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Thanks for sharing, I will add the book to my list. I never knew about the leg being depicted on the coin, now I see it everywhere.

That coin seems to have sure gotten around

I didn’t know Pescennius was considered a usurper. here is mine.

@Prieure de Sioni don’t have one to share but I completely agree with you on how attractive they are. For a provincial mint they always seem to have very comparable (in my opinion) portraits to to those of denarii minted in Rome. Likely this must have signified the importance of this area, possibly due to its proximity to Parthia, the propaganda needed to be clear.

Unbelievable how it cleans up so nice. What’s the process? (nevermind. I just read on comment down and got the answer!)

Saturninus? Am I reading that right?

I didn’t know they were brothers. Cool.

I do have a few scarce usupers in my collection. This would be likely the most obscure of them. Julian I of Pannonia BI Antoninianus. Siscia, circa AD 283-285. IMP C M AVR IVLIANVS P F AVG, radiate, draped and cuirassed bust to right / VICTORIA AVG, Victory standing to left, holding wreath and palm; S-A across fields; XXI in exergue. RIC V.2 5. 2.89g, 21mm, 6h. Some areas of weak strike; flan crack at 8h/10h.

That Claudia’s Sestertius, that’s a big gap in my collection. I only have a tooled provincial.

Not mystery books but the docu fiction books by Robert Harris. My personal favourite Pompeii, the trilogy of Cicero is worth the read also.

Mind blowing condition! Beautiful.

Thanks for the compliment and the additional info. I’ll set aside some time today to research abut further using your lead.

If finally picked up a lifetime coin of JC. Before that I only had a JC posthumous portrait on a coin minted by Marc Antony, still a lovely coin but not a lifetime portrait. fro my research it appears that this obverse with IMPER seems a bit more scarce. Gaius Iulius Caesar, as Dictātor Perpetuō of the Roman Republic February – March 44 BC, Silver Denarius (3.77g, 19mm), Rome mint 44 BC, moneyer issue in the name of P. Sepullius Macer. Obverse: Wreathed head of Gaius Julius Caesar facing to the right, legend surrounds either side, “CAESAR IMPER”. Reverse: Full figure of Venus stands facing to the left, togate and holding Victoria aloft in right hand and long sceptre, which rests above star, in right, exergual-ground line below, moneyer’s name surrounds, “[P· SE]PVLLIVS MACER”. Sydenham-1070; Crawford 480/18. A late life time or possibly immediately posthumous issue bearing a noteworthy portrait of Julius Caesar, struck a touch unevenly thus flat towards the upper edge of the reverse, otherwise very attractive and certainly scarce compared with the non-portrait types, Very Fine. What do you all think?

Thanks. Also, thanks for the link, very good read!

The latest addition to my collection. A coin that I wasn’t overly seeking as I didn’t realize she had a denarius, (as I have an dupondius with her portrait). But once I saw it I had to have it, and based on my research it doesn’t seem all that common to come up at auction. Antonia Minor, as Augusta of the Julio-Claudian Dynasty and mother of Claudius, Silver Denarius (3.81g, 18.50mm), Lugdunum mint, struck under Claudius 41-42 AD. Obverse: Draped bust of Antonia Minor facing to the right, laureate with grain ears, legend surrounds, “ANTONIA AVGVSTA”. Reverse: Full figure of Antonia Minor facing forward, head slightly turned to the right, draped and holding long torch in right hand and cornucopia in left arm, legend surrounds, “CONSTANTIAE [A]VGVSTI”. RIC-66; RSC-2. An exceptionally scarce piece very infrequently available for commerce, struck in quite nice style and handsomely toned, a few hairlines to obverse, typically seen and similar to previously sold examples, a bold and desirable piece of early Roman Imperial numismatics, Very Fine, reverse good Very Fine. The Obverse Latin legend reads “Antōnia Augusta”, naming the Augusta with the feminine form of the Roman Gens Antonius as well as her title as Augusta. The Reverse Latin legend reads “cōnstantiae Augusta”, with an English translation of “The steadfastness/constancy of the Augusta”. Please share any coins you may have of Antonia.

Thanks. Was it this exact coin you saw? I believe the person who is willing to sell it to me has just purchased it from the London Coin Fair. The price they are asking is a bit high so I’m somewhat undecided. When I had its in hand it was a really nice example, but now that you pointed out the flaws the stick out.

Nice coin and great write up. Nothing wrong with a well loved coin, especially if it fills the a gap.

I have an opportunity to buy this, I’m by far an expert in this denomination. Any thoughts from the experts? Theodosius II, Eastern Augustus of the Theodosian Dynasty 402-450 AD, Silver ‘Light’ Miliarense (4.34g, 23mm), Constantinople mint 408-423 AD. Sear-21172; RIC-370; RSC-20a

I am not a psychologist but a civil engineer.

Wow so the colour is the clay. If that's the case you must be able to locate its alluvial source precisely? The black color must be a black sand glaze?

I have a Julian II which is nice condition, but nowhere near some posted on this thread. Unfortunately I don't have an image of my JII. But I do have a picture of my Julian I of Pannonia which is not in the best condition but still decent considering.

Hi Donna, these are so beautiful. One thing I've always wondered is did the orange colour fade over the last say 2500 years? Was it originally more red? For scale what height are they? Lots of questions lol

I really like your avatar. Without colour I would have thought how realistic the portriat was, but with colour you can see how caricature like it is, the eyes and nose seem a bit too large.

At first all I saw was a Yin Yang, what are they talking about. Then I looked closer, it is not a Yin Yang. It now looks like a straight on of an Orca to me. Are you a psychologist by trade?

The Portrait looks so realistic, an action shot really. I also really like the reverse on this, very attractive. It is truly amazing at how talented these engravers were even during times of financial and political strife. Just think, the life expectancy of an Ancient Roman would be mid 30s max. As we all know, it is very rare to become an expert at anything prior to at least your early 40s, especially something that takes extreme talent, and typically it is only if you are remarkably dedicated to the trade, the average is possibly more like early 50s. However, these people most likely worked a higher percentage of their day than the average expert today would. So the probability of becoming an expert at an earlier age due to working more hours a day would likely be offset by the fact that people would most likely succumb to death before they became an expert. Still, considering the above, and despite the high volume of coins being minted there must have been a very finite amount of engravers of expert level in existence at the time, this chap must have been one of them. This also isn't considering the fact that with age your short sightedness declines. How many of you use a loupe to investigate your coin. Now imagine engraving the die of the coin you are looking at. I feel like the real expert @dougsmit could offer more insight on this.