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Aureus of Tiberius struck at Lugdunum Obv Head right laureate Rv Pax seated right holding olive branch in outstretched left hand. RIC 29 7.79 grms 20 mm Photo by W. Hansen My coin was struck some decades after the one featured by @YOTHR. In fact it probably is one of the last struck during his reign. This can be discerned by the style of the portrait which depicts a much older individual with sharp features and a large staring eye, The reverse also is different as the chair features rather ornate legs and Pax has her feet resting on a footstool.

Tetradrachm of Perseus struck at Pella? or Amphipolis 179-172 BC obv. Head right diademed Rv Eagle standing right wins spread on thunderbolt. All within oak wreath, HGC 1091 De Luca 22 This coin illustrated 16.63 grms 32 mm Photo by W. Hansen This is one of the earlier portraits thus lacking the prominent neck vein that is seen on the later coinages.

Most of the time my collection will spend much of its time sitting in the dark in a SD box waiting for that great day when they are actioned off to a new owner. However for some of the time parts of the collection are being used for other purposes. 1. As frequently as is possible I do like to give seminars or lectures on ancient coins. These are done usually at the university level and I have done them for close to forty years. I do a talk once a year at the Edmonton Numismatic Society. I have given talks at the ANS as well as the New York Numismatic Club. Just recently I gave two talks at the University of Calgary, one on Hellenistic Portraiture the other on the Lifetime Coinage of Alexander the Great. The latter talk I will be giving in Vancouver BC the next Sunday at the Vancouver Ancient Coin Club. I have given a number of two day seminars on Greek and Roman coins at the University of Saskatchewan. It looks like I will be doing another in October. All of these usually involves ,e bringing examples from my collection in order to show the audience some of the coins I have talked about. These are a couple of pictures on one such seminar I did over 10 years ago. This was one of my first efforts at discussing material culture and the thus everything was still a bit crude. Less frequently I do lend my coins for displays of coins put on by museums. This is done mostly in Alberta, however once a few of my coins ended up being displayed in Sweden. This is a picture of some of my coins which were recently displayed at the Nickle Galleries in Calgary. The two coins on the left are mine.

Maximus Ae sestertius 236 AD obv Bust right bareheaded draped and cuirassed seen from back. Rv Priestly implements RIC 6 second emission 16.90 grams 28 mm Photo by W. Hansen This type can be seen on the precious metal coinages as well as other aes denominations struck at that time.

Again in response to @NewStyleKing I have thought about this issue for some time now and I can now say that when trying to examine the symbology on ancient coins, it would be wise to look at the coins of the Roman Republic. Because we have the name of the moneyer, some history of the individual as well as his family, along with the types he employs we can see clearly the differing relationships between the individual and his badge. I cannot go into detail because the subject is so vast but I will post a couple of examples. Ar Denarius of Q. Caecilius Metellus Pius Northern Italian Mint 80 BC Obv Head of Pietas right diademed Rv Elephant advancing left Crawford 374/1 RBW 1396 This coin illustrated 3.90 grms 18 mm Photo by W. Hansen His ancestor won the Battle of Panormus in 250 BC capturing a large number of Carthaginian elephants. The Caecilia Metelli ever afterwards adopted the image of an elephant as their totemic symbol. Metellus Pius played an important role in the civil war between Sulla and Marius. Ar Denarius of C. Vibius Pansa 48 BC. Obv Mask of bearded Pan right Rv Jupiter Auxurus seated left Crawford 449/1a 4.04 grms 18mm Photo By W. Hansen This is No longer My Coin Here we see a type which is a cunning allusion to the name Pansa. The Roman moneyers appear to enjoy puns and thus there are a large number of these types of coins within the Republican series. We just have to look at coins struck by Q. Pomponius Musa, L Philippus and many others to see this phenomenon in action. Furthermore there are those coins that are commenting on what for them would be current issues. Though we have no real knowledge of the moneyers in the Greek world we must assume that to one degree or another the same phenomenon may be occuring in other mints as well. Thus the image of Artemis from the mint of Lampsakos could easily be a totem, a pun or possibly even be due to current events.

I cannot say however just a very quick search on the CNG site, I can find Demeter featured heavily at Metapontion Petella Enna as well as Mytilene Persephone appears at Syracuse as well. As for Eleusinian imagery I really cannot say. Most cultic activity in other than major centers is all but unknown as it is unrecorded in the sources. As for Lampsakos, I am following Thompson. She ascribed these coins to the mint of Lampsakos because the next major grouping used as a symbol two Pegasos foreparts back to back . A Pegasos foreparts is a longstanding device seen on the coins of Lampsakos. Looking at the coins in her book I can see a stylist similarity between both groups.

In response to @Pantoffel I am very pleased that you like the thread. I had done some work on this subject during the old CT days but when I started this I wanted to keep everything together so people might have a chance to find it. When I started this I did not think it would get this big. I still have to look at a few more mints. Yor coin is indeed from Salamis. It is Price 3139 and I date it to 328?-323 BC, The placement of Zeus' legs on the reverse is very similar to one of the coins struck at Arados. I too struck out on one coin. I was after the Sidon pictured above. Unrequited love. As for @robinjojo I would say your attribution is correct. The Troxell number for your coin is Group F 2. So I would say that your coin would most probably been struck sometime in the date range you have indicated. Lovely coin too.

Some weeks ago on May 11 2023 Roma Numismatics had their E Sale 109. What was particularly noteworthy about this sale was the number of coins struck during the lifetime of Alexander III of Macedon. I did not at the time think it would be right to comment on these coins at the time I had always planned to make some observations on some of the coins featured in this auction. However it must be noted that NONE OF THESE ARE MY COINS. All the coins are from Roma Numismatics E Sale 109 which was held on May 11 2023 All the pictures come from that auction as well Ar Tetradrachm of Alexander III Amphipolis Standard types 332-326 BC Janiform head Price 6 Troxell A3 17.09 gms 30mm Lot 260 This coin is among the earliest Alexander type coinages that were struck at Amphipolis. This coin shares the same symbol as one of the issues of tetradrachms stuck in the name and types of Philip II. The dating that I gave above is me being conservative. What is remarkable is that because the flan is so broad, some of the metal was not struck by the punch die giving us a good idea as to what this die might have looked like. Ar Tetradrachm of Alexander III Amphipolis Standard types 326-323 BC Macedonian Shield Price 57 Troxell D2 16.61 grms 25mm Lot 261 Group D is the last issue struck during Alexander's lifetime. Troxell knew of 216 coins divided into 12 issues. The number of coins known to her is roughly comparable to her groups A and B though the number of issues are 5 and 7 respectively. This may suggest that this group was struck over some time. One thing that is a bit unusual and more than a little troubling is the weight and diameter of this coin. The coin is about .7 grams too light. There is no easy explanation for this though I cannot see anything that would cause me to think it is modern. Ar Tetradrachm of Alexander III Tarsos Standard types Likely 333 BC Pellet. Price 2990 17.27 grms 26mm Lot 268 Price list this coin as being the first of the issues listed for Tarsos. It certain appears to have preceded the A and B issues associated with Balakros. What is interesting about this coin as well is that the engraver of the obverse die appears to have stayed around for a number of years as one can see his handiwork on the great "plow" series of coins which started possibly as late as 324 BC. Ar Tetradrachm of Alexander III Tyre Standard types 331-330 BC M Price 3240b 17.15 grms 24 mm Lot 273 This coin is one of the earlier issues from the mint of Tyre and is roughly contemporaneous with the one from my collection cited above. Unlike many of the coins from Tyre this one is undated. Ar Drachm of Alexander III Tyre Standard types 327/6 BC ?? -i o / Price 3249 var 3.99 grms 18 mm Lot 274 This coin is an unusual example of a drachm struck from one of the Levantine mints. It does present us with a problem as / is the Phoenician designation for 10. This would give this coin the nominal date of 337/6 BC which is too early. I believe that the die cutters simply missed on diagonal line thus the date should have read // or twenty, Ar Tetradrachm of Alexander III Sidon Standard types 332 BC Price 3467 17.21 grms 24 mm Lot 278 What vaguely looks like a K superimposed over an X is part of the date. This coin is part of one of the first dated issues from the mint of Sidon These were just a few of a number of coins that i found interesting in this auction. I did try to win one of the coins the Sidon but it went for more than I was willing to pay.

I remember the early days of the internet. These were the days when the site was an actual auction site, not a bunch of "Buy it Nows" There were many great coins on offer and they were very inexpensive. This was back around the time of the Millenium I remember during one auction being hosted by AAH (Ancient Auction House) I bought these three coins. Trajan Ar Denarius 112-113 AD ALIM ITAL RIC 243 Severus Alexander Ar Denarius 232 AD IOVI PROPVGBATORI RIC 239 Severus Alexander Ar Denarius Victory Inscribing VOT X on shield RIC 219 NONE OF THESE ARE MY COINS ANYMORE Paid just over $100 US for the three. Shipping was like $10. Essentially EBay ended most dealer FPLs. It also meant that many of my $100 coins were no longer $100 coins.

I too have a similar history to both @Qcumbor and @Valentinian I have been collecting for over 50 years and there are many things I remember not to fondly about that period of time. One thing I had to do was buy issues of magazines and newspapers like Coin World (an excellent coin newspaper by the way but for ancients not so much) just to get the adds. Then I would contact the dealer and hopefully have him send me a list. Once getting the list I would excitedly look through it and find coins that I wanted phone him up (which usually cost me more than $10 a call back in the 1980's) just to find out that just about every coin I like was gone. Then there would be a mad dash just to get anything...... of course in the back of my mind I am thinking "If I don't get anything will he keep sending me catalogues." One of the things that @Valentinian mentions is the overhead of producing these lists. That meant that many lower value coins were overpriced by quite a bit in order to justify their place in a list. So "Oh look a Constantine II Ae 3 Aquileia mint in VF virtually no silvering only a hundred dollars. Must buy. Otherwise they probably will not send me another FPL". I live in the Mountain Standard Time zone. This meant that I could not deal with most dealers on the east coast, because by the time I got home from work, they were closed. Phoning Europe was even worse about $25 dollars a call, and staying up past midnight to call. As I had to be at work at 7 AM this meant a night of virtually noo sleep. With FPLs see situation above, but possibly worse. Once in a while I would get lucky. I got this guy. Constantine I Ae siliqus 336-337 AD Obv Head of Constantine I right eyes looking up to God. Rv Victory advancing left RIC 105 2.41 grms 19 mm Photo by W. Hansen In Edmonton there was a store called Mikes that only sold magazines and newspapers some of which were numismatically orientated. For a while Stanley Gibbons a well respected London firm that specialized in stamps opened up a numismatic branch which after a few years cratered. This coin was one of the coins I found in their FPL's.

In response to @NewStyleKing. I do not believe that it is the 1970 UNESCO accord that is creating all the angist but the various MOUs between the United States and various countries around the Mediterranean basin. On top of that, there are those restrictions that are coming out of Europe. I am afraid I do not know much about these, but I am sure when I find out I am very certain that I will not like them. I live in Canada, and while it is a great place to live the ancient coin market is very small, and as a result my coins will have to cross borders. I have done so already many times. Some 15 of my coins are currently in CNG auctions. I do not think there is a problem now or even for the foreseeable future but....... In regard to provenance, yes it would be nice if every ancient coin had one. But that will never be the case for all of them. This issue is new and upto even a few years ago, not considered to be of any importance. On January 14 2022 at the NYINC I bought this coin. Antonianus of Carausius London Mint 286-293 AD Ae antoninianus. Obv Bust right radiate draped and cuirassed. Rv Pax standing left. RIC 101 3.48 grms 23mm Photo by W. Hansen When I purchased the coin all I knew was that the vendor had acquired it the previous year from another dealer. However, I liked the coin and thinking 'UK must be safe' bought the coin. So all I had was a vague idea that it showed up in 2021. I have since discovered that coin was in a NAC Auction E Lot 3204 April 4 1995 It is clear than neither the guy I bought the coin from or the one who sold it to him knew anything about this 1995 provenance. There are a lot of coins out there like that. To illustrate the point this is a page of coins listed in the Trau collection auctioned of by Adolf Hess in Luzern Switzerland May 22 1935 The coins being listed are all of the Emperor Gallienus; Note only a few of the antoninianii are illustrated about one in ten. Further there are over 400 coins sold in a series a bulk lots each except for the last lot 100 coins each. How many coins sitting in current collections came from those bulk lots I have no idea. I agree that every one of us has the right to enjoy his collection the way he see fit. If one does not care about provenance all the power to you. However I wouldn't disparage those who find it interesting.

Castulo Ae 30 circa 150 BC Obv Diademed male head right Rv sphinx advancing right SNG BM 129 15.14 grms 30 mm Photo by W,Hansen This creature looks to be closer to the Greek sphinx not the Egyptian one.

Septimius Severus Ar Denarius 206 AD Obv Head right laureate. Rv Arch of Septimius Severus RIC 259 Elkins 140 3.47 grms 19 mm Photo by W. Hansen This is an image of what the structure may have looked like upon completion This what the structure looks like today

Rhodes Ar Stater 340-320 BC Obv Head of Helios facing slightly to the right, Rv Rose. Ashton 98 HGC 1433 6.88 grms 20 mm Photo by W. Hansen At about the time that Alexander was busily campaigning in Asia Minor Rhodes gave up on the Chian standard and started minting didrachms at a standard all their own. The types remained essentially the same however at least in this case the quality of the engraving was very high. The three quaters facing head is a very difficult design to get right.

Taras Ar Nomos 280-272 BC Obv Horseman with one lance at the ready and carrying two more and a shield on prancing horse right. Rv Phalantos in the act of dismounting from a dolphin right below elephant. Vlasto 712 Rutter HN 999 6.41 grms 22 mm Photo by W. Hansen Owing to a complete lack of appreciation for the Tarentines love of potty humor the Romans declared war. The Tarentines called on Pyrrhus to help and the war was on. This coin is also minted during the period of the Pyrrhic war. The obverse features what is most likely a light cavalryman. Essentially he would ride up on to an enemy formation and shower them with javelins. He would not come to grips with the enemy, instead he would hope that his missile attack would cause the enemy formation to lose cohesion. His large round shield would be used in lieu of armor to protect him from enemy missile attack. The elephant seen below Phalantos is an none too subtle reference to Pyrrhus and his troop of war elephants.

Athens Ar Tetradrachm 353-290 BC Obv Helmeted head of Athena right. Rv Owl standing right head facing. HGC 1599 17.17 grms 20 mm Photo by W. Hansen The floral device on the bowl of the helmet is what gives this type its name as it does resemble the \greek letter pi. This group is seperated by the previous issue of profile eye owls by their unusual method of manufacture. The flans of worn out "mass coinage" tetradrachms were folded over an restruck with this new design. However not all. It would appear that this style of coin was retained long after the supply of worn out tetradrachms were used up.

Back in March 2006 I paid 125 Euros for this coin. The coin was in a Rauch Auction and was remaindered. Trajan Ae Dupondius 101-102 AD Obv Head right radiate Rv Abundantia seated left RIC 428 Woytek 96a 13.52 grms 28 mm Photo by W. HansenBack in those days I was what would be called an estimate bidder, and I was very found of going through remainder lots to find coins overlooked by other collectors. I was rather successful in acquiring remainders so much so that I used to characterize my collection as the "Unwanted " Ancient coin collection

Some of the flans presented thus far are quite ..... what can I say??? Impressive This one for a siliqua is not so great. Ar Pre Reform Siliqua of Constantius II Sirmium 350-355 AD Obv Bust right draped and cuirassed wearing rosette diadem. Rv Inscription within wreath. RIC 66 2.83 grms 20 mm Photo by W. Hansen

Constantine II Ae Follis Sirmium 324-325 AD Obv Bust right laureate draped and cuirassed. Rv Victory advancing right carrying trophy and spurning bound captive. RIC 50 3.00 grm 18 mm Photo by W. Hansen This coin celebrated a defeat inflicted upon the Alemanni. This victory was most likely won by Crispus who at about this time fell out of favor with Constantine I.

However it must be pointed out that while much of Price's chronology has been discredited, we must thank him for it was not for his courage in taking on this mammoth project, none of the subsequent work would not have been undertaken. In fact his work accelerated the interest in the coinage of Alexander. This is true of virtually all of the seminal works on ancient numismatics. I remember the intense debate surrounding the New Style Athenian coinage after Margaret Thompson's book came out. As books are in effect "frozen" they have to stand on their merits. However, by encouraging debate they are priceless.

Very interesting and very well thought out. I agree with your reservations on the placement of mints. I have to deal with that as well and the problem is extremely vexing. Great work I love it.

I just saw this on Quora. It is a picture of a giant pile of Roman nails. They were probably going to use them building fortifications when the word came "Pack up boys we are heading back south." I remember seeing two of these in our little university collection of antiquities here in Edmonton I wonder how many survive. I imagine a good many were converted into something "useful".

Link Pseudo Athenian Owl Tetradrachm of Athenian type Stuck by Mazakes as Satrap of Mesopotamia?331-330 BC During the reign of Alexander III Obv Helmeted head of Athena right. Rv Owl standing right head facing Aramaic legend to right. Sear CCV II 6154 16,98 grms 20 mm Photo by W. HansenThis coin is at best a loose interpretation of an issue from Athens circa 390 BC. The attribution to Mazakes appears secure, however I have to wonder if the place of mintage is not Mesopotamia but perhaps somewhat further east.

Many years ago I had something of the same issue. At the time I was collection the coins of the Roman mint of Carrhae in Mesopotamia. For a while everything was great and then came the drought. All my sources died up and I was getting Nada. I assumed that my nemesis was another collector. I contacted the auction house and asked them if they could contact this other individual so that I could open up a line of communication and they did and later he did. He collected the coins of Mesopotamia. We correspond regularly and some years later he purchased my collection. I would suggest that you try the same. However, I would say that their are a number of 'coin hoovers" out there who have really deep pockets and are trying to duplicate the British Museum or the ANS.

Denarius of Orbania 225-227 AD Obv bust right draped and diademed Rv Concordia seated right holding patera in right hand and cradling 2 cornucopia in her left. RIC 319 2.57 grms 19 mm Photo by W. Hansen