Orange Julius

4 hours ago, Tejas said:

This is very true. The portraits of Quintillus are very recognizable and uniform, which is not surprising when we consider that he only ruled for 3 months, if not only a couple of weeks. He always has a beard and curles and generally the same features. Hence, I was particularly surprised to the the coin below, with a different Quintillus portrait that I have never seen before. Indeed, I have 36 coins of Quintillus, which all have very similar portraits, while the coin below is remarkably different.

It is pretty amazing that for as short of a period as he reigned that his coinage shows a pretty consistent and distinct portrait. Early Claudius II coins can look like Gallienus, Aurelian coins look like Claudius II... but Quintillus coins are pretty easy to spot. 

That's a cool coin @Tejas! Even though the style is a bit different, you can still see that he has sharp facial features, and curly/wavy hair. I also like that your coin has Victory on the reverse! Poor Quintillus had high hopes that didn't pan out. 

That second Claudius II (VICTORIA AVG) is really cool as it retains some stylistic characteristics of Gallienus coins, mixing them with the features of the new emperor. That hair and crown is all Gallienus. 

For Quintillus’ time, this was top quality 😁👌🏻.

It’s a bummer that quality was down at the mints of the time because Q may have have been one of the coolest looking dudes to ever be emperor.

Look at that fabulous mustache on that first coin. A Burt Reynolds of his time.

Very cool coin! For Maximinus out of Ostia, I have only this rare-bust GENIO POP ROM.

If I remember right, at this point Constantine was minting coins for himself, Licinius and Maximinus, leaving out Galerius. Anyone want to give the summary of why include MII?

Maximinus II
Obv: IMP MAXIMINVS PF AVG. Laureate, draped & cuirassed bust right.
Rev: GENIO POP ROM. Genius standing left, holding cornucopiae & patera from which water flows.  Mintmark MOSTT.
Ref: RIC VI Ostia 77a. Rated very rare
312-313 ad

Great interview and an interesting read. Thank you @Tejas for sharing!

I follow your threads with interest and always enjoy them, as my interest and wallet align with later imperial (and after) coins as well. You have a great eye for interesting and nice coins, thank you for your contributions here!

10 hours ago, dougsmit said:

Those of you here who deny the value of such coins in their day must have been suicidal in 1965 when the US started making quarters out of something other than silver.   Today, the main use of a quarter made of any metal is to set free a shopping cart at US versions of Aldi's grocery stores.  I understand their EU stores require a one Euro coin.  

 

I still have quite a few Claudius II coins and am not sure what came over me that made be let that one go.  

Nice coins Doug. I really like the Milan mint coins and have been on the hunt for them as targets of opportunity for many years.

Got this first one for under $10 and love it more than many coins that cost me more than 10x as much.

A great write up, I enjoyed reading it. Here is one of my favorite Salonina portraits, showing a much more realistic picture than most coins.

I’ve always liked this Gallienus, it’s a very well made coin. Photography is too dark but 🤷🏻‍♂️.

Alexandrian Claudius II reverses:

Great coin! It’s late, so just going to post mine and snooze 💤 

Here’s a really red one from my collection.

Maximinus II, AE follis. Alexandria. 315 AD. IMP C GAL VAL MAXIMINVS PF AVG, laureate head right with parallel wreath ties, rounded ends (important for the id) / GENIO IMP-ERATORIS, Genius standing left, modius on head, naked but for chlamys over left shoulder, holding patera from which liquid flows, and cornucopiae. Crescent over K in left field. Gamma over P in right field. Mintmark ALE.
RIC VI Alexandria 139b.

Maximianus Herculeus 286 - 310 AE Antoninianus (pre-reform)
Siscia 1. officina, 290 AD.
Obv. IMP CMA VAL MAXIMIANVS PF AVG, radiate head right.
Rev. CONSERVATOR AVGG, Emperor, holding sceptre, and Hercules, shouldering club and lion's skin, standing face to face, sacrificing at altar. A in left field. Mintmark dot XXI dot HP dot.

RIC V-II, Siscia 582 var. (reverse type, obv. legend and bust type), unrecorded; Cohen:-. RIC 582 has obv. legend only P AVG, and bust type cuirassed.

“HP = First letters of HP-KOY-LI, = of Herculius, name of Maximianus (so-called coded coins)

In this series Hercules usually leans on his club, with no lionskin. This variant with the club over his shoulder was unknown to Cohen. However the lionskin is probably constant in this variant, and has simply not been mentioned in the few descriptions. Certainly the lionskin is regular in the type IOV ET HERCVL CONSER AVGG, which shows a similar Hercules with shouldered club. Voetter, Gerin Cat., p. 280, 65, records a coin like this, with P F in obv. legend, Hercules shoulders club (no mention of lionskin), but officina letter B in right field, not A in the left field. Apparently omitted by RIC. Voetter 66 is similar to this coin, except for P not P F in obv. legend; this is RIC 582 citing Voetter.” -“ -Contributed by Hans-Joachim (in a description on Wildwinds), December, 2004.

I love coins of Gordian III and just wish we knew more about his reign.

Here’s an early one with features of Balbinus. It’s one of my favorite portraits.

….and one where Gordian has been awake for 3 days. This is an odd portrait and the ugliest I have.

Nice coin! I fell in love with a neck beard too. Here’s my newest Tacitus that I posted in another thread but deserves more love.

Tacitus, AE antoninianus, Lyons. IMP CL TACITVS AVG, radiate, draped and cuirassed bust right / MARS VICTOR, Mars walking right, holding spear and trophy. B-A across fields. RIC V (1) 30; Bastien 79.
 

So, yeah common emperor, small flan.

BUT, that portrait of Gallienus is really nice for the era.

I’ve always liked this one, not because of the coin but because of the mineralization showing the shape of other coins laying on it within the hoard.

Interesting coins. I appreciate how much you dive into each and found this a fun read! I’d like to get one of those Salonina coins. I have the standard Rome mint version with out the fun misspelling, peacock and star.

Salonina - IVNO REGINA - Rome - RIC 29

I really like coins of Tacitus… maybe it’s the neck beard. Here’s my newest, that I just photographed today!

Tacitus, AE antoninianus, Lyons. 
IMP CL TACITVS AVG, radiate, draped and cuirassed bust right
MARS VICTOR, Mars advancing right holding spear and trophy
B-A across fields.
RIC V (1) 30; Bastien 79

One of my favorites. The coin is silver, the lighting makes it look Orange 🍊.

Gallienus - VENVS VICTRIX - Antioch - RIC V-1 298

Great write up! I love to see information and coins from this period as they don’t get the appreciation they deserve. I have quite a few from this period but few are photographed.

And maybe only somewhat related… is this next type and this note from RIC IX, p 166, Note: The AE 3 VIRTVS AVGGG seems from its exact correspondence in every way with GLORIA ROMANORVM - except, of course, in reverse type, to have been Valentinian’s earliest issue after his flight from Italy. 

Valentinian II VIRTVS AVGGG Thessalonica RIC IX 61

Great coins all. The OP coin is really nice. Congrats!

Here’s a few of mine:

I like showing this little guy… Tetricus II as Augustus (…although obviously a barbaric imitation)

…and another fun one that says Tetri at the end of the legend.

11 hours ago, Ocatarinetabellatchitchix said:

Another interesting one for sale now. The seller described it as «very very rare, only known from imitations. The only example that seem official ». (The reverse FIDES MILITVM is not known with the short obverse legend for Victorinus). You can get it for the modest price of 350 euros. By the way, another specimen (double die matching) was sold by Roma two weeks ago for… 30 GBP…

 

The Roma specimen:

The real thing:

 

 

 

Interesting... I wouldn't think those are imitations. They look official, even if the portrait style is a mushy. Here's my example with the longer legend. It's not pretty but the only one I have.