Your Most Interesting Coin

This Antoninus Pius sestertius came cheap but provided me with days of fun trying to identify it as it was not listed in the RIC or Cohen Roman coin catalogs.


Antoninus Pius Sestertius Dacia

Obverse: Laureate head right / ANTONINVS AVG PIUS
Reverse: Dacia standing left, holding crown and sword / DACIA round edge, S.C. in field COS II in exergue
Size: 32 mm, thickness: 4 mm, weight: 23.58 gm
Struck: AD 139 Rome mint

This coin is corroded and it is hard to see the curved sword in Dacia's left hand.

I found it in a 1937 German catalog of which the University of California had a copy,
Untersuchungen zur römischen Reichsprägung des zweiten Jahrhunderts III Die Reichsprägung zur Zeit Antoninus Pius
by Paul L. Strack, Stuttgart, W. Kohlhammer, 1937

This coin was part of a set issued in AD 139 depicting Roman provinces offering presents to the new Emperor Antoninus.

 

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please have a look: https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/hhc-avitus-ae4-rome-455-456-victoria-484071015
I also contacted a wellknown coin dealer in Germany and he told me it is probably a 1/2 centenionalis of Avitus

 

Ilya Zlobin is well known for overpricing his coins and then offering “discounts”. I would not be surprised that he would label a common, unknown AE4 as a rare emperor to make a lot of money on it. While most of his stock seems to be authentic (which is a distinct concept from “attributed correctly”) he is, overall, a very questionable seller, one with a not-so-positive reputation on this forum.

https://www.cointalk.com/threads/anybody-bought-from-this-ebay-seller.272563/

https://www.cointalk.com/threads/charade-vagi-zlobin-over-a-julius-caesar-denarius.338224/

https://www.cointalk.com/threads/ebay-seller-question.322904/#post-3179987

Holding History is definitely more reasonable and reputable, so I’m not sure why they seem to just be rolling blindly with IZ’s claim that this coin for sure is Avitus.

The coin does not have the complete name of Avitus or any other emperor, nor is the style distinct enough to tell for sure. The first two here are of Honorius and the last is of Avitus (all from Wildwinds). Just by names alone, if they were not on the coin, would you have been able to tell for sure which is which? Avitus RIC 2412 has a star in left field, which also can’t be confirmed on your coin.



Your coin could be Avitus, but it could also be Honorius (or even Theodosius II), but as I mentioned there’s no way to tell for sure. I said Honorius originally because he is the most common emperor for these Rome mint Victoria AE4 types.

 

That's putting things very mildly! I was browsing through Conder tokens on ebay the other day, since the subject came up here, and noticed that he's infested that field as well. Asking for prices like $500, "reduced" from $800, for tokens that would normally be seen for sale for $50-$70.

 

Metal detecting has been very good to me. I’ve found coins and relics from a number of countries and a range of years. But the best coin (so far) was a 1783 Georvis Triumphos . I was allowed to hunt the homesite of Daniel McGirt/ McGirts / McGirth who was an officer in the Revolutionary Army. But he became a turncoat and joined the British and could not go home after the war ended. He received a land grant from the King of Spain and moved to NE Florida and started a plantation and later became a pirate and highwayman.

I found 3 notable items there. An axe head dating to the 1700s, a gold and silver Victorian Lady’s and what I thought was a copper slug. But I did note lettering, a man’s bust and the date 1783. I posted pictures on a metal detecting forum and immediately got responses identifying it.

I thought the identification was BS but it seems it wasn’t.

1783 is the year we signed the treaty with England ending the war. The name means George Triumphs and was to honor George Washington. HOWEVER it was minted in England and they claimed they didn’t know what Washington looked like so they used the bust of King George who LOST the war.

Note: there are a number of Washington tokens with the date 1783 but this is the only one actually minted that year.

ithad a limited distribution it was known to have been used in Virginia, Georgia and Jamaica and RUMORED to have been used in Florida. But my find and another by another detectorist in St Augustineconfirmedits used own here.

 

Caius (Caligula) sacrificing at the dedication of the temple of DIVI AUGVSTVS


CAIUS (CALIGULA), SESTERTIUS, BMCRE Vol. I, Rome, No. 69 (Pl. 29.12)
CAIUS (CALIGULA), SESTERTIUS, RIC Vol. I, Rome, No. 51
(40-41AD, 35mm, 26.2gm)

Obverse depiction: Personification of Pietas, draped, seated left
Inscription: C CAESAR DIVI AVG PRON AVG PM TRP IIII PP (in exergue): PIETAS

Reverse depiction: Caligula, veiled and togate, standing left holding patera over altar - attendants (victimarius) on either side holding bull for sacrifice - hexastyle temple of Divus Augustus, surmounted by quadriga and festooned with garlands, in background.
Reverse Horizontal Inscription: {small lettering} DIVO AVG and below: S C (left and right)

Note: Also BMCRE 41, RIC 36 - with obverse legend: C CAESAR AVG GERMANICVS PM TR POT (in exergue): PIETAS