Sallent's Top 10 of 2019 (with just the right amount of clickbait)

Well, it's past midnight here which means it's the next day and it's time to reveal #9



Domitian was a show off who loved to award himself title after title for every little victory during his reign. Thanks to that we can date this coin precisely to a 1 year period, September 89 through September 90 CE, which is a precision almost unheard of when it comes to dating ancient coins.

This is a rare reverse apparently with this specific legend, or at the very least a not very common reverse. The portrait of Domitian is handsome, but then again, the quality of portraits in this time period was excellent.



Domitian
AR denarius
Minerva reverse
89-90 CE

 

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You shouldn’t be staying up so late but I’m glad you did! You’ve not disappointed with #9 - that is a terrific portrait and I love the toning.

 

Well, if you like portraits, I think you'll love #8. It's a Picasso on a coin, or maybe a Dali. I don't know, it's hard to say as the portrait style is so interesting (ie. barbarous). Anyway, I don't want to give it away so I won't say more. Come back tomorrow at midnight and find out.

 

That first one's nice... but I feel I must point out that you don't have shoulder pompoms like me 'n' @Ryro.



And the Domitian, while exceedingly beautiful, is also profoundly lacking in the shoulder pompom department.

Will your next coin have shoulder pompoms?

 

I'm jealous of your pompoms.
Beautiful coin. Thank you for sharing it on this thread. No pompoms either on my next coin, but it does have a rather unique and goofy portrait. You'll see.

 

Time for some more Grade A USDA Prime Beef click bait.




Today's prime cut of beef is this beautiful 1800 year old coin featuring one of the gentlest, sweetest, mama's boy to ever rule the empire. Sadly for him, his gentle submissive nature resulted in him and his domineering mother losing their heads after his soldiers hacked them to death in their tent.



That's right folks, the HONORABLE MENTION goes to none other than Severus Alexander, the ancient world's ultimate Mama's boy.


Severus Alexander, 222 - 235 AD
AE Sestertius, Rome Mint, 30mm, 20.87 grams
Obverse: IMP ALEXANDER PIVS AVG, Laureate, draped and cuirassed bust of Severus right.
Reverse: P M TR P XI COS III P P S C, Sol standing left raising hand and holding whip.
RIC525

I really like this coin, but I just got it, so it would be ridiculous to declare it a Top 10 when I haven't really had much of any time to enjoy it and appreciate it. So I'll give it an honorable mention instead.

Feel free to post any relevant coins

 

My mama's boy as (also Sol) is agitating for your new sest to be bumped into the top 10...

 

For my #8 of 2019, think spooky deformed monster that is somehow kinda cute, like Igor from the film Young Frankenstein.



This is a barbarous imitation of another coin of which I have the official issue also in my collection. The Gorgoneion's goofy face is both scary and endearing at the same time.


Pisidia, Selge,
AR Trihemiobol
c. 350-300 BC,
8mm, 1.01g.
Obv: Facing head of gorgoneion.
Rx: Helmeted head of Athena l., knucklebone at r.
BM-7, SNG Aulock-5281 (Descibed there as
barbarous)
Note: Scarce with Athena facing left on reverse.

And here is the original official issue


Pisidia, Selge, 350 - 300 BC
AR Obol, 9mm, .86 grams
Obverse: Facing gorgoneion.
Reverse: Helmeted head of Athena right.
SNG von Aulock-5268

 

I love imitations and that one is extra freaky. I like it. (Also, that is one huge knucklebone behind Athena!)

Here's my official issue (a very recent acquisition). It has a ding and the reverse is o/c but I like the style:

 

Are you sure that's a knucklebone? Not a bit of her spine protruding from her decapitated and floating head? Poor Athena...

 

Good point. It does look like that now that you mentioned it. That's the charm of collecting barbarous imitations. Their styles can be really interesting and fun. I used to avoid barbarous imitations like the plague when I started collecting as I wanted nothing but official issues, but lately I've began to see their appeal.

 

I find them fascinating and entertaining in equal measure. Yours is an excellent example with bags of character for sure.

 

There are some cool coins in this thread. The Constantius II portrait in the first post is wonderful and hilarious-- he looks like a mischievous brat, perhaps fittingly.

I'm going to wait on further comments in this thread until the entire list has been posted so as to not constantly bump the thread back to the top, displacing the multitude of other CT friends' year-end posts that suffer from being more rapidly pushed off the front page into oblivion.

 

Search only for Trier-Mint LRBs. They were all of extremely high quality and fine style.

 

I have to wake up early tomorrow and have a busy day, so I will be revealing #7 an hour early.

#7: The man who named a horse Consul



That's right folks, but at least he lowered taxes (as celebrated on this quadrans) before going full mental and executing countless people and demanding to be worshiped as a god.


Gaius (Caligula, 37-41). Æ Quadrans (17mm, 3.44g, 6h). Rome, 40-1. Pileus between S-C. R/ Large RCC. RIC I 52.

 

Very nice example with a full legend and nice patina.

 

Ok folks, I think I'm going to speed things a little and do 2 coins a day. Let me know if you prefer it that way.

Here's #6: A REAL LIFE HERCULES



From Alexander's personal bodyguard to king over a massive chunk of territory, Lysimachus was one interesting dude. This coin has a lot going for it. Killer style and cool control marks on the reverse.



AR drachm
Kingdom of Thrace
Lysimachus (305-381BCE)
Kolophon Mint (299-296 BCE)
weight 4.258g, maximum diameter 18.7mm, die axis 0o
obverse: head of Herakles right, wearing Nemean Lion skin, scalp over head, forepaws tied at neck.
Reverse: Zeus Aëtophoros seated left, eagle in right hand, scepter in left hand, right leg drawn back, lion-forepart left over Φ (control symbols) in left field, pentagram (control symbol) under throne, ΛYΛIMAXOY downward on left, BAΣIΛIΩΣ below
Thompson 127, Price L27, Müller Alexander L21, HGC 3 1752e (R1)

 

You got a great thread going, lots of humour and beautifull coins to boot, can't beat that! Cannot wait to see the rest and the funny captions....

 

Time for the next two to be revealed.

#5: TWO HEADS ARE BETTER THAN ONE



Well, so the saying goes. But when the heads start to fight each other, one of them must roll. I think judging from this coin, we know which head rolled, and which one went on to become the first Roman emperor.



AR Denarius
Mark Antony and Octavian
Traveling military mint, or possibly Ephesus mint
3.467g, 19.5mm
Spring - Early summer 41 B.C.
Obverse M ANT IMP AVG III VIR R P C M BARBAT Q P, bare head of Antony right
Reverse CAESAR IMP PONT III VIR R P C, bare beardless head of Octavian right
Ex: Errett Bishop Collection
Crawford 517/2, Sydenham 1181, BMCRR East 103, Sear CRI 243, RSC I Mark Antony and Augustus 8, SRCV I 150


#4: POPEYE THE ROMAN SAILOR MAN



No, you don't need to go see an optometrist. There are in fact two janiform heads on this coin. Maybe this one should have been titled "Two heads are better than one?" One thing we can all agree on is that I ought to have my head examined. Making up so many bad head puns ought to be illegal, but that's a story for another day.

Anyway, this is perhaps one of the most beautiful obverse designs in any Roman Republic era coins. And on the reverse is none other than the Roman Popeye guiding his sailors bravely into the unknown waters of the Mediterranean in search of the Long Lost Continent of Spinach...or is it Atlantis? Not sure which.

C. Fonteius, Rome, 114-113 BC. AR Denarius (20mm, 3.93g, 5h). Laureate, janiform heads of the Dioscuri; I to l. R/ Galley l. with three rowers, gubernator at stern. Crawford 290/1; RBW 1120; RSC Fonteia

 

FINAL SPECIAL MENTION

Just bought it, so it can't be in my Top 10, but may as well put it here before I reveal my Top 3 coins of 2019 tonight.

That's right, tonight at midnight is the final reveal.

Anyway, my special mention goes to the WWF coin featuring a match between John Cena and The Rock in their primes.



Yeah, the ancients sure did love their WWF superstars.


Selge, Pisidia
Silver stater
Selge Mint
23.7mm, 9.054g
O: two wrestlers, the left one holds the left wrist of his opponent with his right hand, and right forearm with his left hand, K between their legs.
R:slinger discharging sling to right, wearing short chiton, ΣEΛΓEΩN upward on left, triskeles with feet counterclockwise over club on right, round border of dots.
BMC Lycia 18, SNG BnF 1941, SNG Cop 247, SNG Delepierre 2827