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Tejas

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  1. Tejas
    Very nice. This is probably Tomasini Group JII 4 (no. 482). The legend is often completely garbled on these coins, before attempts to spell LIVVIGILD were made. However, the attribution is correct I think. This coin belongs to the period 565-585, which pretty much overlaps with the reign of Liuvigild.
  2. Tejas
    This type of eagle-head buckle, is strongly associated with the Crimean Goths, who didn't have royalty for all we know. I think these buckles - and quite a few of this type are known - would have been worn by a wealthy woman, perhaps the wife of a chieftain or landowner. These buckles were worn together with two large fibulae on a so-called peblos dress, together with silver Kolbenarmrings. Such assemblages were probably worn for church or other festivities. I don't want to hijack this thread, but below is a male buckle from my "collection". This buckle is in gilded silver with almandin stones, all in the shape of an eagle head. There is gold foil under the almandin stone to reflect the light. This must have looked absolutely awsome when the light fell onto the beak and eye of the eagle. The buckle has a length of about 7 cm. It is much earlier than the Crimean Gothic piece above. It probably dates to around AD 400 (+/- 50 years). This was no doubt a high status piece, fit for a high ranking noble warrior or even a king . I have not seen a comparable piece.
  3. Tejas
    Thanks a lot for the information. Here is something cool from my "collection". A massive Gothic belt buckle dating to the 6th century. This is a so-called "eagle-headed buckle", which was part of the Gothic female dress. It measures about 18 cm X 7 cm. The material is mostly slver, with glass or stone inlays.
  4. Tejas
    That is a very nice type set! Another thing that I had never realized before: On the super common SOL INVICTO COMITI series there are two different representations of SOL. Top coin: Sol turning to left. Bottom coin: Sol turning to right The second variant seems to be slightly scarcer than the first.
  5. Tejas
    Here are all of my GENIO POPVLI ROMANI follis from the Trier mint: Diocletianus, Maximianus Herculius, Galerius, Constantius I Chlorus, Maximinus II Daia, Constantine I Note the mintmarks on the folles of Maximianus Herculius, Constantius I and Galerius is II TR. I suppose here the letters indicate the second officina. Note also, that on the coins of Maximinus II Daia and Constantine, the drapery of the Genius has changed to cover the private parts. Somehow I've never noticed that before.
  6. Tejas
    Beautiful coins!
  7. Tejas
    This feature, i.e. a cross above the emperor's head, also appears on Ostrogothic silver coins. The coin below was minted in the name of Anastasius at the mint of Milan, with the monogram of Theoderic on the reverse. The cross also appears on Quarter-siliquae of Totila/Baduila from Ticinum.
  8. Tejas
    Wow, these are really heavy exemplars. How did you determine the officina number? They were probably minted before my coins. For the second one with S-F this is certainly the case.
  9. Tejas
    The first coins weighs 7.48 gr. the second one 7.92 gr.
  10. Tejas
    Very helpful, many thanks. Here is another one with S-A. This one with the reverse: MARTI PATRI CONSERVATORI The diameter is 28.2 mm
  11. Tejas
    I got this follis of Constantine I. I really like these early large folles. This one has a diameter of 28mm. On the other folles of the Tetrachy there are usually the letter S F on the reverse. Yet, the comparable pieces of Constantine I have S A. Does anybody know what these letters stand for. Do they denote the denomination?
  12. Tejas
    Very interesting thread. I have those two buckles. Not sure if they are Roman military or not. Both were found in western Ukraine, i.e. far beyond the Roman borders. If they are Roman, they could have belonged to Goths, serving in the Roman army. They may also be Germanic imitations of Roman miliary buckles. The top one is silver with engraved ornaments running around the edges. It measures 5 X 5 cm. The bottom one is bronze. It measures 5.5 X 4.6 cm When reattached to a belt, both would be fully functional.
  13. Tejas
    Thanks, I think I understand this series now a lot better than before I started this thread. I never expected it to be so intertwined with the Gothic coins, which are my main focus. I think most collectors are not very interested in these series, which is surprising given that these were the last Roman silver coins in the west.
  14. Tejas
    This coin is also from my collection. This is also a Ravenna half-siliqua of a very different and probably late style. In fact a similar style can be seen in coins of Justin II, so my coin may date to around 565 or so. The weight is 0.73 gr.
  15. Tejas
    Thanks for the comment. Hahn does not reference particular die studies. My reading is that he has done these studies himself for his 1973 publication, but I cannot say how reliable this is given that this was 50 years ago. I managed to find sales pictures of 26 half-sliquae with CN reverse. Most of the coins belong to the later light series. Only four coins have weights higher than 1.3 g. and two coins have weights close enough to 1.3 g. to be counted to the heavy series. My coin with the plan-like symbol is apparently unrecorded and it is the heaviest of all coins. Hahn shows 13 exemplars in his 1973 publication, but since the coins are selected for the symbols, he probably had access to more coins for his work. Below is a coin from my collection, which according to Hahn belongs to the Ravenna light series, i.e. after 552. The coin weighs 0.93 g.
  16. Tejas
    I'm now reading "Von Anastasius I bis Justinianus I (491-565) Einschliesslich der ostgotischen und vandalischen Prägungen" von Wolfgang Hahn, 1973. On pp 56, the author states that there are two distinct series of silver coins, one with a mark of value on the reverse, the other with variations of the cross/christogram on the reverse. Both series started in about 540 when Belisarius conquered much of Italy from the Goths, including Ravenna und Rome. Hahn says that die comparisons leave no doubt (his words) that the series with the cross-variations belong to Ravenna, while the series with the mark of value belongs to Rome. Further, Hahn states that both series were reduced in the weight standard in 552, i.e. after the "final" defeat of the Goths by Narses. Further, Hahn states that the coins were issued in "lustrum-"emissions (5-year cycles with an indiction), which are marked by symbols above or below the mark of value on the reverse. Until 552, there were 3 "lustrum-" emissions, the first 540 - 542 (without symbol). The second lustrum covers the period 542 to 547 and the third lustrum 547 - 552 included the occupation of Rome by the Goths. From 552 when the East Romans retook Rome and Narses took up headquarters in the city, the weight standard was reduced in both Rome and Ravenna. Following Hahn, I think the OP coin belongs to the second or third lustrum, i.e. 542 to 547 or 547 to 552. My second coin above (with the star) was probably minted just after 552 to the lower standard and with the new title PP instead of PF. Below is a quarter-siliqua (120 nummi), which according to Hahn would also belong to the period before 552, when the 125 nummi was introduced.
  17. Tejas
    Actually, I wonder if the OP coin was really minted post 552, i.e. after the second fall of Rome. Maybe it was minted in the period 540 to 546. This would explain the PF title. Maybe all coins minted after 552 have the PP title and a lighter standard, while the very few coins with PF and heavier standard belong to the period 540 to 546 or 547 to 549.
  18. Tejas
    Actually, I think Wolfgang Hahn is probably right and the whole series with marks of value was issued only in Rome. This would suggest that they changed the title from PF to PP at some point. Thus, the first silver issues after the fall of Rome continued with the heavy standard and the PF title and then they moved to the lighter Byzantine standard and the PP title. According to Hahn, the coin below from my collection, would represent the equivalent Ravenna issue: Note this coin weighs 1.52 gr., which is the highest weight I have ever seen for these coins. Also note the name IVSTINIAN without VS and only P in the title. The coin probably dates to 540, i.e. right after the fall of Ravenna and the restablishment of a new mint.
  19. Tejas
    Yes, it is possible that the four symbols in the top picture are all variations of the same symbol . Assuming that this is correct, I can now identify 10 clearly different symbols (plus those that have no symbol). Hahn only mentions 9 symbols (and he divided the four symbols above into two series MIB 64 and MIB 65 and he had probabaly not seen the plant-like symbol on my coin above. So using Hahn's classification I can identify 11 symbols (plus no symbol). I do increasingly think that these symbols mark minting years between 552/553 and 565. The four symbols in the top picture are curious, they look as if some letter or numeral was intended, but I could not identify anything that come close. All other symbols are easy to identify (stars, crosses, X, pellets). Interestingly, Hahn shows an exemplar with the letter S (MIB 63), which he says could indicate the second officina or the indicio year 557/8. Another question is about the mint. Hahn (MIB) says that all coins with CN reverse were minted in Rome. Others seem to attribute some (in fact most) to Ravenna. I think those with the title PF could be attributed to Rome and those with PP to Ravenna, unless of course Rome changed the title from PF to PP. An argument in support of such a change in the title is the fact that all heavy (i.e. early) coins have PF, while all light (i.e. later) coins have PP.
  20. Tejas
    Some of the symbols are difficult to interpret. Are these Greek numerals or letter? Are they all meant to show the same symbol or are they different? Does anybody have a clue? Top left could be a Greek numeral lying on its side. Top right: I have no idea. Bottom left seems different to the others Bottom right: could be the same as top right This symbol could be the same as Bottom left above, only that it sits on top of CN
  21. Tejas

    Covid

    Tejas replied to DonnaML's topic in General

    Get well soon! There is never a really good time and place to get sick, but my timing and placing was particularly bad. I caught Covid in late January 2022. I was in Irkutsk (Siberia) and the war between Russia and Ukraine had just began. Access to cash was diminishing fast and the journey back home through Russia and Finland was quite the adventure.
  22. Tejas
    Hahn stated the idea about the symbols being indications of minting years only speculatively. Hahn mentions 9 different signs, which seems too many for officinae. The maximum period during which these coins were minted is 13 years from 552 to 565. I found examples for 9 signs. Hahn also mentions a coin with an S. In addition, I found examples for coins with two and four pellets, which suggests perhaps that there were also examples with one and three pellets. If correct, this would bring up the number to 12 (including examples without any signs). So it is possible that these signs indicate minting years. Interestingly, I found one example which is stylistically identical to the last issue under Totila. This coin already shows a sign (a star), suggesting perhaps that the system with the symbols were introduced right from the start.
  23. Tejas
    This series was issued at Rome and Ravenna. I also have one from Ravenna. As we have established in other thread the destinction is the title PF for Rome and PP for Ravenna (and everywhere else). The coin below weighs 1.1 g and maybe a heavy example of the light series. The style and condition of this coin is quite exceptional. According to Hahn, the reduction of the coin standard (i.e. the aligning with the Byzantine standard) followed soon after the fall of Rome in 552. So while the first coin above was likely minted in the first weeks or months after the city had fallen, the coin below from Ravenna may date to any time between 552 and 565. Also the bust style indicates the later date. The coin above shows the Ostrogothic style, while the coin below shows a new style that was never seen on Ostrogothic silver. Note the symbol on the reverse (a star) was apparently used at Rome and Ravenna.
  24. Tejas
    Superbe coins!
  25. Tejas
    During the so called Gothic War, Rome changed hands several times. In 549, the Goths conquered Rome for the second time in the 540s. However, after Justinian had tasked Narses with the reconquest, of Italy, Rome was once again besieged by the Romans and the city fell in 552 after the Battle of Busta Gallorum/Taginae and the death of the Gothic king Totila/Baduila. As usual, the new rulers changed the coin series to mark the event. Below is a Half-Siliqua of the mint of Rome from my collection. The coin weights 1.43 gr., meaning that it belongs to the early, heavy series, which was probably minted very soon after the city had fallen. Most surviving coins of this series belong to the later, light series, with a target weight of about 1 g. Coins of the heavy series are very rare. Also note the small plant-like object above CN. About 9 different signs (usually cross, star, wavy line) are known, but I have never seen this plant. It is not known what these signs indicate. Hahn thinks that they may indicate minting years. Measurements: 1.43 g, 15mm, 6h
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