Shea19

Link: Salus seated to left Septimius Severus, AR Denarius (20 mm, 2.91 g) Rome, 208. Laureate head of Septimius Severus to right./ Rev. Salus seated left on throne, holding long scepter in her left hand and sacrificing out of patera over lighted altar with her right. RIC 221

This provincial bronze is my favorite Vespasian: Vespasian, Antioch, 'Dupondius' (AE, 26 mm, 15.71 g). Laureate head of Vespasian to left./ Rev. Large S C within laurel wreath. McAlee 362b, RPC II 2009 (this coin illustrated).

Nice post, RC…and great Christmas gift! Here’s my only coin from Bizya: Septimius Severus, Thrace, Bizya, AE Assarion (20 mm, 4.40 g). ΑΥ Κ Λ CΕΠ CΕΥΗΡΟC Π Laureate head of Septimius Severus to right. Rev. BIZYHNΩN Zeus standing left, holding patera in right hand over flaming altar at his feet to left, and long scepter in left

Some beauties in this thread…I think I may need to get some more gorgons in my collection. The Perseus/Medusa type is one of my favorites: Pontos, Amisos, Time of Mithradates VI Eupator, circa 100-85 BC. (AE, 30 mm, 19.58 g). Head of Athena to r., wearing crested Attic helmet decorated with Pegasus./ Rev.AMI-ΣOY Perseus standing facing, holding harpa in his right hand and head of Medusa in his left; Medusa's body at his feet, monograms to lower left and right.

My favorite portrait of old man Galba: Galba, Seleucis and Pieria, Antioch., AR Tetradrachm (27 mm, 14.30 g), ΑΥΤΟ]ΚΡΑΤⲰΡ ΓΑΛΒΑC ΚΑΙCΑΡ CЄΒ[ΑCΤΟC] Bare head of Galba to right./ Rev. [ΕΤΟΥC Β] Eagle with spread wings standing left on wreath, holding wreath in beak; palm frond to left. McAlee 308. RPC I 4198.

Very nice example, great portrait and I always like some original silvering. Here is my only Numerian: Numerian, Antoninianus, 283 A.D., (22 mm, 3.91 g), Rome mint, Δ = 4th officina, IMP C NVMERIANVS P F AVG Radiate and cuirassed bust of Numerian to right./ Rev. PIETAS AVGG / ΚΑΔ Mercury standing facing, head left, holding purse in right hand and caduceus in left. RIC 414.

Very nice new additions, Al! Here are my examples from the same mints, which are very similar in style…I think that my portrait from Hierapolis was probably engraved by the same person who did yours. Macrinus, Syria, Cyrrhestica. Hierapolis, BI Tetradrachm (24 mm, 12.13 g). Laureate, draped and cuirassed bust of Macrinus to right./ Rev. Eagle with spread wings standing facing, head to right and holding wreath in beak; between the eagle's legs, lion walking right. Prieur 943. Macrinus, Syria, Emesa mint, BI Tetradrachm (26 mm, 14.47 g). AYT K M OΠ CЄ•••MAKPINOC CЄ Laureate, draped and cuirassed bust of Macrinus to right./ Rev. ΔΗΜΑΡX ЄΞ ΥΠΑΤΟC Π Π Eagle with spread wings standing facing, head to left and holding wreath in beak; between the eagle's legs, radiate, draped and cuirassed bust of Shamash to left. Prieur 974.

Very interesting, I’ve never seen anything like that on an Imperial bronze. Just a guess…is it possible that it’s just pitting and it happens to be an unusually well-centered pit? I hope the experts weigh in on this one, very interesting coin.

Great coin and excellent write-up! I love that reverse legend, impressed they managed to fit it all in there…I guess it makes sense that a city founded by Trajan would have coins with unnecessarily long legends. I can share an Elagabalus and a Gordy III bronze from Nicopolis, which both have some seriously long reverse legends that barely fit. Elagabalus, Moesia, Nicopolis, (AE 26.2mm., 10.76g.), Laureate, draped and cuirassed bust r./ Rev. Tyche standing facing, looking l., wearing kalathos, holding rudder and cornucopia. RPC VI.1 789. Gordian III, Moesia, Nicopolis ad Istrum, circa 238-244, (AE 28.1 mm., 15.39 g.), Radiate, draped and cuirassed bust of Gordian III to right/Rev. Zeus seated left, holding patera over eagle and sceptre. RPC VII.2 1321.

Thanks! And if you’re into big provincial bronzes, I definitely agree that the Tarsus mint is one of the best…huge flans, and some great reverse types from there which you can’t really find anywhere else.

Very nice group, especially for your first year! My favorite of the group is the Postumus/Galley, but I really like all of your Severan denarii as well. Congrats on a great first year!

Excellent group as always…you have the best eye for Imperial bronzes! My favorites are the Claudius As, Nero/Janus sestertius, and the Trajan/Danube sestertius, but all of these are incredible coins. Congrats on another great year!

That’s a great group, very nice! I know very little about Parthian coins, but my favorite is the Sinatruces (#3), beautiful portrait. And of course the Trajan sestertius is fantastic.

Link: Serpent-entwined staff Caracalla, Thrace, Philippopolis, AE Tetrassarion (32 mm, 21.70 g), 209-211 A.D., AΥT K M AΥΡ ANTΩNEINOC Laureate head of Caracalla to right./ Rev.ΦIΛIΠΠOΠOΛEITΩN Asklepios standing facing, head turned to the left, resting right hand on grounded serpent-entwined staff and holding left arm over which hang folds of drapery before him

I always enjoy putting together these year-end lists, and I’ve certainly enjoyed reading all of your lists. Overall, I did not add nearly as many new coins this year, but I ended up with a quite a few that I really like. I’ve always been a fan of Roman coins with strong portraits, but I was happy to also venture a little bit out of my usual collecting area this year. These are my top 10(well, actually 13) coins of the year…I couldn’t quite decide how to rank these, so these are just in chronological order. 1. Achaemenid siglos- This is definitely outside of my normal collecting area, but I’ve always thought this was such a cool design (along with an interesting history), so I’m glad to now have this example in my collection. Persia, Achaemenid Empire, Time of Ataxerxes II to Ataxerxes III, circa 375-340 BC, AR Siglos, (15 mm, 5.47g), Lydio-Milesian standard, Sardes mint, Persian king or hero in kneeling/running stance to right, holding dagger in his right hand and bow in his left./ Rev. Rectangular incuse. 2. Perseus/Medusa bronze- I’ve wanted an example of this fun (and popular) mythological type for a long time. I was very happy to find this unusually well-centered example where they managed to fit all of the gory details on the flan: Perseus holding Medusa’s head in one hand, a bloody harpa blade in his other hand, and Medusa’s body at his feet. Pontos, Amisos, Time of Mithradates VI Eupator, circa 100-85 BC. (AE, 30 mm, 19.58 g). Head of Athena to r., wearing crested Attic helmet decorated with Pegasus./ Rev.AMI-ΣOY Perseus standing facing, holding harpa in his right hand and head of Medusa in his left; Medusa's body at his feet, monograms to lower left and right. 3. Hadrian denarius- A nice bold portrait of Hadrian, and a well-detailed Salus reverse. Hadrian AR Denarius. Rome, 133-135 AD ,(18mm, 3.02g),HADRIANVS AVG COS III P P, bare head to right / SALVS AVG, Salus standing to right, feeding snake coiled round altar. RIC II.3 2048; 4. Divus Antoninus Pius denarius- A common type, but with an unusual portrait style that really stood out to me. Divus Antoninus Pius (Died 161 A.D.), AR Denarius. Rome. Struck under Marcus Aurelius. (19mm, 3.26 g), DIVVS ANTONINVS, Bare head right of Divus Antoninus Pius to right/ Rev: CONSECRATIO. Eagle, with head left, standing right on altar. RIC 430 (Aurelius). 5. Marcus Aurelius denarius- A fierce looking portrait of the philosopher-emperor. Marcus Aurelius, AR Denarius. 166 A.D., Rome., (19 mm, 3.2g), Obv: M ANTONINVS AVG ARM PARTH MAX, Laureate head of Marcus Aurelius to right./ Rev: Pax standing left, holding branch and cornucopia. RIC 159 6. Septimius Severus provincial- From a fairly rare city in Macedon, and with a strong portrait of Septimius. Septimius Severus, Macedon, Stobi, (AE, 25 mm, 9.31 g). IMP CSP SEVERV Laureate, draped and cuirassed bust of Septimius Severus to right./ Rev. MVNICI STOBENS Victory advancing r., holding wreath and palm.; in r. field, pellet-in-crescent 7. Caracalla provincial from Cilicia- This big provincial bronze is a little worn, but I just loved the reverse on this. It has a very detailed galley with a full sail(!), and even has 4 rowers and a captain. And as a nice bonus, it comes from Cilicia, which was famous for piracy…it’s always nice to have any boat-related type from there. Caracalla, Cilicia (Tarsus), 198-217. (AE 34 mm, 19.40 g). Mantled bust of Caracalla to left, wearing demiourgic crown./ Rev. Galley under full sail with four oarsmen and gubernator. 8. Julia Mamaea denarius- Just a pretty portrait of a very influential empress. I have a sestertius of hers with the matching reverse type. Julia Mamaea, AR Denarius. Rome, 228 A.D. (20mm, 2.13g), IVLIA MAMAEA AVG, diademed and draped bust to right / FELICITAS PVBLICA, Felicitas standing facing, head to left, legs crossed, holding caduceus and leaning on column. RIC IV 335 (Alexander); 9. Severus Alexander denarius- This one may be my favorite of the year. It has a great high-relief portrait of the young emperor from shortly after he was old to enough to grow his first beard, and a nicely-detailed Spes on the reverse. Severus Alexander, AR Denarius, 232 A.D., Rome, (19 mm, 3.29 g), IMP ALEXANDER PIVS AVG Laureate, draped and cuirassed bust of Severus Alexander to right./ Rev. SPES PVBLICA Spes advancing left, holding flower in her right hand and raising skirt with her left. RIC 254. 10. Maximinus Thrax denarius- A nice example of one of his early “transitional” portraits…it looks nothing like Max Thrax and strongly resembles his predecessor Sev Alexander (the folks at the mint didn’t know what the new guy looked like yet, so they did the best they could). Maximinus I, AR Denarius, Rome, 236 A.D., (20 mm, 2.90 g). IMP MAXIMINVS PIVS AVG Laureate, draped and cuirassed bust of Maximinus I to right, seen from behind. Rev. SALVS AVGVSTI Salus seated left, feeding serpent, rising from altar, out of patera held in her right hand and leaning with her left elbow on throne. RIC 15. 11. Claudius II “flip-over double strike” - This is a fun “error coin” known as a flip-over double strike. After the coin was struck, they determined that it needed to be struck again, but when they put it back in to be restruck, they accidentally flipped the coin over so that the obverse was struck on top of the (original) reverse side, and vice versa. They ended up with this hot mess of a coin which has a full portrait on both sides, and most of the reverse design on both sides too. Claudius II Gothicus, AE Antoninianus (24.95mm, 3.71 g), Siscia, 268-270 A.D, Radiate and cuirassed bust of Claudius II right/ Rev. Laetitia AVG, Laetitia left. RIC VI 181 Siscia 12. Maximinus II/ Mars dragging captive- I don’t collect much from this era, but I loved this reverse type of Mars with a captive…for whatever reason, I just found something a little funny about this poor schlub being captured and dragged by his hair by the god of War himself. Maximinus II, AE Follis (21 mm, 3.85 g), Antiochia, 312. Laureate head of Maximinus II to right. Rev.VIRTVTI E-XERCITVS / ✱ - I / ANT Mars advancing right, holding shield and trophy in his left hand and dragging captive behind him with his right. RIC 169b corr 13. VRBS Roma- Finally, this is a common type which had been missing from my collection, and I was happy to pick up a nice example. Commemorative Series, Follis (19 mm, 3.20 g), Siscia, 330-333. VRBS ROMA Draped bust of Roma to left, wearing crested Attic helmet. Rev. She-wolf standing left, head facing, suckling the twins Romulus and Remus; above, two eight-pointed stars; in exergue, ΓSIS. RIC 222. From the collection of Dipl.-Ing. Adrian Lang. Interested to hear which of these you like the best. Please share your comments (and any related coins), and please vote for your favorites! Wishing you all a Happy Holidays and a Happy New Year!

Very nice list…I chose number 1 as my favorite, and I’m sure that huge Ptolemaic bronze must be fun to have in hand. And though I know absolutely nothing about medieval coins, the Frederick II bracteate (#7) really stood out to me, beautiful coin.

Spectacular as usual, AJ. Wow! Impossible to pick a favorite with a group like that, but I suppose my favorite is probably the Hadrian/Africa aureus…just an incredible portrait and reverse design. I also love that amazing A Pius portrait, the Hercules/hydra reverse, and the Acanthus tet. Truly wonderful group, congrats on another great year!

Io Saturnalia! And so sorry I’m so late with posting my gifts. I was traveling, and then unfortunately my whole family caught the flu, so we’ve been out of commission for the last few days…ughh, it’s been quite a week.My Saturn did an amazing job and got me two beautiful Greek bronzes. He was very thoughtful and saw that I like Greek mythological types, and picked out two excellent ones for me. He’s also a great photographer, and was kind enough to take these photos of the coins for me before shipping them out: (and my photo with the ID tickets) The first coin is from the Aitolian League, and has a great Herakles/club reverse, and a lovely Athena on the obverse. My wife and I had actually visited this region on a trip to Greece a few years ago and loved it, so I’m very happy to now have my first coin from there. The second coin is a fun little bronze from Thessaly with a very cool reverse with Poseidon holding a dolphin. And…it has an excellent pedigree, my first coin from the BCD Collection! A HUGE thank you to my Saturn, @kirispupis! Io Saturnalia and Happy Holidays to everyone!

Ha, I'm very happy you enjoyed these so much! When shopping for Ryro, I figured I couldn't go wrong with Tityassus...and when I saw that this coin actually spelled out the name of the great city, I knew that it belonged in your collection. I also had a great Saturnalia this year and received two excellent Greek bronzes from my Saturn. I've been out of town for a few days and made the mistake of forgetting to take pictures of the coins before I left, but I'll be able to post my gifts tonight. Some great gifts all around this year!

Wow! Beautiful group. My favorite is the Galba denarius with the Hapsburg chin…incredible portrait. I also love the Claudius/Agrippina and the Nero/Agrippina, and the Gordy III as Caesar sestertius.

Wow…amazing group Donna! Very hard to pick a favorite, but I’d have to go with the Macrinus (#13). The reverse is spectacular, and I agree with the suggestion that the portrait strongly resembles Caracalla (must be an early issue of Macrinus). And how cool is that snake coming out of his armor? That is a special coin. I also love #7…the reverse with the Hittite god riding the winged is so interesting (and well-designed), don’t think I’ve seen anything quite like it. I immediately recognized the left-facing Hadrian Alexandria tet (#5)…I had put in a very strong bid on that, but not quite strong enough 😃. Happy to see it ended up in a good home.

Link: Tyche seated left with rudder and cornucopia Macrinus, Syria, Gabala, 217-218 AD, AE Triassarion (27 mm, 9.43 g). [ΑΥ Κ ΟΠ] ΜΑΚΡЄΙΝΟ Laureate, draped and cuirassed bust of Macrinus to right./ Rev. ΓABAΛЄⲰN Tyche seated left, holding rudder in her right hand and cornucopiae in her left.

Domna coin struck after death of Septimius Severus: Julia Domna, AR Denarius, 211-217 AD, (19mm, 3.73g), IVLIA PIA FELIX AVG Bare and draped bust of Julia Domna to right; hair waved vertically and fastened in large bun on back; six ridges./ Rev. MATRI – DEVM Cybele, towered, draped, standing front, head left, holding drum in right hand and sceptre, nearly vertical, in left, legs crossed, resting left elbow on column; at feet, lion seated left. RIC 382 (Caracalla) Next: mother of an emperor

Very nice group…I voted for the Antimachos and Attalos. I don’t have any Greco-Baktrian tets in my collection, but really thinking about getting one. Yours have some truly great portraits (and great hats!), and they look to be struck in high relief on some nice big flans. Congrats on some great new additions!

Great group! My favorites are the Plotina, Nerva, and the Titus…beautiful coins as always.