Zumbly's $1 - $100 List for 2021

I bought relatively few coins this year and was therefore not expecting to be able to put together this particular year end list variety that requires at least one coin in each ten dollar price bracket from $1 to $100. As it turns out, I did, and so can continue this tradition for at least another year!

The most competitive price bracket this time around was the $51 - $60 range, where I bought three coins that I liked very much, with the favorite being one that very almost made my overall Top 10. Coins in a few brackets came from group lots, but instead of using the simple average cost that I paid (ie., total cost of the lot divided by number of coins), I show a weighted cost that proportionately reflects that coin's estimated value (as I judged it) against the value of all other coins from that lot. If a coin is from a group lot, it's mentioned below as being so.

$1 - $10
ELAGABALUS. SYRIA, Seleucis and Pieria, Laodicea ad Mare. AE18. Thrice Holed.

I love holed coins and was therefore especially attracted to this Elagabalus provincial that has three of them! I find it fun to wonder why holed coins were pierced by their ancient owners. Those with one hole may have been worn as jewellery or used as lucky talismans in homes, businesses, and places of worship. Those with multiple holes like this one may have had been used in other ways. Moonmoth's page on holed coins has a quote from Marvin Tameanko suggesting that some were sewn together to make scale mail armour, or even used as a strainer to separate grain from beer! If I remember correctly, @dougsmit has a three- or four-holed coin that he believes might have once been nailed to a coffin??
Cost: $4.50


$11 - $20
CRISPUS. AE4. Trier mint. Unrecorded Anepigraphic.

This interesting Crispus came from one of the very few group lots I purchased this year. The average cost per coin was $5, but I record a proportionate cost of $13 for this one. I like anepigraphic coins and didn't have a Crispus from this particular series, making this a particularly lucky find. As an added bonus, this coin appears to be a variety unrecorded in RIC, with two stars on the reverse rather than one. I haven't found any other examples in the usual databases (acsearch, wildwinds, nummus bible, Helvetica's spreadsheet, the NOT IN RIC webpage), so for now, I guess I can call it unique!
Cost: $13


$21 - $30
GORDIAN III. Holed Fourrée Antoninianus.

A Gordie III "cockroach"... and holed... and a fourrée... how many strikes can one coin have against it? I was the only bidder who wanted this in AMCC 3, and might have thus assumed myself to be the only one to find something like this collectible, except that this coin also has the distinction being ex @Severus Alexander as well as ex A.K. Collection. Nice! Its AMCC listing included the note that it was "holed like the amulets used in the Black Sea region." I do wonder if its ancient owner knew it was a counterfeit before they pierced it for use.
Cost: $23


$31 - $40
NUMIDIAN KINGDOM, Juba I. AE28. Zeus Ammon and Elephant.

This nice large bronze of Juba I of Numidia came from a group lot that had an average per coin price of $10, but I assigned it a fairly high proportionate cost of $37. It was one of the main reasons I wanted the lot to begin with, and despite its worn condition and pits, I really love it for its distinctive Zeus-Ammon portrait and that what I think is an excellent depiction of an African elephant on the reverse. It's a scarce type that doesn't often come in better grade at any rate, so it's one that I'm very happy to have.
Cost: $37


$41 - $50
ATTICA, Athens. Pseudo-autonomous. AE23. Themistokles, hero of the Battle of Salamis.

This is a rather rare and unusual Roman provincial struck Athens. It's from the same $10-per-coin group lot as the Juba bronze above, but I ended up estimating an even higher value for it. It was maybe abit of an arbitrary call given its admittedly sad condition, but there are not many coins out there thought to depict the famous Athenian politician and general Themistokles. One theory is that this coin was part of a series struck in conjunction with the Aianteia, a festival at Athens and Salamis that was still held during Imperial times to commemorate the heroes of the historic naval Battle of Salamis (480 BC). Themistokles, as the architect of that great Greek victory against the Persians, was given prominence on this coinage.
Cost: $49


$51 - $60
CONSTANTINE II. AE3. Rome = The Love Mint.

Mintmarks on Late Roman Bronzes are often pretty staid and utilitarian, but there are exceptions. For example, the mintmark on this Rome mint issue features a cheeky little cryptogram that spells out "eros", the Greek word for love. In Latin, this was "amor", which was the name of the city of Rome (Roma) spelt backwards. I really do hope whichever mint official was responsible for this - and we all know it wasn't Kevin! - received a nice reward for their bit of cleverness. For more information about this issue, do visit @Victor_Clark's excellent page on it.
Cost: $55


$61 - $70
GETA. MOESIA INFERIOR, Nicopolis ad Istrum. AE16. Apollo Sauroktonos.

Last year, I had a Macrinus Provincial with a Apollo Sauroktonos (Apollo the Lizard Slayer) reverse on my $1 - $100 list, and this year I'm glad to welcome another one to my small sub-collection of them. This is the third I now own, making it 3 out of 21 Apollo Sauroktonos varieties I currently have. I have @dougsmit to thank for my interest in these, so I suppose it's fitting that this one shares the same reverse die as his, featured here as one of his favorite coins.
Cost: $64


$71 - $80
THRACE, Thasos. AR Trihemiobol. Exercising satyr.

I'm glad I no longer have to feel guilt over this coin since my buddy @Severus Alexander has officially forgiven me for (completely 100% unknowingly) outbidding him on it. The archaic style satyrs on these have always been described in references and catalogues as "running", so when @TIF pointed out that they really seem to be engaged in some... uhm, other kind of exertion, I admit I didn't initially take it quite seriously. A little bit of research into ancient depictions of ithyphallic satyrs, however, suggests that she may be on to something, and just to be on the safe side, I've now recorded the term "wanking satyr" in my notes for this coin.
Cost: $79


$81 - $90
MARCUS AURELIUS. AE As. Rome mint. The River Tiber.

I bought this pretty decent (but weirdly challenging for me to photograph) Marcus Aurelius As because of its reverse type, which I've always liked. Though to be honest I'd prefer to one day get an Antoninus Pius which includes the TIBERIS legend, this one has a high relief portrait of the emperor, a buff-looking River Tiber reclining, and a nice green patina. Good enough for now!
Cost: $85


$91 - $100
NERO. EGYPT, Alexandria. Billon Tetradrachm. A rare contemporary forgery of Alexandria. Ex Giovanni Dattari Collection; probably from the Luxor Hoard of 1908.

I'd been wanting one of these contemporary forgeries of Alexandria for awhile now, and this year managed to acquire a few of them. These are interesting because, firstly, Alexandrian counterfeits are noted to be extremely rare, with Milne writing in 1933 that "there are scarcely any counterfeits or forgeries of Alexandrian coins in existence, other than those made in modern times." In the past decades they had been hardly ever offered for sale and were known primarily from the discovery at Luxor, Egypt in 1908 of a remarkable hoard, made up entirely of contemporary counterfeits that were apparently the work of a single forger. Which then brings us to this coin's ex Dattari collection pedigree. The Luxor Hoard was acquired in 1908 by E.T. Newell, who later became president of the American Numismatic Society. Newell left a portion of the hoard to the ANS, and the rest of it was presumably dispersed. With the recent sales of much of Giovanni Dattari's massive collection, a good number of these rare contemporary counterfeits have finally surfaced, and the fact that many share dies with those found in the Luxor Hoard (as documented in a 1976 paper by William Metcalf) suggests that Dattari, that era's most voracious private collector of Alexandrian coins, unsurprisingly managed to get his hands on at least some of what Newell didn't keep. My coin is struck from obverse die IX and reverse die 17 in the Metcalf paper, and features the bust of Zeus Olympios on the reverse. It's interesting to note that while Nero's coinage at Alexandria featured two varieties of bust-of-Zeus reverses - Zeus Olympios and Zeus Nemeios - the Luxor Hoard forger seems to have only copied the Olympios.
Cost: $100


Do feel free to share which ones you like on this list, and any related coins. I'm still working on my overall Top 10 for 2021, and am waiting on the arrival of one more coin that deserves inclusion on the list. Hopefully, it'll arrive in the next few days and I'll be able to photograph it and get the list out before the year is over.

 

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That Numidian coin is really intriguing, the legends look like our modern Arabic numerals!

 

How clever all this is @zumbly !
They're all attractive for one reason or another. The ones I prefer are the Eros mintmark and the Alexandrian forgery

Q

 

The three holes seem to be a fact. The 'why' is conjecture. I note that both of our coins have two larger holes and one slightly smaller. Why? This suggests to me that my coffin decoration idea is not correct. I was a lot 'smarter' before I discovered how very little I know.

I have several reasons to like this coin. I believe mine is as clear a lizard as any I have seen on even the larger denominations. Someday we will have to have a thread on all the variations available on these.


The little satyr

came to me in 1991 from a dealer I then recorded as 'England' later known as CNG. Then it was attributed to Lete before he ran over to his other place at Thasos. I (over?) paid $50 back then.

This price strikes me as low. There are two reverse types with this mintmark for each of the five rulers who issued them. I would like the five versions that I lack but too many people know about them and buy them for that to happen. The same design also comes in 'loveless' form.

I do not have the C2 Roma but do have the ordinary Vota version.


Crispus


Constantine I

When I see a holed fourree my mind imagines someone discovering it an making jewelry from it. If I were writing historical fiction, I would have a shopkeeper forcing his slave (wife or child?) to wear it as punishment for accepting the bad coin when working the shop. I do not have a holed fourree and no one would be fooled by my Gordian.


The other coins shown here can join my want list. The fake Alexandrian is most interesting but I think I would really like the Juba elephant (mint state is OK but not required). While shopping for my Christmas present, be aware I would take the other Juba as well:
https://cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=15794
There are only a few hundred (thousand?) coins on my want list.

 

What a fascinating group of coins!!! My favorites are the unlisted Crispus, the contemporary forgery out of Alexandria, and the Apollo Sauroktonos!

 

Great Group, @zumbly !

The Juba and Themistokles really interest me!

Super post, i always like it when you make these price range style posts.

 

Yes, I like that the inscription is fairly clear on that coin. It's in Punic and reads SYWB’Y HMMLKT (Juba King).

You're right! Two larger and one smaller. I've no idea why that might be either and will probably continue to have none when I find my next three holed coin. It's an interesting similarity though. Also, your three holer is much nicer than mine!

I ultimately have @Severus Alexander to thank for that. He spotted two in an auction and very graciously allowed me to go for the cheaper one. He's waaay too nice.

That's a fantastic idea, and now that you've put it out here, it'll one day likely be stolen by someone for their book.

 

What a fun list and commentary!

Regarding the holed coins and reasons, perhaps we should have a contest to see who can come up with the best story .

There's something interesting about each of these coins (obviously, or you wouldn't have bought them ) but my favorites are the Juba and the Themistokles. Of course I love the counterfeit Nero too, and the Apollo Sauroktonos, and the wanking satyr. The Marcus Aurelius Tiber is appealing to me because it looks like a provincial rather than an imperial .

Related coins from my collection:

Wankers



Nero contemporary counterfeit tetradrachm, ex Dattari


Elagabalus, Laodicea ad Mare ... definitely not a bargain although it was sub-$100. I knowingly overpaid because I was so thrilled to find an ancient coin in a local store (local at that point was in the Virgin Islands). An ancient coin that wasn't set in jewelry, that is . This was from my first year collecting ancients. My mistakes tend to be more expensive now .


Themistokles... purchased at a super bargain price by @Severus Alexander and bought by me for a bit more in AMCC1 . Totally worth it though-- of Coin Imperator fame and ex Sev . I have failed at taking good pics of this tiny morsel so I'll just recycle Sev's for now:


Geta's brother with Apollo Sauroktonos



So far this year I've bought 28 coins. When calculating the all-in price (hammer, BP, currency conversion and fees, shipping), 6 were under $100 USD. I'm happy with all of them even though some weren't necessarily bargains. Here are the five that have arrived, with their all-in costs in USD:

$47

ASIA MINOR, Uncertain
2nd-3rd centuries
Pb tessera 11 mm, 1.41 gm
Obv: Hare (?) standing right on uncertain object.
Rev: Blank
Apparently unpublished

The auction description questions the type of animal and doesn't hazard a guess regarding the object, but I suspect it is a field mouse sitting on a wheat grain. The auction this came from (Leu) had a ton of lead tesserae and amulets and I had more than a dozen targets. I missed my main targets despite bidding aggressively (thus overpaying for a couple I did win) but picked this one up comparatively cheaply. I did get a total of 5 Pb tesserae/amulets in that auction and plan to do a post on tesserae at some point. Just keeping up with year-end posts, photographing and organizing my own coins, and work/life keeps getting in the way.

$55

MACEDON (Roman Protectorate), Republican period
Transitional bronze issue, circa 167-165 BCE (or 142-141 BCE)
Æ 22 mm, 8.62 gm
Obv: Facing mask of Silenos, wearing ivy wreath
Rev: MAKE/ΔONΩN in two lines, D above; all within oak wreath
Ref: SNG Copenhagen 1324-6, HGC 3(1) 1117
ex @Nvb, AMCC3 lot 98, 24 July 2021

I just can't stop buying this type . This is the fourth and least expensive. The obverse is quite good. I may try cleaning it up a bit and should definitely at least reshoot it after cleaning off the lint (lint... the bane of coin photography!). Reasons for buying:
1. Love the type
2. CT coin friend pedigree
3. Good price


$55

JUDAEA, Aelia Capitolina (Jerusalem)
Antoninus Pius (138-161)
AE 23mm, 10.31 gm
Obv: Laureate, draped and cuirassed bust right, seen from behind
Rev: The Dioscuri standing facing, heads turned toward one another, each holding spear.
Ref: Meshorer 23; Rosenberger 14; Kadman 23; RPC temp. 6403.
Ex @Terence Cheesman (aka The Maple Leaf collection), AMCC3 lot 66, 24 July 2021

Three reasons for buying this coin:
1. I had no coins from Aelia Capitolina and wanted one
2. I wanted an ex Cheesman coin (I'd like to have at least one coin from every possible CT friend... a CT pedigree subcollection ).
3. It was inexpensive.

$59

MESOPOTAMIA, Rhesaena. Elagabalus
Æ 19 mm, 4.13 gm
Obv: Laureate, draped and cuirassed bust right, holding spear.
Rev: Centaur advancing right, drawing bow; behind, two vexilla; to left, bull(?) head right.
Ref: Cf. Castelin 14-6. Rare

I hear what you're thinking... yes, it's ugly but in a crude and interesting way. I really like it and was very happy to pick it up. It deserves a writeup. Plus, centaur .

$77

EGYPT, Uncertain
Gnostic amulet, circa 2nd-4th centuries CE
Pb 18 mm, 2.55 gm
Obv: IAⲰ Abrasax facing, with the head of a rooster and snakes for legs, holding a whip in his right hand and a shield in his left
Rev: ABPA-CAΞ Star-in-crescent
Ref: Cheynet, Istanbul 9.34. Leu 3 (2018), 194. Leu Web Auction 12 (2020), 1009. Leu Web Auction 13 (2020), 1066

I failed to acquire a gnostic amulet depicting Abrasax in earlier auctions. Weird cult figure? Check. Head of rooster, legs of snakes, holding a whip? Yes please! This Leu auction had several and this holed example was earlier in the lineup. Fearing a repeat of previous failed acquisitions, I bid on this one even though I intended to bid on other better examples later in the auction (and won one, perhaps to be included in this year's top 10). This was not a super deal but I really wanted to ensure an Abrasax amulet would be acquired.

Leu has a nice writeup about these so I'll just copy it here:

So-called Gnostic amulets not only survive in the form of hardstone gems: they were also produced in the form of lead pendants, rings, beads and tesserae to meet the needs of less wealthy clients. The worship of the ancient demon Abrasax (or Abraxas) rose to great prominence in Roman times through the teachings of the Christian Gnostic Basilides of Alexandria (circa 85-145 AD), who called Abrasax the 'great archon' and the first of the 365 Gnostic Aeons. The etymology of his name is still unclear: it may go back to the Egyptian words 'abrak' and 'sax', translating as 'the honorable and hallowed word', but it is noteworthy that the letters of his name, in Greek isopsephy, add up to 365, the amount of days in a solar year: Α = 1, Β = 2, Ρ = 100, Α = 1, Σ = 200, Α = 1, Ξ = 60, thus: 1+2+100+1+200+1+60 = 365. Basilides' followers believed, among other things, that Abrasax sent Christ as a ghost to the world, which lead to sharp refutations by Early Church Fathers such as Hippolytus of Rome, Clement of Alexandria and Eusebius of Caesarea. The popularity of Basilidianism was mostly restrained to Egypt, where a vivid Gnostic sect is attested in the 2nd-4th centuries, but its legacy still lives on today, as one compelling theory proclaims, in the famous magic word 'abracadabra!'.

 

All of these are lovely and were bargains at that price, but the anepigraphic Crispus was simply a steal. That's a fantastic, very unusual LRB!

 

Interesting coins! I like the Crispus and the Constantine II best. Thanks for sharing! Talking about "holes"

I remembered see a Ornithopters Victoriae Regis in the BMNH collection. It was full of holes/ Wallace a naturalists used a 12 guage shotgun to bring it down It was a female

 

Your bargain list flabbergasts me every year, and this year is no exception! The Crispus is truly amazing (do you think it might be an imitation?), I LOVE that elephant, I'm quite jealous of the Tiber (you eventually managed a great photo!), and yes, I suppose I'm willing to forgive you the wanker.

As you know, I picked up a significantly more expensive EΡωC in the same auction:

I think we both know who got the best deal!!

A couple of my favourite bargain coins this year:

In the $20-30 category, this rare Severina issued after Aurelian's death with the legend SEVERINA AVGVSTA (probably a special issue):

@Curtisimo has a great writeup on the few months while Severina may have exerted supreme authority.

In the $60-70 category:

As far as I know, this is only the second known VICTORIA PART for Valerian from the Antioch mint. The perfect coin to represent his ignominious capture! If I do a top 10, this coin will be included for sure.

Finally, here's a holed coin for you:

If it was used as an amulet to protect the wearer against the Turks, it didn't work very well. It was issued under Romanus IV at the time of the disastrous battle of Manzikert. (I'm always trying to tempt you into Byzantine, aren't I? )

I think you had a magnificent year with some phenomenal coins up in the pricier range plus a nice set of bargain beauties! Congrats, my friend!

 

Very interesting and eclectic group of coins!

The Juba elephant is my favorite.

 

Interesting coins. Thanks for sharing.
I like holey coins. I thought the eagle on this one was neat. It was less than $20 (I think).

 

Wonderful list @zumbly . You know I like these lists of yours which is why I decided to shamelessly copy you. This year’s list is just as much fun as ever.

My favorite is your Athens AE showing Themistokles. Great coin to land in that price bracket! Here is my Themistokles.


My second favorite is your satyr doing naughty satyr things. I still need to get an early Thasos showing the satyr. I only have the later Dionysius / Herakles type.

That is a wonderful coin and very interesting. It was actually @Roman Collector that made me aware of the possible interpretation of the Antioch mint coins of Severina. Such an interesting coin for such a small cost. My example was just over $10 in 2017 and is to this day one of my favorite budget buys. It’s funny you should mention this coin because I just recently re-photographed my example.

 

That's an amazing deal for that coin (lovely new photo too!)... I also picked up a PF Antioch this year, a crappy one that cost twice as much as your nice one!

Both the AVGVSTA and the PF are types to look out for! (Where's yours, @zumbly?)

 

I think that the anepigraphic Crispus might be an imitation.

 

There isn't many in that group that I don't like zumbly, all definitely great value the three I love the most are your Juba (great elephant) Thasos great little coins always good for a laugh, and your Marcus Aurelius Tiber fantastic buy with that amount of detail. I joined the three hole club earlier this year too.
Trajan (98-117). Æ Sestertius (34mm, 23.54g, 6h). Rome, c. 107-111. Laureate bust r., slight drapery on l. shoulder. R/ Octastyle temple with portico on either side, seated figure within; Jupiter on pediment seated facing, seated figures on either side; Victories at corners, standing figure at point. RIC II 577. Three holes repaired,

 

Very nice group of coins...I'm gonna go with the 3 holed Elagabalus...Intriguing!...The Crispus unlisted and of course the wanker!
Interesting how my pre spell always puts a B as the initial letter?...Congrats on a cool year of collecting .

 

Yours is demonstrably still the best wanker out there.

Those are some fantastic thrifty purchases! The tessera is very intriguing, and I'm still waiting in line for one of those gnostic amulets with Abrasax. The Rhesaena is crude but cool, and who can blame you for adding another one of those neat Macedonian Silenos bronzes.

Ouch! Talk about overkill.

If it has a hole, there's no need for additional encouragement. Coincidentally I'm waiting on the arrival of a group lot which includes a holed John I Miliaresion.

Thanks for sharing those holey beauties. AA, I can see why that particular one caught your fancy.

Yes, I think there's a fair to good chance it is. The Trier mint at this time seemed to have inspired many imitations, and awhile I think this one is pretty nice, the style did strike me as being not altogether regular.

Of course, I was myself just shamelessly copying Doug all this time. Thanks for the comments, my friend. A Themistokles issued coin is still on my want list, and that $10 Severina of yours is just a beautiful and historic coin and an amazing bargain to boot.

 

Pretty cool idea. My top ten list is always a super budget thing with most coins under $20.

Most expensive coin of the year was this for $59. I don't think it was worth it, but oh well...