What is your most valuable coin?

I thought it would be nice to start a thread where everyone can share it's most valuable coin, valuable doesn't have to be the most expensive coin, it can also be the most rare coin you own. It's nice to see as a beginner how many different ancient coins actually exist, very interesting. Let this topic explode with your fine coins!

 

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Okay

Here's a coin that isn't rare but the dies used on this particular coin are of unusually fine style, the centering is excellent, the strike deep (although it didn't fill completely on the obverse-- that's probably lack of fill rather than wear on the high points of Arethusa's hair), and the condition is high. It is my most expensive coin by a mile and I don't regret a cent. As you noted, cost and value are not necessarily the same but it this case they walk together.


SICILY, Syracuse. Agathokles (317-289 BCE)
struck 310-305 BCE
AR tetradrachm, 17.40 g, 24 mm
Obv: head of the nymph Arethusa left, wearing grain wreath, earring and necklace; around, three dolphins; under, monogram (NK?)
Rev: ΣYPAKOΣIΩN, fast chariot charioteer leads to left, holding reins and kentron; above, triskeles; in exergue, monogram
Ref: Ierardi 12 (O2-R8); SNG Copenhagen 573 var., SNG ANS 637
https://www.cointalk.com/threads/ancient-adventures-in-bidland-agathokles-tetradrachm.243930/

I have many rarities, mostly Roman provincial. The ones shown below have high value no matter how you define it.


EGYPT, Alexandria. Domitian. Regnal year 10, CE 90/91. Æ diobol (25mm, 10.86 g, 12h). AVT KAICAP ΔΟ ΜΙΤ CEB ΓΕΡΜ, laureate head right / Agathodaemon serpent, wearing the skhent crown (emblematic of upper and lower Egypt), on horseback galloping left; L I (date) below. Köln –; Dattari (Savio) –; K&G 24.109; RPC II 2585; SNG Copenhagen 214; Emmett 277.10 (R5).
Ex Giovanni Maria Staffieri Collection
Ex West Coast/Lloyd Beauchaine Collection (Classical Numismatic Group 41, 19 March 1997), lot 1110
Ex Classical Numismatic Review Vol. XVI, No. 1 (January 1991), lot 31
Ex Numismatic Fine Arts Fall Mail Bid Sale (18 October 1990), lot 2365
Appearances:
Staffieri, Alexandria In Nummis 39 (this coin)
Obverse illustrated in Emmett as the header for the Domitian section, p. 24 (this coin)
Fully illustrated in Emmett, p. 26 (this coin, discussing the unusual reverse).
https://www.cointalk.com/threads/so-these-exist-snake-cowboys.314032/


LYDIA, Philadelphia. Caracalla
Ioulianos, strategos
Æ 31, 16.7 gm, CE 198-217
Obv: AVT K M AVP ANTΩNЄINOC; laureate, draped and cuirassed bust right
Rev: ЄΠI CTPA IOVΛIANOV A ΠOΛ ΦIΛΑΔЄΛΦЄΩN; horse prancing left surmounted by serpent coiled left
Ref: BMC 85. Rare.


EGYPT, Alexandria. Nero
Regnal year 14 (CE 67/8)
AE diobol; 27 mm, 10.9 gm
Obv: NEPΩKΛAVK[AIΣΣEBΓEPA]; laureate head right
Rev: L - IΔ; "vase" (Emmett), or "oinochoe" per others (others are probably correct)
Ref: Dattari-Savio Pl. 1, 2 (this coin); Dattari cf 286; RPC 5322; Emmett 153.14; Poole (BM, 1892) cf 188?; Milne -; none in a few other minor references I own. Rare.
ex Dattari collection (Giovanni Dattari, 1858-1923)
https://www.cointalk.com/threads/more-to-this-than-meets-the-eye.309276/


THRACE, Hadrianopolis. Gordian III
AE 18 mm, 2.59 gm
Obv: AVT K M ANT ΓORΔIANOC AVΓ; laureate, draped and cuirassed bust right.
Rev: AΔPIANOΠOΛEITΩN; ostrich running right
Ref: Varbanov 3833, rare
https://www.cointalk.com/threads/a-now-extinct-animal-on-a-roman-coin.287175/

I could keep going with the rare/valuable provincials but here are a few more Greeks.

Not particularly common and in unusually good condition:

BRUTTIUM, the Brettii
216-214 BCE
Æ quartuncia, 13.5mm, 2.06 g
Obv: head of Amphitrite left, wearing crab headdress
Rev: crab; torch above, BPET-TIΩN above and below
Ref: Pfeiler p. 33, 4a; Scheu, Bronze 51; HN Italy 1944; SNG ANS 123–4; SNG Lloyd –; McClean 1579
https://www.cointalk.com/threads/a-bronze-of-the-brettii-poseidons-wife.274722/

Same as above; not common and in unusually good condition:

SICILY, Selinos.
Circa 410 BCE
AR litra, 11mm, 0.76 g, 1h
Obv: nymph seated left on rock, right hand raised above her head, extending her left hand to touch coiled serpent before her; selinon leaf above
Rev: man-faced bull standing right; ΣEΛINONTIOΣ above; in exergue, fish right
Ref: Potamikon, p. 116 figure 152 (this coin); HGC 2, 1229; SNG ANS 711–2 var. (ethnic); SNG Ashmolean 1904–5; SNG Lloyd 1270 var. (same); Basel –; Dewing –; Rizzo pl. XXXIII, 6. Rare.
ex MoneyMuseum, Zurich;
ex Leu 79 (31 October 2000), lot 404;
ex Athos Moretti collection, #482, unpublished manuscript.
https://www.cointalk.com/threads/selinos-litra-this-tiny-coin-has-it-all.258915/

And a few Romans Imperials for the pot:


Nero
struck in Rome, CE 63
Orichalcum sestertius, 34 mm, 26.7 gm
Obv: NERO CLAVDIVS CAESAR AVG GERM P M TR P IMP PP; laureate head right, wearing aegis
Rev: ANNONA AVGVSTI CERES; Ceres, veiled and draped, seated left, holding corn ears and torch, her feet on stool, facing Annona standing right, holding cornucopia; between them, modius on garlanded altar; in background, stern of ship
Ref: RIC 98. Cohen 24

Elagabalus, transporting the sacred stone of Emesa. Not hugely expensive but sought after:


Elagabalus
AR denarius, 19.4 mm, 3.5 gm
Antioch, 218-219 CE
Obv: ANTONINVS PIVS FEL AVG, Laureate draped cuirassed bust right
Rev: SANCT DEO SOLI / ELAGABAL, Quadriga right, bearing sacred Baetyl stone, flanked by four parasols
Ref: RIC IV 195
Vauctions 310, lot 250 (25 Sept 2014)
ex CNG Mail Bid Sale 33, lot 914 (15 March 1995)
https://www.cointalk.com/threads/ancients-a-boy-and-his-stone.254886/

Another sought after type:


Septimius Severus
Rome, CE 206
AR denarius, 3.41 gm, 20 mm, 12h
Obv: SEVERVS PIVS AVG, laureate head right
Rev: LAETITIA TEMPORVM, the spina of the Circus Maximus decorated as a ship facing left, with the turning posts at its prow and stern, a sail mounted on the central obelisk, and the spina's other monuments visible in between; above the ship, four quadrigas racing left; below, seven animals: an ostrich at left and a bear at right; between them a lion and a lioness chasing a wild ass and a panther attacking a bison
Ref: RIC 274; BMC 343.
ex Colosseo Collection


And another desirable Severan:


Julia Domna
AR denarius, 19.5mm, 3.17 gm, 6h. Rome mint
Struck under Septimius Severus, circa AD 207-211
Obv: IVLIA AVGVSTA; draped bust right
Rev: Fecunditas or Tellus (Earth) reclining left under tree, resting arm on basket of fruit and placing hand on celestial orb; standing before her are four children representing the Four Seasons
Ref: RIC IV 549 (Septimius Severus); RSC 35
ex R.H. Collection

 

@TIF you make me envious with those beauties. I will have to think on it an post later, but none of mine can compare to yours @TIF

 

@TIF Amazing coins!

If I was that horse with a snake on my back, I'd run too!

 

I have been very fortunate in my collecting .

 

Lol

 

@TIF thankfully I have a beard right now or surely my drool would've dripped all over my phone whilst viewing those masterpieces and pieces of masters!
Hmmm. I do collect me some rarities but I'm not certain which one was most expensive.


Pertinax
Denarius. IMP CAES P HELV
PERTIN AVG, laureate head
right / VOT DECEN TR P COS
II, emperor sacrificing left,
with patera held over tripod
altar. RSC 56RIC 13a, RSC
56, BMC 24



MANLIASCANTILLA
wife of Didius Julianus.
Augusta, 193 AD. Æ Sestertius
(24.70 gm). Draped bust right /
Juno standing left, holding
patera and sceptre; to left,
peacock standing left, head
right. RIC III 18a smallish squared
flan,dark green patina, sl grainy,
obv portrait is clear! Former FRC



LAELIANUS

269 CE. Antoninianus (19
MM, 2.66 gm). Mint city II
(Cologne). Radiate and
cuirassed bust right / Victory
advancing right, holding
palm and wreath. RIC V 9;
AGK 1c;



Nigrinian
DIVO NIGRINIANO AE
Antoninian CONSECRATIO
Reverse: Eagle. Very Rare

But still my fav...

 

Probably my Tyre Shekel. These have shot up in price pretty aggressively in the past 10-15 years, more so than other coins, it seems.

 

There's a difference between rare and valuable. Value has much more to do with demand than with supply.

Every collector of Roman provincial coins has examples that are unpublished and therefore presumably rare. For example, this denarius-sized bronze of Julia Domna from Nicaea in Bithynia is nowhere to be found online. Although this reverse type is known for Septimius Severus, there isn't one of Julia Domna in Recueil général des monnaies grecques d'Asie mineure; it's not at Wildwinds, not at Coin Archives, not at acsearchinfo, not at CNG's archives, not in BMC, not in Sear Greek Imperial. It isn't in the ISEGRIM database either, which supposedly includes everything from Lindgren, Waddington, and the major SNGs for Nicaea.


Julia Domna, AD 193-217.
Roman provincial Æ (diassarion?), 3.78 g, 17.6 mm, 7 h.
Bithynia, Nicaea, AD 193-211.
Obv: ΙΟΥΛΙΑ CΕΒΑCΤΗ, bare-headed and draped bust right.
Right: ΝΙΚΑΙΕΩΝ, eagle (or phoenix) standing right.
Refs: SGI --; Recueil Général --; BMC --.

Despite its rarity, there isn't any demand for it, and I'd be lucky to get $40 for it at auction.

Here's another that is apparently unpublished and which appears nowhere else online:


Severus Alexander and Julia Mamaea.
Roman provincial AE Pentassarion, 10.1 g, 25.7 mm.
Moesia Inferior, Marcianopolis, AD 225-229.
Obv: ΑVΓ ΚΜ Α[VΡ CΕVΗ ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΟC ΚΑΙ] ΙΟVΛΙΑ ΜΑΜΑΙΑ, confronted busts.
Rev: ΗΓ ȢM [ΤΕΡΕΒΕΝΤΙΝΟV ΜΑΡ]ΚΙΑΝΟΠΟΛΙΤ-ΩΝ, Dikaiosyne standing l., holding scales and cornucopiae, E (5) in field, r.
Refs: Not listed in: AMNG, Moushmov, Varbanov, BMC Greek, Sear Greek Imp, SNG Cop, SNG von Aulock, or Hirstova and Jelov.

Again, because of low demand, I doubt I'd get $80 for this at auction.

Even in the Roman Imperial series, a coin may be very hard to come by, but because of little demand, it doesn't command a premium compared to common coins of that particular emperor. Take, for example, this denarius of Nerva. There are three obverse inscriptions to be found on coins with this reverse. Online, there are lots of examples of RIC 6, with the IMP NERVA CAES AVG P M TR P COS II P P obverse legend and of RIC 18, with the IMP NERVA CAES AVG P M TR P COS III P P obverse legend. But mine's RIC 30, which reads IMP NERVA CAES AVG P M TR P II COS III P P.



It's not in Wildwinds, coinproject.com, coin archives (free version), Online Coins of the Roman Empire (OCRE), Sear 5th ed., or CNG archives. Only four others are to be found at online databases. There is one at the Bibliotheque Nationale in Paris (the Cohen specimen cited in RIC), one was auctioned recently by Pegasi, another by NAC, and another by Rauch. Nonetheless, there are few collectors who are in search of all three varieties of Nerva denarii with the IVSTITIA AVGVST reverse type and the coin does not fetch a premium for all its scarcity.

 

This is what I consider my most valuable coin, largely because of the history associated with it. This was the first Roman coin to have a portrait of a living ruler on the obverse. It was, in effect, the "last straw." It so outraged the republican sensibilities of Caesar's opponents--at least, that's what they claimed--that it led to his assassination.

Silver Denarius
Rome mint, 44 B.C.
Obv: DICT PERPETVO - CAESAR - Veiled head of Julius Caesar
Rev: P SEPVLLIVS MACER - Venus holding Victory and scepter; shield at base
RSC 39; S362
18 x 20mm, 3.2g.
Julius Caesar was a successful general of the Roman Republic who deftly translated his battlefield renown into political power. His assumption of the title “Dictator for Life” created a crisis in the Senate; when his image appeared on coins (like the one above) he was accused of having monarchical ambitions. His assassination by outraged republicans led to the civil war that eventually ended the Republic and gave birth to an Empire.

 

Coincidentally, I just showed my two priciest coins in this thread of @Ryro's yesterday. But, you're right that valuable doesn't have to be the most expensive, or even the most beautiful, for that matter. This junky mess of a Gortyna stater struck over a Knossos stater only cost a fraction of those, but it's by far the dearest and most irreplaceable coin in my collection.


CRETE, Gortyna
AR Stater. 11.77g, 29.8mm. CRETE, Gortyna, circa 330-270 BC. SNG Cop -; cf. Svoronos 58 (rev as Svoronos 62). O: Europa seated right in plane (platanus) tree, resting her head pensively on her left hand. R: Bull standing to right, head turned back left to lick its flank.
Notes: Overstruck on a stater of Knossos, circa 425-360 BC (Svoronos 23), with undertypes of the Minotaur and Labyrinth of Knossos visible.
https://www.cointalk.com/threads/gortyna-stater-bull-in-the-labyrinth.285907/

 

Probably my sestertii of Balbinus and Pupienus to date. Great coins @TIF and @Gavin Richardson - just beautiful.

 

Amazing coins everyone! You all give me inspiration to keep going on the ancient side of the hobby. Truly beautiful works of art.

 

Hmmm... I collect Historically, so VALUABLE has a more subjective meaning to me. Yes, many of my coins can be expensive. However, I VALUE them for their uniqueness, historical perspective, and just plain "coolness" to me.

Rasenna or Etruria was an ancient civilization that directly influenced the foundations of Rome. A series of Etruscan Kings ruled Rome until Rome became a Republic in 509 BCE.

Although the below coins can be "expensive", I have several others that cost more than the below shown.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Etruscan_civilization




Etruria Populonia (Fufluna) AR 1 As 0.60g 10.0mm after 211 BCE Male Head L - Plain Rev Vecchi 3 68-70 HN Italy 181 EXTREMELY RARE



Etruria Populonia (Fufluna) 2-1/2 Asses 3rd C BC AR Radiate Fem Hd CII Blank EC 104 HN Italy 179 RARE 2 exist
Ex: Clain-Stefanelli collection



Etruria Populonia (Fufluna) AR 5 Asses 3rd C BCE 2.0g Young Hd L V behind HN 173 Vecchi Rasna III 52 ex NAC 29 No 9 RARE



Etruria Populonia (Fufluna) 211-206 BC AR 10 Asses 20mm 4.21g die brk Lr Male Hd L - Blank



Etruria Populonia (Fufluna) 3rd C BCE AR 20 Asses 8.1g Metus Blank HN 152



Etruria 3rd C BCE AE 18mm 4.76g Hd African r Elephant r letter below SNG Cop 48 HNI 69 SNG Paris 138-140 SNG Morcom 44 RARE

 

I lack the patience to save up my coin money, but these are the most costly:




And these weren’t cheap:

 

This isn't my most expensive coin, but I like how it shows the mixing of cultures. The coin is from the city of Sidon in Phoenicia, c.360s-350s BC, while Phoenicia was under control of the Achaemenid Persian Empire. The obverse shows a very typically Phenician motif of a ship on waves, while the reverse is stereotypically Persian showing the Persian king in a chariot.

 

I have a most expensive coin and I have a most valuable coin. Yes they are different coins.

My most expensive coin was this denarius of Caligula.



My most valuable coin is not even close to my most expensive coin. It is this unassuming denarius of Vespasian. Until David Atherton found another one a few months ago this was the only one of its kind known. this coin is mentioned in RIC II part 1 under RIC 773.

 

That's a beautiful shekel! That's one of the favorites of Biblical coin collectors.

 

It's a tough question but I'm going to post two. Both were rather difficult to obtain choice examples and they went well beyond my average ancient coin budget.

 

This is my most valuable coin, the one I paid the most for. I bought it in the famous Dr. Adams auction in 2015 for about $1000. It's a Hunnic coin of Central Asia, a large and festive Kidarite gold dinar, imitation of Kushan dinars, about 450 AD. Göbl 735.12. Vondrovec type 84, p. 148. 34 mm, 7.69 gr. Yes, it is scyphate, but so far I have refrained from drinking wine from it.