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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;ValiantKnight, post: 2586928, member: 44210&quot;]I am expecting a few more coins before the year is out, but I think this is it as far as major acquisitions go. In short, I am very surprised at how much I was able to accomplish collecting-wise; not so much the volume but more the quality. A bunch of rare, interesting, and attractive coins have found a new home with me, with two I wouldn&#039;t have dreamed of owning anytime soon. Beside&#039;s these I&#039;ve bought many more nice and interesting coins, but the following favorites are the ones that I truly have a connection with. These are off the beaten collecting path for many here, but I still hope you will enjoy them.</p><p><br /></p><p>#1) <b><u>Sisebut</u>, Visigothic Kingdom</b></p><p>AV tremissis</p><p><b>Obv</b>: + SISEBVTVS REX, bust facing</p><p><b>Rev</b>: + TOLETO PIVS, bust facing</p><p><b>Mint</b>: Toledo</p><p><b>Date</b>: 612-621 AD</p><p><b>Ref</b>: Miles 183a</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]562617[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>(original thread <a href="https://www.cointalk.com/threads/barbarian-gold.286035/" class="internalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.cointalk.com/threads/barbarian-gold.286035/">here</a>)</p><p><br /></p><p>Gold coins have a tendency of putting rather sizable holes in peoples&#039; wallets (except for Panzerman), so I don&#039;t actively search them out, but I&#039;ve always really wanted one from one of the Germanic tribes. I originally purchased a different tremissis from Emerita, but for whatever reason I was sent this one from Toledo. A mistake, but a mistake in my favor. It was just as nice as the Emerita example, and it was from Toledo. It is a mint city I would have preferred due to it being the Visigothic capital, and the fact that I already had Visigothic bronze nummi from Emerita. I came upon my tremissis of Sisebut (or rather, the coin I originally bought) entirely by chance when I was searching coins from what would have been my first non-Ebay auction site (still have yet to pop this cherry). It wasn&#039;t this particular example I found first, but another Sisebut tremissis from Hispalis. Searching further, I discovered the Emerita tremissis. Both the Hispalis and Emerita examples were fized-price listings, and very expensive, but the Emerita coin was slightly less, and didn&#039;t have nowhere as many weak areas. So I asked the seller if they would be willing to reserve it for me and they did. But how in the world was I going to get all the money, and preferably soon? Determinedly I dove into my collection, of which I thought I had already emptied of coins I was willing to sell off, and I came out with a lot more than I would have envisaged. One month later, I became the proud owner of Gothic gold.</p><p><br /></p><p>#2) <b><u>Jovinus</u>, Western Roman Empire</b></p><p>AR siliqua</p><p><b>Obv</b>: D N IOVIN-VS PF AVG, Pearl-diademed, draped, and cuirassed bust right</p><p><b>Rev</b>: VICTOR-IA AVGG, Roma seated left on stylized cuirass, holding Victory on globe and reversed spear</p><p><b>Mint</b>: Lugdunum</p><p><b>Mintmark</b>: SMLDV</p><p><b>Date</b>: 411-413 AD</p><p><b>Ref</b>: RIC X 1717</p><p><br /></p><p><img src="https://www.cointalk.com/proxy.php?image=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cointalk.com%2Fproxy.php%3Fimage%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Fi1197.photobucket.com%252Falbums%252Faa429%252FLurkingNinja%252Fjovinus_zpsgdobx5l3.jpg%26hash%3D483e3b385ea3815a179d1cbc36a8b44e&amp;hash=8927bd528012232d2f0ba2b9e3d60bea" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p>(original thread <a href="https://www.cointalk.com/threads/jeffs-j-jubilee-1-jovinus.276036/" class="internalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.cointalk.com/threads/jeffs-j-jubilee-1-jovinus.276036/">here</a>)</p><p><br /></p><p>I am always on the lookout for the rarer rulers of the late Roman Empire, particularly of the western empire and of the Germanic kingdoms that succeeded it. Like my Sisebut tremissis, however, this one surprised me as well as I searched for different coins. In the back of my head I had relegated Jovinus to the group of extremely rare and pricey usurpers like Constantine III and Sebastianus that, to acquire, would take an internal organ or three to sell. But this one was at least relatively affordable, so I jumped on it. Also similarly with my tremissis and a few other coins in my list, it took some selling to help pay for. Jovinus is interesting because, along with Eugenius, he was one of the first to rely on barbarian help to secure and support his position. This phenomena would help lead to the rise of powerful barbarians such as Ricimer and Gundobad within the imperial hierarchy, who elevated, controlled, and deposed emperors at will.</p><p><br /></p><p>#3) <b><u>Maurice Tiberius</u>, Byzantine Empire</b></p><p>AV solidus</p><p><b>Obv</b>: D N mAVRC TIb PP AVC, diademed, helmeted, and cuirassed bust facing, holding globus cruciger in left hand</p><p><b>Rev</b>: VICTORI-A AVGG ∆, Victory standing facing, holding long staff surmounted with staurogram in left hand and globus cruciger in right hand</p><p><b>Mint</b>: Constantinople</p><p><b>Mintmark</b>: CONOB</p><p><b>Date</b>:582-602 AD</p><p><b>Ref</b>: SB 476</p><p><b>Size</b>: 4.29 g., 21 mm wide</p><p><br /></p><p><img src="https://www.cointalk.com/attachments/maurice-png.523475/" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p>(original thread <a href="https://www.cointalk.com/threads/got-me-some-gold-again.280558/" class="internalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.cointalk.com/threads/got-me-some-gold-again.280558/">here</a>)</p><p><br /></p><p>Byzantine coins with faces that don&#039;t look like they were slapped clean off are rather difficult to come by. I bought a half-follis of Maurice Tiberius from Thessalonica which had a pretty detailed forward bust still remaining. I was very drawn in by this and knew I had to get another one with just as good of a face or better. My search brought me to this solidus of him. Wonderfully detailed bust, most legends remaining, no major issues, and the price was a little lower than your usual solidus, so I went for it. Ever since, and a few more MT coins later, I&#039;ve developed a liking to this somewhat neglected ruler; he was a very capable soldier-emperor that achieved much success in protecting the empire&#039;s borders against the last of the migrating tribes and the Persians. With the latter, he ended the annual gold payments, a first in two hundred years, so I know this solidus wasn&#039;t given away to the Persians under his watch!</p><p><br /></p><p>#4) <b><u>Eugenius</u>, Western Roman Empire</b></p><p>AR siliqua</p><p><b>Obv</b>: D N EVGENIVS P F AVG, pearl diademed, draped, bearded, cuirassed bust right</p><p><b>Rev</b>: VIRTVS ROMANORVM, Roma seated left on cuirass, holding Victory on globe and reversed spear</p><p><b>Mint</b>: Milan or Trier</p><p><b>Date</b>: 392-394 AD</p><p><br /></p><p><img src="https://www.cointalk.com/attachments/eugenius-jpg.525730/" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p>(still have to shoot my own photos)</p><p><br /></p><p>(original thread <a href="https://www.cointalk.com/threads/another-rare-late-roman-ruler-for-my-collection.282190/" class="internalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.cointalk.com/threads/another-rare-late-roman-ruler-for-my-collection.282190/">here</a>)</p><p><br /></p><p>Another one that demonstrates my tendency to be jumped by coins I really want. I had been perusing this lesser-known site and found this clipped Eugenius siliqua among its stock. He was a late Roman ruler I still didn&#039;t have and it was within budget, and I figured it would be a long while before I would be able to buy a problem-free example, so I settled on it (but not before double-checking it really was a coin of Eugenius). I had never been a fan of clipped siliquae but because of this coin I am now more open to them. To me, these (and other deliberately altered) coins seem to have more of a human connection. Sure, ancient coins were hand-minted and circulated, but with my clipped Eugenius, I know with confidence that it was in the hands of someone one-and-a-half millennia ago.</p><p><br /></p><p>#5) <b><u>Athalaric</u>, Ostrogothic Kingdom</b></p><p>AE decanummium</p><p><b>Obv</b>: INVICT-A ROMA, Roma helmeted, facing right</p><p><b>Rev</b>: D N / ATHAL / ARICVS / REX, legend within wreath, X (10) below</p><p><b>Mint</b>: Rome</p><p><b>Date</b>: 526-534 AD</p><p><b>Ref</b>: COI 86; MIB 78; MEC 1, 133-4</p><p><br /></p><p><img src="https://www.cointalk.com/proxy.php?image=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cointalk.com%2Fproxy.php%3Fimage%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Fi1197.photobucket.com%252Falbums%252Faa429%252FLurkingNinja%252Fathalaric_zpse0efhurt.jpg%26hash%3D3464c65ba5990155d6b4b12832a87b85&amp;hash=f460321d020117d7fa70676f8a2d0819" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p>(original thread <a href="https://www.cointalk.com/threads/the-boy-king-who-had-so-much-fun-that-he-died.278327/#post-2414070" class="internalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.cointalk.com/threads/the-boy-king-who-had-so-much-fun-that-he-died.278327/#post-2414070">here</a>)</p><p><br /></p><p>One of my first passions in ancient coin collecting was coins bearing the names of post-Roman Germanic rulers. It started with my Ostrogothic coin of Theodahad, and since then I have added several more to my collection. And it was the same Theodahad coin that gave me a particular fondness for the Ostrogothic name-in-wreath types, so this decanummium of Athalaric was a perfect match for me. His backstory is fascinating as well: he personifies the culture clash that occurred between the barbarians and the Romans when the former came to rule the latter in late 5th-6th century Italy. Athalaric was the last peacetime ruler of the Ostrogothic Kingdom, before the horrors of the Gothic War.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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