Sulla80

From my perspective no concern with authenticity or modern modification- just an unsolved puzzle. I have other Hadrian's from the Dattari collection that are equally silver.

@CurtisimoI like that Nomos with obverse shield-wielding horseman. The reverse with grapes and distaff leads to the inevitable question : why grapes and distaff? That said I have no explanation for nymph head and kantharos... Italy, Calabria, Tarentum, AR Didrachm (Nomos), ca. 272-240 B.C., Di- and Aristokles, magistrates Obv: Warrior on horse rearing right, preparing to cast a spear Rev: Phalanthos, holding kantharos and trident, riding dolphin left; to right, head of nymph left

I do enjoy your coins, @Phil Davis....here's a horse jumping left...King of Numidia: Massinissa (203-148 BC) or Micipsa (148-118 BC) Æ Unit Phoenicia: Arados (mid 2nd century BC) Obv: Laureate head of Zeus right. Rev: Prow left; ethnic above, date below Next: a coin minted in North Africa

My statement may not have been fair to Alexandrian mint workers, who appear to have been reasonably careful in their use of silver content. Kevin Butcher and Matthew Ponting do a thorough review and analysis of metal content from Egyptian coinage in their excellent (and dense) 2015 book on "Metallurgy of Roman Silver Coinage". Unfortunately, the analyses reported in their book end with Trajan. Here's how I understand the variability (up to Trajan): The tetradrachm was approximately 1 denarius in silver from inception under Tiberius and the variation from this standard is about the same as other provincial coinage. There is not good evidence of unusual overvaluation from face value vs. denarius comparing to contemporary provincial coinages. Debasement was complicated, but roughly follows the pattern of the denarius. Nero's year 12-14 there is debasement that is temporary. Depletion silvering (preferentially removing copper from the surface layer in a alloy flan) was a technique likely known to Roman mints to enrich the surface layer of silver. The level of silver in the Egyptian tetradrachms during the Roman period was often below the level needed to effectively produce a good silver surface layer. Complicating any analysis, the effects of centuries of burial (leeching of silver and copper over time) and cleaning (more ways to remove selectively metals from the surface). These two surface effects yield the variability that we see today in hand. I still find the extremes of this e.g. between our two coins from same year, surprising. Maybe something different going on with these coins of Hadrian?

The consistency in metal quality clearly wasn't a big priority for the Alexandrian mint or if it was, there wasn't much silver below the surface. Here's the same coin as yours with much less silver showing.

PAMPHYLIA, Side, circa 145-125 BC, Tetradrachm, struck under the magistrate Kleuch... Obv: Head of Athena to right, wearing Corinthian helmet. Rev: KΛE-YX Nike alighting to left, holding wreath in her outstretched right hand and fold of her drapery with her left; to left, pomegranate Next: pamphylia

An excellent River God /Aeolis pileon! Unfortunately, I now need to find an AEOLIS, Gryneion, Mussel coin, @Steve. I'll add another Gela: SICILY, Gela, circa 420-405 BC, Æ Tetras (17mm, 3.45g, 12h) (right) Obv: Bull standing left; olive branch above, three pellets (mark of value) in exergue (left) Rev: Head of river god right; grain kernel behind

"Æolis comes next, formerly known as Mysia, and Troas which is adjacent to the Hellespont. Here, after passing Phocæa, we come to the Ascanian Port, then the spot where Larissa stood, and then Cyme, Myrina, also called Sebastopolis, and in the interior, Ægæ, Attalia, Posidea, Neontichos, and Temnos. Upon the shore we come to the river Titanus, and the city which from it derives its name. " -Pliny the Elder, The Natural History, Book 5, 32.1 One way to have an ancient coin collection and not spend too much money: start a collection of "coins of Tisna". The coins may not be individually cheap but you will have a hard time finding any... This type in Asia Minor Coins : Coin ID #7772. My Notes on this coin can be found here: Tisna River God. Anyone with coins from Kyme/Cyme will recognize the one-handed cup (oinochoe - wine pourer). Aeolis, Tisna, 4th century BC, Æ 17.6mm, (3.96g, 5h) Obv: Head of river god Tisnaios left Rev: TIΣ/NAION, one-handled cup The archeological site was first discovered in 1860 by a French sailor M. Guichon. (See: E. Erdan, 2019). In a 2006 thesis from Istanbul University, The river-gods in Asia Minor in the light of the coins, Zeynep Sencan Altinoluk identified 77 river gods on coins from Asia Minor. Post coins of river gods, coins of Aeolis, coins with oinochoae, or anything else you find interesting or entertaining.

I agree with Phil - I don't think there is a strong norm. I recently bought a coin that said clearly "16mm (max)" - I like the clarity of this, but don't usually see it. I have usually put both max and min (e.g. 32mmx39mm) when the coin is very oval. Most coins I try to record the avg diameter. Here's one where I felt I needed to share both dimensions. Caria, Alabanda, Circa 169-161 BC, AR Tetradrachm (32-39mm, 16.2g, 12h), in the name and types of Alexander III of Macedon, Dated CY 1 (168/167 BC) Obv: Head of Herakles right, wearing lion skin Rev: Zeus Aëtophoros seated left; in left field, Pegasos springing left; A (date) below throne. Ref: Price 2460

Cilicia. Tarsos circa 164-27 BC. Bronze Æ Turreted, veiled, and draped bust of Tyche right TΑΡΣΕΩΝ, Sandan standing right on horned, winged animal, within a pyramidal monument surmounted by an eagle; monograms to left. Next: another coin with chipped patina.

I am sure that more than a few of us see our coins differently thanks to your photos and posts - hope you can get the lighting to work better on this one 😀 it looks flat to me - I'd want to create some shadow.

I don't have a hemi-Kantharos, but I do have a hemi-drachm with a kantharos on it....more on this coin: Boeotian Federal Coinage. Next: another shield (boeotian, gallic, macedonian, roman, ...)

Welll...I was a few posts behind, but I do get a kick out of owning this coin of Cleopatra III ruling with her son Lathyros ("chickpea") aka Ptolemy IX Soter II (116-107 BC), Alexandria mint, dated LZ (date) == RY 7 (111/0 BC) Ptolemy IX was married to his sister Cleopatra IV and then later to his other sister Cleopatra Selene. In 107 BC Cleopatra III tired of her son and put his younger brother Ptolemy X in charge. Reference : Svoronos 1668 "In Egypt, Cleopatra, being dissatisfied at having her son Ptolemy to share her throne, excited the people against him, and taking from him his wife Selene (the more ignominiously, as he had now two children by her), obliged him to go into exile, sending, at the same time, for her younger son Alexander, and making him king in his brother’s room. " -Justin, Epitome, 39.4 It turns out Ptolemy X was not a very grateful son, and he killed his mother in 101 BC. The people of Egypt eventually turned on Ptolemy X and Ptolemy IX returned as King of Egypt in 88 BC. Next: another coin you get a kick out of owning

A squawking griffin on the top of Roma's helmet and elephant biga on the reverse. more on this coin : https://www.sullacoins.com/post/finding-m-caecilivs-q-f-q-n Next: an elephant or elephant skin headdress

# other coins that show Victory doing what she does best...apparently when she isn't spinning, Victory is celebrating: arms in the air - waving a palm frond & wreath and dancing in front of a garlanded altar with a serpent wrapped around it.... L. Rubrius Dossenus, AR Quinarius 87 Obv: DOS – SEN laureate head of Neptune right; behind, trident. Rev: L. RVBRI Victory advancing right, holding wreath and palm branch; before her, garlanded altar with serpent coiled around top Size: 1.86g 12.5mm Ref: Crawford 348/4, Babelon Rubria 4, Sydenham 708 More on this coin in my Notes.

image, public domain, via archive.org Since it has been ~11 hours - I will take some liberties with the interpretation of "AR Pyrrhos, any of his kingdoms" and share this coin of Epirote League. Pyrrhus of Epirus became leader of the League in 297 BC. When his wife, Antigone, died, he married three other women: - Lanassa daughter of Agathocles, King of Syracuse - A daughter of King Audoleon of the Paeones - Bircenna, the daughter of the leader of the Illyrians, Bardyllis This secured peace with all of Epirus' neighbors. The other important neighbor, King Demetrius of Macedonia was married to Pyrrhus' sister. This coin was issued well after the death of Pyrrhus and is federal coinage of the Epirote League. Epeiros, Epirote Republic, AR Drachm, circa 234-168 BC Obv: Laureate head of Dodonaean Zeus right; monogram below Rev: Eagle standing right on thunderbolt, ΑΠΕΙ to left, ΡΩΤΑΝ to right; all within wreath Ref: Franke, Group II Next: a coin from any of the neighbors to Epirote

It is prudent to check out both sides of a coin before buying....this example showing some evidence of "cleaning" on the obverse: Next: an untooled AE litra from Syracuse

How about Homer, sitting on his thinking about writing the Iliad and the Odyssey? This coin from Smyrna also has a great portrait of Apollo. Ionia, Smyrna, c. 125-115 BC. Æ (22mm, 8.63g, 12h). Apollodoros, magistrate Obv: Laureate head of Apollo right Rev: Homer contemplating, seated left on his big ole butt, resting chin on hand and holding sceptre Ref: Milne 197; SNG Copenhagen 1147 Next: a fabulous portrait

I like the headless horse - I suppose that Carthage would have made sense for this category... however, I am going to go with this Autonomous coin from Cilicia Aigeai : Cilicia, Aigeai, circa 164-27 BC, AE 20 Obv: Turreted, draped, and veiled bust of Tyche right Rev: AIΓEAIΩN THΣIEPAΣ KAI AVTONOMOY, bridled horse's head left; monogram to right Next: forepart of some animal

Wow - amazing to see the coins that quickly appear in a forum that didn't exist a week or two ago - lots of nice Roman republican denarii and great looking Maxentius from Ostia. No shortage of items for the RR wish list: L. Livineius Regulus (Crawford 494/30) as shown by @AncientJoe and @jdmKY L. Servius Rufus....

Codex Vaticanus Latinus 3868, a 9th-century illuminated manuscript of the Latin comedies of Publius Terentius Afer. Public Domain Image via Wikipedia. This denarius was issued near the end of the Third Punic War in 147 BC by a moneyer who may have been the master of Terence, the playwright, or perhaps his son. A Gaius Terentius Lucanus is also mentioned by Pliny as the one who popularized gladiatorial art. C. Terentius Lucanus, 147 BC, AR Denarius, (18mm, 3.74 g, 8h), Rome mint Obv: Helmeted head of Roma right; behind, Victory standing right, holding wreath, above X (mark of value, below victory a bit hard to see on this coin), border of dots Rev: C.TER LVC, Dioscuri riding right, each holding a spear, ROMA below, line border Ref: Crawford 217/1; Sydenham 425; Terentia 10 A full write-up in my notes at http://www.sullacoins.com/ Post your 2nd century Roman republican denarii featuring the dioscuri, coins connected to Greek and Roman theater or anything else you find interesting or entertaining.

Hi Steve - a fantastic resource - thank you! Here are a few suggestions on user interface - especially as a first time / infrequent user, it wasn't obvious how to navigate. - From the home page I think a more prominent link to the two databases (beyond the menu) would be useful for new users. Maybe something simple and graphical that shares why you would use them: - (Provenance DB) it be nice to be able to sort by date or weight - (Provenance DB) when I hit the 5th page it was surprising that I could page beyond - some indication that there are more than 5 pages would be useful. -(Provenance DB) weight does allow filtering to denomination, but it would be nice to have the option to filter by denomination too (even if that were just an automatic weight filter). -(Auction Catalog) it would be nice to have some indication of how many are available online on the front page Thanks so much for the excellent resource.

I agree and am surprised the silver was workable. I initially missed the link with the full story: https://www.reddit.com/r/DIY/comments/9fj55x/i_made_a_wedding_band_for_a_patron_out_of_an/

that is just amazing....it reminds me of the story of Cleopatra's wager with Mark Antony. Detail from a painting by Giovanni Battista Tiepolo (1696–1770), The Banquet of Cleopatra, public domain image from wikipedia. Cleopatra bet Anthony that she could spend 10 million sesterces on one dinner. As the dinner proceeded Anthony remarked that he was surprised that such an ordinary dinner could possibly be so expensive....Cleopatra had him right where she wanted him: "At this moment she was wearing in her ears those choicest and most rare and unique productions of Nature (the two largest pearls known to the world); and while Antony was waiting to see what she was going to do, taking one of them from out of her ear, she threw it into the vinegar, and as soon as it was melted, swallowed it." - Pliny, Natural History, 9.58 Lucius Plancus, arbitrator of the wager, declared Cleopatra the victor to quickly save the second pearl from a similar fate. The second pearl was cut in two and became pendant earrings for Venus, in the Pantheon at Rome.

Congrats & Thank you, @Restitutor, you've put together an amazing looking site in days - it has been fun to watch and I am pleased to see the collection of people that have joined. As this thread demonstrates you have many willing to contribute to the success of NvmisForvms!