rrdenarius top 10 for 2018

I collect money used by Romans during their republic from 1000 to 30 BC. Historians would differ on the start and end dates, but they are good time boundaries for my collection. Most of what I have is listed in either Roman Republican Coinage by Crawford or Italian Cast Coinage by Vecchi. Due to cost I have avoided struck coins issued by cities outside of Rome (Greek colonial).

My collection includes several sub groups:
· Cast bronze that could have been used to pay soldiers at Veii about a century before Rome started producing coins.
· Scales, scale weights and coins showing scales.
· Coins with plumb bobs or levels
· Coins with astragalous (knuckle bones)

10. Alexander the Great tetradrachm – the vendor did not give details on the coin. I found a similar coin online and the description is below the pics. If someone can identify the coin, please let me know.


Ancients Greek

MACEDONIAN KINGDOM. Alexander III the Great (336-323 BC). AR tetradrachm (15.98 gm). Late posthumous issue of Perga, ?BC.
Obv - Head of Heracles right, wearing lion-skin headdress, paws tied before neck
Rev - AΛEΞANΔPOY, Zeus seated left on backless throne, right leg drawn back, feet on ground line, eagle in right hand, scepter in left; KO in left field, Seleucid anchor countermark in rectangle in outer right field. Price ?

9. Aes Grave Triens


Aes Grave Triens, Umbria, Tuder. 220-200 BC
Obv – hand in caestus
Rev – two clubs; between clubs, TVTDE; four dots (2 to right and 2 to left of clubs)
32 grams; 30 mm
T.V. 165; HN Italia 47.
Buon BB. Patina verde. R.

8. Obol with astralagoi



Cilicia, TARSOS (389-375 a.C.) AR Obol (9,4 mm. - 0.63 gr.). D.\: Female kneeling left, tossing astralagoi. R.\: Male head right. SNG France 239. BB+. R.

7. Roman Republic, Sextans, Semilibral series, 217-215 BC, Ae. The first coined sextans.


Obv - Head of Mercury, right, above two dots
Rev - Prow of ship, right; above ROMA, with archaic A; In Ex - two dots
31.2 grams; 31.1 mm; BB +
Dark Green Patina.
Cr. 38/5

Below are two later asses and the early sextans.

 

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6. This year I bought three BC Iberian coins. After the third coin, I decided I need a new book(s). At least one was mis-attributed. This is the best of the three.


Iberia, Ikalesken; Mid 2nd century BC AR denarius
Obv - Male head right
Rev - Horseman, holding shield, helmet and cloak (chlamys); riding left, second horse beside; in ex - Iberian legend IKALESKEN. The cloak and helmet of the rider are similar to the Dioscurii on RR coins. There are three small dots above the rider's helmet.
19.4 mm, 3.52 g, 4 h
CNH 5; SNG BM Spain 1168-69; SNG Cop 245.

5. Brutium Punic 3/8th EL Shekel; 216 – 211 BC;


Obv - Janiform female heads, wearing wreaths of grain
Rev - Zeus, holding thunderbolt in right hand, scepter in left, standing in quadriga right, driven by Nike, who holds reins.
2.5 g; 14.7 X 15.9 mm; 12 h
F, light gray / yellow tone, well worn or poorly struck. Rare.
HN Italy 2013
Jenkins & Lewis, Carthaginian Gold and Electrum Coins, Group XVI, numbers 487 - 493 (Capua)

4. Cast Biunx


Greek Italy. Northern Apulia, Luceria. AE Cast Biunx, c. 225-217 BC.
Obv - Scallop shell on a rised disk.
Rev - Astragalos; to right, two pellets (mark of value); all on a raised disk.
HN Italy 673. Haeb. pl. 71,1/2. Vecchi ICC 341. T.V. 277.
75.6 grams; 38.0 mm
Good VF/About EF.
This is an early, heavy cast coin. Luceria used 10 parts to the As. This coin has an equivalent As weight of 378 grams!

A few old shells and knuckle bones.

3. L. Roscius Fabatus; Girl feeding snake Denarius; Scale and Scale Weight Box Control Symbols; 64 BC, Cr412/1


I bought this coin because I liked the symbol pair. I have not seen an ancient scale or balance with these features:
· Two horizontal beams.
· An arch below the beams.
· A base with legs to hold the vertical post that holds the beam. Most coins are held from above the beam by hand.
· The pan on the right is larger than the pan (weight?) on the left.

 

2. Roman AE scale weights, barrel shape, 1 As with wolf symbol; 3 uncia

One As, 326 grams or very close to a roman pound of 327.4 grams



3 uncia, 67.7 grams or a bit light

1. One week’s pay for a Roman soldier fighting at Veii in 400 BC.

My top item was collected over the past few years. It was displayed for the first time at the 2018 Texas Numismatic Association meeting in May.

According to Roman Republican Coinage by Crawford, the first RR coin was issued in 326 BC and #2 in 300 BC. Rome did not issue coins for about a century after they first paid soldiers. Livey says pay was in bronze bars.
How much bronze was a week’s pay in 400 BC?
At 3 Asses per day X 7 Days per week X 327.4 grams per As (= 1 Roman pound) = 15 US pounds

One week’s pay in bronze, or about 15 US pounds. A steelyard scale weighed larger items without having to have scale weights of the same size. This type of scale was probably in use by 400 BC. I do not have any steelyard scales on Roman (or Greek) coins.


A half day’s pay on a two pan balance. Note the two scale weights on the left and aes rude pieces on the right.


This Roman Imperial coin shows the correct technique to hold a two pan balance that would have been used on smaller items.

 

Not just a great top ten a fantastic and interesting write up, I love all your early republican and if I wasn't collecting architecture this would be it. Congrats on a great year.

 

Great stuff, @rrdenarius! I kept going "wow!" as I went down the list. The Tarsos obol has been on my want list for awhile. The semilibral sextans is beautiful, and I love the cast biunx with the astragalos, and also the aes grave triens. Your Roscius Fabatus is simply a stunner, and the Iberian style of the Ikalesken denarius just has such great character. And finally, while I don't collect weights (yet), I find your 3 uncia weight really fascinating.

Your AtG type tetradrachm is Price 2943, struck in PAMPHYLIA, Perge (or Perga). The KΘ in the left field is the city date (CY 29 = 193/2 BC). The ANS has in their collection an example that has the same countermark as yours:
http://numismatics.org/collection/1953.171.290

 

Great coins and great post!

 

Outstanding selection and write-up. My favorite is the Iberia, Ikalesken. Great detail.

 

great coins and subject write-up.

 

An utterly superb list! Fabulous presentation too!

 

#7 is my favorite

 

What a great year! Thank you so much for sharing and inspiring
In regards to your question on your #10, I have a very similar one. Even barring the, politely placed to not upset the artistry, Seleukid anchor. Though mine has a KI to your cool KO (KNOCKOUT!) Here is mine.

MACEDONIAN KINGDOM.
Alexander III the Great (336-
323BC).ARtetradrachm
(15.98gm).About VF,
countermark, graffito. Late
posthumous issue of Perga,
dated CY 27 (195/4 BC).
Heracles wearing lion-skin,
AΛEΞANΔPOY, Zeus seated
left on backless throne, right leg
drawn back, feet on ground line,
eagle in right hand, scepter in
left; KI in left field, Seleucid
anchor countermark in rectangle
in outerrightfield. Price 2941

I have a question for you. I have been impressed with your Roman weights and purchased one a bit ago with some countermarks. Have you seen many smaller weights of the like? My description from the seller is a bit vague...

Ancient Roman
Bronze Weight
with 2x
Countermark
L=17x17x1,5mm
3,4gm rare

 

Square bronze weights are fairly common. Finding them with attribution or provenance to the ground is not common. Scale weights were often ignored at dig sites and small bronze pieces went to markets in bulk. I have seen pictures of weights with countermarks, but do not recognize the symbol and bust on your weight. I can not tell if the weight is Greek, Roman or Byzantine. My guess is it is a late Roman or early Byzantine coin weight where the bust was the issuing authority and the other countermark was a local authority. Per Kisch, Scales & Weights, it could be a Roman 1 drachma. Per Hendin, Ancient Scale Weights, it could be 1/3 to 1/2 a shekel. The weight falls between weights listed by Bendall, Byzantine Weights, on pages 8 & 9 (1 solidi = 4.55 grams and used the symbol N).
There is an excellent online database. You can try to see if you find your weight -
https://pondera.incal.ucl.ac.be/about/

 

Great writeup and admirable focus for collecting. All of the items you shared are great, but the bronzes are exceptional. Thanks for posting this.

 

Very educational thread!

 

Interesting stuff! You know it's going to be a cool top ten when a Alex III tet is in the 10 spot! What a cool display @rrdenarius !

 

Some great acquisition, what a year !

Q

 

Glorious! All are enviable acquisitions, but I particularly like the Mercury/Prow sextans!

 

Awesome!! I like the Mercury Prow best too!

 

Off the scale! My favourites are the obol, the struck sextans, the 3/8 shekel, and the truly awesome biunx.

 

On the scale, actually

RR, your specialty is such a wonderful complement to the more common collection paths walked by most of us on CT!

I don't recall seeing that particular type of aes grave triens before (not that I'm well versed in cast Republican coins). Cool!