I wasn't expecting this coin for a few more days, so it was a pleasant surprise when this showed up in my mail box today. I already have one of these, but I couldn't pass this one up for the price. It actually cost me $3 less than my other, but this one has full legends, different field mark, and different coloring. For those who might suggest it, the green is hard and not soft and flaky, so no BD. MAXIMINUS II DAIA Quarter-Nummus OBVERSE: GENIO ANTIOCHENI, Tyche of Antioch seated facing on rocks, turreted and veiled, stalks of grain in right, river-god Orontes swimming below REVERSE: APOLLONI SANCTO, Apollo standing left, patera in right, lyre in left. S in right field, mintmark SMA Struck at Antioch, 312 AD 1.2g, 13mm Van Heesch 3, A And for those who may be interested, here is the first one of these from my collection:
Nice pick-up. I like this Antioch series very much and hope to acquire at least one of the types this year.
I like the Tyche coins as well. I actually have a mini-collection of them. I was hoping for a last minute pickup this year to arrive, but I doubt it. I bought a Commodus sestertius of him dressed as Hercules.
Perhaps some will recall that I gather these. I'm missing officina I from the Apollo and two (E and Z) from the Victory/Zeus but have not been looking very hard for a few years now. Maybe someday. Those looking for one might keep an eye out for two that I believe should be considered a little special. The first is the die of officina B with a spelling error SANSTO for SANCTO. I have not seen another than my coin. More common (I have seen two or three others) is the E officina coin with reversed mintmark AMS for SMA. There was a time I thought these were rare but more keep appearing so maybe they are a little scarce. What is a bit unusual are coins with full robe detail on Apollo. My best one made my Favorites list http://www.forumancientcoins.com/dougsmith/f72.html and has the distinction of being the cheapest coin in that list at $6 from a pickout pot at Baltimore years ago. I think part of my attraction to these coins is the fact that neither RIC nor ERIC II listed them. Alone, David Vagi did list them in his two volume Coinage and History of the Roman Empire. I reviewed that book when it came out and really thought it would become a greater success than proved to be the case. He chose to list rare coins and gave a generic listing (and prices) for all the common types. By not trying to list every type of coin, he lost the catalog buying public who avoided the book since they could not find their coins. I consider that a shame since there is a lot of information in the book that would serve beginners well to know. http://www.forumancientcoins.com/dougsmith/book.html#vagi The devil in me requires me to mention that the book nowhere mentions slabbed coins. I also have to mention that the current Amazon new and used copies are selling for considerably more than I'd pay. If you find a good set for $100, I'd suggest you buy it. This 'preview' shows enough of the book to give the idea: https://books.google.com/books?id=p...inage and History of the Roman Empire&f=false
7 hours here to go, you'll probably have a new coin before we get to 2015 on the West Coast..nice coin...
that's awesome, those are great. I actually have one of the type in bound as we speak, it will be one of my first coins of 2015...I can't wait to get it. I wasn't even aware of the type, and didn't know that several of you guys had them.
