thejewk

Very interesting, thanks. Can you please give me the full titles of the reference works you mention? I am getting closer to starting a Gallienus sub collection every week. 

Curious.  What do you think?  The obverse and reverse surfaces look very flat in a way you often see with pressed coins, but the edge looks quite natural to me.  I have no idea.

That really does look like a rough rendering of a cuirass beneath a snake, excellent stuff.

Good spotting.  

I just ordered a copy of RIC VI, which feels like a right of passage in ancient numismatics.  I have other catalogues, like Sear's general volumes, and Cloke and Toone's London Mint book, but the ubiquity of RIC makes me excited to browse it.

I think anyone would be proud to have their collection stored likewise.  Beautiful work.

11 minutes ago, ambr0zie said:

Sorry, I don't understand your point. 

I thought the cat on the second linked coin looked more like a sheep, was trying to make a bad joke haha

30 minutes ago, ambr0zie said:

I realized something, in a serious matter. 

I don't have a coin with a cat, Big cats - lions, panthers, yep but that's a different story. It seems clear that what is today a very common animal is very ... exotic on coins.

Did a quick check and apparently there are 2 types from Alexandria with cats 

https://rpc.ashmus.ox.ac.uk/coins/3/6510

https://rpc.ashmus.ox.ac.uk/coins/3/6511

I was expecting a more realistic depiction on the 2nd...

A yes, the lesser known cat that stands in groups in fields and goes baaaaaaa.

RIC VI TREVERI 676A

DN DIOCLETIANO FELICISSIMO SEN AVG / PROVIDENTIA DEORVM QVIES AVGG

S/F/PTR

9.51g, 26.5mm

Purchased from the detectorist, found to the south of Cambridge in 2022

Not strictly in my First Tetrarchy theme, because I think it should actually count as a Second Tetrarchy issue under Severus II, although I am not certain on my dates yet, but a coin I couldn't resist.  Needs some further cleaning but I don't think anything more than some water and light brushing will be required. 

A small chip, corrosion and a big old flan crack couldn't stop me from going for what I think is a lovely portrait on this Faustina II under Antoninus Pius.

Your new coin is lovely Ryro.

Glad to hear about the improvements JAZ.

There's some nutty business going on on ebay UK at the moment in general.  Lots of mediocre common 2ndC denarii listed for £150+, etc.  No doubt these things will become irritating companions over time, cropping up in my searches for the next few years.

I find it endlessly amusing looking at the 'recently added' section on vcoins a few times each week and seeing what relatively common LRB in decent condition is being listed for $500.

I'm confused Al.  The first is Maximinus II as caesar and all the attributions are for Maximinus II as caesar, with some variation regarding the dating.  The second coins clearly reads MAXIMIANVS and not MAXIMINVS, and it is for a caesar, and as there are only coins of Maximianus Herculeus as augustus, it must be Galerius.

Lovely style on the reverse too, really well rendered.

Nice. I love the little ants from Lugdunum, but don't own any yet.  They had some great die engravers, and great busts.

Interesting stuff as always RC.

How extensive is your Faustina Senior collection now?  Are you at the point where there are mostly rarities left?

That's a poor showing on the part of the auction house. The reverse is very blatant. 

I was very sad to hear about Jamesicus' death, and hope I have the opportunity to add one of his old London mint coins to my collection some day as a way to remember him.  I had a number of DM conversations with him and he was always forthcoming, kind and enthusiastic on any topic.   

Nice example too.  Quadrans are so often really grotty from so much use, and not exactly the most common denomination to be hoarded.  I like the video presentation, nice idea and it captures the 'in hand' appearance.

@Al Kowskyand @Romancollector beautiful examples!  Al, your helmeted Diocletian from Trier is a stunner.  I have found the price to be a tricky thing to navigate on my budget.  Lots of waiting and watching.

10 hours ago, John Conduitt said:

You'll have the same problem with Londinium. It's Genios all the way down. Also a lot of Galerius as Augustus misattributed as Maximian. Then there are the Carausian coins featuring Diocletian or Maximian, with Pax on the reverse, but they're smaller.

Uncertainty has been expressed as to where the 'unmarked' folles were struck - London, the 'C' mint or France. RIC says, "The folles without a mintmark in the exergue can be divided into:
I. Lugdunum;
II. [possibly] Britain either from a travelling mint, or even from the "C" mint of Carausius and Allectus, with which there are perhaps some stylistic affinities; and
III. in everyway more sophisticated in style, and it may well be that they were produced at London, though lack of signature would be difficult to account for: probably it is best to class them as a British series which, for reasons unknown to us, was struck elsewhere."

On the other hand, there were no London mintmarks until a decade after the mint opened, so all first Tetrarchy folles are going to be in one of these groups.

Maximian I 'Group II' Follis, 300

Londinium(?). Bronze, 26mm, 9.36g. Laureate and cuirassed bust right; IMP C MAXIMIANVS P F AVG. Genius standing left, holding patera and cornucopiae; GENIO POPVLI ROMANI; no mintmark (RIC VI, 6b).

London Mint coins have been my main collecting focus for the last few years, so I already have some nice coins I could use to represent London, but I am hoping to find a nice 'Group 2' Constantius with the characteristic hooked nose.  I think the portraits are what I need to use to differentiate the London coins from the rest, so a nice long neck and small head would work well.

I already have Maximian and Constantius 'Invasion' coins, so they will definitely be included.  I also have a Diocletian and a Maximian under Carausius, but I don't feel like they fit here.

And I now how doubts whether the Ticinum coin is actually Maximian, I think it might be Galerius, pushing him out into the second Tetrarchy.  

Edit: Yes, it's Galerius as Augustus, but still a beauty and still within the scope of my collection so happy to have it.  Just means I can start hunting for those lovely unreduced folles of the next wave of Caesars as well.

Not been about much for the last few months due to a combination of a few postal disasters and a lack of material that caught my eye within my price range.  I'm happy to report that I am now back in the game with the first part of a project I've had in the works over the last 8 months or so, which will probably take a few years to come to fruition; namely an unreduced follis from the first Tetrarchy from every mint, with an effort to capture something unique about each mint in the process.  I hope eventually to create some sort of wall display or a glass covered unit showing each coin and the location of the mint on a map.

Here's what I have so far:

RIC VI Lugdunum 167A

CONSTANTIVS NOB C / GENIO POP-VLI ROMANI / -/A//PLC

10.86g, 26x28mm

Ex Freeman and Sear, Manhattan Sale 4, Lot 194, misattributed as RIC 166A

From Lugdunum I wanted a left facing bust with a sceptre over the shoulder as well as a Genio reverse with an altar, and this fits the bill nicely

RIC VI Aquileia 31B

IMP MAXIMIANVS PF AVG / SACRA MONET AVGG ET CAESS NOSTR / -/V//AQP

10g, 27.5mm

I wanted a good quality Moneta type or two in the set, and this one is beautifully rendered with the silvering acting as a highlight

RIC VI Ticinum 55B

IMP C MAXIMIANVS PF AVG / FIDES M-I-LITVM / -/./TT

10.54g, 29mm

I was very pleased to find this lovely example of a less common type for not much money, along with the following coin, from Munzhandlung Ritter on Vcoins, and the coins arrived in no time to the UK.  Superb strike and surfaces, with a sliver of silvering on the SW of the reverse.

RIC VI Carthage 31B

IMP MAXIMIANVS PF AVG / SALVIS AVGG ET CAESS FEL KART / -/-//B

8.9g, 32x25mm

I'm a sucker for flan oddities that don't detract from the overall image of a coin, and this one has a wonderfully rendered reverse (if you excuse the rather squashed B).  I have wanted a 'Carthage holding fruits' reverse for a long time, and this one called to me and the price was right.  I am going to have to break my 'one per mint' rule for Carthage because I also need that FELIX ADVENT reverse too.

RIC VI Antioch 50B

IMP MA MAXIMIANVS PF AVG / GENIO POPV-L-I ROMANI / *on*/ Crescent on A//ANT

8.43g, 27.5mm

Not a great deal of innovation was happening at Antioch, with only Genio types available, but I managed to get a nice one with a well proportioned obverse and reverse and everything clear, if a little pleasantly worn.

Please share your Tetrarchic folles, or whatever you feel is relevant.  Any pointers regarding particular things to look out for in my project would be much appreciated too! 

7 hours ago, Severus Alexander said:

I believe the engraver was aiming at a Consecratio eagle. But I’m very glad he missed by a mile! 😆

Thanks for the comments, folks!  I’m writing from the hospital (emergency trip due to my treatment side effects) and it’s lovely to keep in touch with my coin buddies at such times! 🤗

I hope for a quick improvement SA.

Must be quite chunky at that weight?  What are the dimensions?  I've never seen one in person and always assumed they were pretty small.

Nice find!