Tejas

Very nice coin, especially with this rare reverse. I have a number of Numerian Antoninianii. This is my personal favourite, because of the nice bust. Mint: Ticinum Date: 1. quarer AD 283 Obv: M AVR NVMERIANVS NOB C. Rev.: PRINCIPI IVVENTVT/VXXI. RIC 366. 3.66 g.

The switch to copper came after several years of rapid debasement of the currency. Hence, people may not have taken too much notice of the final switch to copper. In general however, debasement (= inflation) is a (hidden) tax, which was implemented to pay for the many external and internal wars of that time. So we can be sure that most people didn't like it at all.

Nice coin. I'm always confused about these. Sometimes they are attributed to Karl* the Great (Charlemagne) and sometimes to Karl the Bald. I don't have a picture handy, but I have one of this type, which I bought attributed to Karl the Bald, but it is identical to your coin (only the letters are somewhat narrower). Is there anything that allows one to attribute these pennies to either Karl the Great or Karl the Bald? I shall post a picture next week, when I have access to the coin again. * I prefer to call him Karl and not Charles or Charlemagne, as Karl was and eastern Frank who spoke Frankish (Germanic) and not Romanic/Latin let alone French. The same goes for Merovingian kings like Clovis = Chlodewig, Thierry = Theuderic etc.

Well spotted. I think it is actually green, i.e. a spot of the green encrustation that is visible on the reverse is stuck in Valerian's eye.

This is probably my last coin of 2022. I have some more coins to arrive, but this one turned up today and the rest will probably arrive only in january. It is an Antoninian of Valerian I Weight: 4.50 g, 22mm Ref.: RIC 87 Not a rare coin, but the obverse is particularly nice and I like the portrait, which is somewhat unusual.

Novodels (Russian plural novodely) are restrikes that were produced for collectors. The term is short for "novel'naya moneta", which means newly made coin, i.e. restrike. These restrikes were produced by the official mints from the late 18th to the late 19th century. The practice seized in 1890, but was resumed under Soviet rule. Under tsarist rule, novodels were often produced from the old official dies, making them nearly indistinguishable from "originals", i.e. from coins struck during the reign of the corresponding ruler. How are they distinguishable from "originals"? I think it is two factors that combine to suggest that a coin is a restrike: 1. the coin is very rare (such as 17th century gold coins) and the strike is particularly clear, centered and careful. In later times, new dies were cut to produce the restrikes. Sometimes small differences were included to make them distinguishable from the originals. Novodels are sought after by collectors and for some types they are the only option available. However, where originals are available, novodels are of course much cheaper.

I fully agree with the above statement.

I can't see the slightest sign of your coin being a copy, fake or novodel. In my view, your coin is genuine.

I also like Russian roubles, but I only have a few common ones. These are all roubles despite the different sized pictures. I include Duke Peter of Courland and Semgallia. He was a German prince, but his territory was under Russian suzerainty. 1. Peter I the Great, 1724 2. Peter II, 1728 (while he was far less important than Peter I, his coin portraits are pretty spectacular, and perhaps the most attractive of the 18. century roubles) 3. Anna, 1734 4. Elisabeth, 1754 5. Peter of Courland, 1780

My favourite Theodosius coin in my collection is not a Siliqua, but this bronze maiorina:

That is a very nice coin and a great write-up. Here is one of my Theodosius I siliquae:

I am quite particular when it comes to condition, so finding really cheap coins (in absolute terms) on Ebay is difficult and rare. Here are two groups of 4 coins each, which fit the bill. The first 4 coins were all under 60 euros per piece (excl. costs). Note the Carus Antoninian with the name variant KARVS. The Valerian is very common, but the condition of this one is hard to find. The same is true for the Postumus and the Probus The second group of 4 coins were all under 30 euros per piece (excl. costs). The Aurelian has a scarcer reverse. The three Claudius II Antoniniae came in a group. They are nothing special, but still a good buy at the price. Show us your cheapest (and at the same time enjoyable) Ebay finds.

Wow, these are fantastic coins. If I had to pick three its Titus, Vespasian and Plotina, but all are great.

Here are two coins with countermarks from Kolmna (or Pereyaslavl) under the reign of Dmitry Donskoi. I probably should have photographed the coins the other way round.

The Grand Principality of Lithuania also applied its own countermarks to coins of the Golden Horde. The coin of Prince Svidrigailo is illustrated in Guletski/Petrunin as no. 2632 A (p. 309)

This countermark is attributed to Vladimir under the rule of the Moscow Grand Prince Vasiliy Tyemni. The coin on the right is illustrated in Guletski/Petrunin as no. 231 F (p. 62)

Here are two dengas with the cyrillic "D" countermark, attributed to the Grand Prince of Moscow Dmitri Donskoi. Coins with this countermark date to the 1380s and were issued in Kolomna and Pereyaslavl. Guletski/Petrunin no. 112B (p. 39)

This coin below does not even belong to Ryazan. Instead, the countermark was applied by the Principality of Spash under the princes: Boris Mstislavovich and Mikhail Mstislavovich ca 1380s-1390s Very rare Guletzkij/Petrunin no. 2403 (p. 284)

Top row: Ivan Vladimirovich Pronski (1408 - 1427). Note, Prince Pronski used a modified version of the Ryazan tamga with two human heads. He also instroduced a reverse with tamga and cyrillic legend. Bottom row, left: Ivan Feodorovich (1427-1456) Bottom row, right: Vassily Dmitrievich, with Ryazan now under the suzerainty of Moscow.

I reattributed my Ryazan coins a bit: Top row: Oleg Ivanovich (c. 1350-1402). These are the earliest coins of the Grand Principality of Ryazan and probably date to the 1380s or so. Bottom row, left: smaller tamga. Oleg Ivanovich or Feodor Olegovich: ca. 1390s to 1408 Bottom row, right: larger tamga: probably sole reign of Feodor Olegovich (1402-1408)

That is a very nice exemplar, with the part FED for Feodorovich clearly legible.

Here are some more coins from Ryazan. Note the bottom coin is a rare issue of the principality of Spassks.

Here are countermarked coins of the Golden Horde from the Principality of Ryazan: The two coins in the top row are very early countermarks on Golden Horde coins. The two coins in the bottom row show the very rare tamga with faces. These coins were likely countermarked during the reign of Prince Oleg Ivanovich and date to the 1380s-1390s.

Many thanks for the information. This is very helpful!!!

Here is a second group of Dangs that I cannot attribute: