bcuda

Ryro what a great attribution to your coin, glad you took the time to give it the pedigree it deserved.

I believe this coin shows the true likeness of Ferdinand VII. With this image it seems as if he had a cleft lip or palate.

I just purchased another one, and the reverse on this one is really nice. Once have a coin that I like I have a hard time passing it up if its in good condition. Iberia. Arse / Saguntum. Bronze sextans, Villaronga-Benages 1979, Alvarez-Burgos 2064, Villaronga CNH 35; SNG BM Spain 1113. mid 2nd century BC, Æ . obverse scallop shell; reverse dolphin right, crescent with horns upward above, Iberian A and star below.

I absolutely love this style of Celt / Iberian coin so much that I have 3 different variants of it and also recently gave one to my good friend @Ryro. Well today I picked up this one to add to my collection. Iberia. Arse / Saguntum. Bronze sextans, Villaronga-Benages 1979, Alvarez-Burgos 2064, Villaronga CNH 35; SNG BM Spain 1113. mid 2nd century BC, Æ . obverse scallop shell; reverse dolphin right, crescent with horns upward above, Iberian A and star below. Saguntum was built by Edetani Iberians in 5th century B.C. In 218 B.C., after enduring eight months of siege, the Saguntines' last defenses were finally overrun. Hannibal offered to spare the population if they were "willing to depart from Saguntum, unarmed, each with two garments." When they declined the offer and began to sabotage the town's wealth and possessions, every adult was put to death. Seven years later, the town was taken by Rome and made a Roman municipium. Saguntum grew to a city of about 50,000 inhabitants, with a great circus, a theater seating 8,000 and an amphitheater. The siege of Saguntum took place in 219 BCE between the Carthaginians and the Saguntines at the town of Saguntum, near the modern town of Sagunto in Spain. The battle is remembered because it triggered one of the most important wars of antiquity, the Second Punic War.

I have some military items but have always wondered what these are and if they might be military items.

Never seen this Constantinople commemorative coin before, when I saw it I just had to have it just because it seemed different.

I have not been on this forum hardly any in the last year but when it came time for the Saturnalia gifting I did not want to miss it. The Saturnalia gift exchange has been my most favorite part of the year for the last few years making me feel like a kid on Christmas day opening presents. And what did I do I missed it, I then posted a message how disappointed I was. So to my rescue @Ryro and @Curtisimo contacted me and offered to do a late Saturnalia gift exchange with me, to say I was excited is an understatement for sure. So we did our exchanges and the gifts given to me were awesome as always. I have been through an awful lot of personal issues over the past couple of months and never got around to thanking Ryro and Curtisimo. So I would like to do a shoutout to them and thank them so much for making yet again the best part of the year for me. Listed below are the gifts that were given to me. Two of the Ryro coins have one of his favorite collecting themes with shields on them. And both of the coins from Curtisimo have Emperor's that were know as the Thracian in different time frames. Koinon of Macedon. Pseudo-autonomous issue. Tetrassarion (Bronze, 25 mm, 9.38 g, 6 h), time of Severus Alexander, 222-235. ΑΛЄΞΑΝΔΡ૪ Head of Alexander III 'the Great' to right, wearing crested Attic helmet decorated with a griffin on the bowl. KOINON MA-KEDONWN NE-W, Emperor or Alexander standing front in military dress, looking right, possibly Alexander claiming Persia as spear won with spear in ground and parazonium. VF. Rare. No examples in Acsearch nor Wildwinds. Purchased from Savoca September 2021. Ex Ryro collection. Philip III Arrhidaios. 323-317 BC. Æ Half Unit. Sardes mint. Struck under Menander or Kleitos (the white), circa 322-319/8 BC. Macedonian shield, kerykeion on boss / Macedonian helmet; B A across upper field, rose to lower right, kerykeion to lower left, TI below. Price 2614; Klein 130 VF. Ex Ryro collection. Augustus Hispania, Uncertain mint.. 27 B.C.-A.D. 14 Æ as (24 mm, 7.25 g). 'Moneta castrensis'. Mint in northewestern Spain, Probably struck before 23 B.C. [IMP] AVG DIVI F, bare head left; palm branch before, winged caduceus behind / Round shield with four linear outer panels and round central boss. ACIP 3301; RPC 3. Fine, earthen-green patina. Ex: Silicua Subastas The 'Moneta castrensis' coinage, lacking any sort of ethnic or magistrate, is impossible to place with certainty. Most examples are found in northwestern Spain, and stylistically show some affinity to the Spanish issues of Carisius. The obverse legend places the coinage after 27 B.C., and the fact that the coins lack any indication of the tribunican power suggest a terminus post quem of 23 B.C. It is most likely that the 'moneta castrensis' coinage was struck to finance Rome's efforts during the Cantabrian Wars, which brought an end to Spanish self-determination and finalized the province's subjugation. Ex Ryro collection. BYZANTINE EMPIRE. Justin II (The Thracian) AD 565-578. AE Follis, struck AD 574/575. Mint of Nicomedia. 13.74 grams. OBV:\ D N IVSTINVS P P AVG, Emperor Justin II, holding globus cruciger in his right hand, and Sophia, holding cruciform scepter in her right hand, seated facing on double throne, both figures crowned and both holding orb surmounted by long cross. REV:\ Uncial letter M, to left downwards A/N/N/O to right regnal year XI ( year 11 ), between limbs officina letter A, above cross and in exergue mint signature NIKO. Sear 369. Ex Curtisimo collection. Maximinus Thrax AD 235 to 238. Born of Thracian origin giving the nickname "Thrax" ("the Thracian") Denarius (late portrait), 3.39 grams OBV: IMP MAXIMINVS PIVS AVG, laureate, draped & cuirassed bust right, seen from behind REV: PAX AVGVSTI, Pax standing left with branch & sceptre. RIC 12, RSC 31a, BMC 68 Ex Curtisimo collection.

@Ryro I am so glad you liked the coins and artifacts. The piece of mosaic I found back when I was able to metal detect and search the fields has always made wonder what the whole mosaic would have looked like. Also always wondered about the marble with the inscriptions on it and its significance. The coin that I really liked the most out of the ones I gave you is the Saguntum / Arse coin because of the history of the battle from that town that started the Second Punic War. Saguntum / Arse. Sagunto 180-20BCE (Valencia Spain) AE Sextans, 2.14 gr, 16mm, Scallop shell. Dolphin, crescent above star and Iberian letter A below. Burgos 2064. Saturnalia 2023 gift from @bcuda former Il Iberico Collection. The siege of Saguntum took place in 219 BCE between the Carthaginians and the Saguntines at the town of Saguntum, near the modern town of Sagunto in Spain. The battle is remembered because it triggered one of the most important wars of antiquity, the Second Punic War.

Loved the write up @CurtisimoI lived in Andalucia for 5 years total and loved every minute of it. Been to the Alhambra , and all kinds of Roman ruins in Andalucia. Also have lots of Arabic, Iberian, and Roman coins from these areas. Lots of great memories for me !

Well I am so disappointed that I missed it this year. I have not been on here much in the last year but the Saturnalia is the best time of the year for me. Hope everyone has a great time with this years Saturnalia. So bummed I missed out

More Spain

As requested all from Spain Next more Spain.

Here is another gift from a Secret Saturn that has gifted me a coin two years in a row without them receiving anything back in return. I want to let them know that they really have put back the excitement of the holidays that I used to love so much as a kid growing up, I had missed that excitement for many many years and the last two have been as if I was that same kid with all that excitement again. I am so grateful for your generosity and I really do not know how to express how thankful I am for me being the lucky one, I am at a loss for words all I know to say is THANK YOU !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Probus 276-282 AD Silvered Antoninianus Obverse radiate, draped,and cuirassed bust right. Reverse Felicitas standing left holding cornucopia and caduceus 3.87 grams Ticinum mint AD 276, RIC 359

I opened up my Secret Saturnalia gift today. I am happy to say it is right inline with my collecting interest. I can also say I can add this coin to my collection and I did not have it but has been on my radar. I lived and metal detected in Spain for almost 5 years and that is the reason of my interest in Iberian and Roman coins. On a later deployment to Spain for 9 months I was able to have my Wife come over and went on vacation with Her for 10 awesome days visiting everywhere. One of the places I went to was Carmona and we stayed in a medieval castle there and went and toured the Roman ruins of Carmona and this coin if from that very exact place. Thank you for the gift Secret Saturn! AE24 Spain Carmo, present day Carmona 2nd-1st century BC Obverse beardless male head right Reverse Carmo between two lines, grain ear above and below 23.36mm, 8.93 grams

I have received my Saturnalia gift and will share it when I open it. I also received another gift from a different Secret Saturnalia Person that had gifted me a super nice coin last year (from the same Country and area) they were so kind and generous last year and gifted me a coin that was so awesome I just could not believe that anyone would do that for me, it was by far my best gift I have had in years. It truly made me feel like when I was a young kid when I would get so excited about Christmas, never ever would I have imagined to receive such a wonderful gift and to top it off they did not even participate in the exchanging of gifts and only wanted to give and now again this year ! I am speechless. Here is a picture of the one gifted me last year. Constantine II, 321-324 AD AE Siscia. Obv: CONSTANTINVS IVN NOB C, laureate head right. Rev: CAESARVM NOSTRORVM around VOT (dot) V within wreath.

My only Claudius II Gothicus from Antioch.

This is the Caligula I had that sold in a CNG auction about a year ago. It is the much rarer version of the Vesta AS that had the title DIVI in it.

Anyone else out there have a guess as to what it is? I do not believe it is a counterfeit coin meant to mislead someone, it came from a metal detector person in Spain and for the price of 25 euro it is quite a conversation piece no matter what. I just find it strange to be so thick and fat and weighing 70 grams for it is to be a novelty piece. Could it possibly be a token, or a weight ?

I am almost certain it is not ancient , wondeing if it might be something made a few hundred years ago as a novelty or what. It weighs 70 grams

Some of my most favorite coins are Iberian so I thought I would share some of them with you all. I have also picked up an interest in the Roman proto money or better called the AES rude, AES formatum . My Roman Imperial coins have taken a back seat to these.

I dont think so, the ones found by me were all found at Iberian or Roman spots. I just noticed I have another one so that makes 4 of them and I just purchased the one that I had posted in my first post so I have 5 of something that I dont know what it is now.

Just got these in the mail today and just absolutely love the Aes Formatum. Roman Republic Aes Formatum Proto Money. Precurser to the Aes Grave Central Italy 6th-4th century B.C. 95.05 grams Also got an AES rude that has a weight of 42.16 grams The earliest surviving piece of aes rude dates from the early 8th century BC and as late as the late 4th century BC, and was cast in central Italy. It is, simply, bronze, shaped vaguely like a lumpy ingot. Only later on did it become usual to mark these lumps and, eventually, make them into a standard shape (the round, thin disk-shape still in use today).

I am thinking that they were attached to some kind of leather, maybe on some horse harness or some kind of belt like what @Spaniard posted. I would almost bet that they are Iberian as all of the ones I have and seen all came from Spain. If anyone else has an idea please give me your opinion.

Here are a few pictures to get a better idea .

The applique's I have seen all seem to have points on them like a nail so it could be nailed to wood. The piece I am referring to has big hammered down rivet heads on the two post like if they were to be held onto some type of leather, almost like buttons that would pass through a hole to stay put. They also seem to be a common item what ever they are considering I have three of them and have seen two of them for sale. I also might add that one of them is as small as a small LRB Constantine coin or a US dime and has the large rivet heads on it also. These were found in Spain and the two I have seen for sale were from Spain I think they could be from a time period 200BC of the Iberian coinage all the way to the Roman mid 300 AD time frame.