After a couple of lean years, I found myself with more disposable income this year and I disposed of it on coins, going on a buying-spree, even getting a "grail" coin that had been on my list for years. It was hard to narrow it down to ten, but I omitted coins I bought just to complete a set or because they were a good deal at auction. The ten I have chosen were those that had a "wow" factor, made me do some research, or demonstrated some interesting facet of ancient coin production. Here they are -- in order -- of my favorites. #10: Chosen for eye-appeal -- it's big, it's bronze, it's well-centered and nicely patinated. Moreover, it has an interesting die break in the S of the SC on the reverse. Severus Alexander, AD 222-235 Roman Æ sestertius; 21.72 gm, 28.4 mm Rome, AD 229 Obv: IMP SEV ALEXANDER AVG, Laureate head right; slight drapery on left shoulder Rev: P M TR P VIII COS III P P S C, Libertas standing left, holding pileus and scepter Refs: RIC 492; BMCRE 570; Cohen 372; RCV 7996 Notes: Die break affects S on reverse. #9: Again chosen because of eye-appeal -- it's big, it's bronze, it's got a green patina to die for, and it's of fine style. A very nice portrait -- if well-worn -- of Antoninus Pius. The fact it's well-circulated adds to its appeal. I'm quite certain its surfaces bear traces of gladiator blood and olive oil, of pagan altar-smoke and centurion sweat. Antoninus Pius, AD 138-161 Roman orichalcum sestertius; 23.16 g, 29 mm Rome, AD 142 Obv: ANTONINVS AVG PIVS P P TR P COS III, laureate head right. Rev: ANNONA AVG S C, Annona standing right, between modius and prow, holding corn ears and out-turned cornucopiae Refs: RIC 597; BMCRE 1228; Cohen 37; RCV 4147; UCR 502. #8: This provincial isn't exactly well-preserved or of fine style, but it's got two things that make it fascinating: Caligula and Pegasus! Caligula, AD 37-41 Roman provincial Æ 20 mm, 6.74 g Peloponnese, Corinthia, Corinth, Ae. P. Vipsanius Agrippa and M. Bellius Proculus, duoviri, AD 37-38 Obv: C CAESAR AVGVSTV, bare head right Rev: M BELLIO PROCVLO IIVIR / COR, Pegasus flying right. Refs: RPC I 1173; Amandry (1988) XVII; BCD Corinth 405-6. #7: I can't resist a nicely patinated well-centered sestertius, even of a relatively common emperor. I bought this at a local show when I fell in love with its glossy green patina. Philip II as Caesar under Philip I, AD 244-247 Roman Æ sestertius, 19.61 g, 28.3 mm, 11h Rome, AD 245-246 Obv: M IVL PHILIPPVS CAES, bare-headed and draped bust right Rev: PRINCIPI IVVENT S C, Philip II in military dress, standing left, holding globe and resting on spear Refs: RIC 256a; Cohen 49; RCV 9249; Hunter 14. #6: This coin is common, but it's an interesting denomination and with a collection of mint control marks on the reverse that undoubtedly gave the celator a bad case of carpal tunnel syndrome. I write about it here. Licinius I, AD 308-324 Roman billon follis Antioch, AD 321-323 Obv: IMP C VAL LICIN LICINIVS P F AVG, radiate, draped and cuirassed bust, right Rev: IOVI CONSERVATORI, Jupiter standing left, holding Victory on globe and eagle-tipped scepter, another eagle to feet to left, captive seated on ground to right; X/IIΓ in field, right; SMANTS in exergue. Refs: RIC vii, p. 682, 35; Cohen 74; RCV 15225. #5: Very interesting reverse on this lovely, toned denarius of Faustina Junior. It's one of the few denarii not in RIC and only a few have come up for sale in the past few decades. It is not listed by Sear, Cohen or BMCRE, either. You can read more about this interesting reverse type in my discussion of it here. Faustina Jr, Augusta AD 161-175 Roman AR Denarius, 3.18 g, 18.2 mm, 6 h Rome, under Marcus Aurelius, AD 161-175 Obv: FAVSTINA AVGVSTA, bare-headed and draped bust, right Rev: VENVS FELIX, Venus seated left, holding small statuary group of the three graces and scepter Refs: RIC 732 aureus var.; BMC 170; Temeryazev & Makarenko 240; Staal p. 142, p. 169. #4: Chosen because its reverse inscription is misspelled and I believe it was done purposefully as a joke so as to read VINO REGINA (Wine the Queen). I discuss it more here. Cornelia Salonina, AD 253-268 Roman billon antoninianus, 4.64 g, 23.3 mm Antioch, AD 264 Obv: SALONINA AVG, diademed draped bust right on crescent Rev: VINO REGINA, Juno standing left, holding patera and scepter; peacock at feet left; star in left field Refs: RIC 92 var.; Cohen 67 var.; RCV 10641 var.; Göbl 1619f var. #3: Really cool Roman provincial with a little bit of everything -- a really odd denomination whose purpose may have been for currency exchange, a centering dot produced from the compass used to lay out the obverse design, a "centration dimple" produced by lathe-turning in the course of flan preparation, chunks missing from the edge of the flan where casting sprue had been removed, a double-strike and an imperial wedding! You can read more about it here. Gordian III, with Tranquillina, A.D. 238-244 Roman provincial AE 4.5 assaria; 28.92 mm, 15.89 g, 7:00 Moesia Inferior, Tomis, A.D. 241-244; Magistrate Pontianus Obv: AVT K M ANTΩNIOC ΓΟΡΔΙΑΝΟC // [C]ABINIA (TP)AN / KVΛΛINA, confronted laureate, draped and cuirassed bust of Gordian right and diademed, draped bust of Tranquillina left Rev: MHTPO ΠONTOV TOMEΩC, Nemesis standing facing, head left, holding arshin (rod) and sling, wheel at feet; Δ - < (denomination) in fields Refs: AMNG I 3537; Varbanov 5701; Moushmov 2279; Cf. SNG Cop 305. #2: Chosen because it's so rare I can't find a single other example of it online -- not at Wildwinds, acsearchinfo, coinproject.com, coin archives (free version), Online Coins of the Roman Empire (OCRE), Sear 5th ed., BMCRE or CNG archives. None for sale at V-coins. Denarius of Nerva minted only during a few months of his reign when his coins carried the obverse inscription IMP NERVA CAES AVG P M TR P II COS III P P. You can read more about it here. Nerva, AD 96-98 Roman AR denarius, 16 mm, 3.39 g Rome, Sept-Dec AD 97 Obv: IMP NERVA CAES AVG P M TR P II COS III P P, laureate head right Rev: IVSTITIA AVGVST: Justitia, draped, seated right on low backed chair, feet on stool, holding long straight scepter in right and branch extended in left Refs: RIC 30; Cohen 103. And now ... DRUM ROLL, PLEASE ... #1! #1: Chosen because it's a "holy grail" coin. A rare coin of Manlia Scantilla, the wife of Didius Julianus, who ruled for just a matter of weeks in the tumultous period following the death of Commodus and the ascension of Septimius Severus to the throne. It's one of those tax-refund, once-a-decade purchases for a collector of my means. You can read about it here. Manlia Scantilla, wife of Didius Julianus, Augusta, AD 193 Roman Æ Sestertius; 29mm, 22.62 g, 12:00 Rome mint, AD 193 Obv: MANLIA SCANTILLA AVG, draped bust right Rev: IVNO REGINA SC, Juno standing left, holding patera and scepter; to left, peacock at feet, standing left, head turned up Refs: RIC 18a; BMCRE 36; Cohen 6; RCV 6083; Woodward, Didius, dies 6/- (unlisted rev. die); Banti 2. Notes: The upper portion of the reverse perfectly matches the reverse of BMCRE 36 (pl. 4, 5), which was struck with Woodward rev. die E. It is possible that the same die was used for both coins, but was re-engraved before this coin was struck. I hope you enjoyed this lengthy bit of show-and-tell. Thanks for reading!
That is a superb collection. Any of those coins would have been more than welcome in my collection. I am surprised though that everyone is doing their top ten this early. I intend to drag mine out one post at a time over a 10-day period just like I did last time. But then again, I am a drama queen.
A really fine set of attractive and rare coins. I love the big bronzes with nice patinas. Well selected! John
Great group! I had NO IDEA who Manilla was, what a cool score! I always love a big ol' green sestertius, and that Caligula/pegasus combo is awesome also!
Great collection of coins, you have good taste for searching out coins with a lot of numismatic interest. Congrats on a good year of buys Roman Collector.
Wow, the lists are coming fast and furious. I may be done with buying for the year, but I'm not yet done with receiving! The Manlia Scantilla is an excellent acquisition and certainly a must-have for a Roman Collector . I'd like one myself some day. #5 is my favorite by some margin... I'm really envious of that one!
The Manlia Scantilla is great, but I had a big laugh at #4 : I wish the celator had pushed the ball a bit further and written VINO VERITAS instead though A very productive year Q
Terrific choices!!! There are so many things to like about each coin.....but the 'Manlia Scantilla' makes me drool the most!!! My year hasn't ended yet since I still have two coins pending at auction---one of which would probably make my top ten list if I win it
I've been a big fan of the 4.5 coins so have to mention that one but the Manlia is far nicer looking than many you see and the obvious #1. I'd call 2017 a very good year.
