYPT. Ptolemy IX to Ptolemy XII. 116-51 BC. Æ (20mm, 8.90 g, 12h). Alexandreia(?) mint. Series 9. Diademed head of Zeus-Ammon right / Two eagles with their wings closed standing left on thunderbolt; cornucopia to left.</p><p><br /></p><p>Svoronos 1426 (Joint reign of Ptolemy VI and VIII); Weiser 143 (Ptolemy V); SNG Copenhagen 311-4 (Joint reign of Ptolemy VI and Ptolemy VIII); Noeske 216-20 (Joint reign of Ptolemy VI and Ptolemy VIII); cf. Lorber &amp; Faucher Series 6E.&nbsp; </p></blockquote><p><br /></p><p>The Hadrian I figured would be just another &quot;goddess standing around&quot; type (as Doug refers to them).&nbsp; Which it is, of course.&nbsp; But I could only find one on OCRE, and no others anywhere else, including acsearch.&nbsp; So unless I&#039;m missing something, I am concluding this is rare...RIC 809d (as). </p><p><br /></p><p>The single OCRE example is from the Münzkabinett, Kunst Historisches Museum Wien - and theirs is not much better than mine is:&nbsp; &nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p><a href="http://www.ikmk.at/object?id=ID61754" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://www.ikmk.at/object?id=ID61754" rel="nofollow">http://www.ikmk.at/object?id=ID61754</a></p><p><br /></p><p>Rare, but boring.&nbsp; Hadrian issued several Fides types, mostly silver.&nbsp; The &quot;PVBLICA&quot; reverse is what makes this one rare in bronze - OCRE shows two other RIC 809 types - one a bare-headed as version and a dupondius, with no examples of either.&nbsp; However, a sestertius with this reverse (RIC 758) is fairly common.&nbsp;&nbsp; Here are the Æ FIDES PVBLICA types from OCRE: </p><p><br /></p><p><a href="http://numismatics.org/ocre/results?q=deity_facet%3A%22Fides%22+AND+material_facet%3A%22Bronze%22+AND+portrait_facet%3A%22Hadrian%22+AND+fulltext%3APVBLICA" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://numismatics.org/ocre/results?q=deity_facet%3A%22Fides%22+AND+material_facet%3A%22Bronze%22+AND+portrait_facet%3A%22Hadrian%22+AND+fulltext%3APVBLICA" rel="nofollow">http://numismatics.org/ocre/results?q=deity_facet:&quot;Fides&quot;+AND+material_facet:&quot;Bronze&quot;+AND+portrait_facet:&quot;Hadrian&quot;+AND+fulltext:PVBLICA</a> </p><p><br /></p><p>Rare, boring, and I&#039;d bet not especially valuable, unless there are a couple of Hadrian &quot;complete-ist&quot; collectors out there getting into bidding wars over this sort of thing.&nbsp; But it is still fun to find one like this from time to time. </p><p><br /></p><p>Show your unexpected rarities or new stuff or Hadrian or Ptolemy X?X or whatever strikes your fancy. I&#039;d be thrilled if someone could share another RIC 809 of any sort. </p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1099609[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p><b>Hadrian&nbsp; Æ As</b></p><p><b>(134-138 A.D.)</b></p><p><b>Rome Mint </b></p><p>HADRIANVS AVG COS I[II P P], laureate bust right / FID[ES PVBL]ICA S C, Fides standing right, holding two corn-ears downwards, in right hand and basket of fruit in left.</p><p>RIC 809d (as) (Rare?). </p><p>(12.37 grams / 26 x 24 mm)</p><p><br /></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><br /></p><p>[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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