Orange Julius

Great snacks all! Here’s a snack I recently received $0.99… plus $10 shipping split between 2 $0.99 coins… so let’s call it $6 total for this one. It’s a scarce variation of the galley theme also used on the more common GLORIA ROMANORVM coins of the era. This coin is an AE3 rather than AE2 and has the reverse legend VIRTVS AVGGG. This coin is said to be the first reverse issued for Valentinian II after fleeing Italy for safety under Theodosius I from Magnus Maximus.

Trajan Decius from Dacia. I’m sure someone will be along shortly with more specific reference information. Edit: similar to this: https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=3321445

@Alegandronwas referring to the Probus coin. There was a FORVM thread awhile back about new research on a 4th eastern mint for certain Probus coins. https://www.forumancientcoins.com/board/index.php?topic=107510.msg658159#msg658159 From my post in that old thread: An interesting “detail about this "4th eastern mint" is that, according to S. Estiot's paper, it's operation was a direct result of the revolt of the Syrian governor Saturninus in 280. Translated (by google) from her paper linked below: "operation of the 4th East workshop whose existence (is) all circumstantial, was only due to the need to fight an usurper (Saturninus) - it only worked a few months, from mid-280 to early 281." https://www.academia.edu/29744478/L_Empereur_et_l_usurpateur_un_4e_atelier_oriental_sous_Probus To translate a pdf: https://translate.google.com/?tr=f&hl=en” Here is mine:

Here’s a great resource that I use a lot for Gallienus and family: http://www258.pair.com/denarius/coinage.htm

Valentinian I DN VALENTINI-ANVS PF AVG, diademed bust, draped and cuirassed on the right RESTITV-TOR REIP, Emperor standing facing, head right, holding labarum and Victory on globe, ALEA with the exergue Alexandria - 364/367 - RIC 2 a 1 (S) - Cohen 21 - NBC 414 - NBD 59803 - 16 mm / 2.29 g

Oh that’s a nice coin with good looking surfaces and relief! Sol looks very well detailed too. Your coin from Arles reminded me of another coin I have, also from the Constantinian era and from the same city. Constantine II - CLARITAS REIPVB = "brightness of the Republic" RIC VII Arles 157, 318 AD

Loving that summer is here. Winters are too long where I live. Here’s a rare Aurelian with Sol! Aurelian, IMP C AVRELIANVS AVG, SOLI INVICTO / Star S, Siscia, spring 274. Unlisted in RIC, RIC temp #2236 Only two old black and white reference coins at MER-RIC, neither as nice: https://ric.mom.fr/en/coin/2236 Note: I did submit this coin to the MER-RIC program (as they request examples when they have less than 5) back in 2015 but never received a reply.

Nice coin! Set it free! What I do is take a fine toothed saw or file to one of the seams near a corner. Once I’ve made a bit of a cut along the seam, I use a screwdriver to pry the two halves apart. This usually cracks them without totally destroying the plastic and keeps sharp or prying tools away from the coin. There are a lot of methods to cracking them… some likely easier than mine but it works.

Thank you! I have some ugly ducklings hiding from Rome, Thessalonica and another mint or two that are escaping me. So… not all beauties but I love them all anyway. As for the coin from Arles, I really like that one too! It’s so cool looking, I bought it at a fabulous price from @Victor Clark! I’m not sure where all of the colors came from but I treasure it because of them. As for that coin, one interesting tidbit… there is an eagle at the top of the wreath that is included at no other mint. This eagle is included on other Julian coins from Arles at the time (Bull coins and others). There’s an interesting article about the eagle here: edit… can’t get the link to work so search “Julian, Arles, and the Eagle” by David Woods

It looks like your coin from Alexandria and mine are long lost friends! (Obviously not die matches but I wouldn’t be surprised if they were carved by the same hand!)

An interesting topic. Great coins! I have a few of the Alexandrian issues. Below are my two best. Constantine - Alexandria - RIC VII 17 Licinius I - Alexandria - RIC VII 18

I don’t think it matters too much the order… Rome, RIC V-1 277. I just notice you have 277 also listed as the mint date too. I think these coins had to be minted in 270 or not long after.

Oh man…. Devo Claudio with that pic would be such a great avatar and user name!

You know what’s really cool about that coin that nobody has noticed? Look at that obverse legend again, it’s not IMP CLAVDIVS AVG. The legend actually appears to be DIVO CLAVDIO! Whether official or an imitation I’m not sure and haven’t looked into but this coin was minted after Claudius’ death. I’d look into DIVO CLAVDIO coins with an LAETITIA AVG reverse and see what you find. The bust looks official enough to me… so maybe a DIVO C obverse paired with a Quintillus reverse? Edit.. addition: http://numismatics.org/ocre/id/ric.5.cg.277

I like these too! Here’s a fun one from Alexandria.

I have some limited experience but nothing close to this time frame. Here’s a Domitian denarius that was completely encrusted. I got it for $9 and it cleaned up nicely. I think most were thinking it was a fourrée core rather than solid silver. As for this coin, it’s really hard to tell. It does have a thick crust and I do see flecks of reflective material but in other spots, where there looks like there was corrosion, it looks to be bronze. I’ll look at it closer in daylight!

Yeah this one is a bit of a head scratcher for me. Thank you everyone for the replies! Its interesting that you mention silver @Severus Alexander! You can see in the OG photo and this one below that there are flecks of silvery something in the crevices in places. It’s soooo small it’s hard to tell if it’s the remains of a silvery wash to imitate a silver coin or just silica or something. Hard to photograph too… in hand it’s easier to see but doesn’t look as silvery in photos. I’d need a microscope to be sure! …but the coin itself is surely bronze. In any case, I do think that the wreath style and blocky lettering looks earlier than the 6th century examples… but I don’t know much about this era of coinage so who knows! Anyway, thanks @John Conduitt, @BBA, @Furryfrog02, @Severus Alexander, @Finn235! @BBA Thanks for flipping the photo, I’m curious to know what you’re thinking! What’s interesting to you?! I think I may be able to get some better photos if I can get some daylight time. I’ll add better images when I’m able. In the meantime, keep the ideas… and your coins coming!

Hmmm, I looked up RIC 223 from Arles to find an example of your coin: https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=4854797 It looks like they were just referencing a similar coin but from a different mint (3873 from Siscia) because a coin from Arles was not listed in this edition. 3878 is a campgate, so not your coin. Here’s an image from Sear 4th edition and neither number correlates exactly to RIC 233…. So I’d toss that reference out. For an exact Sear reference from the new edition for your coin from Arles… it’s Sear Vol 4, 16206. PS: I was just spouting off in an earlier thread on books, to maybe skip the Sear volumes because I found I don’t use them much. Well, I retract that statement. 😜

How many do you have to do? I have all of the new Sear volumes (and older editions) and can look a few up and cross reference them for you. I could find time for 5-10 pretty easy. We’ll have to figure out which edition of Sear was used for the reference, so provide the emperor and reverse legend with each Sear number of you can.

I’ve often thought about taking some of my junk box, near cull LRBs and leaving them places where they may be found. I like the idea of seeing a local news story about “Roman Coins Found in Minnesota!” 😬

So… the 5th century is an interesting timeframe for the Roman Empire. Along with the west, the coinage (bronze) suffered a drastic decline. I don’t have many coins from this time period but this one was a $1 add-on to another coin. I figured I may get lucky and get a ruler I don’t have or even maybe a rare one. Anyway, I’ve looked and can’t seem to find a match. The obverse is about as unhelpful as you get with “DN” clear as day then… maybe an M or H or one of the other 24 letters (or I guess 21 others for Latin), who knows. I can’t find a monogram that matches the showing right side of the reverse either. I think it’s oriented correctly as the bottom tie of the wreath shows a bit. So! Who dis nummus?! Thanks! 10-11mm, 0.83 grams As always, let’s see your wretched scraps of metal they call “coins” from the 5th century. 😉 A quick follow up… I thought it was Marcian… but instead of an “R” the monogram seems to end in “K”? Who knows…

That is a tough mint to find! I’ve been passively picking up Julian VOT coins for the last few years and am just missing Lugdunum, Cyzicus and Constantinople… otherwise I have the other 9 or 10 mints of varying quality. Here are a few of those VOTs and a FH I like: Siscia Sirmium Arles Alexandria Heraclea Antioch FH from Antioch

Hey @Ryro, what’s that second coin? Is that a rare reverse type I see or a Spes coin? Edit: the legend was playing tricks on my eyes… on closer inspection, it does look like a Spes Rep coin… so never mind!