Ocatarinetabellatchitchix

To everyone's surprise, the 5th volume of the Roman Imperial Coinage series (Volume V.4) has received a thorough revision and update. Jerome Mairat, one of the most respected specialists on the coins of the Gallic Empire, has prepared an impressive study with a considerable increase compared to the first edition in the number of photographic representations of the coins. Serious collectors of these 3rd century coins and scholars pursuing studies of this lawless period of Roman history will want to add this important study to their collections. The RIC series began in 1923 and became the standard numismatic reference work. This brand new volume, published to celebrate the centenary of the series, covers the coinage of the Gallic Empire from 260 to 274 AD. The original version dated from 1933 and was produced by Webb, Mattingly and Sydenham, so a complete revision was more than welcome. The original version (V.2) included the coinage of Probus until the reform of Diocletian, including the Gallic empire, the two British emperors and a dozen other characters described as Usurpers. Let us also remember that according to the authors themselves, this version was more of a handbook than a corpus. Around a hundred pages were devoted to the eight rulers of the Imperium Galliarum, with only three of the twenty plates illustrating coins from these emperors. Let us first mention that this new version of 404 pages arrives in a new format of 9 x 11 1/4 inches, the same as that used for the RIC II.3 and also identical to that of the Roman Provincial Coinage series. The new RIC V.4 is entirely based on the doctoral thesis The Coinage of the Gallic Empire produced around ten years ago by Jerome Mairat, which was however revised and corrected over the last year by the author . After an introduction and the usual acknowledgments, the work begins with a list of abbreviations then public collections and the list of publications and monetary treasures which were consulted during the conception of this work (p. VII-XVII). Then we discover an examination of the controversial subjects of the chronology and monetary workshops of the Gallic Empire, followed by an analysis of the different denominations, iconographies and designs which will be presented in this volume (p. 1-42, chapter 1-4) . Pages 43-47 contain an introduction to the catalogue which is necessary given its new two columns format, as well as explanations facilitating its understanding, making its exploration very easy even for the neophyte. Note also that there is an updated frequency index of the different coins, which will please all collectors of these coins. As for the catalogue itself, it covers 200 pages in this volume (p. 47-247). It is organized by reign in chronological order, following a single sequence (1-829) throughout this work. Each of the sections reserved for an emperor is divided by monetary workshop, with an introduction on the classification of issues and details on the iconography of the different types. Many readers will find the detailed notes and references on collections or monetary treasures containing particular coins very practical. The appendix contains a useful and condensed list of all the antoniniani for each of the emperors (p. 251-260), and also a concordance table for eight other reference sources for the coins of the Gallic Empire (p. 261-278 ). The indexes (p. 279-294) contain an exhaustive list of all the obverse and reverse legends, the names and titles of each emperor and all the busts and monetary types of the reverses. The last section of this work presents 88 plates illustrating the vast majority of the coins in the catalog, namely 1550 black and white photographs of excellent quality. This new version of the Roman Imperial Coinage should be an integral part of all libraries for those who want to understand and deepen these coinage. Thanks to Jerome Mairat for bringing to fruition this colossal project which will serve as a reference for decades to come, and which I hope will allow even more numismatists and collectors to take an interest in this fascinating period of history again unknown.

Some Auction houses also use the word « provenance ».

We can't always be impartial in life, can we? I admit that our member of the week has one of the coin collections that I prefer the most among the collectors of this forum; especially its more than 160 pieces from the Gallic empire ! I have enjoyed reading his articles for years on aspects of numismatics completely unknown to me. So let's talk with our friend Tejas... Can you tell us a bit about yourself, where you are from, your family, hobbies, work …? My name is Dirk, and I am originally from northern Germany, but I have spent most of my life overseas, in the United Kingdom, Russia, and the wonderful country of Switzerland. I'm married and have two children. I'm a professional economist who works for a central bank. In fact, I work in a field related to money markets that, sadly, has nothing to do with coin markets. I've always been interested in history and prehistory. As a child, all I could think about were knights, castles, and dinosaurs. Indeed, I recall an incident in which I collected "dinosaur bones" from the remains of earthworks outside our local church. Not knowing that the area had once been a cemetery, I took the bones home, and to my mother's horror, stored them under my bed for further investigation. Unsurprisingly, most of my hobbies are history-related, including numismatics, genealogy and heraldry (my avatar shows our family coat of arms). I’m also a great fan of classical music, with Bach being my all-time favorite composer. My family is originally from Eastern Prussia, with some members having lived in Russia – indeed my grandfather was born as subject of the last Tsar - which I mention because it is relevant to my numismatic interests. How did you get interested in ancient coinage? When I was about 10 years old an Italian guest worker and tenant of my parents, gave me a 10 Centesimo coin of king Vittorio Emanuele, dating to 1867. I calculated the “incomprehensible” age of the coin and was immediately hooked. Firmly believing that it would not be possible to ever obtain a coin of greater antiquity, I started collecting German coins of the “Kaiserreich” and everything else I could get my hands on. My fascination with coins had much to do with time, age and the idea that these objects are dateable, everyday objects that “witnessed” times long past. What was the first coin you ever bought? My Confirmation at the age of 14, brought me into the possession of sufficient funds to buy a taler of Prussian king Fredrick the Great. I still have the coin. Here is the picture: Taler of King Frederic the Great of Prussia Obv.: FRIDERICUS BORUSSORUM REX Rev.: EIN REICHSTHALER 17 E 86 Mint: Königsberg (the capital of East Prussia) With the Vittorio Emanuele coin now beaten by nearly 100 years, I set out to acquire more coins of 18th century Prussia and the Teutonic Order of Knights, who once ruled over East Prussia, the ancestral home of my family. My first coin of the Teutonic Knights was a Schilling of Grandmaster Michael Kuchmeister von Sternberg dating to around 1414. Shilling of the Teutonic Knights Obv.: MAGST MICHAEL PRIM Rev.: MONETA DNORVM PRVCI I have a considerable collection of coins of the Order, including some rare pieces. I guess, besides the link to East Prussia, what fascinated me most about the Teutonic Knights was the ephemeral nature of their state, which existed far back in history, in a province whose once mighty name is now all but forgotten and erased from the maps. Their coins are witness to their existence and their 300-year struggle for their believes and their survival. This fascination with ephemeral polities remained a guiding principle of my collecting activity, which started to spread to ever more tentative states and peoples. However, as a student in Cambridge and London I was faced with a tight budget constraint, which caused me to focus on common Russian kopecks and dengas of the 16th and 17th centuries, which could be bought for 5 pounds or less at the time. Here is a picture of a much rarer and earlier denga of Dmitri Donskoi: Denga of Grand Prince Dmitri Donskoi Obv.: Pechat’ velikogo knyaza dmitriya (Seal of Grand Prince Dmitri) Rev.: Arabic script Date: ca. 1390 Mint: Moscow However, London was also the place where I encountered Sceatta or Sceats, those 8th century Anglo-Frisian coins, which look so entirely alien to us. Once again, I was immediately hooked. Dirk, can you tell us an anecdote about a coin you own? Your best bargain? Your rarest coin? The specimen you will never sell? The one you dream of acquiring? I have many anecdotes, some bargains, but probably more coins that I overpaid on, and some coins of extreme rarity. Most of my coins I will never sell and there are hundreds of coins that I dream of acquiring, but which I know I will never own. More about this later. Now, for anecdotes: The saddest episode of my collecting career took place in 2003, when some of my coins were stolen in a burglary in London. Since then, my collection is not only in bank vault, but probably one of the most impregnable bank vaults in Europe. Some coins could be recovered shortly afterwards, thanks to an attentive coin dealer in London. The culprits were put on trial, but were not convicted, as the police had fumbled the evidence. One coin dealer predicted that the coins would resurface, but I would need to be patient. Indeed, 10 years later, some of the coins appeared in a French auction in Paris. The seller was from Morocco. The auction house impounded the coins and the prospective seller agreed to hand them over to me. Some of my coins are still missing: Stolen coins database - Base de données des monnaies volées - Münzen (colleconline.com) One of the coins, that I miss most, appeared again in France, but at a different auction house. Unfortunately, the auction house did not withdraw the coin, but sold it and in general proved to be unhelpful in its retrieval. Here is the piece: Suevian Solidus in the name of Honorius Now for a happier subject - bargains: As I said, I’m an economist. I count the immaterial pleasure that I receive from a coin as non-monetary return. Hence, even a coin that appears to be expensive can subjectively be a bargain in my view. However, the coin below was a bargain in both monetary and non-monetary terms. I found this exceedingly rare Gothic Deka-Nummus piece on Ebay, where it was offered for EUR 450 or best offer. I remember the great excitement when I saw it. Inexplicably, I send in an offer below the already low asking price, and waited with great anxiety until the seller agreed to the deal. I don’t know what I had done if I had lost the coin. In auction, I would expect the coin to fetch EUR 1000 to 2000, not that such a coin in this condition has ever come up in an auction. Deka-Nummus from Marseille (Monogram of Theudebert or Amalaric) My rarest coin? The Deka-Nummus is very rare, but I have many coins that are just as rare or rarer. Here is a small selection: A Quarter-Siliqua from Sirmium with unusual reverse A Burgundian Quarter Siliqua with the monogram of King Gundobad A Gothic/Germanic imitation of an aureus of Probus For the coin I will never sell; I think I can pass on this question. There are too many coins that I will never voluntarily sell. Finally, for the coin I dream of acquiring; again, there are so many that I cannot provide a list. A little anecdote: There are two specimens of an Ostrogothic Quarter-Siliqua with the INVICTISSIMVS AVTOR legend known to exist. One is in a museum, the other one is in the hands of a Croatian collector. After some negotiations I came close to acquiring the second coin. I even met the collector in Split in Croatia, but at the end it didn’t work out. Among the many other coins that I would love to own is a REX QVADIS DATVS sestertius of Antoninus Pius. However, these coins are generally too rare and too expensive for me. I should add here two things: First, I am a “condition crank”. I don’t derive any pleasure from badly worn coins, no matter how rare and historically important they are (but I do respect collectors who do). Secondly, I have an imaginary budget constraint in my head. Even if I could theoretically afford a coin above that constraint, I don’t derive that much pleasure from a coin that exceeds this amount. These two things combined prevent me from acquiring most of my most desired coins. What do you collect exactly? What is the size of your collection? Some years back in London somebody once asked me if I had a “professional” collection. I didn’t really know what to answer because I was initially unsure of what he meant. Apparently, according to his definition, a “professional” collector – and he left no doubt that these are the only true collectors in his mind – systematically assemble collections along certain historical or numismatic themes with the overall aim of completeness. Anyway, it was clear to me that I was not a professional collector and that I never will be one. I basically collect what I like. Hence, I am (proud to be) an amateur collector who wanders aimlessly among different collecting themes, the only real constants being condition and esthetic appeal. This makes it rather difficult to explain what I collect exactly. I have long focused on Migration Age coins, including Ostrogoths, Visigoths, Vandals, Burgundians and Franks. I probably have the largest collection of Gepidic coins worldwide. I also have collections of early German medieval coins, coins of the Teutonic Order, Prussia, Russia and some other medieval states, including some 200 Chinese coins about which I know next to nothing. I think I was among the first persons in the west who owned and knew about Taman-Imitations, and I bought Gothic imitations of Roman aurei at a time when most of the experts laughed them off as obvious fakes. I have a large collection of Roman imperial coins with a focus on the 3rd and 4th centuries. I guess I have around 4000 coins altogether, many of which still need to be catalogued properly. I also collected other objects, including migration age fibulae, stone age implements and ancient Egyptian scarabs. What did you write about? I have written a couple of articles on coins. These articles represent perhaps 1% of the ideas for articles that I had over the years. In one article I introduced so called Taman-Imitations to western numismatics. I also wrote about the 6th century coins of the Sirmium mint. These coins are partly attributable to the Gepids. When I first encountered these coins, I was immediately captured by the ephemeral nature of their long forgotten, but once powerful kingdom. (99+) The "Sirmium Group" - an overview | Dirk Faltin - Academia.edu I have a number of articles, which I started but never finished. One of them deals with a unique Ostrogothic Quarter-Siliqua in my collection, another one is about a unique and utterly intriguing Gepidic/Gothic coin from Sirmium – also in my collection. Let’s see if I find the time to get them out in future. Can you tell us more about Tasman Imitation and the Sirmium Group? When I read the typo in the question above – i.e., “Tasman Imitation” instead of “Taman Imitation” – I knew I had to say a few words. Taman Imitations are coins from the Russian Taman peninsula at the Sea of Azov. The coins imitate a certain denarius type with a walking Mars reverse. The design of these coins has ventured very far away from the original model during the 150 or 200 years of their production. Auction houses like to attribute these coins to the Goths, but I think I have shown in my article, that this attribution is wrong. Taman-Imitation of unknown people Indeed, Russian and Ukrainian numismatists refer to these coins as “moneti neizvestnogo naroda”, i.e., coins of the unknown people. From what I said before, you will not be surprised that a name like this was more than enough to pique my interest. On the Sirmium Group, I invite you to consult my article, which I’m happy to say is regularly cited by some auction houses to describe such coins in their auction catalogs. Do you have a numismatic goal for the next year? In terms of new acquisition, no. As mentioned before I buy what I like (within my means). I have a list of coins that I look out for, but ever the economist, I keep this list to myself. However, I would like to continue cataloging my collection. What numismatic books to you own /consult most often? There are collectors who own 100 coins and as many numismatic books. I suppose, these are the professional collectors I talked about before. However, I’m an interested amateur. I probably own too little literature compared to the size of my collection, but I do have hundreds of copied articles. My favourite numismatic book is Medieal EC by Grierson and Blackburn. In what part of history are you interested in? I have answered that question before to some extent. My main interest is the migration age period, i.e., the time from around AD 370 to AD 570, which includes the fall of the Western Roman Empire and the end of Antiquity. As a German I am very interested in the history of the Germanic peoples, such as Goths and Vandals, Burgundians and Saxons. However, having said that, my interest is much wider as well. For example, I love ancient Egyptian history. Having travelled to around 60 different countries, I hardly ever fail to read up on the history of the particular country I’m in. Indeed, as a result of holiday related travel, I have small collections of medieval Georgian and Armenian coins. I like to add one question to the list of questions that Dominic provided. Why coins – what do you like about coins as opposed to other collectors’ items? I like coins and coin collecting, because coins bring history to life, at least for me. More often than not, historical events and characters are just abstract names and numbers. An exception is ancient Egypt. If you go to the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, you can look straight into the faces of the greatest rulers of their times. You can experience the person Ramses the Great and Seti I when you stand in front of their dead and mummified bodies. Elsewhere, however, even the most famous people, are really just names, not persons to us. This is true for Caesar and Charlegmagne and it is even more true for figures like the last Gothic kings Totila and Tejas. However, through their coins they become real to us. My Halfsiliqua of Tejas was struck during the final months of the Gothic kingdom. The crude and makeshift nature of the coin bears witness to their desperate struggle for survival. Rev.: DN THELA REX Tejas, which is also my pseudonym on this forum is a good point to close this interview. Thanks all for reading my musings and thanks for Dominic for running these interviews. For me this was a great opportunity to reflect on my collecting activity which after all is an important part of my life. Many thanks Dirk for sharing a part of your life with us and for your participation in the interview series. If you have some free time soon, please sit in your most comfortable armchair and admire some of his coin collection with the link at the bottom. And don’t forget to share your comments here ! https://www.colleconline.com/fr/collections/2281/tejas552

Exactly my philosophy for several years. And very nice acquisitions my young friend-collector.

I checked in my Victorinus’ tray to spot my shiniest specimens. Here they are, notice that # 2-3 are from unofficial mints, double-die match with pretty much silvering on them. Were the imitations from this era of better quality than the official ones?

You can download it here and it’s free. An interesting section about coin dealers & Auction houses too. https://new.coinsweekly.com/downloads/coinsweekly-special-issue-1-24/

Sorry Martin but I disagree with this. Yes you are. And a good one.

Maybe this study could help.(maybe it’s available online). Otherwise, in recent years, a wave of imitations of Claudius from the Balkans have appeared on the market.

This is an interesting study about the different engravers. Sorry but it’s in French… « We will try, based on the coins in this collection, to identify, by workshop, the different engravers who officiated. It is also possible that a workshop had several engravers under the direction of a master engraver, which can explain the slight differences that can be encountered for the same type of coin. » https://collection-cdoue-romaines.jimdofree.com/les-graveurs-sous-gallien/

Let’s not talk about a mask and the poor couple for two minutes… SURVEY FOR THE MEMBERS: and what if you’d see a very very rare and precious coin for sale (let’s say in a yard sale), definitely the seller doesn’t know the treasure he has in hands, what would you do ??? Be honest please !

Nice one again. The only coin I had from Tarraco (sold it two years ago) was this one from 68 or 69.

Just a little precision if you want to congratulate or contact our numismatist of the week , please use @Victor_Clark instead of @Victor Clark.

In the world of ancient coinage, there are two types of collectors: generalists and specialists. This week we are going to discuss with a true specialist, who have developed over the years an expertise on Late Roman Bronzes (LRB’s), especially those of Constantine the Great. He already acquired in the past a hoard of 300 coins, he is a very complete numismatist who created his own website, started his own business as a dealer of ancient coins…let’s meet Victor Clark. Victor, can you tell us a bit about yourself, where you’re from, your family, hobbies, work…? My father was in the military and I was born on a USAF base in Puerto Rico. As a child, we moved a lot; but Tennessee was always home. In 1988, I joined the US Navy and served as an aviation machinist mate for seven years and served during Desert Storm with VA-75 (A-6 Intruders) aboard the USS Kennedy. After getting out in 1995, I worked different jobs for a few years, even working in Saudi Arabia as a jet mechanic. In 2001, I decided to use my GI bill benefits and went back to college. I got my bachelors in history with minors in biology and archaeology. I then went to grad school and completed my master’s in history. I don’t have many hobbies; but I like reading and I play video games (currently playing Assassin's Creed Mirage); but my biggest hobby is ancient coins. After grad school I decided to start selling coins full time because I was a middle-aged history major with not a lot of options! I currently live in Nashville, TN with my wife, a dog and a cat. How did you get interested in ancient coinage ? When I got out of the Navy in 1995, I was going to get back into collecting US coins. I was surprised by how reliant people had become on grading their coins and it seemed to suck a lot of enjoyment out of the hobby. What really turned me off, was that slabbing was also becoming a big deal. I decided that I was done with US coin collecting. What was the first coin you ever bought ? In the back of a US coin magazine a saw an ad about buying an ancient. It cost me $50 and was a denarius of Caracalla. I was hooked and also saw an ad for a magazine called the Celator and the rest is history! Can you tell us an anecdote about a coin you own ? Your best bargain ? Your rarest coin ? The specimen you will never sell ? The one you dream of acquiring ? The rarest coin that I have ever found was an unknown type for Constantine I https://www.constantinethegreatcoins.com/VICTORIA/ I sold it to a museum in Arles, as it seemed like that would be a better home for it. My current rarest coin is a unique example of a Constantine I coin from Constantinople. I sell coins from my collection if I get better examples; of course, for many I will probably never find a better example. What do you collect exactly ? What is the size of your collection ? My collecting interests start with Diocletian and go up to the end of the 4th century; but I am mainly interested in the Constantinian period. I collect coded Siscia coins of Diocletian and Maximianus, Carthage coins of the Tetrarchy, coins of Maximinus, coins of Maxentius, London mint coins (mainly Constantine I), VICTORIAE LAETAE PRINC PERP coins of Constantine I from Siscia, Constantinople coins of Constantine I, Rome coins of Constantine I and 4th century unofficial coinage, mainly VLPP’s copying Siscia and then anything else that interests me. I have around 400-500 in my main collection and my unofficial collection has at least that many; but many of those still need to be catalogued. What did you write about ? My master’s thesis was “Constantine the Great: The Coins Speak” and talked about how ancient coins can be used as another source for interpreting the past. Perhaps not a novel idea for ancient coin collectors; but something not many people outside the field think about. What part of history are you interested in ? I am interested in the Medieval period; mainly the beginning. That is why I collect nad research mostly the Constantinian period. Constantine made Christianity the state religion and changed everything in Western Europe. The Catholic Church became an intimate part of everyone’s life. It was a cradle to grave institution— from birth, to marriage and death and everything in between. An interesting question to ask is whether Christianity would have flourished without Constantine I? Do you have a numismatic goal for the next year ? I don’t set goals; I just keep on the look-out for interesting coins. What numismatic books do you own / consult most often ? I have a pretty large library. I mainly use RIC VI, RIC VII and RIC VIII. I also consult more specialized works like- Alten, D., and Zschucke, C.-F. Die römische Münzserie Beata Tranquillitas in der Prägestätte Trier 321-323. Bastien, Pierre. Le Monnayage de L'Atelier de Lyon Cloke and Toone. The London Mint of Constantius and Constantine. Drost, Vincent. Le monnayage de Maxence (306-312 après J.-C.) Ferrando, Philippe. L'atelier monétaire d'Arles de Constantin Le Grand a Romulus Augustule (313-476) Zschucke, Carl-Friedrich. Die Bronze-Teilstück Prägungen der römischen Münzstätte Trier. Victor, can you give us a description of what it is to be a dealer (Vcoins store) ? I have been a Vcoins dealer for almost 15 years. I named my store Victor’s Imperial Coins because I thought that the abbreviation was cute—VIC…like RIC and I pretty much only sell Roman Imperial coins, so it is accurate. For the most part it has been a good experience being a dealer and it allows me the opportunity to research coins that I normally would not be interested in. I also get to talk with a lot of people across the world. Please tell us more about your website. I have a website that is mainly about Constantine that I started in 2005. https://www.constantinethegreatcoins.com/ I originally started it as a way to catalogue my collection and serve as an online companion piece to my master’s thesis. After I submitted my master’s thesis, I was actually accused of plagiarism. The dean’s office ran an internet checker against my paper and, of course, my website gave them numerous hits. They contacted my advisor, who asked them why they had not noticed the name on the website was the same as the thesis. 😄 I have recently added more diverse topics and coins of other Emperors, mainly the Tetrarchy. I have lots of work that needs to be done and some pages are merely stubs that I need to flesh. Many Thanks Victor for your participation in this series of interview. Here in Numisforums, we have several collectors who focus on this period of the Roman Empire and will certainly appreciate your website and writings. Here are the links for readers who would like to learn more about it. As usual, we’d like to read your comments about the interview. https://www.forumancientcoins.com/gallery/index.php?cat=24936 https://independent.academia.edu/VictorClark https://www.constantinethegreatcoins.com https://www.vcoins.com/en/stores/victors_imperial_coins-208/ancient-coins/Default.aspx?

I read somewhere that they may indicate different officinae, or maybe only different series.

This is in my opinion a very nice coin Dirk. Sharp strike, which is not that common for Allectus and Carausius. If you have a few free dollars for more coins, check out the next Triton for these emperors…

There is another one which just sold in September 2023 by Hirsch (again !) that is consider by Thibault as a modern fake. Check the picture here: Sold for 5,500 euros…

Mike, I took the liberty of contacting a French guy specialist in Pacatian’s coinage and showed him the pictures of your coin. Here is his reply (translated from French), and also a link to an interesting old thread on Forvm (thimar11 is in fact Thibault) plus a link to his website. « There does indeed seem to be an obverse die connection, but the problem is that for me both coins are undoubtedly modern forgeries. The style is not at all that of Pacatien's coins, and the reverse of sale 298 does not exist for this emperor. The forger went so far as to create an overprint on a coin of Philip, a practice not found on any “official” Pacatian Antoniniani. Sorry PS: maybe you can ask Curtis Clay's opinion, but for me there is no doubt. » https://www.forumancientcoins.com/board/index.php?topic=46065.msg289328#msg289328 http://marchal.thibaut.free.fr/e_index.htm

Hey John, I think this one would fit better with your coins…

Check Hadrian Mont Argaeus.

Hey Mike, very interesting discovery. It’s funny because I’m working right now on a paper I will publish in French soon. So here are the specimens sold in 2023, the last one is a Becker’s forgery. I’m not skilled enough to judge about authenticity, but I can surely see some ressemblance between your coin and the Elsen’s one. Or maybe not ? Perhaps it would be a good idea to send it to Barry Murphy ? GERHARD HIRSCH NACHFOLGER, AUCTION 383 (2023): 5,500 euros NUMISMATICA ARS CLASSICA NAC AG, AUCTION 138 (2023): 4,000 CHF ROMA NUMISMATICS LIMITED, E-LIVE AUCTION 6 (2023): 1,800 GBP LEU NUMISMATIK, WEB AUCTION 25 (2023): 4,200 CHF CLASSICAL NUMISMATIC GROUP, INC., TRITON XXVI (2023): 3,225 USD JEAN ELSEN & SES FILS S.A., AUCTION 153 (2022): 300 euros [Becker’s forgery]

I would be careful with this idea. Very careful. I remember a discussion group (CFDL— Coin Forgery Discussion List) that existed a few years ago, with the good motivation of detecting counterfeits of ancient coins. Over time, some members of this group went completely off the rails; they condemned an extremely high number of pieces, and on the other hand qualified certain forgeries as being authentic... I would not want our forum to fall into the same excesses...☹️

He has already described himself as a historian and an artist. But he is much more than that: we could say that he is the « David Hendin » of Numisforums, a specialist in Biblical and Judaean coins, a very talented graphic designer, a collector recognized for his exquisite taste, but above all a person with a beautiful soul. He answered our questions by creating for us a new series of jaw-dropping posters… let’s talk with our friend LONGINUS ! Many thanks Ray for so much generosity in your new creations. What a magnificent collection you have built over the years, and we will have a lot of fun admiring all the details. Please members, feel free to share your comments about this biography.

There was a very interesting debate about this specimen here, from the reply # 15. https://www.cointalk.com/threads/it-was-a-toss-up.381435/

WOW ! Did you buy the whole Curtis Clay’s collection ? 🤯

I found that the Antoninus Pius was the « plate coin » on wildwinds after I bought it, the Honorius was submitted by myself after I discovered it was rated R5.