red_spork

Cointalk never was the same after Steve's departure. I always found him entertaining and loved his eccentric collecting style and always looked forward to seeing what he'd picked up this time whenever I saw a new Stevex6 thread. My favorite Stevex6 coin will be no surprise to anyone here since I've trotted it out many times. It's one of my favorite bronzes in my entire collection, easily in my top 5 of well north of 100 RR bronzes. I was envious of this coin when Steve bought it in CNG e-364 as it was just the best example of this overstrike I'd ever seen, so when I had the chance to buy it I just knew I had to. It was bittersweet because I always hate seeing a friend's collection sold and disassembled but I will forever cherish this coin and think of Steve and his interesting and odd posts any time I look at it. I think next time I have my coins out I'll have to get this one out to be my desk piece for a while in memory of Steve Roman Republic Æ Triens(20mm, 5.88g, 12h), anonymous("CA" series), 209-195 B.C., Canusium(?) mint. Helmeted head of Minerva right; above, •••• / Prow right; above, ROMA; below, ••••; to right, CA. Crawford 100/3; Sydenham 309c Overstruck on Oiniadai, Akarnania Zeus/Acheloüs, cf. BCD Akarnania 345-348 for undertype. For CA triens overstruck on Oiniadai cf. Hersh NC 1953, 14 and cf. Crawford Table XVIII, 91 Ex Stevex6 Collection via coin.ages, eBay, January 27 2018, ex RBW Collection, CNG e-auction 364, December 2 2015, lot 90, ex Stacks Coin Galleries, August 20 1986, lot 117, ex Frederick S. Knobloch Collection, Stacks May 4 1978, lot 90

If your coin is being sent registered mail it will get there but it will be painfully slow. Sometimes they sit for days in the registered mail safe apparently before the right person is available to check them out and deliver them or move them on the next leg of the journey. The poor mail carrier who delivered my last registered shipment(a coin with about $3k value) flat out told me he was glad to get rid of it because he'd be fired if something happened to it. Registered international isn't taken quite as serious, but registered domestic mail is a big big deal, there's a chain of custody and one or more people will be in serious trouble if it goes missing. That particular coin came from the East coast to me in Colorado and I think it took a week or so to reach Colorado and then 4 days or so to get from the local sort center to me which usually takes less than a day: normally if the sort center scans it around midnight it's in my mailbox later that day.

I wonder if anyone else can post one of these? Everyone knows about Sulla's denarii but he struck some very rare bronzes as well. This one is not in great condition but there are only 3 on ACSearch so I took what I could get when offered one(thankfully misattributed and very cheap) Roman Republic Æ As(13.86g), Lucius Cornelius Sulla, Imperator, 82 BC, military mint moving with Sulla. Laureate head of bearded Janus; I above/Prow of galley right; L•SVL above; IMPE below. Crawford 368/1

Phil, As you may or may not know I was also offered this coin. I tried to get it but probably didn't offer enough so I'm glad you were able to get it. I only have one of these later fractions myself and it is quite ugly but also very very rare, as all these late Rome mint fractions are Roman Imperatorial period AR Quinarius(1.74g), A. Licinius Nerva, 47 B.C., Rome mint. Helmeted head of Minerva right; behind, NERVA downwards. Border of dots/Victory walking right, holding wreath in right hand and palm-branch over left shoulder with left hand; before, A•LICINI downwards. Border of dots. Crawford 454/3

For me at best it's an ancient forgery/imitation. Certainly not official. I don't really like it at all. Sorry

My latest, an extremely rare Crawford 45/3 Sestertius. This is the sibling issue to the extremely rare Crawford 45/1 denarius with fully incuse ROMA, thought by some scholars to be the first denarius, a type I am still missing and may never acquire. It also has a quinarius sibling which I will share below. This denomination is tough because there are a handful of these Roma/Dioscuri sestertii but aside from the common Crawford 44/7, all are very rare to unique, so it is always a good day when I can add a new one: Roman Republic AR Sestertius(12mm, 1.08 g). Anonymous. After 211 B.C. Uncertain mint. Head of Roma right, wearing winged helmet ornamented with griffin's head and three-piece visor, earring an necklace; behind, IIS. Border of dots / Dioscuri on horseback riding right, each holding couched spear and wearing chlamys, cuirass and pileus surmounted by star; in relief in linear frame, ROMA. Line border. Crawford 45/3; Russo RBW - Privately purchased from Jason Irving, 28 April 2024, ex Artemide 60E, 3 September 2022, lot 219 Its sibling quinarius, a type I acquired in 2019 which is at best scarce and the most common denomination of the series with more examples and dies known than the denarii and sestertii combined. Note in particular how similar the reverse is. Some sestertius dies have a much closer obverse as well: Roman Republic AR Quinarius(16mm, 2.28 g, 12h). Anonymous. After 211 B.C. Uncertain(perhaps Apulian?) mint. Head of Roma right, wearing winged helmet ornamented with griffin's head and three-piece visor, earring an necklace; behind, V. Border of dots / Dioscuri on horseback riding right, each holding couched spear and wearing chlamys, cuirass and pileus surmounted by star; in relief in linear frame, ROMA. Line border. Crawford 45/2; Russo RBW 180; Sydenham 169. Ex CNG Triton XXII, 1/9/2019, lot 787, ex Alan J Harlan collection, ex Spink Numismatic Circular April 1997, 1404

I am a huge fan of overstrikes, I even co-authored a paper on them with Andrew McCabe some time ago. My favorites are when you have two opposing sides in a conflict overstriking captured examples of each other's coins and here are two of my favorite examples: Rome over Carthage: Roman Republic Æ Semis(11.47g, 27mm). Anonymous, after 211 BC, mint in Southern Italy, Sicily or Sardinia. Laureate head of Saturn right, S behind/Prow of galley right, S above, ROMA below. McCabe Anonymous group H1(half weight overstrikes); Cf. Crawford 56/3 Overstruck on Carthaginian bronze with head of Tanit left/Horse standing right, head turned left. For overstrike, cf Hersh, Numismatic Chronicle 1953, 6; Crawford, overstrikes 31. And Rome over Akarnanian League: Roman Republic Æ Triens(20mm, 5.88g, 12h), anonymous("CA" series), 209-195 B.C., Canusium(?) mint. Helmeted head of Minerva right; above, •••• / Prow right; above, ROMA; below, ••••; to right, CA. Crawford 100/3; Sydenham 309c Overstruck on Oiniadai, Akarnania Zeus/Acheloüs, cf. BCD Akarnania 345-348 for undertype. For CA triens overstruck on Oiniadai cf. Hersh NC 1953, 14 and cf. Crawford Table XVIII, 91 Ex Stevex6 Collection via coin.ages, eBay, January 27 2018, ex RBW Collection, CNG e-auction 364, December 2 2015, lot 90, ex Stacks Coin Galleries, August 20 1986, lot 117, ex Frederick S. Knobloch Collection, Stacks May 4 1978, lot 90

Won at Naville this morning. The quartuncia(quarter uncia) is a new denomination for me Roman Republic Æ Quartuncia(2.69g, 15mm), anonymous semilibral series. 217-215 BC. Head of Roma right, wearing attic helmet / Prow right; above, ROMA. McCabe Group AA; Crawford 38/8

A great big Roman Republic post semilibral struck as, 54.64g and 39 mm and a rare type not in Crawford. Roman Republic As(39mm, 54.64g), Anonymous post-semilibral series, 215-212 BC, Rome mint. Laureate head of Janus; above, I / Prow of galley right; above, I; ROMA below. Crawford 41/5 var(no struck as listed); McCabe group A2; R. Russo, Essays Hersh, 1 & 4-7 and pl. 15, 1 & 4-7 Ex Musa Numismatic Art, 20 April 2024, ex W.B. and R.E. Montgomery collection, ex Ed Waddell, ex Bombarda Collection, A. Tkalec AG Auction September 2008, 8 September 2008, lot 206 It's a big one:

I've got this funny looking piece of green glass that I know was formed right around 5:29 AM on July 16, 1945 because it's a piece of Trinitite, glass made from the desert floor during the Trinity test of the first atomic bomb. It's not extremely radioactive at this point, and it's almost entirely alpha radiation that is blocked by the capsule I usually keep it in but it will still make a geiger counter make funny noises as the video shows below(sorry for my voice, my wife, son and I were stuck at home sick and I was playing with radioactive bits and bobs to pass the time):

My favorite victoriatus. I can't give any details about the cleaning process, I sent it to a professional who had it for a few months

Hopefully this guy can come to the party. He's just slightly bigger at about 13.5mm at the widest point measured by my calipers but you don't see these half victoriati often at all and you could be forgiven for mistaking them for a silver sestertius(even though they're about 40-50% heavier): Roman Republic AR Half Victoriatus(13.5 mm, 1.45g). Anonymous("VB" series). ca. 211-208 B.C. Uncertain mint(traditionally, Vibo Valentium). Laureate head of Jupiter right. Bead and reel border / Victory standing right, crowning trophy with wreath; VB ligate on exergue between; S to right. ROMA in exergue. Line border. Crawford 95/2 And of course my silver sestertii. Everyone needs one of these especially if you collect the later big bronze ones: Roman Republic AR Sestertius(12.75 mm, 1.14 g, 2h). Anonymous, first anonymous denarius coinage series. Circa 211 B.C. Rome mint. Helmeted head of Roma right; behind, IIS. Border of dots / Dioscuri galloping right; in linear frame, ROMA. Line border. Crawford 44/7; Sydenham 142; RSC 4; Russo RBW 176-177. Roman Republic AR Sestertius(12.7mm, 1.12g, 11h), Anonymous(Uninscribed sibling of Corn-ear series), 211-208 B.C., Sicilian mint. Helmeted head of Roma right with "spike" on rear of helmet; behind, IIS / The Dioscuri galloping right; below, ROMA in linear frame. Crawford 68/3; Russo RBW 284; Sydenham - I actually recently added an updated "denominations" photo to my website showing the relative sizes of all these types. Those interested can find it here.

Not worth $650. It's from the recent hoard that hit the market from the looks of it. The coins are 80-90% badly struck or with bad surfaces or both like this one and would not sell well to actual collectors but they're a slabber's dream because all are "MS" or "AU" and as such most have been sold by outfits like this that cater to people who know nothing about ancients

Finally getting around to photographing another recent pickup. I won this in the recently closed HJB Buy or Bid Sale, a post-semilibral cast(aes grave) triens, and a surprisingly rare type. Only 4 including this example on ACSearch. This triens is from the period and from a series minted during the changeover from cast to struck bronzes and as such overlaps with some of the earliest struck trientes. Roman Republic Æ Aes Grave Triens(29.5 mm, 25.20 g), anonymous, 215-212 B.C., Rome mint. Helmeted head of Minerva left; •••• / Prow left; ••••. Crawford 41/7a; Vecchi ICC 111; Haeberlin pl. 51 22-27 Berk shipped this coin remarkably fast but it went missing in the mail for 2 weeks. I was worried it was lost until it finally got an "out for delivery" scan out of the blue one morning and was in my mailbox an hour later

A rare half victoriatus, one of the rarest denominations of the entire Roman Republic series. I also shared it here in Phil's thread discussing his really amazing example of the type. Mine is an ugly looking coin but an important type for a collection like mine Roman Republic AR Half Victoriatus(13.5 mm, 1.45g). Anonymous(""VB"" series). ca. 211-208 B.C. Uncertain mint(traditionally, Vibo Valentium). Laureate head of Jupiter right. Bead and reel border / Victory standing right, crowning trophy with wreath; VB ligate on exergue between; S to right. ROMA in exergue. Line border. Crawford 95/2