I’m back from my summer vacations and surprise! ...2 new coins from Frank Robinson’s last sale. Here are my new babies : Geta Ae 23 Antiochia Tyche standing on reverse Galerius Ae Follis London Genius on reverse I was amazed to receive my order before paying...but it seems that’s the way life goes with Mr.Robinson. Just one thing : I was really displeased to see on FR website a list of 60 people who « forgot » to pay even after getting their coins in the past years. Shame on them! If you got some new acquisition from this last auction and didn’t post them yet, feel free to show off
Frank is very fair and sends out his coins without receiving payment. It's a shame he has to post a list of deadbeats for those who take advantage of his policy.
Neat coins! Can someone tell me what the legend is on the GETA coin? Does it start with POSEP GETASC ?? Is that his full name, Publius (O???) Septimus Geta?
@ominus1 I have noticed that his auctions are listed on Emax.bid but not on Sixbid or Numisbids. You can also check in occasionally on fsrcoin.com Full disclosure I haven't participated in one of his auctions yet but have heard nothing but good things.
His last auction was also listed on biddr. https://www.biddr.ch/auctions/fsrcoin/browse?a=627 And this is the way it works : « Bidding is simple. NO registration nonsense! Just send me an ordinary e-mail listing your bids. (Include your mailing address.) I always reply, with feedback where possible. Phone or fax are fine too. Please bid early! It’s really your best strategy, and helps me. Nearly all bids get reduced, by an average of over 15%. No buyer fee. Bids reduced (example: you bid $90; next bid $70; you pay $75) ». And the shipping is very cheap. It cost me less than 2$ ! (And I’m in Canada)
I've been buying from Frank's auctions off an on for over 20 years; from back in the days before there was an eBay and everything was done by snail mail. He still sends me the auction flyers, though not for every auction anymore. Doesn't really need to, so when I get one I know it's a nudge. I'm late to the announcement party, but I managed to get three lots from his last auction. I'm going to show off two of them here and will start a separate thread for the third one - it's complicated. The first one is a denarius of Julia Maesa of the Severan Dynasty (or is it Severide?). Whatever. It features an attractive reverse of PIETAS holding out a patera in her right hand above a fire altar with flames. It's nicer than the example I already have and the price was right. I'm very pleased to have gotten it. Just ahead of that one I also managed to pick up a reasonable denarius of Plautilla featuring a VENVS VICTRIX reverse with an interesting twist. In my other examples of this reverse type the shield is bare, which is how I see it most of the time. However, Temeryazev and Makarenko in their slim two volume typological study of the silver coinage of the Roman Empresses, list and illustrate 10 variations of shield treatment. All but one of these have some kind of design work on the face of the shield. To my knowledge no two appear exactly the same, but they are of the opinion (speculative) that at least some of these additions had started out graphically on the aurei as an emblem of the Capitoline Wolf and Twins motif, but were rendered schematically on the silver. They hypothesize that over time it became increasingly abstract and "simplified" until it, and all other markings, ultimately disappeared altogether. Given the paucity of examples it is at best a highly speculative proposal, but at least it notices that something is going on, and in light of the use of the Capitoline emblem on all aurei known to them it does offer an initial premise. The example Frank sold me is not exactly like any that they list, but it is closest to their number 438 "The inverted crescent is imaged on the shield; a dot and two strokes are under it." The angularity of the inverted "crescent" here conforms more to the figure of a left facing she wolf than what they illustrate, on both ends, but the stacked dots beneath don't particularly suggest the twins. This example also has a horizontal foundation line below the figure, which is characteristic of the first three of their images (#437-439). If anyone on Cointalk has another example of this treatment, we would love to get a pic of it. My third purchase from this sale was the coin I most wanted to get this time around, but has a rather complicated story. I will show it in a separate thread.
Since learning about FSR auctions a couple of years ago I have participated in each auction save for the last one (had spent my coin budget for the month), and am always very pleased with the results. If you want to get on the auction list just shoot him an email. His address is listed on fsrcoin.com.
