hotwheelsearl

I agree. SMAQS - probably mint secunda in Aquileia

This Salonina really captures some of her personality, whatever that may have been.

I think this portrait of Licinius is the most veristic and individualistic I have.

Lucy isn't just Emperor X, he looks like a specific guy, weird Uncle Steve who always has a beer in one hand at gatherings, or something.

I always thought it interesting that the breakaway Gallic empire somehow hired the most talented celators for their coinage; I find that often times Gallic coins of this era are much higher quality than portraits from back in Rome.

Here's a really high quality portrait on Claudius, complete with barbarian mustache. I sold this for $7. I regret it every day.

Found this in a lot of 1000 uncleaned. This looked bronze at first until I cleaned it.

I also found this Leo I in another giant lot.

A common lyre in uncommon condition

I have a few methods. Sodium hydroxide will destroy green and blue patina. If the coin is already brown, you're good to go.

Sodium thiosulfate is a silver miracle. It does not damage the silver or the patina, but will remove any iron oxides or other encrustatinons.

5 hours ago, Roman Collector said:

Can't believe it hammered for 800 CHF.

Somehow coins I own that are of superior quality fail to sell at $20 on eBay. I guess I need to change my ebay username to "Roman Antiquities Stop" or something.

I think this one is pretty spectacular.

I don't have too many of these. Here's a somewhat unusual silvered one.

This Carausius has a little bit of silvering, especially on the reverse. I need a better pic.

My favorite Valerian reverse is this one, showing both Valerian and Gallienus clasping hands. How neat!

Here's a very long obverse on Gallienus.

IMP CP LIC GALLIENVS PF AVG

Love the galley.

A great imitation of Arles. Somehow the imitator just didn't understand the concept of a standard. Instead of one pole with a flag, you get two "chains" and a basic representation of something on it. I wonder if the celator was provided a real poor example of an official issue. The emperor's drapery on official issues hangs down on the right field side, so it could be that the engraver mistook the drapery for a second staff of the standard.

And this one which almost looks fake, from Cyzicus.

I like how the galley guy either holds a Nike, or a Phoenix. Curiously, the phoenix is exactly the same as the ones you find on the AE18 FEL TEMP phoenix-on-mound coins.

And the details on the galley itself can either be astounding, or just completely garbled.

I love the patina on this one. Nice reverse, especially.

Fun thread.

Here's the famous Fish-inius I:

Our man's also known as a Meathead around these parts, with more neck than head.

On 7/29/2022 at 7:56 PM, Curtis JJ said:

Wow, Alexandria wouldn't have been my first guess! Good find. 

I've found that typically coins with two letters (LZ, LA, etc) tend to be Alexandrian.  I couldn't find this particular one anywhere, but our boy @shanxi was a super hero! I was really not expecting Domitian.

Volusians of Antioch have some of the most garbled Latin legends I've ever seen.

This one is something like CALVSSIANO

I have this coin of...somebody (Claudius? Tiberius? I was unsuccessful in my search - can't be that hard, how many coins have L-Z with an Apis bull? It's 22mm (probably a diobol) if you feel like taking a crack) that was in rough shape when I got it. Much of the patina was lost, splotchy, and otherwise muted and unappealing.

So I slathered some Ren Wax on it, and lo and behold... it changed the color somewhat. Didn't reveal a whole lot of additional detail, but this seems to be a common thing with Rex Wax - it "hydrates" (for lack of better words, I know there's no water in the compound) the "dry" parts of the coin, sort of like how wood looks like after some Old English.

The coin is still splotchy and unappealing, but now it looks a bit more normal, I think.

Gallienus love thread! Here's my rarest!

My smallest campgate, at 12mm, of Arcadius:

My best campgate, with nearly full silvering:

On 7/25/2022 at 5:32 AM, seth77 said:

Hi @hotwheelsearl -- none of your coins is a 'civic issue' they are both with Imperial portraits. 'Civic' issues usually have the local Tyche or a god/goddess, often with local connotations, instead of the emperor. Yours are 'provincial' issues. Another difference is I think regarding the intended use: 'civic coinage' was theoretically confined to the city use while coinage with Imperial portraits circulated more widely throughout the general area and/or province.

Thanks for the knowledge!

17 hours ago, robinjojo said:

Nice catch at a great price!  

Does the coin have powdery deposits?  That's the sign of active bronze disease.  The hard patches are probably inert and they're usually hard as concrete.

You're probably familiar with the following process to remove BD, but if not, here it is:

I've used sodium sesquicarbonate powder mixed with heated distilled water (not tap water) to create a bath for bronzes with BD.  If the BD is thick, the coin may need to remain in the bath for a week or two.  The water changes to a green color, indicating that the bronze disease is being neutralized, and it may be necessary to change the water with more sodium sesquicarbonate.  BD can be very persistent.  I've had coins that I thought were successfully treated, only to see the BD return, so back into a new bath goes the coin.  I forgot to mention to thoroughly rinse the coin with distilled water between treatments, and make sure all moisture is removed.  Some collectors put the coin in an oven at a very low temperature - 200 should be the top end.  I live in a climate with usually very low humidity, except during the rainy season (but the rains have essentially stopped) so coins dry out pretty quickly without the aid of the oven.

Now you need to be very sure that the coin has BD.  I say this because the treatment, especially is extended, will remove almost all of the coin's patina, in addition to the BD, so you could end up with a rough looking coin with bare surfaces, which will darken with time, but the smoothness of the patina will be basically gone.

You could leave the coin out and observe it to see if it develops powdery deposits.  If it does, then proceed with the treatment.  Sodium sesquicarbonate (alkali washing soda) can be purchased online, or your local hardware might stock it.

Good luck.

Here's my Tiberius II Constantine 30 nummi, Cyzicus.  This coin came from CNG back in the late 1980s.

Tiberius II Constantine, Cyzicus, Officina B, 30 nummi, 578-582 AD.  CNA XIX.

12.1 grams

 

 

 

Thanks, it definitely has active BD with powdery green that comes right off with a fingernail. The darker green appears to be inert malachite. In the past I've been able to have quick results with some concentrated NaOH, but I like the malachite! I'm just sticking with some distilled for now, and see how it works out.

Maybe I should just sacrifice this to the sodium sesquicarbonate gods...

3 hours ago, John Conduitt said:

The other one might be RPC 2453 https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=3506370

You found it! Amazing. I couldn't find one on Wildwinds with the LH in right field. I've never been good at using acsearch.