Harry G

Fantastic coins! That portrait is superb.

I don't have any particularly fancy busts of Gallienus, other than my "VICT GAL AVG" type.

Gallienus Antoninianus (Rome):

Obverse: GALLIENVS AVG, Radiate head right, wearing lion's skin headdress (two ribbons)

Reverse: VICT GAL AVG, Three Victories standing facing, heads left, each holding wreath and palm branch, V in exergue.

It has quite rough surfaces, but is nicer in hand.

Here are a few of mine!

I also have a Carausius antoninianus, but this one has been struck over an antoninianus of Victorinus (his nose is pointing towards 4-o-clock in my picture).

I also have this unusual antoninianus of Maximianus, which appears to have been overstruck on a coin with "SEV" on the obverse, and something I can't make out on the reverse. If anyone has any ideas please let me know! 

That's a big shame - I've spent far too much money with them, and consigned quite a bit as well!

I can't seem to use my points on a purchase from their shop unfortunately. It just managed to add an item to my cart and now I can't seem to remove it!

Also, I had some lots go unsold in their last auction. Hopefully they... uhh... send them back to me...

This is probably the worst case of "bad seller photos, nice coin" that I've experienced:

eBay seller's pics:

Auction pics from when I sold it:

4 hours ago, seth77 said:

Tell you what it looks like to me:

- the last two coins 'Smyrna phase 2' Temp 847 and the 1st issue Cyzicus are both Cyzicus issues

- the type 847 in general is Smyrna, but on the coin you posted (FAC coin) the obverse is Cyzicus to my eyes, early SPQR series early 269 rather than Smyrna

- the reverse die on the other hand is possibly Smyrna

- which would make perfect sense if the operation moved from Smyrna to Cyzicus, such 'continuation' of older dies is to be expected

- I don't think the two are obverse die-matches, if you check out the imaginary line from the tip of Claudius nose to the legend on the obverse on the SPQR coin the line would end mid S of CLAVDIVS while on the no mark coin just after the S, but they are certainly very close

- a die sharing between SPQR and no mark would probably suggest what you mentioned above, the SPQR operation moved to Cyzicus while the no marking operation was undergoing there, so the 1st emission of Cyzicus could in theory be contemporary with the last SPQR coins struck at Smyrna, the physical moving of the operation, cutters paraphernalia, including used dies, and the first coins struck with SPQR at Cyzicus probably late winter-early spring 269

All in all that FAC coin is really interesting.

Interesting coins! I think I actually own a double die match to that VENVS AVG example, and (hopefully) have some pictures of it that are better than RIC:

And here's my FORTVNA AVG (no mintmark) example, with a more Smyrna-y looking bust.

As for the last 2 coins, I would tentatively say they share an obverse die - the crown spikes seem to point to the same parts of each letter, and the D and I of CLAVDIVS are pretty close together on both coins.

I saw those coins - luckily they don't seem to be selling for much. I wish eBay would ban those sellers, but they just seem to turn a blind eye to it.

I actually own a couple of those types of fake - both are die matches to the coins you've posted.

Probus - ADVENTVS AVG. Bought from a small lot sold by a reputable London dealer several years ago thinking it was genuine.

Constantine II - CONCORDIA AVGG. I knew it was fake before I bought it, but the die pairing is so ridiculous I had to buy it.

8 minutes ago, CPK said:

Nice coins. I like the Divus Commodus, and the depiction of Anubis on the last coin.

The photos are great too - do you take them yourself?

 

 

I do! I use a Canon EOS 250D with 105mm Sigma macro lens with the coins on a plain white background. I then remove that background using Adobe Express (which doesn't compress the image like most online background removal tools).

1 hour ago, Qcumbor said:

Great selection.

What makes you think the Gallienus zoo (#5) is from Siscia rather than Rome (I honestly don't see the exergue) ?

Q

The busts of Gallienus from Siscia are generally quite distinctive (with a long neck and big nose), and I believe there was an obverse die match to a specimen from the Reihardt collection, which also has similar silvering (but with a doe on the reverse instead):

I can't say for certain what is in the exergue, but it looks like something definitely was there at some point, and as almost all other Siscia zoo series coins have "SI", so I think it's probably that.

Here's the MIR coin, which has a centaur facing right.

Hi all!

Here is my (2 months late) top 10 list of coins from 2023! I haven't managed to buy too many coins (as I've been very busy studying), but these are my 10 favourites! (Plus an extra one that I bought a few weeks ago...)

So, here goes:

10. Claudius II Gothicus - Unpublished & Unusual

IMP CLAVDIVS AVG - Radiate, draped, cuirassed bust r.

IOVI STATORI - Jupiter standing, facing right, holding thunderbolt and sceptre.

At first glance, this appears to be a very normal antoninianus of Claudius II. However, the mintmark "XXIZ" wasn't used as a mark on antoninianii until Aurelian's reign! Probably barbarous, but still an interesting piece.

9. Postumus - Diana and her Stag

IMP C POSTVMVS P F AVG - Radiate, draped, cuirassed bust r.

DIANAE REDVCI - Diana walking left, leading stag.

In pretty poor condition, but an iconic type nevertheless. A bargain find on eBay.

8. Aurelian - SERD(ica)

IMP C D AVRELIANVS AVG - Radiate, draped, cuirassed bust r.

CONSERVATOR AVG  - Asclepius standing facing, head left, leaning on serpent-entwined staff, SERD in the exergue

I've been after an example with this mintmark for a while, and this one has decent detail. I find it interesting how Serdica used such a different mintmark to all the other mints under Aurelian.

7. Commodus - by Trajan Decius

DIVO COMMODO  - Radiate head r.

CONSECRATIO - Flaming altar

Somewhat crystalized, but with otherwise good detail. This brings my total number of DIVI coins by Trajan Decius up to 3.

6. Aurelian & Vabalathus

VABALATHVS VCRIMDR - Radiate, draped, cuirassed bust of Vabalathus r.

IMP C AVRELIANVS AVG - Radiate, draped, cuirassed bust of Aurelian r.

I already have several of these, but none with this much silvering! An unusually well struck example of this type.

5. Gallienus - Not a Normal Zoo Coin...

GALLIENVS AVG - Radiate head r.

APOLLINI CONS AVG - Centaur standing holding branch, facing left, SI in exergue.

An extremely rare zoo series antoninianus of Gallienus from Siscia (not Rome) mint. I think I've found an obverse die match, but the reverse is apparently unique.

4. Julia Domna

IVLIA PIA FELIX AVG - Diademed, draped bust r. on crescent.

VENVS GENETRIX - Venus seated left, extending right hand and holding sceptre.

A relatively common coin, but in good shape for the issue. I keep meaning to get coins of the earlier empresses.

3. Claudius II Gothicus - A Silvered Smyrna Issue

IMP C M AVR CLAVDIVS AVG - Radiate, draped, cuirassed bust r.

SALVS AVG - Salus standing right, holding serpent, SPQR in exergue.

An unusually well struck example of a Smyrna mint coin, with some nice obverse silvering. I keep trying to get more Smyrna coins, but they're pretty hard to come by.

2. Claudius II Gothicus - a Smyrna Issue with Even More Silvering

IMP C M AVR CLAVDIVS AVG - Radiate, draped, cuirassed bust r.

AEQVITAS AVG - Aequitas standing left, holding scales and caduceus, SPQR in exergue.

An fully silvered example of a Smyrna mint coin, also with a slightly scarcer reverse.

1. Laelianus - my Final Gallic Emperor

IMP C LAELIANVS P F AVG - Radiate, draped, cuirassed bust r.

VICTORIA AVG - Victory advancing right holding wreath.

A nicely detailed example of this very rare usurper, which completes my set of Gallic emperors (apart from Domitianus of course). Still my biggest single-coin purchase so far!

Bonus: The Festival of Isis and Anubis

DEO SERAPIDI - Draped bust of Serapis r., left arm outstretched.

VOTA PVBLICA - Anubis standing l. with sistrum and caduceus.

A very charismatic coin, struck during the reign of Julian II to commemorate the Festival of Isis, which heralded the arrival of the "Ship of Isis" at Alexandria. This coin has Anubis - an Egyptian God - on the reverse, and is possibly unpublished (or maybe unique) with this obverse. This isn't a coin I would normally collect, but I think it's an incredibly cool piece, so I'm going to keep it.

I had this issue a while ago (I'm not sure which auction house, but it was a Biddr one). I ended up creating a foreign currency account with my primary bank, which I use for all payments in Euros now.

Nice coin, despite the damage! Vabalathus is a tough one to get.

Here are both of mine:

AETERNITAS AVG

VENVS AVG

Just found an obverse die match in my daily scroll through eBay.

It's listed as a "Metal Detecting Find", which all the seller's other items apparently are too. I doubt this.

Welp, I guess I would then own around 10,000,000 18th & 19th century tokens.

My most recent buy was this lot of around 200 19th century tokens, along with some other miscellaneous coins.

This was the only "good" photo that the auctioneer had, but I saw that there were some tokens on the top and thought I'd give it a shot. I bought it for ~£150, as I wanted to have a bunch of stuff to dig through and research.

Amazingly, there were some good tokens inside, and they weren't completely worn flat!

Here are the best 3:

Ireland 1760 VOCE POPULI (C over O) halfpenny

Edward VI 1549 shilling - the first dated English hammered silver coin

1649 Elephant "LONDON GOD PRESERVE" colonial token. This will be my first ever attempt at grading a coin!

If I had 50,000 of each of these, It would almost completely crash the market for each of the tokens, and I'd probably be left with around 100 tons of the other tokens!

I look forward to seeing your write up of the coin!

I've used Wise in the past; their fees are quite small, and payment is pretty quick

17 minutes ago, SimonW said:

Looks like I just wasted £3000 plus juice on a fake/tooled coin... or did I? 🙂

I agree with David and everyone else here in that the reverse looks off, especially compared to the usual ship types with either Domitian or Ceres on the obverse (both extremely rare). The obverse's connection to a denarius makes it even more curious.

BUT, here is why I bought it anyway:

1. Cross-denomination die-links are rare, but they do exist for the Flavian period.
2. The 1/2 century roman AE fractions are a bit of a mystery to this day. There's an unusually high number of gilded pieces (more than for any other denomination, relatively speaking), there are a number of AE denarius off-strikes, mules, and many other fun things.
3. Despite the "special" ship style, I don't see any obvious traces of tooling. The surfaces look smoothed, but otherwise not tooled. At my request, Naville examined the coin closely a second time, and they are certain that there is no tooling.
4. According to Naville, the "Mentor collection" refers to "the director of an auction house in London from '60 to '90".

If the coin is authentic and untooled, it is unique. If it's not (which I will hopefully find out once I have it in hand), I will return it and have no doubt that Naville will accept the return.

That makes sense - there's not much risk; if it turns out to be fake, Naville will surely refund you.

Good luck!

Here are some of mine! None are in particularly good condition, but I've managed to get a good variety of reverses.

MONETA AVG

PAX AVG

PIETAS AVG

PROVIDENTIA AVG

SPES PVBLICA

VIRTVS AVG

This could very well be the first genuine antoninianus of Pacatian ever sold on eBay. Great score! Definitely one of my grails.

32 minutes ago, JayAg47 said:

According to myth, the giants, including Enceladus, rebelled against the gods, seeking to overthrow them and take control of Mount Olympus. The gods, led by Zeus, engaged in a fierce battle against the giants. In which, Athena, the goddess of wisdom and war, played a significant role in the conflict. During the battle, Athena faced off against Enceladus, ultimately defeating the giant by burying him under the island of Sicily. People believed he was the cause of earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.

From Virgil:

Enceladus, his body lightning-scarred,
lies prisoned under all, so runs the tale:
o'er him gigantic Aetna breathes in fire
from crack and seam; and if he haply turn
to change his wearied side, Trinacria's isle
trembles and moans, and thick fumes mantle heaven.

Valerian I
Seleucia ad Calycadnum 
Obv.    laureate, draped and cuirassed bust of Valerian, ΑVΚ ΠΟ ΛΙΚ ΟΥΑΛƐΡΙΑΝΟϹ
Rev.    Athena Promachos l. spearing at anguiped Enceladus who raises hands in resistance- ϹƐΛΕΥΚƐΩΝ ΤΩΝ Π[ ]ΚΛΥ(?)
253-260 AD
6.3 g
SNG 1059

Luckily the chipping didn't take-away anything from the main elements and also left the bust of Valerian intact! Just for perspective, if Enceladus was supposed to be a giant, then how big Athena would've been as represented in the coin?!

I actually bought this as an unattributed coin on ebay, I assume its from @Harry G's shop, correct me if wrong (great dealer by the way). I bought it simply for the reverse showing a guy having tentacles for legs. Further research on provincial coins and topics on CT showed the coin actually depicts the battle scene of Athena spearing the Anguiped giant (serpent-legged) Enceladus. 

And I actually found a die match!

 

Please share your Greek giants! 

Yes, I was the seller! 

Great write up - that's some fascinating mythology. I'm glad you like the coin!

Here are mine!

Laelianus - VICTORIA AVG

Bought on eBay. The most I've ever spent on a single coin lol

Marius - VICTORIA AVG

Yours is in exceptional condition for the issue! That's the nicest coin of that type I've seen.

Here's my not so perfect example

Here's my only military bust" antoninianus of Gallienus. It's in horrible condition, but it was very cheap so I can't complain too much!

My most interesting bust on a Gallienus coin is my "VICT GAL AVG" example, which shows Gallienus wearing a lion-skin headdress on the obverse. Very few examples seem to exist (mine is the 4th one I know of). It has somewhat rough surfaces and patchy deposits.

It looks fine to me. I've bought from that seller several times before and they've always been great.

I see the R you're talking about, and I'm not sure what it means. Maybe some modern graffiti (although I don't know why anyone would do that)

When I've consigned with them in the past, they've sometimes suggested putting a rare coin in a lot to get some interest in the whole lot, and I assume that's what's happened here. I remember there was another lot that came up for sale around the same time as the Didius Julianus lot posted above - It included a sole reign Vabalathus antoninianus and several very rare quinarii of the tetrarchy, as well as lots of other very nice coins (Claudius II Smyrna ant, Maximian under Carausius ant eyc.) Unfortunately, I was the underbidder of that lot.

I have actually consigned a very rare antoninianus of Postumus (as well as  several separate lots) in the current auction, which isn't labelled as a "special lot" (a black box around it to indicate the rarity of the coin). I'm hoping buyers will notice it, as it looks like it should be a very common coin...

Sold (nicer) example: https://www.numisbids.com/n.php?lot=498&p=lot&sid=3466

Hi all,

I've had this coin for a while, but I've recently done some more research into it, and I just thought I'd share my findings.

It is a very unusual antoninianus of Carausius.

The coin has wolf suckling twins on the reverse, with some illegible letters in the exergue. The legend appears to read [...]ISIIIIC

I have found a very similar coin in the "Unattributed coins" section in RIC, which cites a coin having the save reverse image, with the legend PM COS IIII or PTI COS IIII, and CLA in exergue.

This coin is also cited in the introduction to coins of Carausius earlier in RIC. 

Finding a coin with CLA in the exergue could (or could not be) important in determining the location of the "C" mint of Carausius. The most likely locations seem to be Colchester, Cirencester or Clausentum, and finding this elusive coin could point towards Clausentum being the likely answer. I think Colechester is currently considered to be the most likely at the moment?

William Stukeley (1687 - 1765) alledgedly found this "CLA" coin, but unfortunately no examples can be found today. RIC also mentions that Stukeley was prone to errors, and often got "carried by his enthusiasm", so it is likely he was incorrect when attributing this CLA coin. However, the RIC listing mentions a plate of "Stukeley 2. XXIX", although I can't find this anywhere.

Is it possible that my coin is the same coin, or has been struck from the same dies?

If he had owned a worn example of this coin, could it have been interpreted as having CLA in the exergue? Also, if the last "C" in the legend was worn off as well, the last four letters of the legend could clearly read "IIII", with the 5th last possibly being an "S".

Unfortunately, the style of the coin is clearly barbarous, so it is unlikely it points to Clausentium being the correct C mint. However, is it possible this coin was struck from the same dies as the coin Stukeley wrote about in 1759?

Also, does anyone know where to access the plate? 

Thanks for reading!

Here are a few of mine!

Same type as the coin above

But this one is probably the nicest example I own