Why is a question that rarely has a really satisfactory answer. That is why toddlers trying to get on parental nerves ask it so often. Today I got my third coin from the third officina of the Maximianus HER KOY LI series that I have posted here so many times and even have a page if there is anyone new here who cares to be introduced to it. http://www.forumancientcoins.com/dougsmith/code.html The 'why' of this post is to ask 'why?' not to provide valid answers. Why did I win this coin? I won because I was the only bidder. Everyone else thought it was not worth the opening bid. I bid on it mistakenly assuming that I would win one or two of the other coins in the sale on which I had bid more strongly and adding this would dilute the postage cost. Don't assume. I was outbid on the others. This new one cost nearly double the other two shown below combined. They were bargains. I was a fool. It won't be the last time. Why did I want this coin at any price considering I had the others below? There are three versions of each of the three parts of the name Her Koy Li (Hercules). This is the one I lacked. Gamma for officina three is in the right field rather than in the middle or start of the exergual legend. Why did they make three variations based on this placement? I would love to know. The new coin also has a portrait head rather than the military bust. That means a set of the three reverse placements from three officinae and two bust types would be 18 coins. Trying for that set would seem a bit obsessive. Right? I suppose we might allow for the possibility of other variations or errors. The coin below with gamma at the start of the exergue has a rather clear A where it should have a lambda. We rather often see errors caused by Greek language diecutters getting confused when working in Latin. This Siscia mint worker may not have been all that strong in Greek. By my standards all three of my coins are good enough for my collection. The new one is least clean with many colors of deposits and tone on it surfaces. Fans of Wabi-Sabi http://www.forumancientcoins.com/dougsmith/wabisabi.html may not see this as altogether bad. The coin also has strange die style. Compare the bodies of the three Hercules figures. Which is body builder and which might be a bit effeminate? Which emperor figure has realistic legs? Which has beady little sticks? Compare the three clubs held by Hercules. I'm building a case for looking closely at little things when selecting your coins. I am not suggesting you buy them all. That is the sort of thing done by fools like me - not by normal collectors.
It's a gem and in my opinion the nicest of the three illustrated here. The detail is great. The bust is what makes it stand out to me. Most of this bust type from this series I have seen have been really scrappy.
These "heroic nude" busts have always appealed to me. My only coded from this series is a type already shown.
All are lovely Maximianus coins. MAXIMIANUS Antoninianus OBVERSE: IMP C M AVR VAL MAXIMIANVS P F AVG, radiate cuirassed bust right REVERSE: IOV ET HERCV CONSER AVGG, Jupiter standing right holding sceptre & orb facing Hercules standing left holding Victory & club, S in lower centre, XXI dot in ex. Struck at Antioch 286-95 AD 4.3g, 22mm RIC 622 crescent S MAXIMIANUS Antoninianus OBVERSE: IMP C M A MAXIMIANVS P F AVG, radiate cuirassed bust right REVERSE: CONCORDIA MILITVM, Jupiter presents Victory on a globe to Maximianus, H Delta between Struck at Heraclea, 295-6 AD 3.8g, 21mm RIC VI 14 MAXIMIANUS AE Fraction OBVERSE: IMP C MAXIMIANVS PF AVG, radiate, draped, cuirassed bust right REVERSE: CONCORDIA MI-LITVM, Emperor standing right holding Victory on globe with Jupiter standing left, holding sceptre. Lower centre: delta (A, B, Gamma, Delta). Mintmark: ALE Struck at Alexandria, 305-6 AD 3.5g, 22mm RIC VI 59b
Here is mine, with Gamma in the middle: Doug's link tells you about the code on these "coded" coins. I, too, wrote about the code: http://augustuscoins.com/ed/officina/
Mentor, sorry that you didn't win the other coins that you were gunnin' for as well => here is my humble Maximianus thread-addition ...
I really enjoy your write-ups @dougsmit ... even though I do not focus or chase the Emperors hard, I learn a LOT from their histories and mintages from you comments. Sincerely I thank you. I regret that I only have ONE Maximianus... RI MAXIMIANUS HERCULIUS 286-305 CE antoninianus Antioch 292-295 CE CONCORDIA MILITVM Jupiter H-officina 8
Not in my book. But, I'm an obsessive collector, take what I say with a grain of salt. BTW, nice coin.
