Three More Coins from the Michel Prieur Collection

Discussion in 'Ancient Coins' started by Al Kowsky, Aug 29, 2019.

  1. Al Kowsky

    Al Kowsky Well-Known Member

    As the late Michel Prieur's collection of Roman Provincial coins is being liquidated in stages I'm in awe at the immense size of his collection :jawdrop:. It's too bad his collection wasn't cataloged and offered in book form before the liquidation began :(. No doubt his book A type corpus of THE SYRO-PHOENICIAN TETRADRACHMS AND THEIR FRACTIONS from 57 BC to AD 253, copyright 2000, along with Richard McAlee's book The Coins of Roman Antioch, copyright 2007 have brought scores of new collectors into Roman Provincial coins. Rare and scarce coins in this area of collecting can still be bought at reasonable prices, but that won't last forever :smuggrin:. Pictured below are three coins from the late Michel Prieur's collection that I recently added to my collection. If any CT members would like to add on to this thread please do :D.

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  3. Mat

    Mat Ancient Coincoholic

    Those are wonderful, congrats.
     
  4. dougsmit

    dougsmit Member

  5. Al Kowsky

    Al Kowsky Well-Known Member

    Doug, Your variety of the MON VRB type is the most common, with Prieur citing 60 examples. I've sold a number of these & still have one in my collection. As you know the dies or the actual coins themselves were made at the Rome Mint. Massive quantities of the coins were necessary for the proposed war effort with the Persians. It became necessary for 6 officina to hammer out the quantity needed to pay the troops, hence the varieties with officina marks to the right of the eagles head. The coins with officina marks are all listed as scarce by McAlee, compared to the type with no officina mark. Below is an example I sold a couple of years ago with the mark of the 4th officina (delta), Prieur 308.

    Blow-up 29.jpg
     
  6. dougsmit

    dougsmit Member

    Thanks. It is interesting that the S is lying down. The form of the archaic letter always varies more than the common Greek alphabet.
     
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  7. nicholasz219

    nicholasz219 Well-Known Member

    Those are great coins @Al Kowsky and @dougsmit. I try to limit my purchases from regular auctions to Septimius, Domna and Probus which gives me plenty to buy. I’ve missed some nice examples from the Prieur collection but still hope to add a few as they come up.
     
  8. Pellinore

    Pellinore Well-Known Member

    I bought this Prieur tetradrachm in March - from a long row of other Philip tetradrachms. I went for the wistful portrait.

    3307 s.jpg

    Seller's picture.
    One wonders how on earth Prieur could have acquired such a huge collection of splendid coins. And where have all the Fines and VFs gone? Are all the lesser conditions being melted down?

    AR tetradrachm Philippus I, Seleucis & Pieria, Antioch, 247. Obv. Radiated, draped and cuirassed bust right, seen from behind. … IOVΛI ΦIΛIΠΠOC CEB. Rev. Eagle standing right, wings spread, holding wreath in beak. ΔHMAPX EΞOYCIAC YΠATO Γ / ANTIOXIA S C in two lines. 26.5 mm, 11.61 gr. Prieur 375 (this coin – 42 pieces). From the Michel Prieur Collection. Ex Rauch 41 (6 June 1988), lot 979. McAlee 922. CNG e-auction 439, nr. 342.
     
  9. Al Kowsky

    Al Kowsky Well-Known Member

    Pellinore, Michel Prieur's collection must have been enormous :woot:. He was studying & collecting Syro-Phoenician silver when most of the numismatic community had turned up their noses at these coins :smug:. I'm sure when it became known that he was conducting an in-depth study of these coins & authoring a book that many dealers & auction houses alerted him when something new was on the horizon. It's obvious that he was very selective in his purchases, going for high grade examples & adding lower grade coins only if they were extremely rare.
     
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  10. dougsmit

    dougsmit Member

    I wonder if the coins we have are mostly from 'bank vaults' where large numbers of coins were stored like bullion rather than pulled from circulation. If this is the case, we might expect fewer worn coins with the lower grade ones being more from weak striking than from wear. These large coins represented a lot of money and would be little used by the man on the street.

    Do you see a lot of these in well worn shape even in the low end market? I don't. Unlike most collectors, I would be happy to have circulated coins. I bought this 'only fine' but believe it was lacking derail on the high spots when made rather than losing that detail through use. Mint state coins are more common than ones like this even from the bottom feeder dealers I frequent.
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  11. Al Kowsky

    Al Kowsky Well-Known Member

    Doug Smith, the coin you illustrate & the point made about well worn coins is valid. Most of the early coins of Caracalla & the other members of the Septimius Severus family were struck in high relief, so strikes showing complete detail aren't that common. Succeeding emperors like Gordian III, Philip I, & Trajan Decius had coins struck in much lower relief where complete detail is more common. If you meant by the phrase "bank vaults" being holes in the ground where hoards have been found I agree. Lets not forget that almost continuous warfare has gone on & on for the last 40 years in countries like Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Israel, & Egypt where most of these coins were destined. Coin hunters with metal detectors haven't had the freedom to search for coins in these areas, so I'm sure many important hoards are yet to be discovered. Richard McAlee came up with educated estimates on the quantities of ancient coins struck by different emperors at the Antioch Mint, calculating quantities by the number of obverse dies that are known. The numbers are startling :jawdrop:. He estimates that about 500,000 Tets were struck by Aulus Gabinius (57-55 B.C.). Nero Tets with the eagle reverse 1,500,000 coins. Roger Bland estimated that Gordian III Tets over a period of 4 years amounted to 9,500,000 coins :eek:, & Gordian III double denarii struck at the Antioch Mint amounted to 88,500,000 coins :woot:! So where are all these coins o_O? Certainly many were melted down & reused by other emperors, however, I'm sure thousands more are still buried in the ground ;).
     
    Last edited: Sep 3, 2019
  12. Al Kowsky

    Al Kowsky Well-Known Member

    Over the weekend a fellow collector asked me where he could find a copy of Michel Prieur's book, & I suggested amazon.com until I took a peek at their site :eek:. Four sellers listed used copies of the hard back edition for prices ranging from $300 to 577, & three sellers listed new copies of the paperback edition for $752 or more :rolleyes:!

    Michel Prieur's Nook.jpg
     
  13. 7Calbrey

    7Calbrey Well-Known Member

    The following silver Tet of Gordian was rated as scarce. Prieur 298.

    Gord 298.JPG Gordy R.JPG
     
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  14. Al Kowsky

    Al Kowsky Well-Known Member

    7Calbrey, Prieur cites 27 coins of your type & doesn't list coins on a rarity scale. McAlee lists your coin as 881 & doesn't consider it scarce. McAlee does have a rarity scale as follows: Extremely Rare = 1 or 2 examples known to the author, Very Rare = 3 to 5 known, Rare = 6 to 12 known, "Scarce is a more subjective description, which distinguishes the types seen less often than the more common types." So comparing your left facing portrait to a right facing portrait you might label your coin scarce.
     
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  15. Drewsicus

    Drewsicus New Member

    I won these 2 in last CNG auction both from Michel Prieur collection . Galba is from a Hoard called cisjordania 1996


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  16. Cucumbor

    Cucumbor Well-Known Member

    Best thing to do is to buy it directly from CGB, where Michel Prieur worked as director and his book was edited : https://www.cgb.fr/a-type-corpus-of...ad-253-prieur-karin-prieur-michel,ls09,a.html

    I used to have two copies of the book, one of which I gave away to a coinmate two years ago : I could have sell it for a profit....stupid me :D
    Q
     
  17. Al Kowsky

    Al Kowsky Well-Known Member

    Q, Thanks for the info ;). I hope interested CT member take note of this. I bought my copy from CNG shortly after the book was released & paid about $100.00 bucks for it. The CGB price is the best I've seen & certainly beats the prices greedy Amazon sellers are asking :shifty:.
     
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  18. Al Kowsky

    Al Kowsky Well-Known Member

    Drewsicus, Welcome to Coin Talk :). I've been a member a little over a year & enjoy the time I spend on the site. There are many knowledgeable collectors, experts & authors that contribute to this site & offer valuable information to fellow members. I've learned a great deal since joining the site & have been helped by many members. I like your Tet of Galba ;), but the Tet of Titus is a little to rough for my taste.Both of these Tets are hard to find & high grade examples are very pricey. Owning coins that came from the Michel Prieur collection gives them a valuable provenance since he was an important author & numismatist.
     
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  19. Orfew

    Orfew Draco dormiens nunquam titillandus

    A great Galba. As for the Titus, I like it very much. Yes it is rough, but the portrait has a great deal of charm.
     
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  20. 7Calbrey

    7Calbrey Well-Known Member

    This silver Tet of Caracalla has Delta- Epsilon in upper left and right fields of reverse. The eagle's head is left, and it has a star between legs. Does it belong to the Prieur's list ? CaracStar.JPG Caracl R.JPG
     
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  21. Al Kowsky

    Al Kowsky Well-Known Member

    7Calbrey, I'm pretty sure your Tet isn't from the reign of Caracalla :eek:. It appears to be from the reign of Elagabalus "The Pervert", AD 218-222. Your coin is in pretty rough shape & may be impossible to attribute positively, but it resembles Prieur 257 & 261.
     
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