Broucheion

Hi All, DIOCLETIAN (ca Sep 284 - ca Apr 305 CE) ALEXANDRIA, EGYPT Year 12 (29 Aug 295 - 28 Aug 296 CE) Bi Tetradrachm Size: 19 mm Weight: 6.77 g Axis: 0 Broucheion Collection R-2017-01-22.001 Obv: Diocletian laureate cuirased bust facing right. Legend: ΔIOKΛHTI - ANOCCЄB. Dotted border. Rev: Serapis bust wearing himation, modius on head, facing right. In Left field: LI; In right field: Star (*) over B above palm frond. Dotted border Refs: Emmett-4074 var (No star above B); Geissen-3275 var (No star, has palm, date placement; Dattari-5744 var (No star above B); Curtis-2018 var (No star/Date placement); BMC-Unlisted. Prov: Ex Naville Numismatics (London, UK): Live Auction 28 (22 Jan 2017), Lot #302. - Broucheion

Hi All, I just discovered a book online for free (open access) or as a hard copy you can buy. It’s “Roman Provincial Coinage of Bithynia and Pontus during the Reign of Trajan (98-117 AD)” by Barbara Zając. See https://www.archaeopress.com/Archaeopress/Products/9781803274652 . Enjoy. - Broucheion

Hi All, Harvey Shore in the Jan 1996 issue of The Celator makes the argument that this type is the real Tribute Penny of the King James' Bible. I'm not sure if the PDF is still available online at Forvm on on the Archive.org. Shore concludes: "This is convincing, but not conclusive [ie, his arguments]. One swallow doesn't make a summer. Yet I found no contrary evidence, and so (on the balance of probabilities) it seems highly likely to me that the title of the Tribute Penny should these days be reassigned to the denarius of Augustus bearing the two Caesars on its reverse (Cohen 43, RIC 350, 8MC 519)." (Image below from the article). I don't collect Roman coins so I can offer no opinion of my own. I'm just noting something interesting. - Broucheion

Hi @dragonwalker and @ambr0zie, Did you know that Harvey Shore in the Jan 1996 issue of The Celator makes the argument that this type is the real Tribute Penny of the King James' Bible. I'm not sure if the PDF is still available online at Forvm on on the Archive.org. Shore concludes: "This is convincing, but not conclusive [ie, his arguments]. One swallow doesn't make a summer. Yet I found no contrary evidence, and so (on the balance of probabilities) it seems highly likely to me that the title of the Tribute Penny should these days be reassigned to the denarius of Augustus bearing the two Caesars on its reverse (Cohen 43, RIC 350, 8MC 519)." I don't collect Roman coins so I can offer no opinion of my own. I'm just noting something interesting. - Broucheion

Dear @Ancient Coin Hunter, Consider yourself blessed. I live in a suburb outside of NYC. Service was better when I was in Manhattan than out here. I will qualify my earlier post by saying things took a very rapid downturn here as the Pandemic set in. - Broucheion

Hi All, My latest Ptolemaic, a trihemiobol (3/4 Obol) of Alexandria. This one came from Australia and took 46 days to arrive, mainly languishing over 2 weeks in my local post office. The USPS carrier refuses to deliver any item to my door if it requires a signature. It seems the postal carrier acts as if it's beneath him or her to knock and actually wait for a reply before scurrying away, while 'forgetting' to leave a slip so I could pick it up at the post office. I only knew there was "an attempted" (!) delivery because of the eBay tracking. It took some complaining to the USPS before it was stopped from being returned to the sender because "I was not available". I was available all day of the "attempted delivery". (May such USPS carriers die a slow, painful death and rot in hell for all eternity.) PTOLEMY III EUERGETES (246-222 BCE) EGYPT, ALEXANDRIA EGYPTIAN SERIES 4C: Control mark EP monogram and variants - BRONZE WEIGHT STANDARD 2 Æ Trihemiobol Size: 27x28 mm Weight: 13.47 g Die Axis: 0 Broucheion Collection P-2023-05-19.001 Obv: Zeus-Ammon head, diademmed, facing right. Centration depress ion. Dotted border. Rev: Eagle on thunderbolt facing left, wings spread. In left field: cornucopia with twist right. Legend to left ΠΤΟΛΕΜΑΙΟΥ; to right: ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ. Control EP monogram between legs. Centration depression. Dotted border. Refs: Lorber CPE-372 a) with EP monogram: SNG Copenhagen 234; SNG Koln 93; Hist Mus Frankfurt 165. Svoronos-Unlisted. - Broucheion

Hi All, I highly recommend the Franklin's World cartoons at the CoinsWeekly site. https://coinsweekly.com/category/cartoon_en/ . This week's is appropriate, if a little late (since I have no Byzantine coins that apply). - Broucheion

Hi All, OCTAVIAN (AS IMPERATOR, 31-27 BCE) EASTERN MINT (PERGAMON?), ca 27-28 BCE Ar Denarius (Subaeratum) Size: 18x20 mm Weight: 3.09 g Broucheion Collection ROM-2019-05-05.001 Obv: Octavian facing right, bare head; small Capricorn below. Dotted border. [Part of silver plating missing on Octavian's head and ear showing copper core.] Rev: Crocodile facing right, mouth open, standing on exurgial line. Legend: AEGVPTO above, CAPTA below. Solid border. [Crocodile's mouth is usually closed except for this and CBGFR fourree coins]. Refs: CRI 432; RIC I 545; RSC 4; Vagi-0247; C 4; BMC 653; Kampmann-002.004; Sear Imperators 432; CBN 928 Note 1: Vagi (COINAGE OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE) : The refined portrait style suggests it was struck at an eastern mint. Note 2: (Draycot, ACTA CLASSICA LV (2012) : "The legend AEGVPTO (or AEGVPT) CAPTA distinguished Egypt from the eastern territories that had been under Antonius' control in his role as Roman triumvir since 42 BC, but were now under Octavian 's. Egypt had been captured, not just recovered. In any case, the purpose of the AEGVPTO CAPTA coins was not simply to inform people that Egypt had been conquered and annexed; even in antiquity, a period of between two and three years was ample time for news of such political, military and economic significance to spread throughout the Roman Empire. At first glance, Octavian fs choice of a crocodile to supplement the legend and decorate the reverse face of his coins is straightforward: the crocodile is intended to symbolise or perhaps even personify Egypt. Octavian was not an innovator: he subverted iconography that Cleopatra VII and Antonius had selected specifically to represent their daughter, Cleopatra Selene, in her newly allocated territories of Crete and Cyrenaica. The choice of the crocodile for this coinage issued in the name of Cleopatra Selene in Crete and the Cyrenaica could have been an attempt to reference the role of crocodiles at the very inception of the Ptolemaic Empire. If Ptolemy I Soter was seen as owing his possession of Egypt at least in part to the crocodiles of the Nile, then the crocodile would have been an entirely suitable symbol for his descendant Cleopatra Selene to wield in her newly acquired territories, first as queen of Crete and the Cyrenaica, and then later as queen of Mauretania." Note 3: Andrew McCabe (CNG eAuction 432, Lot 285) : "Plated examples of the Aegypto Capta types and of the Scarpus hand types are relatively abundant compared to the solid silver coins. A non-scientific observation suggests between one-tenth and one-quarter of either type seen on the collector market are plated. RIC I places Aegypto Capta in an "uncertain mint"; Sear goes a step further in saying "eastern". The common factor between the Scarpus and Octavian denarii as regards being found plated may just have been local practices in forgery, because while one might imagine a scenario of Scarpus being short of silver, one couldn't imagine this happening to Octavian. Furthermore, the Scarpus types sometimes found plated, RRC 546/5-7, were made under the auspices of support for Octavian. Is it possible the Aegypto Capta types might be Cyrenaican, as with Scarpus? Note 4: Die match to CGBFR.COM fourree coin from E-auction 208-135393 (10 April 2017) seen at https://www.cgbfr.com/octave-denier-tb-,brm_427172,a.html [link verified 29 Jun 2023]. - Broucheion

Hi All, HADRIAN (11 Aug 117 - 10 Jul 138 CE) ALEXANDRIA, EGYPT (MEMPHITES NOME) Year 11 (126/127 CE) Æ DICHALKON - (NOME COIN) Size: 14 mm WEight: 2.04g Broucheion Collection R-2014-12-21.001 Obv: Hadrian laureate head facing right. No legend. Dotted border. Rev: Apis Bull, standing facing left. Above: MЄMΦI; In right field: IA over L. Dotted border. Refs: Emmett-1281.11; Geissen-Unlisted; Dattari 6300-6301; Weber & Geissen pl xii, #119; Milne-1243; FaM-1362; SNG Copenhagen-1118; BMC-23-24; Mionnet-80; Mabbott-3748; Feaurdent-3540. Next: Another Nome coin from Roman Egypt. - Broucheion

Hi All, The link to the (English Language) "The Tetartemorion, the smallest pre-Hellenistic silver-coin" is https://www.academia.edu/76835822/The_Tetartemorion_the_smallest_pre_Hellenistic_silver_coin - Broucheion

Hi @kirispupis, I would spend some more time researching the headgear/crown. It first struck me as a Polos, usually worn by Aphrodite. However, it’s not quite the same shape, thus more research might synch it for you. - Broucheion

Hi @Rand, Have you published this analysis. It sounds like you have put a lot of effort into it. - Broucheion

Hi All, Weights go back even further. Try https://pondera.uclouvain.be as a resource for weights. - Broucheion

Hi @Marsyas Mike, The PDF I downloaded does have embedded text for cutting and pasting. - Broucheion

Hi All, There is also this recent CT thread from June 2023. https://www.cointalk.com/threads/show-us-your-ancient-coin-library-here-a-numismatic-literature-post.405857/ - Broucheion

Hi All, Sorry, but there really is no good portrait from Alexandria for Phocas for this portrait thread. PHOCAS (23 Nov 602 - 5 Oct 610 CE) EGYPT, ALEXANDRIA (JERUSLEM ???) Undated: ca 23 Nov 602 - 5 Oct 610 CE Æ 12 Nummi Size: 12x13 mm Weight: 1.97 g Axis: 06:00 Broucheion Collection B-2017-04-16.001 Obv: Phocas diademed draped and cuirassed bust facing right, beardless. Legend unintelligible and usually only fragmentary. Dotted border. Rev: Large IB with cross. Exurge legend AΛEΞ is missing. Dotted border not visible. Ref: Sear Byz-679; DOC-106; MIB I-90; BMC 123-134. Notes: Contemporary imitation of 6th century dodecanummia. These pieces are often of barbarous style and very crudely minted, and they never bear the name of Phocas in any recognizable form. Some have suggested they might have even have been minted in Jerusalem, but that's not very likely. From Goodwin (Some Aspects of 7thC Egyptian Byzantine Coinage) : "However, at some time around 600, either during disturbances at the end of Maurice’s reign or at the beginning of the reign of Phocas, the Alexandrian mint appears to have ceased operations and no coins were issued in the name of Phocas (602-610). Wroth seems to have been the first to suggest that this gap could be filled by an extensive series of irregular coins which copy 6th century types. This suggestion was adopted by Philip Grierson for the Dumbarton Oaks catalogue, and since then there has been a tendency in excavation reports for all irregular profile bust dodecanummia to be assigned to the reign of Phocas. [These are] representative of a large number of coins in the name of Justinian, with busts of coarser style and often slightly blundered legends. These are generally of full weight and, I think, should also be regarded as regular coins, which may date to later in the reign or may even be the product of a subsidiary mint. Excavation evidence is also beginning to suggest a regional element to the Egyptian imitations and in the Antinoöpolis finds published by Castrizio a high proportion of the profile bust dodecanummia appear to be imitations, suggesting that some of them may be of Upper Egyptian manufacture. All the profile bust imitations that I have handled personally appear to be struck rather than cast, but Noeske recently published a wonderfully preserved pottery mould for casting profile bust imitations found at Suhag in Upper Egypt. In conclusion therefore, whilst some profile bust imitations were almost certainly struck during the reign of Phocas, many of them are probably earlier in date. Caution is therefore necessary in using these imitations to date hoards or excavation finds. Clearly considerably more research is needed in this area." - Broucheion

Hi @dougsmit, Your idea is confirmed by Nicholas Wright in "Tarkondimotid responses to Roman domestic politics: from Antony to Actium" - Broucheion

Hi All, Mine with Titus. RIC II, Part 1 (2nd Ed)-1268 OCRE . TITUS (79-81 AD), GALLIA, LUGDUNUM ?, ca 77-78 AD Æ AS Broucheion Collection ROM-2002-01-20.001 OBV: Titus bust laureate, facing right. Legend: TCAESIMPAVGFTRPCOSVICENSOR. Dotted border. REV: Judaea, clothed in a tunic, with short sleeves: she sits, in the attitude of extreme sorrow, at the foot of a palm tree representing Palestine. Trophy arms behind her. Legend: IVDAEA - [CAPT]A. In exergue: SC. Dotted border. - Broucheion

Hi @CPK, Here’s a discussion from 2020 on another collector list that asked the same question. https://www.cointalk.com/threads/acsearch-premium-vs-coin-archives-pro.364422/ - Broucheion

Hi @Nerosmyfavorite68, Yes. I thought there might be more to it. I find the graffiti on coins fascinating. - Broucheion

Hi @Nerosmyfavorite68, Nice coins! What does the graffiti on the Hyperpyron say? See for example https://www.cointalk.com/threads/can-anyone-read-arabic-graffiti-on-a-hystamenon-nomisma.364284/ - Broucheion

Hi @Topcat7, That would be Sear’s “BYZANTINE Coins and their Values” (1987). The S alone is usually used for the coins in the 2 volume “Greek Coins and their Values”. - Broucheion

Hi All, Very uggggg-ly. Hideous ... but very rare. AURELIAN AND VABALATHUS (270 - 271 CE) ALEXANDRIA, EGYPT Year 01 & 04 (c Mar 271 - 28 Aug 271 CE) Bi Tetradrachm Size: 22 mm Weight: 8.14 g Axis: 0 Broucheion Collection R-2000-05-20.001 Obv: Aurelian laureate and cuirased bust facing right to Vabalathus laureate draped bust facing left. Legend: [AVPEΛIANOCK]A[IA]ΘENO[ΔωPOC]. Border not visible. Rev: Wreath enclosing dates: LA over LΔ. Border not visible. Refs: Emmett-3916.01&04; Geissen-3057; Dattari-5430, pl xxvii; ; Milne-4327-29; SNG Copenhagen-901 (unknown if KAI in obv legend); BMC-2394; Mionnet-3521 var (KAI not in obv legend); Staffieri 'Alexandria In Nummis' #245 Prov: Ex-Pagasi Coins, Ex-Classical Cash before that. Note 1: Bland (‘The coinage of Vabalathus and Zenobia from Antioch and Alexandria’, Numismatic Chronicle 171, 2011) : Aurelian’s reign began with a small issue of coins in his sole name dated Year 1 (Sep - c Dec 270), and was succeeded by an issue with year one of Aurelian and no regnal year for Vabalathus (c Dec 270 - c Mar 271), followed by another in the names of Aurelian & Vabalathus dated Years 1 & 4 (c Mar 271 - 28 Aug 271). This was succeeded by another issue for Aurelian & Vabalathus of about the same size dated Years 5. Note 2: Metcalf (1998) dates Year 01 & 04 as starting in Dec 270 CE and running through 28 Aug 271 CE. - Broucheion

Hi All, TIBERIUS II CONSTANTINE (26 Sep 578 - 14 Aug 582 CE) EGYPT, ALEXANDRIA Undated: ca 26 Sep 578 - 14 Aug 582 CE Æ 12 Nummi Size: 15x17 mm Weight: 4.89 g Axis: 11:00 Broucheion Collection B-1989-12-22.001 Obv: Constantius diademed and cuirassed bust facing right, holding globus cruciger in right hand. Legend: [DNCONSTAN]TINVS. Solid border. Rev: Large IB with +P monogram between on globe above two steps. In exerge AΛЄΞ. Solid border. Refs: Sear Byz-460; DOC-56; MIB I-63; Greirson pl 10 #157; BMC 142-145. Prov: Ex-Empire Coins, List 49, Lot #128. Notes from Grierson (1982) : "Wroth attributed the earliest dodecanummia to Justinian, but there is at Dumbarton Oaks a piece of good style which Ratto attributed, very plausibly, to Justin I, those of Justin II being much inferior in weight and workmanship. The type remained essentially unchanged throughout the century: on the obverse the emperor's name and a profile bust, on the reverse the marks of value IB on either side of a cross; with the mint-mark in the exergue . Minor variations were introduced under Tiberius II- the emperor sometimes holds a short cross, or the cross on the reverse is sometimes replaced by a TP monogram on steps - but his coins are unusually abundant for so short a reign and it seems probable that some of them, as happened elsewhere, were struck under Maurice. (The inscription includes only the Constantinus element in Tiberius' name.)" - Broucheion

Hi @JeandAcre, A PDF of Schiumberger's "Numismatique de l'Orient latin" (1878) is available free of charge via the Internet Archive at https://archive.org/details/numismatiquedelo00schl/ - Broucheion