Limes

Thanks for sharing your coin, and the information. Would you happen to have a link to the die studie / archelogical find spots you mentioned? I'd be interested to read up on that (when I'll have the time for it, one day...) Below you may find my type. My MARS shows the 'pointy beard' and the legend is omitted on the obverse. Yours is RIC 51 (you of course already know that), which RIC describes as 'Common' which I find remarkable!

Beautiful designs of your labels. It looks very professional. I really enjoy seeing your designs, also the ones you make when showing your coins. I must ask, do you design for a living?

A fantastic coin. Having a special interest in monuments on coin, this one is on my wantlist for obvious reasons. It's still amazes me to think about a building, still standing on the Forum, almost 2000 years old, that is also displayed on coins that can be held in hand!

Congratulations on achieving this milestone! And your first purchase was a really neat one. Interesting to read that you had an early interest in the Flavian dynasty. This is my very first ancient coin. I've posted it before, it still needs better photo's. A friend of mine brought it with him from his holiday in Italy. It was somewhere 2009/2010? After that I made a few stupid purchases at local fairs, turning out to be fakes. I took a break after that, reviving the collecting interest in 2015 on our trip to Rome, where I purchased my Augustus AE As from Pedoni Numismatica e Arte, located behind the Vatican city.

Interesting coin, I have not seen it before. Do you know the story behind the building on the reverse? Or is it a general display and adoration of the ancient skyscraper?

Wonderful pick ups, congratulations!

Its a scam, nothing else in my opinion. Good to make a claim. Sellers as this should be removed from ebay.

Absolutely fantastic! Thats a very professionally made cabinet. And I agree that the red velvet will look better. Such a beautiful cabinet deserves perfection of course ☺️

A fantastic coin, thanks for sharing!

Yes! Yes! Neat coins though! 🙂

Thanks. Indeed, how much effort is to be expected from the buyer. I think this, together with the question posed by @idesofmarch01 above regarding the question under what condition a coin can be assumed stolen and what is the burden of proof, are most interesting questions, the answers to which may have serious consequences for collectors and sellers...! Another thing I have been wondering about is the role of sellers. The statement posted by @AmazedAncientabove made me wonder about this. It's not uncommon (in my country at least) that when issues arise have serious (legal) implications, the market is called upon (or forced by the government) to impose their own regulation with adequate oversight. In many of these regulations, transparency is an important topic. I think that issues regarding the source of coins and questions about their legality are linked with being transparent as a seller. While I do believe it may be very difficult, or even impossible, to do this for all ancient coins, the lack of transparency in the market is apparent, and a lack of transparency may invite abuse. Various topics could be subject to a set of rules established by the market itself, under the auspices of e.g. the ANS or some other body (oversight): import, export, origin (if possibe), previous selling venues, etc. and to what extent and when sellers ought to 1) register these aspects and 2) provide information about them (on their own initiative, or when a buyer asks about it). It would also require making various definities (e.g. what is a reputable source) and one what have to think about limitations (is it necessary to register everything for a very common, simple follis; what about coins already in trade, etc). This is nothing new and a very useful instrument, it has been done before in many markets. I couldn't find any existing regulations about this. But perhaps my brief search is inadequate. I do think it would be wise for experts in the market to address this issue. The value of (coins in) the market (and for me personally, the enjoyment of collecting) is also based on trust and honesty. When trust and honesty are broken due to cases like these, it has a negative effect on all coins and all sellers and all collectors.

There's enough mentioned regarding the specific case which I wont repeat here. I'm interested to see the outcome, and since many things are uncertain, there's little added value to go into that. But I do want to add a thought, that has been in my head since this issue emerged, and it regards the 'anonymous provenances'. If I look at it from my own legal perspective (I'm a legal practitioner, but Dutch law is not US law!), what I find most interesting is the question what the buyer should know and what he should have done to investigate the (legal) origin of the coin and whether it was correctly obtained and brought into commerce previously. Especially since this case also shows that anonymous provenances can be used to add a legitimate origin to a coin (I'm not talking about the issue of buying a fake provenance!). This question is very important to protect a buyer from confiscating his coin (maybe this is different with US law): if the buyer has done the research one could reasonably expect of him, it may exonerate him from legal consequences. Is it sufficient for a buyer to believe a seller, when he provides the anonymous provenance? I think this case may lead to the conclusion that it is not sufficient. In this sense, the example mentioned by @Roerbakmixabove regarding one of his previous coins, is very curious...! I wonder what other members think of this.

Thanks, I was happily suprised by the price as well. Lesser specimens have sold for more.

A 1.000 (1008 to be exact, so I am cheating a bit) got me this one, including all the juice and a splendid plastified certificato. 😁

Great portrait on your coin. From the 'Third group':

Shipping costs from one continent to another are just horrible, and getting more expensive every year. Heritage Europe has high fees, but for me its okay because it's just around the corner. Same for many German auction houses. And when it comes to shipping from another continent, there's taxes incurred and banking costs. etc. I also try to avoid non EU auction houses, such as the Swiss and British (Brexit must be their worst decision in 100 years!), even though Leu and Roma have some of the best material in my price range 😞 In my country there's the issue of always decreasing income of the postal service due to less normal mail being sent, and increasing competition with parcel companies. Next to, of course, increasing prices for fuel, wages, etc. But there's something I dont quite understand; one would thank that increased competition when it comes to parcels would lead to lower prices, or at least, prices not rising this much? What's happening here? Edit: To clarify myself; I do occassionally buy from the US, if the coin to me is worth it. But I take into account costs when deciding my max bids. So, in case anyone cares, below you may find a list of charged shipping costs in the past, from various US based auctioneers, to Europe (Netherlands): Heritage: 66,20 dollars in 2019 CNG: 40 dollars, in 2021, and 40 dollars in 2017 (! I hereby take back my general "getting more expensive every year" statement above, although it may apply to some auction houses!) Berk: 24 dollars in 2021

Well... those are quite the targets 😁 Its been discussed a million times before, but I do think that desirable (silver) Romans (not to mention Greek...!) require deep, very deep pockets these days. You might get lucky, so bidding a lot might raise the chances of scoring one. My story; so far I've been fortunate with my bids. Although I only did bid on two coins in two auctions this year; one was just too ugly for anyone else to bid on, but I love it. The other one - the Vespasian IVDAEA CAPTA sestertius shows before - surprised me, because less better ones on e.g. Roma fetched higher prices. My two other additions were bought from sellers, not auctioneers, and there was some room to talk about the price. I try to avoind pre-bidding as much as possible. And when I must because I cannot attend an auction, I use the proxy bidding if that's an option. My experience is pre bidding either raises the price. And sometimes I'm bidding against a ridiculous pre bid, which I dont think the coin is worth. My most important lesson: don't get dragged into stupid bidding wars if the coin isn't worth it, there's always another coin. Unfortunately, free time and deep pockets drew a lot of doofuses into this otherwise lovely hobby. And it's my personal opinion that rich people (not all, but still many) are great at ruining things for everybody else.

An interesting story indeed, with a nice game-of-thrones-flavour to it...! Octavian/Augustus did his best to make sure the populace knew about his 'victory'. Various coins commemorate the return of the standards lost by Crassus and the 'victory' over the Parthens. Your example is quite explicit, but there's also this issue with a lovely arch depicted. I have this issue, commemorating the same event. I really like this issue, its something different because it lacks a portrait. Maybe a throwback to republican times?

Thanks for sharing. I saw it appear in my feed too. And Im not all that learned when it comes to this topic, but I do wonder about one sentence in this article. "Furthermore, Bulgaria has a robust domestic ancient coin market," (it appears the sentence is missing some words?) Sure, I don't know a lot about the Bulgarian domestic ancient coins market, but I do wonder what facts this statement is based on... Does anyone know?

I have not posted this lovely coin yet, it's my first addition of 2023. A sestertius of Commodus, with a very interesting reverse, appealing to the loyalty of the infantry (army: Militum; infantry :Exercitum; cavalry Equitum). His relationship with the military was troublesome, to say the least. Not only did he pay his way out of the wars in which his father was involved, a severe lack of interest in the various military troubles that plagued the empire did not help either. It also gave the opportunity to ambitious men like Pescennius Niger to make a name for themselves. RIC allocates no's 468 a - d to the reverse. The difference is the number of soldiers displayed on the reverse; three, four, five or six. Next to the interesting reverse, the portrait is lovely too and the coins shows great green patina.

Thanks CPK! I enjoy looking at this thread. As far as contributing it will be less when it comes to this era in Roman history, but I happen to have one coin of Philip I can share:

Thats really neat! Do you also know anything about the mentioned container, or its location (where it was found)?

Nice schedule, if you don't mind I'll keep it for personal use! So, I think the ending of this thread on May 30th as far as it concerns the Roman era deserves a party with cake and drinks? Is the location already decided? 😁

I'm nearing the end of my collection. Gaius Julius Verus Maximinus 'the Tracian' is one of the few 'barack emperors' I have. An interesting figure nevertheless, since he was the first of many soldier emperors to be hailed as emperor by their own legions, in a time when the Roman empire already was in decay. After his short reign, the Senate briefly attempted to regain control, but ultimately failed. When it comes to this 'category', my collection contains a sestertius of Philip I, and one antoninianus of Probus, which although struck some 40 years after Maximinus Thrax, contains little silver and which, one could say, also represents the (sad) artistical decline of the empire. Anyway, I'll be sure to follow this thread, and am looking forward to everyone posting their Gordians I's and II's 😁😉

Splendid coin! I love architectural types, and when it comes to their condition, any condition will do! Here's a coin of mine, with a similar reverse.