Broucheion

Hi @DonnaML, @Curtis JJ, @Curtisimo,

The annotations in DonnaML’s book did not end up as new coins in the 1990 expanded edition. In some cases they correspond to the added plates from Empire and the other appended catalogs in that edition. Maybe it was Dennis Kroh but I can’t tell. Here’s the comparable page for Curtis 2115. My annotations refer the the added plates.

- Broucheion 

2 minutes ago, DonnaML said:

If not Curtis, then I do very much wonder who it could possibly have been.

Hi @DonnaML,

Possibly Emmett or Zack Beasley (Ex Beast Coins, now Heritage Ancient Coins)?

- Broucheion 

Hi @DonnaML, @Curtis JJ, @Curtisimo,

Thank you DonnaML for the information!!! It doesn’t look like Curtis’ writing to me as I have other coins from his collection with holders and have seen a few others for sale online. I’ll look at my Durst reprint expanded edition tomorrow. You have a real prize edition in any case. My book has loads of my own annotations too. I sure do wonder who was the previous owner of your book.

- Broucheion 

5 hours ago, DonnaML said:

Entirely separately, do you happen to have any examples of James W. Curtis's handwriting?

Hi @DonnaML and @Curtis JJ,

Here is a Curtis coin with his holder.

CONSTANTIUS CHLORUS CEASAR (Under MAXIMIANUS 293 - 305 CE)
ALEXANDRIA, EGYPT (OFFICINA A), Year 01 (292/293 CE)
Bi Tetradrachm
Brouchion Collection

Obv: Constantius laureate bust facing right. Legend starting in lower left field: [ΦΛ]AKωCTANTI[OCK]. Dotted border.
Rev: Alexandria standing, facing left, head of Serapis in her right hand, long vertical scepter in left. In left field: L; in right field: B. Below: officina A. Dotted border.
Refs: Emmett-4169.01; G-3347 var: Officina Δ; DAT-6049 (Not DAT-6033 as Curtis holder shows); M-5089; C-2115 (THIS COIN); BMC-2603 var: No officina; Bern-0410 var: Legend KWNCTANTIOC; Mionnet 3806 var: var: Legend KWNCTANTIOC
Provenance: ex Keith Emmett Collection; Ex Olympus, October 1982; Ex Bajocc, #56492, December 1955; Ex-Curtis Collection, with his holder. See https://www.beastcoins.com/Collections/KeithEmmettEgypt/KeithEmmettRomanEgypt.htm [last verified 2023-12-17]. Beast Coins image.

- Broucheion

8 hours ago, Phil Anthos said:

So I'm asking if anybody has any thoughts about this symbol which even D'Andrea is uncertain of. Thank you in advance.

Hi @Phil Anthos,

The symbol looks like an Egyptian crown of Isis. Here is one on a later coin of Roman Egypt. I also don’t know about an Alexandrine-Tarantine relationship but @Deinomenid‘s explanation now seems very interesting. Maybe a show of Ptolemaic support via a supply of silver? 

- Broucheion 

On 12/7/2023 at 1:28 PM, DonnaML said:

("From the collection of a Mentor" -- whatever that means! -- with an accompanying old coin tag).

Hi @DonnaML,

I love all the Alexandrians! @Curtisimo identified the Mentor collection in a recent post here.

“From the collection of a Mentor (George E. Muller, Dir. of ancient coins at Spink from 1953-1982), ex Naville Numismatics 74, lot 42 (June 2022)”

- Broucheion 

Hi @mercedesq,

It’s not Ptolemaic. No idea where it’s from.

- Broucheion 

Hi All,

PTOLEMY II PHILADELPHOS (285-246 BCE)
PHOENICIA, TYRE, ca 266/265 BCE

Ar Stater (Tetradrachm)
Size: 25 mm
Weight: 13.41 g
Die Axis: 00:00
Broucheion Collection P-2015-09-19.001

Obv: Ptolemy I head facing right, wearing diadem and scaly aegis tied by snakes. Dotted border.
Rev: Εagle on thunderbolt facing left. In left field: TYP monogram over club of Heracles. Legend to left: ΠΤΟΛΕΜΑΙΟΥ; to right: ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ. Large lyre countermark above eagle's shoulder. Dotted border.
Refs: Lorber CPE-561; Svoronos-644, pl xix, 14 [25 listed]; SNG Copenhagen-482 to 483 (this on is closer to 483).
Note: Reverse large lyre countermark above eagle's shoulder.

Next: Another countermarked silver coin.

- Broucheion

8 minutes ago, DonnaML said:

Next, a boar.

Sorry @DonnaML,

I forgot to refresh. Next would be a boar.

- Broucheion 

My avatar coin. This was the coin I always thought would cap my collecting. I got it only after 10 years or so of active collecting. Sweet!

∎ References: Svoronos 1509, pl lii, 11-12 [4 listed, specimen δ subaeratum]. Three obverse die links known, per J Olivier.
∎ Hoard: Keneh, 1923 (IGCH 1708), Newell (1927), pl iii, 3.

The date should be read across both fields, as LΛC KAI A. This double date appears in two other Ptolemaic documents, a demotic papyrus (P. Dem. Fouad) and a stela (I.G. Fayum 198); in both cases it takes the form "year 36, which corresponds to year 1," a standard dating convention in Ptolemaic texts. [NB: This system of double dating is known from papyri also and is now known to have been used only between July & August 145 BCE.] RS Poole (1883, pp. lxvii-lxviii) interpreted the double date as referring to a brief coregency at the end of the reign of Ptolemy Philometor, and he identified the newly elevated heir with Ptolemy Eupator and numbered him Ptolemy VII. This historical reconstruction, or an alternative involving Philometor's younger son, has been accepted by most Ptolemaic historians. O Mørkholm (ANS MN 20 1975, pp 9) submitted that subtle evidence of obverse die wear established this issue to be earlier than the year 36 issue of Philometor alone (CPE 1121temp) and hypothesized that the double date was used only at the moment of the elevation of Ptolemy VII. More recent scholarship has argued that there is no real evidence for this brief joint reign in the dating formularies of documents. This is the accepted explanation Lorber espouses. M Chauveau (1990; 1991) suggested that the double dates on the coin and in the inscription may reflect a new set of regnal years for Ptolemy VI in Syria, exactly as can be seen on the Syrian coinage of Cleopatra VII more than a century later. W Huss (2001, p 588 n 409) expressed the belief that Ptolemy VI was already dead at the time of this coin issue; he interpreted the double date as equating the last year of Ptolemy Philometor with the first year of Ptolemy Euergetes.


ACCS #51EO/GK/CO/OC: 21-Dec-1993. Same dies as ET Newell (Standard Ptolemaic Silver, 1946), pp 9 & pl v, 3. Sixth known specimen of this type; Don Doswell has #7 (ex-Spink). ANS specimen is ANS 1944-100-78775. BMC lists coin as "not in British Museum Collection."

Ex-COLOSSEUM COIN EXCHANGE, Inc (NJ, USA): Auction 72 (13 Oct 1993), Lot #20

Next another avatar or a silver tetradrachm.

- Broucheion 

Hi All,

I forgot to mention that there is a rare Ptolemaic AE attributed by Lorber to Melos. It is BMC Aegean Islands, p. 105, 22-25, pl. xxiv; 4 (See CPE-B411).

- Broucheion

21 hours ago, kirispupis said:

There was a major hoard found in 1907, consisting of 79 coins minted in the 5th century BCE.

Hi @kirispupis,

There is a more up to date reading on the 1907 Melos hoard at JSTOR  https://www.jstor.org/stable/42662578 ("THE MELOS HOARD OF 1907 RE-EXAMINED" by Colin M. Kraay in The Numismatic Chronicle and Journal of the Royal Numismatic Society, Seventh Series, Vol. 4 (1964), pp. 1-20 (23 pages).

- Broucheion

Hi All,

Salamis in Cyprus.

PTOLEMY VI & PTOLEMY VIII (JOINT REIGN: 170/169-164 BCE)
CYPRUS, SALAMIS, Year 5 (166/165 BCE)

Ar Stater (Tetradrachm)
Size: 25 mm
Weight: 14.14 g
Die Axis: 12:30
Broucheion Collection: P-2007-01-23.001

Obv: Ptolemy I head facing right, wearing diadem and scaly aegis tied by snakes. Dotted border not visible.
Rev: Eagle facing left, wings closed, on thunderbolt.
Legend left field: ΠΤΟΛΕΜΑΙΟΥ and owl standing facing left; right field: ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ, LE above ΣΑ mint mark. Dotted border.
Refs: CPE-II 1146 temp
Provenance: NAC 29, 11 May 2005, lot 238 (listed as "Ptolemy IV Philopator, 221-205 No 238.") see https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=222012 [confirmed 30 Oct 2023]. Weight recorded there as 14.12 g; Freeman & Sear FPL 12, Winter 2007, lot 111 (THIS).

Note: Obverse die not in Mørkholm & Kromann (1984). For latest die study see EA Carlen & CC Lorber: "Silver Coinage from the Co-regency of Ptolemy VI and VIII" (INR vol 13, 2018) where this coin is pl 5, #6.

- Broucheion

Hi All,

One free PDF Islamic text covering an earlier period is Jere L Bacharach's "Islamic History through Coins". This is available at Academia.edu . See https://www.academia.edu/38559278/Islamic_History_through_Coins. From the Preface:

This second, updated edition of  Islamic History through Coins  includes over 350 additional specimens, which are listed in the catalogue section under their appropriate number, that is, an increase of over twenty-five percent from the original database. New types and examples include another Misr 353 dinar, whose date is probably an error for 355, which was not fully identified in the first edition; dirhams for Dimashq for 334, 342, and 343; Tabariyah for 336, 346, and 353; and a dirham with the mint name Mecca and the date 334. The last is discussed in fuller detail in chapter two. Whenever possible, better images of the coins were used in this edition. To aid users of this electronic version, the data on the obverse and reverse types of regular Ikhshidid dinars and dirhams have been placed at the end of this book. I hope that through the input of reviewers and volunteer readers all the errors from the first edition have been corrected, but if not, their continued inclusion and any new ones are my responsibility.

- Broucheion

Hi All,

My Murad III with a slightly different reverse legend. I can't read it, so if anyone can translate it I'd be obliged.

- Broucheion

Hi All,

Works for me ....

- Broucheion

Hi All,

A Ptolemaic bee.

PTOLEMY I SOTER (306/305-283 BCE)
UNCERTAIN MINT 03, EGYPTIAN, PROBABLY MEMPHIS ca 306 - ca 303 BCE
Ar STATER (TETRADRACHM)
Size: 30x31 mm
Weight: 15.64 g
Die Axis:01:00
Broucheion Collection P-2019-06-26.001

OBV: Alexander the Great, wearing horn of Zeus-Ammon, diademmed head facing right, clad in elephant scalp and scaly aegis tied by snakes. Dotted border.
REV: Athena Promachos striding right on tiptoe, brandishing spear and shield. She wears a helmet, a girdled chiton and a scarf falling in swallow-tail folds. Legend reading upwards: ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΟΥ. In left field: HΔΙ monogram above bee; In right field: eagle on thunderbolt. Dotted border.
Refs: LORBER: CPE-0083; Sv-0153, pl v, 22-23 [14 listed]; COP-UNLISTED; S-7750var: different monogram; BMC 06.xxx, #045
Provenance: Ex Malter "The Coinage of Ancient Egypt," Auction II, 23-24 Feb 1978, Lot 16.

- Broucheion

Hi @Amarmur,

Looks Like Svoronos 1917. See https://numismatics.org/pco/id/svoronos-1904.1917?lang=en

- Broucheion

Hi All,

Faustina, Isis Pharia, and Pharos.

FAUSTINA THE YOUNGER (UNDER ANTONINUS PIUS)
ALEXANDRIA, EGYPT Year 12 (148/149 CE)
Æ Drachma
Size: 34 mm
Weight: 23.6 g
Axis: 00:00
Broucheion Collection R-2015-11-13.001

Obv: Faustina draped bust facing right. Legend: xxx - ΦAVCTINA. Border not visible.
Rev: Isis Pharia standing right, holding a billowing sail. Pharos lighthouse with stairs before her. Legend: [LΔ] - ωΔЄ - KATOY. Dotted border.
Refs: Emmett-1989.12; Geissen-Unlisted; Dattari-Savio-3289 & 9114; Milne-2009; BMC-1338.
Prov: ex eBay seller; Ex-HA Auctions.

- Broucheion

Hi All,

One of my Alexandrian denari of Albimus.

CLODIUS ALBINUS (Caesar 193-195; Augustus 195-197),
ALEXANDRIA, EGYPT 194 AD, AR DENARIUS
Size: 17x19 mm
Weight: 2.57 g
Axis: 00:00
Broucheion Collection R-2000-05-31.001

Obv: Clodius Albinus bare head facing right. Legend: [DCL]ODSEPT - [ALBI]N[CAES]. No
border visible.
Rev: Felicitas standing, facing left, holding a caduceus and scepter. Legend: [FELICI - TAS -]
COS [II]. No border visible.
Refs: RIC IV Unlisted; BMC-Unlisted.
Prov: Ex-eBay (OLDROMANCOINS.COM)

COMMENTS:
Note 1. Curtis Clay (20 Jun 2005 e-mail to MONETA-L) :
"Roger Bickford-Smith, in an unpublished 1993 monograph on Alexandrian denarii of which I have a copy, listed 14 spec., and I'll bet that at least another 14 examples have appeared on the market since 1993."

Note 2. Doug Smith (from https://www.forumancientcoins.com/dougsmith/feac74per.html as seen 7 Aug 2023) :
"Until recently (2009), all of the specimens for Clodius Albinus known to me have the reverse FELICITAS COS II showing the personification of Felicitas standing facing left holding a caduceus and scepter. The type is recognized from the Rome mint in all the major references (Cohen 15, Roman Imperial Coins 4, British Museum Catalog 91-92). All the known Felicitas reverse Alexandria coins (and some, but not all, coins from Rome) show the reverse legend split
FELICI---TAS---COSII.

Obverses however show several different splits.

The upper left photo shows
DCLODSEPTAL --- BINCAES
while the lower left uses
DCLODSEP --- TALBINCAES.

While these are somewhat rare it should be noted that the number of different dies used on the known coins suggests that this was not a very small issue. More and more have been discovered in the hoard material currently appearing on the market. When this page was first posted (ca 2000) I stated that all of the Albinus Alexandria coins shared this reverse type but now I now stand corrected. There are extremely rare coins of this mint with a Fortuna seated reverse. I have not seen one in person but the photos leave no doubt that the identification is correct."

Here's a Minerva with helmet on another Alexandrian denarius of Septimius Severius.

SEPTIMIUS SEVERUS (14 April 193 - 211 CE)
ALEXANDRIA, EGYPT (FOR ROME) 195 CE
Ar Denarius
Size: 18x20 mm
Weight: 2.36 grams
Axis: 06:00
Broucheion Collection R-2001-03-31.001b

Obv: Septimius Severus, laureate head, facing right. Legend: [IMPCAELSEP] - SEVPERT[AVG]. Dotted border.
Rev: Minerva helmeted, standing facing left, left arm holding spear, right arm holding round shield. Legend: ΡMTRΡIII - C - OSIIIΡΡ[M]. Dotted border.
Refs: RIC IV Alexandria, 350E; BMC-0328A (Rome); British Museum: R1946,1004.791
Note: Bickford-Smith observed, the die axis of Alexandrian denarii of Septimius Severius was predominantly upright in 194, but predominantly or exclusively inverted in 195.

- Broucheion

Hi All,

My retrograde year 7 for Saloninus was posted before here . Maybe by the same mint engraver?

- Broucheion

Hi @Ancient Coin Hunter,

My other Zodiac series coins were posted before.

Zodiac Circle
https://www.numisforums.com/topic/1666-zodiac-circle-on-ancient-coins/#comment-28842
Also at
https://www.cointalk.com/threads/centaur-sagittarius.363872/#post-4664715

Aries and Scorpio (2 coins)
https://www.cointalk.com/threads/mission-to-mars.363491/#post-4639799

Taurus
https://www.cointalk.com/threads/show-me-your-bulls-cows-calves-and-any-other-beautiful-bovines.357200/page-2#post-4284283

- Broucheion

Hi All,

Two Leos.

ANTONINUS PIUS (10 Jul 138 - 7 Mar 161 CE )
ALEXANDRIA, EGYPT Year 08 (144/145 CE)
Æ Drachm
Size: 32x33 mm
Weight: 20.1 g
Axis: 11:00
Broucheion Collection R-2016-01-23.001

Obv: Antoninus Pius portrait bust facing right. Legend: [AVTKTAIΛAΔPANTωNINOCCEBEYC]. Border not visible.
Rev: Zodiac Series: Sun in Leo. Radiate bust of Helios (Sun) in right field above lion (Leo) bounding right, star above lion's head not visible. In exergue: LH. Border not visible.
Note: "Sun in Leo" is probably the most common of the Zodiac series from Alexandria but difficult to locate in nice condition.

Æ Drachm
Size: 33 mm
Weight: 21.7 g
Axis: 11:30
Broucheion Collection R-2014-01-27.001

Obv: Antoninus Pius portrait bust facing right. Legend: [AVTKTAIΛAΔPANTωNINOCCEBEYC]. Border not visible.
Rev: Zodiac Series: Sun in Leo. Radiate bust of Helios (Sun) in right field above lion (Leo) bounding right, star above lion's head not visible. In exergue: LH. Border not visible.
Note: "Sun in Leo" is probably the most common of the Zodiac series from Alexandria but difficult to locate in nice condition.

- Broucheion

Hi All,

An ancient flood coin many may have in their collections is from the recurring annual Nile Flood. Here is a typical example from Antoninus Pius and another that may allude to it by the mark on the obverse. See the intriguing article by Adolfo Eidelstein "«LIZ= 17» A Nilometer depiction on a coin of Hadrian from Alexandria".

ANTONINUS PIUS (10 Jul 138 - 7 Mar 161 CE )
ALEXANDRIA, EGYPT Year 17 (153/154 CE)
Æ Drachm
Size: 33 mm
Weight: 24.5 g
Axis: 0
Broucheion Collection R-2000-02-27.001

Obv: Antoninus Pius laureate portrait bust facing right. Legend: [AY]TKTAIΛAΔP - AN[TωNINOC CEB]. Dotted border.
Rev: Nilus reclining on a crocodile holding corn stalk in right hand and cornucopia cradled in left arm. In exergue four items: patera?, poppy flower, bird?, and ?. In left field small eros entering a rounded shrine and inscribing in it: Iς (the optimal number of cubits for the annual Nile flood). Above shrine: L. To right of corn stalk: IZ. Dotted border.
Refs: Emmett-1622.17; Geissen-1707; Dattari-2763 var; Milne-2230; BMC-1152 var
Appearance: Reverse has two ancient metal flow flaws at 11:30 & 1:30 positions.

HADRIAN (11 Aug 117 - 10 Jul 138 CE)
ALEXANDRIA, EGYPT Year 10 (125/126 CE)
Æ Chalkon
Size: 11x12 mm
Weight 1.09 g
Axis: 11:30
Broucheion Collection R-2019-09-30.001

Obv: Hadrian laureate head facing right: No legend except for I (high Nile marker?) in right field. Dotted border.
Rev: Three grain ears tied at bottom. In left field: L; In right field: ΔЄ. Dotted border.
Refs: Emmett-1176.10; Geissen-Unlisted; Dattari-Savio 1936, pl 95; BMC-891; Peus 398, 776.
Note: For Nile marker information see Adolfo Eidelstein "«LIZ= 17» A Nilometer depiction on a coin of Hadrian from Alexandria".

- Broucheion

Thanks @Valentinian,

I've updated my database. (It pays for me to proof read after cutting and pasting). I think the coins are now RIC VI, Alexandria 103.

- Broucheion