ambr0zie

Imitation doesn't mean just barbarous. Here is a coin from Mylasa that is imitating a Rhodes coin 16,7 mm, 1,95 g. Caria, Mylasa. Imitating Rhodes coinage. AR drachm. Circa 170-130 BC. Facing head of Helios; to left, eagle standing right, superimposed on cheek / Rose with bud to right. Ashton, Mylasa 69d; SNG Copenhagen 721; SNG Kayhan I 833-4. Next - another coin imitating something, either design, or barbarous, or a motif that is usually characteristic to other coins.

Fortuna seated 27 mm, 10,73 g. Domitian 81-96. AD. Ӕ as. Rome. 90-91 AD. IMP CAES DOMIT AVG GERM COS XV CENS PER P P, bust of Domitian, laureate, right / FORTVNAE AVGVSTI S C, Fortuna standing left, holding rudder and cornucopiae. RIC II, Part 1 (second edition) Domitian 707; Old RIC 394.

Good question regarding the identity of the serpent - I do not have this answer. I have a similar reverse earlier version, from Septimius Severus. 16 mm, 3,14 g. Moesia Inferior, Nikopolis ad Istrum. Septimius Severus 193-211. Ӕ. AV KAI CE CEVHPO, laureate head right / NIKOΠOΛITΩN ΠΡOC ICTPO, coiled snake, head erect facing right. AMNG I 1418; Varbanov 1961. Here the snake is not nimbate and the attribution is also generic (like in your coin). Regarding the holes in the middle, I think there was an old discussion on CT. These are centering points for the coins used in the minting process. They are found on various provincial mints, such as my Faustina II from Hadrianopolis.

18,2 mm, 3 g. Elagabalus 218-222. Ӕ limes denarius. Rome. IMP ANTONINUS AVG, bust of Elagabalus, laureate, draped, right / LIBERTAS AVGVSTI, Libertas, draped, seated left, holding pileus in extended right hand and sceptre in left hand. Cf RIC IV Elagabalus 115. Next - limes denarius

Next- Geta

There is a slight problem here as the last threads followed the Uno pattern. Including mine.

Consecratio legend with a bird reverse 17 mm, 2,56 g. Diva Faustina I. Died 140-141. AR denarius. Rome. DIVA FAVSTINA, bust of Faustina I, draped, right, hair elaborately waved in several loops round head and drawn up and coiled on top / CONSECRATIO, peacock, walking right, head turned back left. RIC III Antoninus Pius 384a (denarius); RSC 175; BMC 473.

My only Carthage coin 16,7 mm, 4,55 g Zeugitania, Carthage. Ӕ. 400-300 BC. Palm tree with two bunches of dates / Horse's head and neck r. SNG Cop 102; Sear 6531.

Link - coin struck in '92. 22,9 mm, 10,26 g. Commodus 180-192 AD. Ӕ as. Rome. 192 AD. L AEL AVREL COMM AVG P FEL, head of Commodus wearing lion skin, right / HERCVL ROMAN AVGV SC, legend flanking club, all within laurel-wreath. RIC III 644; C. 193; BMC 722.

I noticed this behavior more than once on various websites and I think that there are 2 main causes a.) they noticed/they were informed the coin is a forgery. b.) there was a logistical issue and the coin is simply no longer available. The consignor changed his/her mind, the coin was already sold through different channels, whatever. On point b.) I agree with deleting the image and the description because this can create confusion. There was a situation discussed right here, where a member noticed the same coin offered by two auction houses. It was clearly the same coin, with the same flaws. This was a mixup as apparently the consignor decided to use a house then another one. One might have concluded that 2 "identical" coins are offered - this would have meant one thing - forgery. It was not the case. But for point a.), I actually disagree. In my opinion, images should remain there as people could see and learn. So no kudos from my side. And when an identical forgery is offerred, at least some collectors can check. So yes, withdraw the coin (mandatory) but leave it there with a relevant comment added. It is not a shame to admit. It actually helps. Sure, this will not mean the forgery business will stop, but hiding examples means a bigger chance to appear unnoticed in the future. I have two examples I consider negative and simply made me avoid thouse houses for good. 1. I noticed an auction (and I was a regular customer for that house). And noticed a new category - reproductions for study. A few dozens of coins but very deceiving. Worn, stripped patina, corroded. No indication that they are reproductions. A very experienced collector would have noticed them, but not an average one or a beginner. What was even worse - most of the coins were cheap and common and an original one would have been 20 euros. The "coins" were removed - including images and descriptions. That's wrong in my opinion. I am sure most of those objects are now in collections and the new owners consider them genuine. 2. I was browsing another auction, from a different house and noticed an interesting sestertius. I tried to attribute it (the attribution was not provided in full details). Did not find a match so initially I was very interested - a 1st century sestertius not in RIC? There was only a denarius with this design. Then I found it listed in the forgeries section in FAC as a modern trinket. I notified the house. They replied after a few days "thank you, we will remove it, the auction was listed in a hurry". But they did not change/remove anything. The "coin" was auctioned and sold for 75 euros. Was that a buyer who still believes today that he found a major rarity? Was that a house employee bidding on behalf of the house to avoid a forgery to be sold to a customer? No idea, but still wrong.

Lion left 15,1 mm, 3,76 g. Greek satraps of Caria, Mylasa. Hekatomnos. AR drachm. Circa 395-377 BC. Forepart of roaring lion left, [EKA] above / Stellate pattern in incuse circle. SNG von Aulock 2356; Traité II, 86; SNG Copenhagen 588; SNG Kayhan 863.

... Pan. 21 mm, 7,17 g. Cimmerian Bosporos, Pantikapaion. Ӕ tetrachalkon. Circa 325-310 BC. Head of Pan right (or head of Silenos right with ass's ear) / Π-A-N, forepart of griffin crouching left, right front paw raised, sturgeon swimming left below. Anokhin 111; SNG BM Black Sea 869-871; SNG Munich 19; MacDonald 69; SNG Cop 30.

Geta with a reverse showing a winged character 18 mm, 2,74 g. Thrace, Hadrianopolis. Geta, as Caesar 198-209. Ӕ assarion. Λ CE (?) CΓETA CK, laurate, draped and cuirassed bust right / AΔΡIANOΠOΛITΩN (?), Thanatos or Weary Eros, winged, standing right leaning on burning torch. Unpublished. Similar to Varbanov 3657 (different obv and rev legend). Another possible city – Dionysopolis (also unpublished)

Livia 28 mm, 17,2 g. Antoninus Pius 138-161 AD. Ӕ sestertius. Rome. 158-159. ANTONINVS AVG PIVS P P, laureate head right / [AED DIVI - AVG] REST [COS IIII] SC, octastyle temple, containing cult images of Divus Augustus and Diva Livia, with figure of Divus Augustus between two reclining figures on pediment, quadriga at top of roofline, acroteria (Romulus on left, Aeneas bearing Anchises on right) at bottom of roofline. RIC III Antoninus Pius 755; Banti 1.

That is a major milestone. I wrote about my version in the past - I completed the set, bending the rules. The major bend - I do not have a Julius Caesar coin. And I will probably never have a Julius Caesar lifetime coin with his portrait. But I have a few RR denarii from his dictatorship. Close enough. For the other 11 rulers, I have coins with their portraits. Provincial or Imperial, with some condition constrains caused by budget, but they are there.

Here is coin "from the same mythological time", with another boar. For objective reasons, Heracles could not participate in the hunt: 17 mm, 3,96 g. C. Hosidius C. f. Geta. AR denarius. Rome. 68 BC. Diademed head of Diana draped right, bow and quiver at her shoulder GETA before, III. VIR behind / The wild boar of Calydon right, pierced by spear and attacked by dog. C. HOSIDI. C.F. in exergue. Crawford 407/2. And the revelant write-up regarding this myth: The classical myth of the Calydonian boar served to illustrate the need for paying proper respect to the gods and the consequences for not doing so. King Oeneus of Aetolia had forgotten to accord proper rites to the goddess Diana (Artemis), and for this sacrilege she sent a chthonic beast, the wild boar of Calydon, to ravage the Aetolian hinterland. The boar was the bane of the people, destroying vineyards and crops and forcing everyone to take shelter behind their city walls. With starvation ensuing, a hunt was organized, and most of the illustrious heroes of Greece's heroic age took part (with the exception of Hercules who fought his own chthonic beast, the Erymanthean boar). Amongst all these male heroes was one female, the heroine Atalanta, and she won the signal honor of being the first to wound the boar, having pierced its side with an arrow. For this she was awarded its hide. Although the precise meaning is lost to us, it can be assumed that Hosidius employed the type of the Calydonian boar to illustrate a claimed descent from one of the heroes involved in the hunt, perhaps from Atalanta herself.

Timoleon and the Third Democracy 24,5 mm, 13,62 g. Sicily, Syracuse. Timoleon and the Third Democracy. Timoleontic Symmachy coinage. Æ hemidrachm. 1st series, circa 344-339/8 BC. Laureate head of Zeus Eleutherios right / Upright thunderbolt; to right, eagle standing right. Castrizio Series I, 1γ; CNS 72; HGC 2, 1440.

Similar reverse 21 mm, 3,56 g. Probus 276-282 AD. Æ Antoninianus. Siscia. IMP C M AVR PROBVS P F AVG, bust of Probus, radiate, cuirassed, left, with spear and shield / VIRTVS PROBI AVG, Mars, helmeted, walking right, holding spear in right hand and trophy in left hand. Mintmark: -/P//XXI. RIC V Probus 810.

Didrachm 21 mm, 6,60 g. Cappadocia, Caesarea. Trajan. 98-117 AD. AR didrachm. 112-114 AD. AYTOKΡ KAIC NEΡ TΡAIANO CEB ΓEΡM ΔAK, laureate and draped bust of Trajan, r., seen from rear, globe beneath / ΔHMAΡX EX YΠATO ς, female bust (Hera ?) in chiton, holding spear in r. hand and patera in l. RPC III, 3006; Sydenham 196a; Metcalf Hoard 335–351 and Pl. 18–19; Metcalf Conspectus 64e; Ganschow 131d.

Grapes 26,5 mm, 11,07 g. Syria, Seleucis and Pieria, Laodicea ad Mare. Antoninus Pius 138-161 AD. Ӕ. [ΑΥΤο ΚΑ ΤΙ ΑΙ] ΑΔΡI ΑΝΤΩΝΕΙΝΟΝ ϹΕ, laureate-headed bust of Antoninus Pius wearing cuirass and paludamentum, left. Countermark GIC (Howgego) 113 – laureate head right (Antoninus Pius?) / ΙΟΥΛΙΕΩΝ ΤΩΝ [ΚΑΙ ΛΑΟΔΙΚΕΩΝ] ΘΕΟ ϞΡ, turreted and draped bust of Tyche wearing bunch of grapes, l. RPC IV.3, 8591 (temporary); Cop 353.

Great pachyderm sub-zoo. I will bring some friends for them. My first elephant, a Seleukid Antiochos III Megas Septimius Severus denarius Rhinoceros, on a Domitian quadrans Hippopotamus, on a Claudius diobol from Alexandria.

Athena 20 mm, 8,09 g. Sicily, Syracuse. Æ hemilitron. 400-390 BC. Head of Athena l., wearing Corinthian helmet decorated with wreath / Hippocamp l. CNS II, 41; SNG ANS 434-46; HGC 2, 1456.

I consider your first example one of the iconic RR designs. And no, I do not agree with the action described on the coin, but agreeing with this AND wanting this in the collection are different stories. I have 2 examples of the type. Bought from the same auction. I remember there were 3 examples, consecutive in the auction. I wanted the first. My father was visiting me then and he wanted to tell me something in that moment, so I lost a few seconds and bid on the wrong coin (2nd) as the first was already sold. Not very happy with it (I thought I was bidding on the first). The poor strike makes Tatius look bald. I ended up buying the 3rd too - also imperfect (flan too small) However I would gladly give these coins and all my other coins to have my father back, even if this means he would sometimes want to speak with me during auctions.

21 mm, 7,17 g. Cimmerian Bosporos, Pantikapaion. Ӕ tetrachalkon. Circa 325-310 BC. Head of Pan right (or head of Silenos right with ass's ear) / Π-A-N, forepart of griffin crouching left, right front paw raised, sturgeon swimming left below. Anokhin 111; SNG BM Black Sea 869-871; SNG Munich 19; MacDonald 69; SNG Cop 30. Next - griffin

A noble figure named Valerian 22 mm, 2,54 g. Divus Valerian II. Died 258. AR Denarius. Lugdunum. DIVO VALERIANO CAES, bust of Valerian II, radiate, draped, right / CONSACRATIO, eagle bearing Valerian II to heaven. RIC V Valerian II 9; RSC 5.