Michael Stolt

Adding a little bonus, bronzes with some of their pre World War II plate photos 🙂

Hello everyone!

Spent some time this Sunday to make a little collage (that sulla80 kindly helped me edit a bit) with the coins of Lucilla acquired for my specialized collection of her coinage.

It has taken about five months to assemble this group, several of the coins have quite prestigious pedigrees (more details on those and the coins pictured below can be found in some of my previous posts concerning Lucilla. 

As for the most recent arrival, that I would like to highlight, it is this beautiful tetradrachm, minted at Alexandria in Egypt.

This is the only available specimen on the market of this type, with the other three known specimens residing in museum collections.

It also happens to have one of the best possible provenances a coin minted at Alexandria can have, as it was part of the Giovanni Dattari (1853-1923) collection.

The coin was probably part of the ones remaining in Dattari's collection after his death in 1923, and were later on smuggled out of Egypt by his daughter, Maria Dattari, after the revolution of 1952, when all Egyptian antiquities were nationalized.

The coins were originally intended to be given to the National Archaeological Museum in Athens, but ended up stored away in a safe for several years, before a man named C. Michalitzes (supposedly the Dattari family physician), without the knowledge of Maria, attempted to sell about 8.000 coins from the collection in 1972.

He was later on tried and sentenced, and roughly 5.000 of the coins returned. Most were later on dispersed in the late 1970s by the Dattari family.

So by the looks of it, this coin seems to have had a bit of an adventurous life so far, until ending up in my tray.

It has a very pleasant dark tone, with golden hues, a nice compact and thick flan, and has a very high relief portrait, a very pleasing coin to look at in hand.

Lucilla. BI Tetradrachm (23mm, 12.14 g). Alexandria, Egypt. Dated RY 9 of Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus (AD 168/9). ΛOVKIΛΛA C ANT ΘV, draped bust right / Asclepius standing facing, head left, sacrificing from patera in right hand over lighted altar, leaning on serpent-entwined staff to right; L Θ (date) across field. Köln –; Dattari (Savio) 9533 = RPC IV.4 Online 3113.4 = Figari & Mosconi 927 (this coin); K&G –; Emmett 2471.9 (R5).

From the Dr. Thomas E. Beniak Collection, Triton XXVII (9-10 January 2024), lot 538. Ex CNG inventory 736102 (October 2003); Nomisma 25 (21 September 2003), lot 144; Giovanni Dattari (1853-1923) Collection, no. 9533.

52 minutes ago, CPK said:

Interesting! Has it been repaired at all, do you think? Looking particularly at the ding at 12 o'clock on the reverse, and the gouge at the top of the palm branch.

I think the visible damage might be to the plaster cast of the coin that was photographed and not damage to the actual coin. Hard to tell without the coin in hand, but makes little sense to me to repair one part of the coin, but not another, like the dent below the obverse bust, and the scrape mark starting on her upper lip that have not been touched.

I won this gorgeous sestertius of Lucilla at the CNG e-sale that ended yesterday.

The reason for pursuing it, although not listed with a pre World War II provenance, is of course because I found one 🙂

This time we are taken back to 1922 when the combined sale of the collections of Paul Vautier and Prof. Maxime Collignon was held, by Naville & Cie in Lucerne, Switzerland.

Lucilla. Æ Sestertius (29mm 29.26 g). Rome, AD 164-167. LVCILLAE AVG ANTONINI AVG F, draped bust to right. / HILARITAS, Hilaritas standing to left holding long palm and cornucopiae; S-C across fields. RIC III 1742 (Aurelius).

Ex. Paul Vautier/Maxime Collignon collections, Ars Classica II - Naville & Cie, Lucerne (12-14 June 1922), lot 1008.

Hello everyone!

Thanks for all the nice replies with lovely coins in my previous post covering the imperial types of Lucilla in my collection 😊

Today I am sharing the provincial types of Lucilla, that I have acquired over the past few months. She is not very easy to collect in this area, as many types are quite rare due to her short tenure as Augusta.  

I'll introduce them with a little group photo, individual photos of each coin and more info is available further below.

The two most recent acquisitions are quite special. I managed to win a quite intense bid war for a fantastic Alexandrian tetradrachm at Triton XXVII, that also has the best possible provenance for such a coin, ex. Giovanni Dattari. This gives the coin a pre World War II pedigree and a very interesting history, it is also extremely rare, only four known specimens, and it is the only one available on the market, as the other three reside in museums.

I also managed to pick up an extremely rare drachm minted at Edessa last week, it is in an uncleaned state, and will be sent for cleaning to hopefully improve it's eye appeal and reveal a bit more detail.

I am very happy with the start the provincial section, and I look forward to adding more types, as there are some fantastic ones of her out there.

EGYPT, Alexandria. Lucilla. Augusta, AD 164-182. BI Tetradrachm (23mm, 12.14 g). Dated RY 9 of Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus (AD 168/9). ΛOVKIΛΛA C ANT ΘV, draped bust right / Asclepius standing facing, head left, sacrificing from patera in right hand over lighted altar, leaning on serpent-entwined staff to right; L Θ (date) across field. Köln –; Dattari (Savio) 9533 = RPC IV.4 Online 3113.4 = Figari & Mosconi 927 (this coin); K&G –; Emmett 2471.9 (R5).

From the Dr. Thomas E. Beniak Collection, Triton XXVII (9-10 January 2024), lot 538. Ex CNG inventory 736102 (October 2003); Nomisma 25 (21 September 2003), lot 144; Giovanni Dattari (1853-1923) Collection, no. 9533.

MESOPOTAMIA, Edessa. Ma’nu VIII, Philoromaios, with Lucilla. AD 167-179. AR Drachm (17mm, 3.02 g). ΛοΥΚΙΛΛΑ cΕΒΑϹΤΗ, diademed and draped bust of Lucilla right / ΒΑϹΙΛЄΥϹ [ΜΑΝΝΟϹ] Φ[Ι]ΛΟΡωΜΑΙϹ, Salus seated left, feeding from patera serpent arising from altar and holding cornucopiae. RPC IV.3 17203.

JUDAEA, Caesarea Maritima. Lucilla. Augusta, AD 164-182. Æ (22mm, 8.96 g). LVCILLIA AVGVSTA, draped bust of Lucilla to right / COL PRIM FL AVG CAESAREA Male figure (emperor or Genius?) standing to left, wearing toga, holding patera over thymiaterium and cornucopia. RPC IV.3 6323 (temporary).

PHRYGIA, Synnada. Lucilla, AD 164-169. Æ (32mm, 14.70 g). ΛOVKIΛΛA CEBACTH, draped bust right. / ΕΠΙ ΙΕΡΙ Κ ΒΑϹΙΛΟVϹ ϹVΝΝΑΔΕΩΝ, cult-statue of Artemis Ephesia facing; stag to left and right. RPC IV.2 2218.

SYRIA, Seleukis and Pieria. Antioch. Lucilla, Augusta, AD 164-182. Æ (17mm, 3.49 g). ΛοΥΚΙΛ(Λ)ΑΝ ϹΕΒΑϹΤΗ([Ν?]), draped bust of Lucilla right / ΑΝΤΙοΧΕΩΝ ΜΗΤΡο(Πο) Δ(Ε), turreted, veiled and draped bust of Tyche right. RPC IV.3 7160 (temporary).

CILICIA, Mopsouestia-Mopsos. Lucilla. Augusta, AD 164-182. Æ (23mm, 7.43 g). Dated CY 235 (AD 167/8). ΛΟΥΚΙΛΛΑ ϹΕΒ, draped bust right / ΑΔΡΙ ΜΟΨΕ(Α) ΔΛϹ, Dikaiosyne standing left, holding scales and cornucopia; EΛC (date) to right. RPC IV.3 10295 (temporary).

Plate photos of the pedigreed coins:

It has been a good while since I posted here, quite a lot of things have happened since. Among them, I decided it was time for something new, that new being Lucilla.

I have always had a soft spot for her coinage and I have been admiring her coins from a distance, while having other focal points, collection wise. 

Having parted with my remaining Roman Republican coins, I have spent the past few months acquiring coins of Lucilla, both imperial and provincial types.

The main focal point for imperial lies on pre World War II pedigreed coins of her, and I have been fortunate enough to find five so far, all were listed for sale without any provenance attached to them, so they were rediscovered by me. Over the past few months I have built an immense photo file with pedigreed coins of her, nearly 400 of them, so provenance hunting has become very quick and easy. 

Her coinage in general is quite badly researched, and as many empresses, her coinage is fairly underappreciated, which thankfully in most cases keeps prices of the coins quite low. 

I will share the provincial coins of her in a future post, until then, here are the imperial ones acquired so far, ordered by RIC number:

Lucilla. Æ Sestertius (30mm 22.00 g). Rome, AD 164-169. LVCILLA AVGVSTA, draped bust to right / FECVNDITAS, Fecunditas seated to left, nursing a child, in front and behind her two children, both raising their arms.; S C in exergue. RIC III 1737 (Aurelius).

Note: Fourth (possibly fifth) known specimen, and the finest known of this very rare type with Fecunditas seated left.

Lucilla. Æ Sestertius (30mm 21.27 g). Rome, AD 164-167. LVCILLAE AVG ANTONINI AVG F, draped bust to right. / HILARITAS, Hilaritas standing to left holding long palm and cornucopiae; S-C across fields. RIC III 1742 (Aurelius).

Provenance: Monnaies romaines, consulaires & impériales, monnaies byzantines provenant des collections du colonel Allotte de la Fuÿe (2e vente) : 4-5 mai 1925 / Fernand Lair-Dubreuil, commissaire-priseur ; Florange et Ciani ; Jules Florange, expert ; Louis Ciani, expert. Lot 295.

Lucilla. Æ As (25mm 11.68g). Rome, mid AD 164. LVCILLA AVGVSTA, draped bust right / IVNO REGINA, Juno standing left, holding patera and scepter; at feet to left, peacock standing left. RIC III 1752 (Aurelius).

Provenance: Ex. Numismatik Lanz Auktion 94 - Sammlung Leo Benz - Römische Kaiserzeit I - München, 22 November 1999, lot 661.

Ex. Ars Classica VIII - Catalogue de monnaies romaines antiques: en or, argent et bronze ; composant la collection de feu Clarence S. Bement de Philadelphie (U.S.A.) ; dont la vente aura lieu aux enchères publiques les 25, 26, 27 et 28 juin 1924 dans les salles de l'Hôtel Schweizerhof à Lucerne, lot 1093.

Ex. Duplicates from the Imperial Habsburg collection - Brüder Egger XXXIX - Griechische Münzen, römische Münzen: Doubletten der Münzensammlungen des Allerhöchsten Kaiserhauses und aus anderem Besitz ; die öffentliche Versteigerung findet statt: 15. Januar 1912 und folgende Tage, lot 1048.

Lucilla. Æ Sestertius (30mm 20.93 g). Rome, AD 164-169. LVCILLAE AVG ANTONINI AVG F, draped bust to right. / PIETAS / S - C, Pietas, veiled, standing front, holding acerrum and dropping incense onto lighted altar to left. RIC III 1756 (Aurelius).

Provenance: Ex. P. & P. Santamaria - Numismatici Roma - 'Collezione Del Sig. Conte B. de P. e di altro distinto collezionista.' - 25 May 1926, lot 546.

Lucilla. Æ Sestertius (30mm 26.83 g). Rome, AD 164-169. LVCILLAE AVG ANTONINI AVG F, draped bust to right. / PIETAS / S - C, Pietas, veiled, standing front, holding acerrum and dropping incense onto lighted altar to left. RIC III 1756 (Aurelius).

Provenance: Adolph E. Cahn - Sammlung Dr. Paul Friese in Berlin. - römische Kaisermünzen: Versteigerung vom 23. bis 26. Februar 1920 (Katalog Nr. 40) — Frankfurt a. M., lot 608.

Lucilla. Æ As (25mm 10.73 g). Rome, circa AD 164. LVCILLAE AVG ANTONINI AVG F, draped bust right / PIETAS, Pietas, veiled, standing front, holding acerrum and dropping incense onto lighted altar to left. RIC III 1757 (Aurelius).

Provenance: Ex. Collection of the Princes of Waldeck in Arolsen - Münzhandlung Basel - Römische Bronzemünzen einer alten fürstlichen Sammlung. Donnerstag, den 28. Juni 1934 in Basel (Katalog Nr. 1), lot 1465.

Lucilla. Æ As (25mm 11.06 g). Rome, AD 163-164. LVCILLAE AVG ANTONINI AVG F, draped bust right. / VENUS, Venus seated left holding Victory and sceptre. RIC III 1774 (Aurelius).

Note: Very scarce type, difficult to find in good grade.

Lucilla. Æ Sestertius (31mm 25.20 g). Rome, AD 161-162. LVCILLAE AVG ANTONINI AVG F, draped bust right / VESTA, Vesta standing left, holding palladium and sacrificing with simpulum over lighted altar to left. RIC III 1779 (Aurelius).

Note: A common type, but in exceptional grade, coupled with one of the finest patinas I have seen in hand.

10 hours ago, Ryro said:

Way to go on that early RR early this year!

Early in the year my first purchase was this late RR:

I had fun learning more about it, the Cosmos and ancient electric guitars here;

 

Nice one! I had a specimen from the same obverse die as yours, which is the most attractive die engraved for this type in my opinion by the way. I recently saw my old specimen is up for sale at TheNumisPlace as I sold it privately to NAC a while back. 

1 hour ago, Prieure de Sion said:

I got my last two coins tonight, which I wanted. Now it's TV time (Barbarians II) - even though I find the second season much worse than the first 🙂 

 

Probus (276-282). BI Antoninianus, Rome mint. Obv. IMP PROBVS AVG. Helmeted, radiate and cuirassed bust left, holding spear and shield. Rev. ROMA AETERNAE. Roma seated facing, holding Victory and sceptre, within hexastyle temple; beneath, R*Γ. RIC V 195. BI. 3.15 g. 25.50 mm. An outstanding example, from a masterly engraved and perfectly detailed dies. Lovely glossy light brown patina on silver surfaces.

 

Commemorative series. Struck under Constantine I. AE Follis. Alexandria mint, 1st officina. Struck AD 330-354. Obv. Laureate and helmeted bust of Constantinopolis left, wearing imperial cloak, holding reversed spear. Rev. Victory standing left on prow, holding spear and shield set on ground to right; in exergue, SMALA. RIC VII 64. AE. 2.73 g. 18.00 mm. Superb coin. Fully silvered, with golden patina.

 

 

I glanced at the TV where I had the auction running when that Probus came up and thought that might be one of the target's you were after, nice ones, congrats!

12 minutes ago, Prieure de Sion said:

Gratulation!

I have won this little bronze...

 

Claudius (41-54). AE Quadrans, 42 AD. Obv. TI CLAVDIVS CAESAR AVG. Hand holding scales; in field, P.N.R. Rev. PON M TR IMP PP COS II around large SC. RIC 91. C. 73. AE. 3.23 g. 17.50 mm.

 

But I will wait -  I have 2 other coins in the "pipeline" comes later today - will see what happens.

Nice one, good luck on your other targets!

Won the first coins of 2023 today at the ongoing Artemide auction, I will only share one though, as the other coin will be sent for cleaning first, I just need to find someone with exceptional skills when it comes to cleaning bronze coins - so if anyone is aware of an extremely skilled bronze cleaner, let me know please!

The type I am sharing is extremely difficult to find with any sort of decent strike and patina, this is one of the best specimens of this variation (RRC 17/1g) I have seen, very happy with this addition to my growing set of pre denarius Æ fractions.

Roman Republic. Circa 276-260 BC. Æ Half Unit (17.50mm 5.38 g). Uncertain mint (Neapolis?).

Obverse: Helmeted head of Minerva right; below, RO; before, MANO.

Reverse: Bridled horse's head left; before, RO-MA[NO].

Reference: Crawford 17/1g.

Here's a selection of amazing early Dioscuri types from my collection. RRC 68/1b - RRC 72/3 - RRC 97/11 - RRC 50/2 - RRC 80/1a - RRC 78/2 - RRC 53/2 (Brinkman group 4) - RRC 89/2 - RRC 127/1.

2 minutes ago, Roerbakmix said:

That is really nice. What is the 'Gallica' you refer to? 

Thank you! It is the online archive of the Bibliothèque nationale de France https://gallica.bnf.fr/accueil/en/content/accueil-en?mode=desktop 

Yesterday I did a little tour on Gallica after being reminded by @red_spork that some stuff there could be worth looking into, and got lucky not just once, but TWICE!

First I found a very nice additional provenance for my Dolphin denarius - it previously had a decent provenance (Numismatic Circular of 1983), the new provenance is: Collection E. H. Schwing D. C. F. A. C. : séries importantes d'Aes Graves monnaies consulaires, monnaies romaines / Georges Tixier, Rodolfo Ratto - Paris, 1-2 December 1932.

I was then lucky to hit another provenance, on a coin i had given up a little finding anything on, my Didrachm that I purchased at Cayón last year. It is a good 1966 provenance to a Ratto FPL: Monete per collezione : greche romane della repubblica : romane dell'impero bizantine italiane medioevali e moderne italiane contemporanee : libri cataloghi di numismatica / Mario Ratto - Milano, February 1966.

Received this amazing H series quinarius today. The coin was most likely part of a hoard found in Italy during the 1990's, not much info about this hoard exists.

Roman Republic. Circa 214 BC. AR Quinarius (16mm, 1.85 g). Uncertain Picenian mint (Hatria?).

Obverse: Helmeted head of Roma right; V (mark of value) to left.

Reverse: The Dioscuri, each holding spear, on horseback right; two stars above; H below horses; ROMA in exergue.

Reference: Crawford 85/1a.

Provenance: Lanz - Auktion 80 (26 May 1997), lot 231.

Won this gorgeous Victoriatus at CNG 121 today after a tip from @red_spork. 

Funny enough, even though I have collected Roman Republican for several years, this is the first Victoriatus I add to the collection.

It was misattributed in the auction as an RRC 53/1, but is in fact an RRC 83/1b - the rare unsigned variation of the scarce spearhead series.

It is in very good quality for the type, very happy with it.

Roman Republic. 211-210 BC. AR Victoriatus (19mm, 9h). Minted in South-East Italy.

Obverse: Laureate head of Jupiter right.

Reverse: Victory standing right, crowning trophy with wreath; RoMA in exergue.

Reference: Crawford 83/1b.

18 minutes ago, Alegandron said:

Congrats @Michael Stolt!  Well done. Yours is a fantastic example!  I really like this Denom:

I have the Quincunx... Five Unciae, or 5/12th of an As... another odd denomination.


Roman Republic


RR Anon 210 BCEAE 23 Quincunx 6.96g Apollo P behind Dioscuri Luceria 5 pellets Cr 99-4 Syd 309 S 910 Very Rare


Luceria

Apulia Luceria AE Quincunx 26mm 14.75g- Spoked Wheel 250-217 BCE Athena-Wheel Grose 443 HN Italy 678 SNG ANS 699


Frentani


Larinum (Frentani), ca. 210-175 BC, bronze quincunx, 22mm, 9.80g
Obverse: Head of Mars (or Athena, per Sear) in crested Corinthian helmet r.
Reverse: Horseman galloping l., holding spear and shield decorated with thunderbolt, LADINOD below, 5 pellets (denom.) in ex.
Reference: NH Italy 625, Campania 4a, Morcom 64, BMC 2
Grading: F , minor porosity, brown patina, very scarce
Comment: Ex - Colin Pitchfork collection. Ex - Spink America auction (NY, Dec. 6-7 1999, lot 400 - part of). From a private collection formed by a pair of Polish brothers and sold in New York.
Ex: Rudnck Numismatics


Apulia


Teate Apulia 225-220 BCE AE Quincunx 12.5g 26.5mm Athena R Corinthn helmet - TIATI owl K 5 pellets - BMC HN Italy 702a SNG Cop 689 var Rare

 

 

Thank you very much! 

Some very nice coins you have there yourself, thanks for sharing.

I am quite shocked as I won one of the great rarities of early Roman Republican bronze coinage today at a shockingly low price at H.D Rauch. Looks like Roma's auction stole the spotlight, so the coin went under the radar of most big early Roman Republican collectors it seems.

This means I can cross this type of my bucket list, the Dioscuri on horseback on bronze is such a cool thing to have.

The coin is the rarest denomination of a very rare series minted at Luceria in Apulia with only three specimens recorded in museums, and two specimens previously recorded at auction - making this the sixth known and a contender for finest of them all, the few specimens that exist are all in pretty rough shape.

Roman Republic. Circa 211-209 BC. Æ Quincunx (14.58 g). Luceria in Apulia mint.

Obverse: Laureate head of Apollo right; L behind.

Reverse: Dioscuri riding right; ROMA below horses; ••••• in exergue.

References: Crawford 97/11, McCabe L4.3 - Series L4 - Luceria City Mint - Light Series.

Not part of my collection anymore as I sold off the Mark Antony part of the collection earlier this year, but still worth posting as it is one of the rarest types (with this specimen currently being the RPC online plate coin) and the only one showing Antony and Cleopatra with jugate busts.

PHOENICIA, Dora. Mark Antony & Cleopatra. 34-33 BC. Æ (22mm, 7.28 g, 12h). Dated RY 19 (Egyptian) of Cleopatra (34/3 BC).

Obverse: Conjoined diademed and draped bust of Cleopatra, and bare head of Antony right.

Reverse: Tyche of Dora standing left, holding palm frond and caduceus; L ΘΙ (date) to left; Ω/Δ to right.

Reference: RPC I 4752

Won a coin just now at the Leu web auction, that I previously had as a target when it was sold at Chaponnière little over a year ago, I overslept by a few minutes that time (been kicking myself since) and missed out on the coin.

So it was a pleasant surprise to see it surface again, I don't collect Mark Antony anymore so I will probably not keep it for long, but could not pass on this a second time at a very decent price.

The reason behind me going after this coin is that I discovered some great forgotten provenance for it, stretching all the way back to 1924, it was later on sold in 1934. The coin used to be part of the collections of Clarence S. Bement and of Sir Arthur J. Evans.

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Mark Antony and Octavia. Summer-autumn 39 BC. AR Cistophorus (26mm, 12.17 g, 11h) Ephesus mint.

Obverse: Conjoined busts of Antony, wearing ivy wreath, and Octavia, bareheaded and draped, right - M · ANTONIVS IMP · COS · DESIG · ITER · ET TERT around.

Reverse: Dionysus (Bacchus) standing left, holding cantharus and thyrsus, on cista between two snakes - III · VIR · R · P · C in fields.

Reference: RPC I 2202.

Provenance: Ex. Münzen & Medallien AG Basel FPL 572, (February 1994), lot 42. Ex. Naville Ars Classica XVII (3 October 1934), lot 1140. Ex Naville Ars Classica VIII (25 June 1924), lot 435.

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Around 5 months ago I sold this tetradrachm of Mark Antony to a fellow collector, but sadly as of February 6 a few days after arriving to the US, tracking ceased to be updated.

I have been in contact with the Swedish postal service as the coin was sent from Sweden, they conducted a missing mail search. Their response after about a month and a half of waiting was that the package was definitely lost.

It is also the current RPC online plate coin, which makes this suck even more 😞

This is the first coin I ever bought at an auction house. It was a CNG e-sale back in march 2017. I have since parted with it.

P. Cornelius Lentulus Marcellinus, struck 100 BC in Rome.

Obverse: Bust of Hercules right, seen from behind; wearing lion skin; club over shoulder; shield in left field; I (control mark) in right field; P•E•S•C below.
Reverse: Roma facing, holding spear, being crowned by Genius of the Roman People right; I (control mark) in left field, LENT•MAR•F in exergue; all within laurel-wreath.

Next: Hercules doing something.

Once again I will use a coin that I used to own (sold all my Antonys earlier this year).

Next: A sella curulis.

50 minutes ago, Carausius said:

Agree, the attributes are Victory.  Suspect Cupid has been generally named to be consistent with the obverse Venus.  That doesn't mean the experts are correct!    

Congrats, these imperatorial sestertii are very interesting. I would agree the reverse most likely represents Victory, the Piso quinarii a few decades earlier have Victory on them with the exact same pose as the reverse here.

Sold this in January, but couldn't resist posting it as the opportunity arose here 🙂

Next: An obverse with three busts.