Those who were here two years ago may recall when I went a bit crazy on the Augustus/Agrippa crocodile coins of Nemausis issued for use by veterans of the war with Cleopatra who were settled there. I even wrote a page on them from the standpoint of how hard it is to grade a coin with so many variables. http://www.forumancientcoins.com/dougsmith/impossible.html I ran across one that really is not all that hard to grade because it lacks most of the common faults found on these. It upgrades my oldest type which usually is easier to find well centered due to the smaller croc and heads. I really wanted it because it has a clear ligate NE in COL NEM. I suppose that is a silly reason to want a coin but it is the best I have right now. The same auction provided four other coins which were new types not upgrades but for some reason I decided to work on this one first. No two of the five had anything in common so it is hard to say why they appealed to me. They will follow along here in due time.
That's a wonderful croc coin. I need to upgrade my two versions some day. Congrats on a real beauty. Great patina!
Wow Mentor, that's a very sweet lookin' new croc-addition (huge eye appeal) ... neat animated looking crocodile ... gator, crocodile (you get the idea, eh?) Great new addition to your "float" of crocodiles Ummm, I guess I will offer-up my usual suspect (Mr. Snoutless) => hey, I still love ya, my snoutless lil' buddy!!
These are fantastic bits of history. The purpose of the coins (money for a military retirement community) and symbolism are just about as interesting as an ancient coin can be. This type is always on my "look for an upgrade" list. The example below was an unexpected find in a small lot of Ptolemy bronzes. Augustus & Agrippa Gaul, Nemausus, c. CE 10-14 AE dupondius Obv: IMP/DIVI F P-P, back-to-back heads of Agrippa, in combined rostral crown & laurel wreath, and Augustus, laureate Rev: COL-NEM, long, vertical palm with crocodile chained below, wreath to left of palm tip with ties trailing to right Ref: RIC 160 ex Professor James R. Eaton (1834-1897) Collection Well-struck and well-preserved examples are hard to find and very expensive. As Doug points out on his page about the type, unless you're gunning for a top-dollar example, it's a matter of picking which features are important to you. I'm not picky about early vs later type but I do want clear devices on the reverse. Maybe this year I'll find the right upgrade to this accidental COL NEM.
It's really nice to see one of these with just about everything on-flan and perhaps even more so, not have all the devices crowded up against the edges. I like mine, but think I'm going to need a second example closer to the OP coin at some point.
The timing of this thread is unfortunate for me since there are a few potential targets coming up. I'm sure the competition for them will be brisk regardless.
I'm always struck by the disparity of styles you find with these types. Some evince a "High Roman" representational aesthetic in the busts, others have a more Celtic look if you will. I love the OP coin because it seems to be wholly in the Celtic camp - what a great coin for a collection of different styles.
Love the posts!!! Like JA, I'm always fascinated (and surprised) by the stylistic variations. My only example is that 'half of an As' I purchased on a whim, so an up-grade is an absolute necessity for me LOL
These were produced for many years during the reign of Augustus. I'm sure a serious student could place them more closely than we usually see. My new one is early with Augustus bare headed and a scrawny croc. The middle ones have Augustus laureate and a larger croc whose snout often runs off the design circle not to mention the flan. The latest ones added PP flanking the portraits. We see some people applying date ranges recognizing these differences but I am not aware of studies that really organize the bunch. This page suggests that the PP version is most popular here but I previously thought the middle type was more common. I have a fondness for the scrawny croc myself. If you are going to collect these, it might be good to get over some preconceived notions about 'quality' coins. The middle period coins were often struck on flans that had been filed heavily leaving scratches that do not erase with normal striking. As time passed, the croc grew (as a good reptile should) making it harder to find examples with both ends of the beast on the flan. Those adverse to the cartoonish early style and the oversize later croc may find themselves having to search hard for what they consider a coin good enough for their inflated standards. There are some very nice ones. Unfortunately, the 'best' style and the scratched flans tend to come together so you may need to look at a few thousand coins before finding the MS70 you want.
