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I was away for a couple of weeks holidays and came back to 5 coins 🙂 Here's one of them: - Cr. 128/1, 3.83g, 19mm - Shield & carnyx denarius of ca. 206-200 BC. Fairly worn, but a bargain at €44 from CGB - it was in one of their E-auctions as an example of Cr. 53/2. ATB, Aidan.

Here's another Flann-related song - in "At Swim-Two-Birds" a character, Jem Casey, writes "pomes" such as "The Workman's Friend". When things go wrong and will not come right, Though you do the best you can, When life looks black as the hour of night - A pint of plain is your only man. When money's tight and hard to get And your horse has also ran, When all you have is a heap of debt - A pint of plain is your only man. When health is bad and your heart feels strange, And your face is pale and wan, When doctors say you need a change, A pint of plain is your only man. When food is scarce and your larder bare And no rashers grease your pan, When hunger grows as your meals are rare - A pint of plain is your only man. In time of trouble and lousey strife, You have still got a darlint plan You still can turn to a brighter life - A pint of plain is your only man. -- Flann O'Brien (Brian O'Nolan) Coincidentally, the actor in the previous De Selby video, Domhnall Gleeson, is the son of Brendan and brother of Fergus here. A coin with Marsyas is suitable 😄 Gens: Marcia Moneyer: L. Censorinus Coin: Silver Denarius - Laureate head of Apollo right L. CENSOR - The satyr Marsyas, standing left with wine-skin on shoulder; behind him, column surmounted by draped figure (Minerva?) Mint: Rome (82 BC) Wt./Size/Axis: 3.90g / 17mm / 6h References: RSC 24 (Marcia) Sydenham 737 Crawford 363/1d Acquisition: Artemide Aste Online Auction Asta 24.2E #1393 (part) 20-Oct-2013 @JeandAcre - O'Nolan's language ability probably stemmed from his growing up in an Irish-speaking household and being home-schooled until he was 12. Then he went to Synge Street and later the rather posh Blackrock College, where he would have studied Latin and Greek. He studied English, Irish and German in UCD. He claimed to have studied in Germany in 1933 and 1934, but according to Cronin (I found the biography), his German was mediocre and he was no polyglot. There's no record of the travelling studentship he claimed to have or his having studied in Cologne at all. He may have spent two or three weeks in Germany on holiday in 1934 - probably the only time he left Ireland - and exaggerated the trip later. Time Magazine of 23rd August 1943 had an article about him - "Eire's Columnist" - where it says during his time in Germany he "met and married 18-year-old Clara Ungerland, blonde, violin-playing daughter of a Cologne basketweaver. She died a month later. O'Nolan returned to Éire and never mentions her." This was a surprise to his friends and family 😄 Ah - here's another song - the main character in Sing Street, the 2016 movie, makes the opposite education move to O'Nolan, going from a posh school to Synge Street when his family can't afford to send him to the private school. ATB, Aidan.

Here's a medal that arrived today - not ancient, but by a Roman Pontifex Maximus as I always say 😛 I like the detail in these - Leo XIII from 1901 - a big one at 44mm diameter and 39.14g. There appears to be a die break on the reverse at the bottom. I found a photo' of the tomb of Innocent III in St. Peter's depicted on the medal on Wikipedia. <Whoops! - I read the legend again and this tomb is in St. John Lateran - the Wikipedia entry for Innocent III is incorrect! In fact, I took a photo' last year which includes it - follows the Wikipedia photo'> My photo' - Innocent's tomb is on the left. ATB, Aidan.

Actually, I got an example of Cr. 487/2a recently- without the S-F on the reverse. ATB, Aidan.

! There are only two major novels in English by Flann - "At Swim-Two-Birds" and "The Third Policeman". Most of the first print run of "At Swim" was destroyed when a warehouse in London burned down in an air raid in 1940 and "The Third Policeman" was rejected by his publisher as too fantastic and was only published after his death. So, he wasn't very successful during his lifetime - after the rejection, he claimed to have left the manuscript of "The Third Policeman" on a tram, while it was actually in his study, and wrote his next novel in Irish - "An Béal Bocht" (The Poor Mouth) - this is a parody of a genre of Irish misery autobiographies. He wrote no more novels for 20 years until "The Dalkey Archive", which copies parts of "The Third Policeman", and "The Hard Life", which isn't very good. Most of O'Brien's output for the 25 years before his death was through his Irish Times newspaper column, published under the Myles ns gCopaleen pseudonym. This was originally in Irish, then alternating between Irish and English and finally mostly in English, with occasional forays into French and German and passages of Latin and Greek for good measure. Several volumes of the columns have been published in book form - some of them are silly stories ending with awful puns, others semi-serious or totally fantastic. He would apparently write to the paper under various names complaining about the columns and then reply to himself under different names praising the original column. As an example of a pun story (these always refer to Keats and Chapman and there's a whole book of these columns)... When the poet Keats was a lad he was undecided as to his ultimate profession, and spent a few years as a potato factor. One day a French noblewoman who was on holiday in the vicinity ordered a ton of Arran Banners. When Keats was delivering the potatoes he was attacked by a ferocious pom, which the lady kept as a pet. The poet presented the pom with the father and the mother of a fair-day kick, and carried on quietly with his work. "When I make up my mind to deliver spuds," he remarked afterwards to Chapman, "I have no intention of letting a pomme de terre me." Chapman took no notice. O'Nolan may have been the author of several science fiction and detective novels under other names, but according to Wikipedia it's uncertain. He tried plays and even a ballet for radio in two parts, none of which met with much success. His daytime job was as a civil servant until he was eventually forced to retire on health grounds (alcoholism) but mostly for criticising a minister in a newspaper column. I can't find it right now, but I have Anthony Cronin's biography of Flann O'Brien - "No Laughing Matter" - which, to take a quote in the article linked to below describes his life as "a relentless catalogue of frustration, bitterness and repression, accompanied of course by a slow descent into alcoholism". https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v35/n20/jonathan-coe/clutching-at-railings Anyway, well worth a read! ATB, Aidan.

I'm not really a Hozier fan, but when he brings out a song and video inspired by a character created by my favourite writer, I have to give it a listen... De Selby https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/books/the-fantastic-flann-o-brien-1.611390 Here's a recent acquisition I photographed today: Obv. legend: S P Q R IMP CAESARI AVG COS XI TRI POT VI Obv. description: Head of Augustus, bare, right Portrait: Augustus Rev. legend: CIVIB ET SIGN MILIT A PART RECVP (or RECVPER) Rev. description: Triumphal arch surmounted by quadriga, figures to the right and left RIC 136/137 It was sold as RIC 137, but as I can't read all the reverse legend it could be RIC 136. (RIC 137 ends with RECVPER and 136 with RECVP). ATB, Aidan.

I haven't posted in this thread for a couple of weeks - here are a couple I've been listening to: The brilliant but ignored Whipping Boy - this is from their last album. Here's another Sinéad O'Connor - "Thank You For Hearing Me" This is the latest coin I've added to Tantalus. Gens: Petillia Moneyer: Petillius Capitolinus Coin: Silver Denarius PETILLIVS - CAPIT[OLINVS] - Eagle standing front on thunderbolt, wings spread and head to right - Hexastyle temple with figures on the roof and the architrave; garlands between central columns Mint: Rome (43 BC) Wt./Size/Axis: 3.91g / 18mm / 1h References: RSC 2 (Petillia) Sydenham 1150 Crawford 487/2a BMCRR Rome 4220 RBW 1704 Acquisition: Leu Numismatik Online auction Web Auction 26 #3865 11-Jul-2023 ATB, Aidan.

This is commonly encountered - a quick search of sixbid sold (& upcoming) items shows up this in many descriptions from several auction houses (I counted 8 different auction houses before I gave up scrolling): https://www.sixbid-coin-archive.com/#/en/search?text=var (same) There's no need for "var" in the Elektron attribution as they've already used "cf." I don't have SNG Kayhan, so don't know whether they're right or wrong! ATB, Aidan.

To explain the (same), the CNG attribution is: "Cf. Weidauer Group II (unlisted denomination, plain incuses); Artemision –; cf. Elektron I 3 (plain incuses); Traité I 11 var. (same); SNG Kayhan 673 var. (same); SNG von Aulock 7762 var. (same); Rosen –." The "cf Elekton I 3 (plain incuses)" means that the coin is similar to the Elektron coin, but that the Elektron coin has plain incuses, while the coin being described doesn't. Now, all the following coins are listed as var. (same) - this means that the described coin has the same variation from the referenced coin - i.e., the referenced coins all have plain incuses. This usage of (same) is commonly found in sales descriptions - they're just not listing (plain incuses) repeatedly. ATB, Aidan.

This is always my example of bad obverse, good reverse - Augustus denarius, RIC 187a: And the other way around - Augustus denarius, RIC 199: No prizes for guessing which sides are facing up in the tray 😄 ATB, Aidan.

Here's Athena on the reverse of a coin. State, City: Thessaly, Pharkadon Coin: Silver Obol - Horse trotting right Φ-ΑΡ-ΚΑΔ - Athena standing right, holding spear and shield; all within incuse square Mint: (5th-4th C. BC) Wt./Size/Axis: 0.71g / 11mm / 3h References: HGC 4, 297 BCD Thessaly II 606 var. Provenances: Ex. BCD Collection Acquisition: CNG Online auction E-auction 417 #155 28-Mar-2018 Next - a horse

Buy the slab, not the coin, as they say. Or something like that 😛

I've only one Otho - RIC 2, Ceres on the reverse: ATB, Aidan.

I record what I spend on Tantalus. I don't include postage but do include buyer's fee and any other charges like VAT, if I have to pay it. I've recorded prices for 2083 coins there and have another 224 without any price information - some were gifts, some I don't remember what they cost or where I got them. I've never sold any coins and don't bother with any current value estimates. I think I will offload some duplicates in the next year and maybe eventually sell - whether the proceeds will fund a night out or a holiday home somewhere is TBD! ATB, Aidan.

Very sad news of the death of Sinéad O'Connor today. Intro' by Gay Byrne for about 40s... Here's a Naevius Balbus denarius -Cr. 382/1a: 😞

Here are a couple of Claudius reverses. Zeus: Ruler: Claudius (Augustus) Region, City: Phrygia, Aezanis Coin: Bronze AE19 KΛAYΔIOC KAICAP - Laureate head right AIZANITΩN - Zeus standing left with eagle and sceptre. Mint: (ca 41-54 AD) Wt./Size/Axis: 4.14g / 19mm / - References: RPC 3100 Acquisition: Naville Numismatics Online Auction NN Live Auction 24 #335 17-Jul-2016 And a simple S C reverse Ruler: Claudius (Augustus) Coin: Copper Quadrans TI CLAVDIVS CAESAR AVG - Hand left, holding pair of scales above P N R PON M TR P IMP COS DES IT - Legend around S C Mint: (41 AD) Wt./Size/Axis: 2.90g / - / 6h References: RIC 85 BMC 174 Acquisition/Sale: London Coin Fair 6-Feb-2010 ATB, Aidan.

Ruler: Orbiana (Augusta) Coin: Silver Denarius SALL BARBIA ORBIANA AVG - Diademed draped bust right CONCORDIA AVGG - Concordia seated left on throne, holding patera and double cornucopiae Mint: Rome Wt./Size/Axis: 2.80g / 19mm / 0h References: RIC 319 (Severus Alexander) RSC 1 BMC 287-290 Acquisition: Mayor 25 Madrid 9-Oct-2010 Next - Concordia

I've been to Rome a few times, from an inter-railing trip in 1989 to 4 nights in Jan. 2022. I've been looking through photos of the Jan. 2022 trip and can quickly sketch out where I went. A lot of the places you mention are close by each other and easy to catch several in one run around. If you loook at a map, you can see that the Pantheon, Trevi Fountain, Marcus Aurelius Column, Ara Pacis, Mausoleum of Augustus (if it ever is open!) can be seen in short order. Similarly, Colosseum and Forum/Palatine, various arches are close together, along with Trajan's Column, Trajan's Market and Domus Aurea - you might be able to see these in most of a day. 4th January - got to Rome, dumped bags at hotel (quite near Termini railway station) and walked down to Colosseum and went to Domus Aurea - I think I had booked in advance for the Domus - certainly check for now as it's likely very busy in summer. I did not go into the Colosseum or Forum - had been in both before a couple of times. Arch of Constantine is beside the Colosseum and Trajan's Column, Trajan's Markets and Forum are all nearby. I went to Domus Aurea as I hadn't been there before. Finally, after much more walking, a well-deserved break: 5th January - I went to Ostia - I wouldn't say this is essential if you haven't seen other sights in Rome before, but I hadn't been to Ostia and it's a short train trip. Really worth visiting, but maybe leave for a second trip. Basically, I spent all day in Ostia and went back and had an enormous dinner somewhere the hotel recommended. 6th Circus Maximus, Bocca della Verita, Capitoline Museums. 7th - wanted to get to Castel Sant'Angelo, but ended up in Saint Peter's. Also failed to get to Mausoleum of Augustus - it was supposed to be open but wasn't. Went to nearby Ara Pacis instead. Plus Pantheon and other churches, Trevi Fountain, Spanish Steps, Piazza Colonna. 8th - flew back in the evening - went to Basilicas of St. Lawrence & St. John Lateran. And a lot of walking. As an alternative to the Capitoline Museums, the Palazzo Massimo museum is near Termini railway station and maybe not as busy as some of the other museums. It has a fine collection - including the sculpture "The Boxer" and a great coin collection. You can get a ticket to include the Baths of Diocletian which are nearby. You will have to queue up for a long time to get into St. Peter's, but it's free. It's a long time since I've been to the Vatican Musuems and Sistine Chapel (20 years), but it involved booking in advance then, so presumably the same now. The Pantheon has recently started charging €5 entry, it was free before. You would definitely spend a day in the Vatican if you take in the museums as well as St. Peter's. After looking at all the photos I took, I want to go again ASAP. The weather in Jan. 2022 was wonderful, too - blue skies... Enjoy (a bit envious!), Aidan.

I suppose you could throw in a bid on the N&N Mystery Lot and who knows what you'll get 😄 ATB, Aidan.

I never miss an excuse to trot out this guy - RIC 220, as - I need a new photo' - it's closer in colour to the lower pic: ATB, Aidan.

Here are a couple of Tiberius types which haven't appeared already. In spite of being almost worn flat, this is attributable to Tiberius RIC 48 - sestertius with Tiberius seated left on throne on obverse and a large S C on the reverse with legend around. NCAPR counterstamp. 24.77g, 22-23 AD. Here's half of an Emerita coin with the usual city gate entrance. Alvarez-Burgos 830, RPC 42: ATB, Aidan.

I doubt they're real either. As John Conduitt says above, the attempts at legends are reminiscent of some of the later Hiberno-Norse issues - Phase V, VI? By the Phase V issues, the legends had degenerated into lines like you have above. The weights can't be right - are the units grams? Even the later light Hiberno-Norse coins were close to 1g. ATB, Aidan.

Augustus... RIC 529 of 14 BC - Augustus and Agrippa seated on a platform with three rostra before. Moneyers still got to put their names on the coins in the early empire: Several types record the recovery of standards captured by the Parthians (from Crassus in 53 BC and Antony in 40 & 36 BC) - e.g. RIC 287 of 19/18 BC (Turpilianus moneyer): Augustus driving a biga of elephants on the reverse of this coin of L. Aquilius Florus of 19 BC (RIC 301), brought to you thanks to Superglue: A heifer on the reverse of this denarius struck in Samos or Pergamum in 21-20 BC (RIC 475): 13 BC, sacrificial implements - simpulum, lituus, tripod, patera - RIC 410: Denarius from Emerita of 25-23 BC - RIC 7b: Pegasus - P. Petronius Turpilianus moneyer of 19-18 BC - RIC 297: There are some interesting Republican designs restored - this recalls Cr. 401/1 0f 71 BC (RIC 310 of 19 BC): This of 407/1 of 64 BC (RIC 317 of 19-18 BC): Another Emerita denarius, with a trophy set on a heap of weapons - 25-23 BC, RIC 4b. Augusta Emerita is modern-day Merida in Spain and well worth a visit: This is my best Augustus obverse, but the reverse is not so great (cabinet friction) - Gaius Caesar on horseback - RIC 199 or 8BC (Lugdunum): The Tribute Penny of Tiberius is much better known than its Augustan prototype - RIC 220 of 13-14 AD: This is my best Augustan reverse - if it were linked to the obverse of the Gaius Caesar, it would be an interesting coin - as it is, I just keep the reverse side up 😄 - RIC 155 of 11-10 BC: And finally, my croc - RIC 160: ATB, Aidan.

It's from Laos. ATB, Aidan.

Mongolia - 50 Mongo. ATB, Aidan.