Ocatarinetabellatchitchix

This holed coin just reminded me that exactly one year ago, the numismatic world was in SHOCK ! https://www.cointalk.com/threads/big-batch-of-aureii-withdrawn-from-cng.385891/#post-7872563

Many thanks to all of you for your suggestions. I finally tried @AncientJoe technique and it went well. Since he’s used to crack slabs containing aurei and Eid Mar coins, I knew I could trust him…

We all know what’s happening at the end of many meetings: a good Dextrarum Iunctio. Here are two coins showing that :

I never buy slab coins…except this one which was missing in my collection. So I need your help members: my new coin is choking… How can I free it ? Here are some tools I have at home. Which one should I use ? PLEASE HELP ME !

The second volume of the series Sestertius of the Antonines is now available. This series is dedicated to the most complete study possible of one of the key denomination of Roman coinage : the Sestertius. The first volume with 224 pages including 10 plates and 189 obverse and reverse photos dealt with the coinage of the founder of the dynasty, Nerva (96-98) and his immediate successor, Trajan. Its author, Jean Lacourt, gives us his second opus of this numismatic "saga", dealing with the coinage of Hadrian (117-138), his wife Sabine and Aelius, Caesar unhappy (137) who preceded Hadrian in the grave. This second book is much larger by its pages number (372 ), the number of its plates (25) and the number of illustrated obverses and reverses (500). For each type, the reference numismatic works are used, followed by the inventory of the coins listed with the use of the greatest number of professional sources of the last twelve years, from a base of more than 250 auction houses and dealers, which allows to appreciate the degree of real rarity from a database of several thousand sesterces listed in this way. This very precise inventory makes it possible to really appreciate the rarity of a large quantity of money and to find its pedigrees, so important today, and which often increase its value. The first volume was published in March 2022, the second in August. The third volume, which will be devoted to Antoninus Pius and Faustina, should follow shortly. Finally, I give you a final argument to acquire the second volume of this series as quickly as possible. If the circulation of the first volume devoted to Nerva and Trajan was 500 copies, the second volume for Hadrian comprises only 300 copies, so hurry up ! The first book was 35 euros, the second one 65 euros. Exemples of the plates in the first Volume:

The quiz is over; here are the correct answers. Seven members had a perfect 15/15 score. 1) c) Trajan 2) b) Caracalla 3) c) Palmyre 4) c) Caligula 5) a) Carinus and Magnia Urbica 6) a) Elagabalus 7) c) Aureolus 8 ) d) Severina 9) c) Egypt 10) c) Germanicus and Augustus 11) d) Constantius II 12) b) Diana 13) d) Septimius Severus 14) d) Nerva 15) b) Julia Domna What is fantastic with numisforums is the hi-level of numismatic knowledge of the members. Many of you gave me precisions on some questions: Question # 5 : -although I think the jury is still out on the exact pace of Nigrinian in the Carus dynasty. -but this is not 100% clear as he could have been Numerian's son, anyway closest answer from your list. Question # 7: (about the term « usurper » previously used in the question)- I guess issuing the coins in the name of a usurper could make Aureolus something of a supporter of usurpation against Gallienus but the lack of evidence that he was more than a supporter of Postumus is based on SHA and later pseudohistories. Question # 9:- although at least some of the VOTA PVBLICA pieces w/o mintmark seem to be minted at Rome, so very likely the Isis Festival was not reserved to one place. And about questions # 2 and # 6, if you want to know how to distinguish Caracalla from Elagabalus, please read this article written by Doug Smith: https://www.forumancientcoins.com/dougsmith/car-elag.html And now you are probably wondering who the winner of the draw is ? I’m happy to announce that @wittwolffis the winner of this first quiz. Please PM me your complete address and the coins will be on their way tomorrow morning. Congratulations and thank to all the participants!

LAST CALL members. To activate the participation, I’ll add Ferrari (used) to the prize. The shipping is not included.

Bump. Only 3 days left. The winner will be announced on Sunday. Please participate. What if Roman coinage is not your area of collecting ? Why if you don’t like the prize ? Do it anyway; nobody will know your score, and think about someone around you- a friend, a nephew, another member here- someone you could give a gift to and maybe create interest in our fantastic hobby.

Two small moons, nebulous rings and glowing poles: NASA has released impressive new images of Jupiter from the James Webb Space Telescope. These images are taken from the observations of a tool by James Webb, NiRcam, which observes the near infrared, a field invisible to the naked eye. The data collected, which will be studied by the researchers to better understand the internal workings of Jupiter, have been adapted to draw these illustrations visible to the human eye. A $10 billion engineering gem, the James Webb Telescope was launched into space almost eight months ago and is 935,000 miles from Earth. The Great Red Spot it still there on the pictures. It’s a region of persistent high pressure in Jupiter's atmosphere, producing an anticyclonic storm that is the strongest in the solar system. Located 22 degrees south of Jupiter's equator, it produces winds of up to 268 mph. Sightings from 1664 to 1713 are thought to be of the same storm; if that is correct, it has been around for at least 358 years. It was next sighted in September 1831, with 60 sightings recorded between that date and 1878, when continuous sightings began until our days. I will never forget the first time I saw Jupiter and its moons in a friend’s telescope 40 years ago; and I’ll also never forget the first time I bought a coin bearing the god Jupiter 10 years ago… Please show me your Jupiter’s coins examples ! Some of mine never been shown here: Jupiter presenting Victory to Carus Jupiter presentingVictory to Constantius Chlorus Jupiter holding Victory and sceptre

ERRATUM: I received a dispute on question # 7, concerning the bad choice of the word « usurper ». So I changed the wording to make it clearer. All participants who missed it by my mistake will receive 1 more point !

Just an idea I had: This site seems to be growing little by little very well and will become difficult for a single person to manage. Eventually trolls will appear, spams will end up here as well as porn posts. No administrator can be present 24/7, so here is my suggestion to Luke: surround yourself with a good team of moderators, serious members, who have good judgment and great availability. With an increase in members and traffic, the forum will remain well supervised with helpers to keep it under control. A warning however: some discussion sites have made excellent choices of moderators, for example Forvm, on the other hand others have given them too much power with the results that unfortunately we know very well...

Just for fun my friends, a little quiz about Roman coinage. Try to answer to the best of your knowledge: if you participate, you have a chance to win. If you have 15 good answers, you get an extra chance. PM me your answers and here are the two coins of Postumus the lucky one will get. I’ll send them for free anywhere in the world. If you win and don’t want the prize, you can choose to give it to any members here. Have fun ! 1) Who is at the top of this column? a) Augustus b) Vespasian c) Trajan d) Marcus Aurelius 2) Which emperor is depicted on this denarius? a) Severus Alexander b) Caracalla c) Geta d) Elagabalus 3) From which Roman province was Queen Zenobia sovereign? a) Egypt b) Greece c) Palmyre d) Hispania 4) Which emperor struck these quadrans ? a) Augustus b) Claudius c) Caligula d) Nero 5) Who were Nigrinian’s parents? a) Carinus and Magnia Urbica b) Constantine and Fausta c) Constantius Chlorus and Helena d) Gallienus and Salonina 6) Which emperor is this? a) Elagabalus b) Caracalla c) Geta d) Antoninus Pius 7) Who had this coin minted in Milan ? a) Tetricus b) Postumus c) Aureolus d) Victorinus 😎 Which empress is represented on this tetradrachm of Alexandria? a) Etruscilla b) Plautilla c) Faustina the Younger d) Severina 9) This bronze was struck in honor of a festival, of which province? a) Syria b) Cappadocia c) Egypt d) Gaul 10) Who are these two characters? a) Titus and Vespasian b) Claudius and Britanicus c) Germanicus and Augustus d) Tiberius and Drusus 11) Here is a solidus of the emperor..... a) Constantius Chlorus b) Constantius Gallus c) Constans d) Constantius II 12) On this aureus of Augustus a divinity is represented. Which one? a) Minerva b) Diana c) Venus d) Ceres 13) Here is a denarius of Pescennius Niger. Which emperor goes to war against him in 193 AD? a) Marcus Aurelius b) Commodus c) Pertinax d) Septimius Severus 14) Which emperor is represented on this tetradrachm of Antioch? a) Tiberius b) Claudius c) Nero d) Nerva 15) Which empress is depicted on this coin? a) Julia Soemias b) Julia Domna c) Julia Paula d) Julia Titi

Very nice lot Harry. I’m happy you won it; the COMES example worth around 300€ alone since we only see about 1 for sale every year ! The VIRTVS standing left is not common at all (only 5 in Cunetio) and your INVICTVS without the star is very hard to find. Your other INVICTVS with the leaf is very interesting; it is classified as number 591 by Mairat, and there are only one in London and one in Paris (die match with yours). But it’s clear that there is a star on your specimen, unlike the example of the British Museum; so it should have its own number (maybe in a future revision?). Here are some of my leaf examples, and another one I found a couple of months ago double die-match with the London one (without the star). By the way, I know the collector who was the underbidder the first time the lot was for sale. I don’t think he’ll be very happy that the auction house didn’t contact him to offer to buy it ! Maybe I’m better off not telling him your story… The British Museum coin without the star and real 591: and mine double die-matching:

Go for it Martin. We’ll use all the examples showed in this thread for future references, and there are many members here who have never seen these coins.

It is a VI retrograde.

I like them, you like them too, they are not rare and fun to collect: coins with legend errors. Sometimes it’s hard to understand how the engravers and especially the quality control department didn’t notice them ! Let’s pile them on ! My new baby, thanks to @Harry Gwho brought it to my attention. It’s a DIVO VICTORINO PO (sic) with the PROVIDENTIA AVG reverse. Those of you who who me know that I already have a specimen from the same obverse die, but with the reverse CONSACRATIO AVG ! They are only four known examples until now, and they prove without a doubt that the two types were struck at the same mint (Cologne). The Spinks 1995 one: From Adrian Marsden’s collection: And why not another one, a PROVIDENTA (sic) AVG :

You’re absolutely right. Under Gallic Empire, many « irregularities » have occurred: official Victorinus FORT REDVX official (?) Tetricus I FORT REDVX (same reverse die) local imitations FORT REDVX (same reverse die again) (not my coins)

Numismatists have long noticed the appearance of the letter P on two types of antoninians produced in the second part of the year 268 (PAX AVG AND ORIENS AVG) during the reign of Postumus. Although the meaning of this mark still remains a mystery today, it is nevertheless certain that it corresponds to a significant monetary devaluation of the title of silver and the weight of these coins. Analysis of many specimens show a decrease in weight from 3.35g to 2.93g, and the percentage of silver contained in these same specimens decreased by 15%-7%. So what could it means ? 1) Some see it as a form of secret sign, perhaps addressed to tax collectors in order to allow them to easily identify the intrinsic poor quality of the coins concerned, covered at the time with a thin film of silver, and then avoid accepting them as much as possible. The problem with this hypothesis is that the mark is very visible and could be discerned by tax collectors as well as by the common user, so distrust would have been generalized about them. The second problem comes from the fact that under Victorinus, the V mark is in no way associated with a modification of the alloy on the PAX AVG series. The two signs should logically fulfill an identical function and meaning, the simultaneity of the appearance of the letter P on the antoninians of Postumus is undoubtedly not linked to the decrease in their silver rate. 2) We know that in 264 AD, we saw the development on the antoninians of Gallienus of the initial or the first two letters of the city where these coins were produced, R for Rome and SI for Siscia (and in 266 M for Milan ). We also noticed that we find on some coins of Postumus produced in 268 the letters CA to designate the mint of Cologne (Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium). So logically scholars sought to discover if a certain city whose name begins with the letter P was on the route of the army of Postumus during this period of time and could have served as a temporary workshop to pay the troops of the emperor. Unfortunately, serious investigations have so far not made it possible to find a hypothetical locality (beginning with the letter P) located in the vicinity of the army route and in which the campaign monetary workshop would have been temporarily established. Same conclusion for his successor Victorinus. 3) Could the mark P possibly refer to the expeditionary corps of troops serving under Postumus? The Legio XXII Primigenia was created by Caligula and stationed in Germania Superior, in the fortress of Mainz, with the aim of guarding and protecting the border of the Rhine. It is also quite possible that the emperor chose to take with him this military troop, one of the two most important of his army, since the other important legion of his army, the XXX Ulpia, is blocked at this time precise due to an invasion of Germanic tribes. Exactly one year later, in the last months of the year 269 AD, during the reign of the Emperor Victorinus, we also notice the appearance of a letter in the left field of the reverse PAX AVG, this time the V; In the case of the hooked-nosed emperor, this PAX AVG reverse certainly has a direct link with the attack and capture of the city of Autun that same year. It has been shown that the majority of the army used for this attack most likely came from the XXX legion Ulpia victrix stationed in Germania Inferior, not far from the mouth of the Rhine. The monetary letter V issued on this occasion could therefore have a connection with the first letter of the nickname VLPIA or even VICTRIX of the said legion. 4) Even a child would also notice that the two mysterious marks obviously correspond to the first letter of the cognemen of these Gaulish leaders. So the most plausible explanation for the appearance of the mystery mark could be a combination of the last two hypotheses discussed above. But there’s only another last problem: my latest acquisition. It’s an antoninianus of Victorinus with the reverse PAX AVG, but with the letter P in the left field. After discussing it with others specialist of Gallic coinage, the consensus is that the coin is definitely official. It leaves us with three possibility: 1) a new mystery… 2) a damage die (die clash) giving the illusion of a « P » 3) an alcoholic and nostalgic engraver of the Belle Époque of Postumus… Anyway, until I find another die-matching specimen, the question remains unanswered. Just for fun, please show me your coins with letters in the fields. Who knows, maybe we can cover all the letters of the Roman and Greek alphabets?

I’ve bought a few times from him and always wondered why almost all his coins have this copper patina ( or non patina ?) Does he give them an electrolysis bath before selling them ???

A metal digger has made a rare find in south-east England: a phallus-shaped pendant, dating back to ancient Rome. According to the specialized site Live Science, the phallic figurine would be the first of its kind to be discovered. It would seem that this phallus was forged when the Romans reigned in Great Britain, between 42 and 410 AD. The Romans collected objects and sculptures of all kinds inspired by the penis; according to them, the male member held divine protective powers. The rarity of this new object is that it was forged in silver, explains Wendy Thompson, the one who found it. « I have others in bronze that I have found in the past, but they are not nearly as important, we have never found any in silver before in England », she said. The pendant is just over 3 centimeters long and features a ribbed flourish at the top, representing pubic hair. A fastening loop has also been modeled, suggesting that the object had to be put on to be worn on the body, like a necklace. Lori Rogerson, an expert who analyzes potentially ancient finds with the Portable Antiquities Scheme, said such objects are usually made of a lower-value copper alloy. « Being a higher quality metal than copper alloy, silver may have been thought to enhance the protective abilities of the phallus », she explained. This silver phallic pendant is considered by experts to be an important national find.

A collector from Texas made the lucky find of a Roman bust, dating back more than 2000 years in a thrift store. The object was loaned to the San Antonio Museum of Art. Originally from Austin, Laura Young discovered the statue belonging to King Ludwig I of Bavaria in a Goodwill store, for the modest sum of $35. The object was, several years later, looted from the Nazis by the American allies during the Second World War. After her purchase, since the work was stolen, she could not keep it. She couldn't sell it, and getting it back to its rightful owners was a lot harder than it looks. "At that point, I realized I was probably going to need some help," Young said. "I was probably going to need a lawyer." She then hired a New York lawyer specializing in international art law, Leila Amineddoleh. According to the museum, the bust depicts probably Nero Claudius, a Roman commander whose forces once occupied German territory. The San Antonio Museum of Art will exhibit the bust until May 2023. And a little coin with the portrait of Germanicus for the comparison:

Maybe I have an answer for you Andrei. Six months ago, I discovered that I can get paid to write articles about ancient coinage. You just have to find a good numismatic journal that is willing to do it. With the level of knowledge and the quality of essay you wrote in the past, it shouldn’t be a big problem for you. Usually after a certain time, you have the permission to use your writings in other places…like here. So everybody is happy; the readers who benefit from your expertise, and yourself because you didn't work for nothing!

Here’s my old Tacitus, like yours from Lugdunum, and also a Florianus from the same engraver maybe ?

Very interesting and clear explanation. By the way, is Olga single ?

I like your idea. By the way, I’m pretty sure I recognize this coin… Are you Terence Cheesman ???