Limes

Thanks, will watch it. CNG's upcoming e-sale 525 has some very interesting, rare and appealing coins as well. 

4 hours ago, Al Kowsky said:

Limes, You scored a very handsome sestertius at a bargain price ☺️! Your photo looks much more attractive than the Heritage photo. Your coin looks like a solid VF, & the softness of the reverse seems more like die wear versus circulation wear. Many of his sestertii have a weak reverse. I've been a serious fan of Severus after reading Anthony Birley's book Septimius Severus, The African Emperor 30 years ago, & was determined to find an example of his sestertius depicting the goddess Africa. Last year I scored the example pictured below ☺️.

 

Thank you! And that's an amazing coin, you scored. The portrait is great, I like the cuirrassed bust. And the reverse is very iconic. 

thanks for sharing your beauties in all their glory.

That Solidus of yours is particulary appealing dougsmit. I have not seen such a fourree before, where the copper is seen mainly at high points of the coin. As if it were on purpose, to make the coin more expressive. The yellow and green also form a perfect mix. (But I have to say fourree's or Byzantine coins are not my main interest.) Regarding your shown pocket piece; I dont know much about the history of the coin below, but its interesting to note that the higher points of the coin below are smooth, and of a lighter colour brown, than the fields around it. In hand, the lighter brown areas look polished as well. I doubt this was a pocket piece though, it's not all that worn. In terms of the look of the coin in hand, the effect of the colouring is similar to the Septimius Severus' sesterius: the portrait just jumps out. 

What attracts you to a coin is completely relative and dependent on someones personal preferences and desires. Despite it's issues, this green sestertius of Septimius Severus that I acquired earlier this year is a coin that appealed to me the moment I saw it. I had the advantage of holding this coin in hand before the auction, and I'm glad I did. Based merely on the photo's, I would have skipped it. But in hand, the coin absolutely comes alive. The brighter green in the fields and the darker green of high points of the coin give it a mesmerizing 3D effect in hand, and make the portrait of Septimius Severus jump out. On the other hand, the coin has some serious issues. The obverse is overall worn, and the reverse shows a serious case of corrosion at the edges, some pitting in the fields, and none of the lettering remains. I bet these are (also) the reasons many other collectors did not jump on the betting wagon. Which brings me back to my point: what makes a coin attractive is different for everyone. 

A short note on the coin itself. It's an early issue of the - at that time - new emperor, Septimius Severus (193 - 211), and could be the first issue of the Rome mint. The coin was struck in 193 AD, at a time when Pertinax was murdered, Didius Julianus bought his way to the purple, and the legions of Syria proclaimed Pescennius Niger as emperor. Septimius Severus would defeat Pescennius Niger at the Battle of Issus in 194 AD. The reverse of the coin (not on my issue though) states 'FIDEI LEG. T-R P COS/ S|C', and appeals to the loyalty of the legions. On the reverse Fides holds a vexillum, a legionary standard with a flag at the top. It's a different standard than the aquila (with the eagle on the top of the standard) or the signum (which shows discs on the top). Some descriptions of this coin however describe the standard shown on the reverse as a signum, in stead of a vexillum. 

Please show me your coins that you found attractive, despite the issues! 

Great catch @panzerman! And welcome to this board!

Nice coins @LONGINUS. Everybody take care, indeed. 

(The ship on this one is hardly visible.)

oh my, Ancient Joe! I guess I was too focussed on the Roman coins, I completely missed the fact that you possess the mentioned Nektanebo stater! Thanks to Qcumber for noticing it. And that portrait of Zeus is magnificent.

It has been a long time since my last show-and-tell-write-up. I am more then pleased to have recently acquired the coin shown above and felt it would be fitting to do a extensive write up (English is not my native language, so please bear with me...!). My latest addition to my modest collection is an AE 18 mm bronze coin (obol) struck in Alexandria, Egypt, under the rule of Domitian in 91/92 AD. The reverse of this coin is what draws me to it; it’s the depiction of the famous Great Sphinx of Giza. Erected more then 2500 years before the rule of Domitian, this monumental sculpture stands in front one of, and the last one still in existence, ancient wonders of the world: the Great Pyramid of Giza.

Much has been written about the reverse of this coin already. I wont repeat that here and suggest a visit to the site of our member @AncientJoe, which shows a far superior example of this coin with a wonderful and informative write up. 

So, this long write up is not about the Sphinx (or the coin, although, one small note will follow at the end), but about what stand behind it: the Great Pyramids of Giza. As mentioned above, the pyramids are one of the seven ancient wonders of the world and the only one that is still standing today. The other ancient wonders include the Colossus of Rhodes, the Lighthouse of Alexandria, the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, the Temple of Artemis, the Statue of Zeus at Olympia, and the Hanging Gardens of Babylon.

While doing some research on my coin, I found an article published online in 2015, by Julia Rich, about the ancient wonders on coins. That led me to an online quest to see if would be possible to collect all anient wonders on ancient coins. In particular, two questions came to mind: what ancient coins could I collect and what would be possible on a budget? There’s one problem though, also mentioned in the article of Julia Rich; not all wonders appear on ancient coins. So a little imagination is necessary to complete the set, but this also leads to opportunities budget-wise.

(1)To start off with my coin; I think the link with the pyramids is evident. But as we all know, there are no ancient coins that display the pyramids. Thus this is the first wonder where a little imagination becomes necessary. Budget wise, although this coin of Domitian is scarce, it's not too expensive per se (200 - 500 euro’s range for a budget example). In the abovementioned article, the suggestion is made that any coin minted under the Persians, Greeks or Romans who ruled Egypt would be an option, as coins in Egypt were not minted until about 2000 years after the construction of the Pyramids. However, I believe the coin of Domition comes a bit closer to the pyramids.
If you have deep pockets, a rare coin showing a hieroglyph could take your imagination back to the ancient Egyptians and the pyramids.  It’s a very rare stater issued by Egyptian Pharaoh Nektanebo II which is (to quote CNG) “a purely Egyptian coin”. This example was sold by CNG in 2019. Budget wise, this won't be an option for me...: 

(2) Another target that requires some imagination, is the Colossus of Rhodes. It’s uncertain when this colossol statue was completed, but scholars think somewhere in 284-281 BC. There are various coins from Rhodes that show the head or bust of Helios on the obverse and a rose on the reverse. The obverse of these issue may have been the inspiration for, or the imagery of the head of the completed colossus. However, since no imagery exists that with certainty shows the colossus and coins have been struck before the colossus was finished, this is highly uncertain. But one issue of didrachms might be the exception. In his article, Richard Ashton believes that around284 - 281 BC, a small, uncommon issue of didrachms was struck, which might be a short-lived special product of the mint struck in parallel with the regular Rhodian series. Could these coins show the head of the colossus? Below you may find one such specimen, offered by Roma in 2016, but left unsold.  

Now, I don’t know what these will do in auction today (the example shown here is from 2016, and the starting price was 400 GPB). But since they are rare, I do think that budget wise another coin from Rhodos showing Helios on the obverse would be a more realistic option. And those are plentiful available (acsearch gave 9.029 hits - unfiltered). 

(3), (4) Two other ancient wonders that you will not find on coins, are the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus and the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. Especially the latter wonder is surrounded with mystery, and coins that may be added to the collection as put forward by Julia Rich are those struck in Babylon. I too could not find any other options, and I wonder if anyone has a better suggestion.
Regarding the Mausoleum, the monument itself is not shown on coins, but there are scarce drachms and tetradrachms struck by Maussolus in 377 - 353 BC. This satrap, who struck coins showing the facing head of Helios, is the namegiver of the word mausoleum and the wonder itself. Forming a direct link to the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, this specific coin would be a fitting addition to the collection, and doesn’t necessarily require deep pockets. This very worn drachm was sold by Heritage this year, for a mere 60 dollars. Of course the tetradrachm below would be a far superior addition, but you would have to top the winning bid. 

(5), (6) Next are the wonders that are depicted on coins: the Temple of Artemis, the Statue of Zeus at Olympia and the Lighthouse of Alexandria. To start with the Temple of Artemis, coins in various denominations and struck by various rulers show the temple. The remains are located in South East Turkey, near present-day Selçuk, which is also adjecent to Ephesus. I visited the remains of the temple in 2006, and unfortunately very little is left. It goes without saying that even with a tight budget, it is very well possible to acquire one of these coins.
The Statue of Zeus was placed in the Temple of Zeus, located in Olympia. It was made by the Greek sculptor Phidias, and an elaborate description of the temple and the statue are given by Pausanias in his work ‘Description of Greece’. The statue must have been quite the spectacle, as he writes: “I know that the height and breadth of the Olympic Zeus have been measured and recorded; but I shall not praise those who made the measurements, for even their records fall far short of the impression made by a sight of the image.” The accurate description of this Greek geographer/writer/traveller corresponds with the image of Zeus on the obverse of a rare stater struck in 416 BC, in Elis, Olympia. Bring a big bag of money though, because this stater was sold for $ 70.000 in 2013. Other coins struck in Elis showing Zeus might fill this gap, for lesser cash. Another candidate might be a denarius struck by Augustus, which shows the temple which contained the statue. This acceptable example was sold for ‘only’ 220 EUR in 2019. 
I also would have suggested a visit to the sculpture of Jupiter held in the Hermatige, in Sint Petersburg. Sculptured in the first century AD, the composition and manner of execution seen in the statue of Jupiter are reminiscent of the lost statue of Zeus created by Phidias for the temple at Olympia. Unfortunately, current events make it difficult, if not impossible, to visit that magnificent statue for now. An image will have to do:

(7) Lastly, the Lighthouse of Alexandria. Various coins show this magnificent lighthouse. Notable is this beautiful example in the collection of, again, @AncientJoe. For mere mortals like me, lesser splendid examples are readily available, such as this one which sold for 160 GBP. 

Before ending this write up, I have one more thing to note. On the reverse of my coin (RPC 2646), the date is mentioned below the Sphinx. As far is I could find, this coin is the only coin with the laureate head of Domitian to the left, where the date is mentioned below the Sphinx, and not above. RPC online shows two examples of RPC 2645 (head right, being the other variant) where the reverse mentions the date below the Sphinx (2 of 10 examples). You can imagine the excitement I felt when I found this out and I immediately felt the need to make this wonderful discovery known to the world (yes, sarcasm). 

This concludes my write up. I hope you enjoyed it, and would participate in assembling the greatest collection of ancient wonders on coins (and related to coins) ever produced. So, please, show me your wonders, and do put forward any other coins that have not been mentioned in this write up (or anything else you may find interesting)! 

Cheers!

Sources:
Julia Rich, Ancients Coins – Collecting the Seven Wonders of the World, in: Coinweek, 2015. 
Ashton Richard H.J. Rhodian coinage and the Colossus. In: Revue numismatique, 6e série - Tome 30, année 1988 pp. 75-90
Helios, the Colossus of Rhodes - and the Rhodian tetradrachms, in Coinsweekly, Ocotber 14, 2009 (https://coinsweekly.com/helios-the-colossus-of-rhodes-and-the-rhodian-tetradrachms/)
Pliny the Elder, The Natural History, available via https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/
Pausanias, Description of Greece, availbe via https://www.theoi.com/Text/Pausanias1A.html
The State Hermitage Museum, Sint Petersburg (https://www.hermitagemuseum.org/) 
The Colosseo Collection (https://www.colosseocollection.com/home)
RPC online, available via https://rpc.ashmus.ox.ac.uk/
ACSearch, Numisbids, biddr.ch 
And of course, good ol' Wikipedia 

Nice coin, and thanks for the interesting read @Roman Collector. I have no educated opinion about the figure on your coin, however, it did remind me to see if Suetonius might mention her, and I found the following passage (via the site of Bill Thayer): 

"Though Caesonia was neither beauti­ful nor young, and was already mother of three daughters by another, besides being a woman of reckless extravagance and wantonness, he loved her not only more passionately but more faithfully, often exhibiting her to the soldiers riding by his side, decked with cloak, helmet and shield, and to his friends even in a state of nudity. He did not honour her with the title of wife until she had borne him a child, announcing on the selfsame day that he had married her and that he was the father of her babe."  (Ch. 25) 

That Gaius, gotta love the guy, right? I do read a case of affection by Gaius for Caesonia, but that it was made publicly after the date of the coin. Shortly after their marriage, both Gaius and Caesonia and their daughter were murdered. 

My two coins of Caligula. Unfortunately the AE As developed a serious case of BD on the obverse 😞 It's stable now. 

There are plenty nice coins of Nero going around. You'll be fine, but be sure to pull he trigger next time 😉

11 hours ago, Prieure de Sion said:

show me your Nero coins please....

Sure! 

Nice addition @David Atherton! Are these local issues more scarce than imperial issues? 

On 9/20/2022 at 9:30 AM, David Atherton said:

It is interesting to note these coins would have circulated in the very region where the Jewish Revolt took place.

That must have been painfully humiliating... ! 

Lovely to be able to find such treasures! 

See e.g. this coin. https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=157589

I think it might be the same? 

If Curtis Clay says it does not look tooled, I vote not tooled. 

On 9/5/2022 at 3:50 AM, Amarmur said:

Hi my name is Alan and I'm pretty new to ancients. I'm on a relatively small budget but around how much would be a good ball park for each of the first 12 emperors money wise to aim for. I started looking on Vcoins for prices and some are reasonable but I'm not sure its worth the price or to sit on it. From what I see Caligula is the scarcest and hardest one to get of these 12.  Would happily take insight on price ranges for those types of coins. Thanks for the help!

hi Alan,

Welcome to the hobby! Below you may find my current 12 C's set in silver. Except for Otho, I have several coins and of different denominations of each emperor. I've added these 12 to this digital tray, because I believe they have the best portrait (and otherwise because I only own one coin with a portrait on it (Caesar)). It took a while to assemble this set, and I have to throw in quite a bit of the kid's college funds to acquire it. Obviously the portrait coin of Caesar is the most expensive one, and I believe I got the Caligula for a fair price. In comparison to todays fees, the Otho was a bargain, but the Claudius perhaps was a bit too much for the quality. You win some, you loose some... 

It goes without saying that one can acquire the set with lesser spendings. Some advice though, if I may, and it is totally up to you to do with it what you want. Take your time when acquiring a set. Iit's better to save some cash to get a good portrait coin and assemble the set slowly, than racing towards a set you might regret. 

Enjoy the hunt! 

It reminds me of a small green spot on a the obverse of my antoninianus of Caracalla. I don't mind. Im not sure what caused it. Is it even possible to have BD on a silver coin? How much inpurity is needed for BD to occur on a denarius or antoninianus? 

Lovely and informative write up @Curtisimo! Your personal photos give a interesting view of some of the elements of your write up. The foundations are still impressive, I remember looking at them when I visited Rome in 2014. 

8 hours ago, Curtisimo said:

However, the more common view is that the building was always hexastyle.

It is interesting to note that even the large cistophorus struck by Titus and Domitianus show the temple with four columns. One would think the larger flan would support a display of the temple with the six columns. I wonder why they didn't show the other two columns. 

Anyway, here are my two relevant coins: 

Wonderful coin Terrence and glad for you it finally arrived. I see myself trying to obtain a life time alexander issue. But the variation of types is making me dizzy. Do you have any advice? When it comes to silver, I understand there s a difference between the legs of zeus being open or closed. But that's no certainty either, as I understand. 

Some additional annoyances: 

- "suprise costs" that appear on the invoice, besides shipping and buyers fees, such as 'handling costs', 'payment fees' etc. At least add these in your terms, thank you!
- limited descriptions, also in the official reference works. E.g. 'equestrian statue left' or 'temple' is quite lazy without mentioning more specifics. 
- folks who tell you what and how to collect. Please, get a life. 
- the fact that even basic Roman silver has become expensive. Thank you pandemic, I hate you. 

Congratulations! When it comes to collecting the coins in the civil war of 68-69, Otho is notoriously difficult to acquire, especially with a limited budget. You did well! The portrait is good, you can distinguish his funky wig, and part of his name is legible. 

I have no reason to doubt the coin. Although it's good advice to check out fake databases when buying from Savoca, as a fake might slip through in their large volume auctions. 

Thats a lovely sestertius of Claudius. The portrait is especially nicely done. 

Here's a coin I busted out of its cage: 

That's a beautiful coin! 

As an inhabitant of that small country, Im interested in the Roman part of our nation's history. The limes is well known, and the first legionary camp at this border was established in Niviomagus, (today: Nijmegen) by Agrippa, in 19 BC. So, I hope approriately, here's my only coin featuring Agrippa.

Congratulations! Curious to see what whales you caught.

I won a coin in the previous sale. Still waiting for it to arrive... Its a trajan sestertius which had been on my target list for quite some time.

Specte-cular (yes, I know...) @David Atherton, congratulations! 

Nice one Erin! And kudo's to Qcumbor for the donation and encouragement. I have the feeling the cuts most of the time the cuts were neatly executed. 

I have one that is not cut, but between the portraits you can see a little hole. As if someone was in the process of starting a cut? 

Great looking addition @Restitutor, lovely details. And interesting write up too, thanks! The Romans were true masters of engineering. The remains of some of the pillars are still visible today! 

2 minutes ago, Alegandron said:

RR Manlius Torquatus L. Corn Sulla 82 BCE AR den 17mm 3.7g Mil mint w Sulla. Roma - Sulla triumpl quadriga vict wreath Cr 367-3 Syd 759 S 286

 

Wishlist stuff, great coin @Alegandron! 

22 hours ago, Restitutor said:

Please feel free to post your coins depicting triumphs, war, warrior gods, Trajan, or any coins you feel are relevant!

I feel this coin of Trajan is appropriate. In hand the I O M is better visible by the way. 

Looks like a youve got a little museum going on Donna. Lovely stuff, especially the greek vases. For now, I'll keep my museum focussed on coins. I don't think my better half would appreciate more ancient stuff on display.