SteveJBrinkman

On 4/25/2023 at 2:14 PM, DonnaML said:

I mentioned that article on Friday in the "Coins that Don't Deserve their own Thread" thread, but am pleased to see it get more attention. My comment there was that "one rarely sees anything these days about Roman Republican hoards; mostly it's Late Roman material. Hopefully the coins will be available to scholars, and be helpful in resolving some of the dating issues that still exist." In fact, I can't even remember the last time I saw anything about the discovery of a Republican hoard, either in Italy or elsewhere  And I don't know how long it's been since a previously unknown Roman Republican type (as opposed to some minor variation or a previously unknown control number or symbol) was last discovered: I think the overwhelming majority were already known when Grueber's BMCRR was published in 1910, even if his dating theories have long since been superseded. So this discovery, even assuming that all the types were already known, is good to see.

I've observed new RR hoards that have entered into the market, several recently, but without any fanfare or scholarly publication.   The hallmarks of these hoards are large offerings  with new emergences of scarce or rare issues.  The offerings have a "brand new" appearance (recently cleaned) across all the lots in the sale, and often disbursed across many sales by different dealers.

I suspect this is the result of the cultural heritage laws that make it so difficult to report on new finds without the risk of seizure. 

@Captch,Congratulations on your first RR acquisition.  When I look at auction listings I always go directly to the Roman Republican section first.  My first ancient coin was a denarius of L. Scribonius Libo purchased from Tom McKenna June 1, 1978.  I still have the coin and I'm still learning about RR denarii after all these years.

3 hours ago, Severus Alexander said:

I've found that Wise is virtually always the cheapest option. Not to mention convenient!

I agree.  And really easy to use once you setup your bank credentials.  A few auction firms charge a wire transfer fee, but I'm told this is waved with Wise.

This is a really top notch collection.  I don't specialize in the coins of Probus but your collection is very worthy of any Probus specialist's or generalist's consideration.

1 hour ago, Al Kowsky said:

 Can all these sources be wrong 🤔?

@Al Kowsky, I don't understand the mystery here.  The first coin is clearly an issue of Maximinus II as Caesar, as attributed by all of your sources.  What are you suggesting is wrong with these attributions?

3 hours ago, Severus Alexander said:

So what's the key difference here? (For experts: do you think the distinction is legit?)

So everything else being equal,  the most obvious difference is the style of the portrait.   RIC cites the different styles of Cyzicus 9a and 11a.  Presumably the dies with the long wavy beard, the scarcer style, are RIC 9a (RIC group ii).  The 2nd officina (K B) is found with both styles so presumably both issues were from the same mint workshop at about the same time.  Stylistic differences are often used in early Roman coinage to suggest different mints or times, but in this case, the mint and officina are known, as well as the time.  It looks to me like these were simply the work of two different die cutters.  Interesting as the differences are, in my opinion they don't warrant different RIC numbers.

On 2/22/2023 at 1:36 PM, Severus Alexander said:

Diocletian at 12 different mints (mostly first issues):

Some portraits I like on GENIO folles:

Constantius at Cyzicus:

Constantius at Alexandria under Domitius Domitianus:

Constantius at London:

Constantius at Lugdunum:

Galerius as Augustus at Heraclea:

Severus II at Lugdunum:

Apparently I don't have any post-reform portraits of Maximianus that I particularly like, at least not on a Genio follis.  I'm also sorely lacking in the Aquileia department!

@Severus Alexander, I'm very impressed with your array of early and first issue Diocletians.  This is a worthy series to collect.  Most are relatively available but some are quite scarce.  I've always liked the "first" of things.

The portraits on the folles of this time period can be of very fine style, although they are not given credit for such.  Each mint has it's own distinct character.  Here are a few genio types from my own collection.

Aquileia - Maximian with his distinctive turned up nose.

Maximian again, from Lugdunum.  Still with a turned up nose but a less realistic portrait than the other western mints of Trier and Aquileia.

A very nice early portrait of Constantine as Caesar from the mint of Trier.  The Trier mint produced the finest style portraits of this time in my opinion.

Another Constantine as Caesar from the mint of Cyzicus.

London Mint Constantius

Another Maximianus follis from Cyzicus

Great collection of Roman Republican Silver coins.  It has been mentioned already, but you have some really nicely toned examples.

On 1/27/2023 at 7:11 PM, John Conduitt said:

The LON mintmark is interesting. It was only used for Diocletian and Maximian in 297, if RIC is to be believed.

 I believe the LON mintmark is found on coins of Constantius and Galerius as well.  Here is an example of Galerius from a recent CNG auction (not my coin).

Examples of these earliest London mint coinage of the 1st tetrarchy have shot up in value as of late and are bringing near $1000 or more.

Here are some first Tetrarchy types that haven't been included here yet (unless I missed one):

Constantius Hercules:

Diocletian Carthage Felix Advent

Diocletian IOVI:

Not really first tetrarchy but celebrating one - Divo Constantio with Eagle type:

I have nothing quite so tiny, but I do have some Early Roman Sestertii:

This Philip II pantassarion of Tomis in Lower Moesia has an interesting character - Pontus Uixinus being pushed down into the sea by Tyche.

Obverse: Μ ΙΟΥΛΙΟⳞ ΦΙΛΙΠΠΟⳞ ΚΑΙⳞΑΡ; [M JULIVS PHILIPVS CAESAR] Confronted busts of Philip II, bare-headed, draped and cuirassed, r., seen from rear, and Sarapis, draped, l.  

Reverse:  ΜΗΤΡΟΠ ΠΟΝΤΟΥ ΤΟΜΕΩϹ [CITY <of the, by the?> SEA TOMIS]; Tyche standing facing, holding sceptre and cornucopia; at feet, r., Pontus Euxinus swimming r., crab claws on head  

Mint: Tomis

Weight:  13.24 g

Reference: RPC VIII, — (unassigned; ID 28158), AMNG 3613

Provenance:  Numismatik Naumann, Auction 98, January 4, 2021  

It's rare to find the reverse characters on this issue with well defined heads.   Usually they are just featureless pellets.  Yours must have been struck from nearly new dies.  Nice coin, well centered and a thoughtful write-up.

Reviving this topic.

Over the years I've used many different free online tools.  As an IT applications developer for most of my career, I built various databases and spreadsheets,  and now my primary source of record is a simple Excel spreadsheet with tabs for the collecting area.  Each coin I buy goes into this spreadsheet first before the online catalogs.   Because I embed images, I never sort the list and always add newly acquired coins at the end. 

In addition, I maintain free online catalogs in both CollecOnline and Flickr.  I maintain a Flickr site primarily because I like the way it presents images, but I populate it with pretty much the same information except private data.  This private data, mostly purchase information,  I maintain in CollecOnline and in my master spreadsheet.  I also have a free catalog at Forum but I've pretty much abandoned this in favor of CollecOnline.  I am pretty impressed with free version of CollecOnline.  It really provides me with 99% of my needs.   

A couple of CollecOnline considerations:

The free version of CollecOnline allows only 250 items.  My collection is now approaching that threshold so I will need to consider upgrading to the next level at €5 / month.  This paid level allows 2000 items and had more sophisticated imaging and import and export utilities and that I might use.

If the guys at CollecOnline ever go out of business, I'd likely lose a lot of effort, but I think the risk is minimal.  The site is very professionally done and I think they have a significant clientele (not exclusive of numismatics).

My CollecOnline catalog is here if you want to check it out:  https://www.colleconline.com/en/collections/3939/fugio

And here's a link to my Flickr gallery https://www.flickr.com/photos/51600091@N08

Congratulations on winning a fabulous coin of Alexander I Balas.  Great surfaces on this and lovely style.

This was the first coin I purchased at the NYINC last week.  I have previously acquired only one Roman provincial, an AE Pentassarion from Tomis.  Now I have a collection!  

Denomination: Triassarion, AE25

Time frame: C. 150 CE

Metal:  AE  

Obverse: M AYPH OYH-POC KAICAP, draped bust right.  

Reverse:  ΠΙΛΙΠΠΟ-ΠΟΛΕΙΤΩ(Ν), Nude Apollo standing to front, holding branch in left hand and patera over lighted altar with right. 

Mint: Philipoppolis, Thrace

Weight:  9.58 g; 25mm

Reference: Varbanov 808 var. (bust and legend)

Provenance:  Martina Dieterle, purchased Jan 13, 2023 at NYINC

The coin has been smoothed in the fields but the process was expertly done.  No apparent tooling of the devices, however the final "N" in the reverse legend is missing and was either removed in cleaning/smoothing or was omitted by the die cutter. 

10 hours ago, Qcumbor said:

Fabulous acquisition from a famous collection, great !

I have something that I can share here from the same Gens, and same provenance too. Plus, if the portrait is supposed to be that of Mercury, its appearence is gender neutral enough for the purpose of this thread 🙂 

M. Plaetorius M.f. Cestianus. Denarius - Rome mint, c. 69 BC
Male head right (Mercury ?) with flowing hair. Behind symbol
M·PLAETORI – CEST·EX·S·C Winged caduceus
18 mm, 3,86 gr
Ref : RCV #344, RSC Plaetoria # 5, Sydenham # 807, RBW # 1453, Crawford # 405/5
From the E.E. Clain-Stefanelli collection

Q

@Qcumbor, Plaetorius struck 5 major types, all of them are lovely compositions, your Mercury head type is one of my favorites.

6 hours ago, Edessa said:

Beautiful coin! The following example has certainly seen a lot more abuse. The larger hole is placed so that the coin could be hung with the portrait facing. I have wondered about the smaller hole. I can imagine Seamus' wife asking him to make this into a pendant, and then catching him as he, somewhat logically, drilled the hole in the point of the triangle.

Ireland. Edward I, AD 1272-1307. AR Penny (19mm, 1.34g, 2h). Second (’ЄDW’) coinage, Type Ib. Waterford mint. Struck AD 1279-1284. Obv: .EDW.R.ANGL.DNS HYB; Crowned facing bust; trefoil of pellets on breast; all within triangle. Rev: CIVI TAS WATE RFOR; Long cross pattée, with trefoil in each angle. Ref: SCBI 22 (Copenhagen), 370; SCBC 6254. Fine and nicely toned but holed.

@Edessa Thanks for sharing.  I note the stops on your coin that are missing on mine and the contraction mark above the S.  Also, I believe the Waterford mint is scarcer than my Dublin mint example.  Interesting piece.

5 hours ago, Valentinian said:

That coin is spectacular!

Here is my best female head on a Republican coin:

Denarius. 18-17 mm. 4.07 grams.
T. Carisius. 46 BC.
Head of the Sibyl Herophile right, her hair in a sling
T CARISIVS down right in front of Sphinx seated right
III VIR in exergue.

Crawford 464/1. Sear I 446.
AJN 25 (2013) pp. 243-257 and plate 32.
ex Sternberg XXXII (1996) lot 440
ex Cederlind 129 (2013) lot 158
ex private sale 2014

Warren, I remember this coin, but it's even better than I remember it after looking at so many of these since.  The Carisius issues are typically mis-struck with large sections of the coin flat and or off-center.  This is a marvelous exception of this classic design with a wonderful pedigree.

All three are exceptional pieces, with great style portraits, and equally nice on both obverse and reverse.  Sorry I missed you at the show.

1 hour ago, UkrainiiVityaz said:

The triangle on the obverse was purposed to keep the coin circulating in the Pale of Ireland and out of England.  Of course that didn't always happen.  This piece was obviously saved early on before it could be clipped etc as evidenced by the metal outside of the pellets on the perimeter of the coin.  Also has a nice mostly deep strike with little evidence of wear particularly on the high points of the cross on the reverse.  It is a very desirable piece and compares well to my example from Waterford.

@UkrainiiVityaz,  I appreciate your comments.  It's good to hear that a coin that I am just beginning to learn about is a desirable piece.

27 minutes ago, John Conduitt said:

Nice coin. The portait's strong.

I think only the pellet before .EDWR is required, which this coin seems to have (level with the bar of the E), although not easy to make out. It also has the Roman N on the reverse.

John,  Thanks for your help.  I Think it makes little difference but I don't see the pellet before E looking at the coin in high magnification, nor the contraction mark over the S in NShYB, but these could be obscured from the flatness of the strike.  The Roman N pretty much resolves this to the 2nd issue.

Although my main collecting focus is Roman Republican silver,  over the last couple of years I have revived my interest in English hammered coins, and have started a small assembly.  Some 35 years ago, I visited Ireland and became aware of these triangle pennies,  the obverse triangle design is unique to the Irish pennies of the time of king John, 1199-1216, Henry III, 1216-1272 and Edward I, 1272-1307.  The triangle is inverted only on the coinage of Edward I.  These pennies are generally common but I have yet to find the right one, until now. 

I'm just learning about the coinage of Ireland, so if I get something wrong, let me know.

Edward I silver long cross penny;

19mm; 1.44 g.

Dublin Mint, struck c. 1280-1283

Obv: Head of King Edward I facing enclosed in inverted triangle. EDW R' - ANGL'D - NShYB

Rev: Long cross with 3 pellets in each quadrant. CIVI - TAS - DUBL - INIE

S. 6246, Class 1b ? 

Purchased from Sovereign Rarities, 13-JAN-23

I'm having some trouble attributing this piece.  The portrait is as the 2nd issue (class 1b), the most common issue, in that there are 3 pellets at the neck (right lower pellet obscured by striking weakness); however, The 2nd issue is characterized with pellets as stops on the obverse legends as .EDW.R, ANGL.D, and NS.hYB, but no stops are found on this coin.  Maybe just an aberrant die? Any advice or references to help would be appreciated.

5 hours ago, DonnaML said:

Gorgeous! Congratulations. May I ask which dealer had it?

I purchased this from NAC.  I was able to pay by check through Shanna Schmidt who is now partnering with NAC as NAC USA.  This was very convenient.