red_spork

This type has always been a favorite for me. I really like how you have all these moneyers starting to make very personal designs emphasizing their familial accomplishments but this moneyer decided to go against that, minting anonymously with a type that purely celebrates the founding myth of Rome. Really awesome and interesting departure from the norm. Roman Republic AR denarius(19mm, 3.87 g, 9h), anonymous, circa 115 or 114 B.C., Rome mint. Helmeted head of Roma right with curl on left shoulder; below, ROMA; behind, X. Border of dots. / Roma, wearing Corinthian helmet, seated right on pile of shields, holding spear in left hand; at feet, beside pile of shields, helmet; before, she-wolf right, suckling twins; on either side, bird flying. Border of dots. Crawford 287/1 Ex CNG e-Auction 443, 1 May 2019, lot 455, ex Andrew McCabe Collection, AM#13206-39, ex Roma V, 23 March 2013, lot 519, ex Mayflower (Herb Sukenik) Collection, Heritage 3019, 25 April 2012, lot 25924, ex George N. Polis M.D. Collection, Bowers & Merena, 10 June 1991, lot 74, ex Aurelia Collection, Owl, Ltd. & Thomas McKenna, November 1980, lot 72.

Name and shame. That's the only way to make these dealers care.

It's good to see NGC trying a technique that allows you to view more of the coin. They've almost reached the pinnacle of protection and accessibility that is keeping your coins raw and handling them with your hands. I for one can't wait until they introduce the NGC HandView holder

I recently crossed off a type from my collecting bucket list that also serves as an important bookend for my collection: a Mars/Horsehead “ROMANO” didrachm, the first silver coin of the Romans. As is the case with many early Roman coins, the date and mint at which it was struck, along with the context surrounding its striking, have long been the subject of debate. Various authors have placed it as early as 340 B.C. and as late as the 260s B.C., with Metapontum, Neapolis and Rome, along with the general area of Campania commonly proposed as mint locations. Dating of course drives the context discussion, but some commonly proposed contexts have been the start of the Second Samnite War, the Foedus Neapolitanum, the building of the Via Appia, the funding of the Pyrrhic War and virtually every other important late fourth/early third century BC event in Roman history.The dating I’ve cited below is roughly based on what most recent scholarship seems to be pointing to, with this issue being minted somewhere in the latter quarter or so of the fourth century, and to me the mint location at Neapolis seems most likely since these coins were minted at the Neapolitan weight standard and, at least I am told by collectors of Greek coinage, that the fabric matches contemporary Neapolitan issues. On top of that, these coins are never found in hoards around Rome, so while there is the possibility that they were minted in Rome by some sort of Greek “contractors”, it seems most likely they were minted in Neapolis, which makes sense since, at this time that roughly coincides with the Second Samnite War, Rome would have had plenty of dealings in Campania.As far as the devices themselves, it’s easy to look at Mars and the bridled horse head on the obverse and think these are generic martial imagery and leave it at that, but as Crawford, Burnett and others have pointed out the choice of a wheat-ear behind the horse head perhaps offers a hint that there’s more going on here. Specifically, these devices when taken together seemingly refer to the Equus October(the October Horse). Each year, at the beginning and end of the combined campaigning season and agricultural cycle, festivals to Mars(who was not just the god of war, but also a guardian of agriculture) would be held, culminating in a series of chariot races at the end of season festival. The outside horse of the winning chariot would be ritually slain and sacrificed to Mars, as thanks for the recently completed harvest and as an offering asking Mars to protect the next one. This is notably the only horse sacrifice known in Roman religion.As many of my recent coins have, this coin also has a wonderful old provenance to the Count Luigi Brunacci Collection sold by P & P Santamaria in Rome, 24-28 February 1958, where, fitting its position as the first Roman silver coin, it was lot 1. Unfortunately I’ve been unable to find any biographical information about Brunacci at all. If anyone here has anything to share, I’d be most interested in it. Roman Republic AR Didrachm(7.27g, 6h), anonymous, circa 326-300 BC, Neapolis mint. Helmeted head of bearded Mars left; behind, oak-spray / Horse's head right on base; behind, corn-ear; on base, ROMANO. Crawford 13/1; Burnett 5(Ob/R2); BMCRR Romano-Campanian 1; Sydenham 1Privately purchased from M.V. Collection on 15 September 2022, ex Count Luigi Brunacci Collection, P & P Santamaria 24-28 February 1958, lot 1 As always, feel free to share anything relevant.

Possibly. I'm not certain either way but I don't think an overstrike can be completely discounted yet. Most cases of denarii of this period that appear to be overstruck are either just a double strike or die damage, but I think it's worth trying to investigate and prove it one way or the other in all cases. If I had time today I'd be looking for a die match which is usually the easiest place to start.

McCabe in RBN 2018 lists a number of denarius overstrikes, many from around this same period. Some important pages copied below, but check the link for the full details.

I recently acquired yet another very dramatic overstrike. The seller had it listed as a double struck coin but the horse was very apparent on the obverse and I quickly notied a very distinctive Tanit bust on the reverse as well. Below I've attached a photo sowing the coin in the normal orientation and then showing the coin so that the undertype is in its normal orientation. Sometimes these photos require a lot of squinting and moving the photo around to really see the undertype but this one is surprisingly clear. Surprisingly, while many of these overstrikes on Horse/Tanit bronzes are common, semisses overstruck on these are very rare. Crawford & Hersh only list a single example, McCabe lists a few more in the section on Group H1(Half weight overstrikes) in his paper on Anonymous bronzes and I was able to find none in the recent sales record. It's always hard to say for sure why the Roman mints made decisions like this, but it seems most probably that coins meeting the module preferences for a Roman semis(weight & die diameter) were probably in short supply where these were minted. Just looking at recent sales, it does seem that the smaller bronzes, which would have had smaller denominations overstruck on them, were much more common. 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. By the way, if anyone here knows enough about Carthaginian bronzes to point me to a better, more specific reference for the undertype I'd be very appreciative. I have not begun to try to attribute the undertype specifically because I really don't yet know enough about them to do that, but now that I have a few Roman bronzes overstruck on Carthaginian I'm probably going to have to start looking for some references. As usual, feel free to post anything relevant.

I've had this coin on my list for the better part of a year now after originally spotting it at in a dealer's inventory and being really impressed with how crisp Sol is and how much of the legend this coin has, even with the bit of flat striking. I made an offer last year but it went ignored(it was probably too low), so with the weakening Euro I decided to have another run at it and managed to acquire it at a USD price pretty close to my original offer. In the time I've been watching this coin I found a really wonderful provenance for it as well with a tangential connection to one of my favorite authors, detailed below.This denarius of Antony was struck Summer 38 BC in Athens. On the obverse of this coin is Antony, portrayed in the priestly robes and with the lituus of an Augur, likely Antony's attempt at stressing his adherence to traditional Republican values in opposition to Octavian who was driving towards autocracy. The reverse features a bust of Sol, a symbol of the East, in this case likely attempting to show that affairs in the East were still important to Antony, who had recently returned from Italy where he had been for much of 40 and 39 BC. Roman Imperatorial period AR Denarius(3.82g), Marcus Antonius, Summer 38 B.C., Athens. Marcus, veiled and wearing the priestly robes of an augur, standing right, holding lituus in right hand; M•ANTONIVS•M•F•M•N•AVGVR•I(MP)•TE(RT) around clockwise. Border of dots / Radiate head of Sol right; III•VIR•R•P•C•COS•DESIG•ITER•ET•TERT around clockwise. Border of dots. Sear HCRI 267; Crawford 533/2; BMCRR East 141;Purchased from Numismatica Varesina, 8 July 2022, ex John Cosmo Stuart Rashleigh Collection, Part I, Glendining, 14th-16th January 1953, lot 427 This coin is actually much darker than this photo really shows. Here is a second photo taken from my phone that shows just how dark the reverse is in-hand. It's really a very pleasing looking tone This coin has a wonderful provenance to Part I of the John Cosmo Stuart Rashleigh collection, sold at Glendining 14th-16th January 1953. Rashleigh was an English collector who formed his collection from the mid 1930s up through its sale in 1953. There was also an earlier Rashleigh collection, primarily English coins, assembled by his grandfather and sold at Sotheby's in 1909.If you're a fan of Daphne du Maurier's work as I am you may be surprised to learn that Manderley, the setting of du Maurier's "Rebecca" was inspired by Menabilly, seat of the Rashleigh family. She came across the dilapidated mansion early in life during a family trip and fell in love with it, spending considerable time outside staring in and appreciating it from afar, and even writing some about it. Some years later, J C S Rashleigh agreed to lease it to her and she lived there several years and made considerable renovations before returning it to the Rashleigh family.Below I've attached scans from the catalog, along with a portrait of J C S Rashleigh from the introduction of the Glendining catalog

I recently picked up a victoriatus which brings the total count in my collection to 18 different varieties. That may seem like a lot but I'm actually only about a quarter of the way to completing the series and still missing both many of the most common varieties and many of the rarest ones. This type is one of the scarcer varieties with a mintmark LT. Unlike the much more common L mintmarked victoriati, these with LT probably weren't minted at Luceria but instead, represent the transition away from Luceria to another mint, likely still in Apulia but closer to the fighting and where the money would be spent(contra Crawford, who thinks T may just refer to a mintmaster). Andrew McCabe suggests that mint might be Herdonia under Quintus Fabius Maximus filius and the abrupt change in style does suggest that it is a different mint. As you can probably tell from the picture, this coin did come slabbed. Normally I try to avoid buying slabbed coins, but this coin was very attractively priced because this dealer inexplicably listed a large group of slabbed victoriati in economy(no strike/surface) slabs and priced them all based on the slab grade - so every "MS" coin, whether it was off struck and missing half the reverse or badly corroded or had a massive die crack running across it cost the same. Most were overpriced but this was a bargain. Of course, I made sure to crack it out as soon as it got home, and while I haven't had time to take my own good photographs of it or a video, I did take some quick "in-hand" shots because this coin is truly breathtaking, particularly the well-detailed reverse. Roman Republic AR Victoriatus(3.81g), Anonymous("LT" series). ca. 214-212 B.C., Central Apulian mint under, perhaps under Quintus Fabius Maximus filius at Herdonia. Laureate head of Jupiter right. Border of dots / Victory standing right, crowning trophy with wreath; LT between. ROMA in exergue. Line border. Crawford 98a/1b Formerly slabbed by NGC 4374477-040 graded MS In-hand shots:

Aaron let me hold an Eid Mar denarius at NYINC a while back that had just sold for $300k+juice a little while before. I bet he'd let you see these if he still has them.

They used small change imitations like this. Most of them come from the first century and they were made in multiple places across Italy, which Rome didn't seem to mind. Imitations of Roman Republic coinage, Italy, Æ Semis(5.96g, 21mm). 1st century B.C., Italian mint. Laureate head of Saturn right, S behind/Prow of galley right; above, S; to right, dolphin below, ROMA. Cf. Crawford, “Unoffical imitations and small change under the Roman Republic,” AIIN 29(1982), 66; cf. BMC RR(1910 ed) vol II, p. 588, 7 = BM 1906,1103.2817(same obverse die) Ex @Stevex6 Collection, ex CNG e-auction 295, 30 January 2013, lot 368 Another example of small change from this era in my collection which I'm having trouble finding my photo of, so here's a 20-ish year old Sternberg catalog photo of it: Imitations of Roman Republic coinage, Italy, Æ Semis(9.75g). 1st century B.C., Italian mint. Laureate head of Saturn right, S behind/Prow of galley right; above, foot facing left(or backwards L?); below, ROMA. Cf. Crawford "Unofficial Imitations and small change under the Roman Republic," AIIN 29(1982), 67 Ex Sternberg 35, 29 October 2000, 389

Here are some Aes Rude pieces that I bought a few years back. These are irregular lumps of bronze used before more regular coinage in Italy. They're nice, heavy pieces, which I quickly found out when I dropped one as I was unpacking them and damaged one of our end tables(thankfully just a cheap Ikea Lack table) Italy, Æ Aes Rude(55.02g, 55.81g, 69.57g, 80.41g, 95.05g), before 4th century B.C.. Irregular cast lump with no stamp or mark of value. Vecchi ICC 1 Ex Andrew McCabe Collection, CNG e-Auction 452, 18 September 2019, lot 728, ex RBW Collection, before 2010

Rome mint coins of this era often have imperfect flans. Elongated flans are common as are bumps from the flan making process as you can see around the neck on the denarius of L Hostilius Saserna below

Here's a coin I've had for a few months but neglected to post to the usual forums. I've wanted this type for a while but lately even ho-hum examples have been outside my reach, so I was happy to work out a private deal with Edgar L Owen for this coin from his personal collection. From the description of a similar coin in a Goldberg auction: The types on this coin allude to the moneyer's claim to descent from Telegonus, son of Ulysses and Circe, and hence from the god Mercury. The reverse features a sadly endearing scene from the Odyssey, when Odyseeus returns home after twenty years disguised as a beggar and his old dog, who had been neglected, recognizes him: "So they spoke. And a dog, lying there, lifted its head and pricked up its ears. Argus was the hound of noble Odysseus, who had bred him himself, though he sailed to sacred Ilium before he could enjoy his company. Once the young men used to take the dog out after wild goat, deer and hare, but with his master gone he lay neglected by the gate, among the heaps of mule and cattle dung that Odysseus' men would later use to manure the fields. There, plagued by ticks, lay Argus the hound. But suddenly aware of Odysseus' presence, he wagged his tail and flattened his ears, though no longer strong enough to crawl to his master. Odysseus turned his face aside and hiding it from Eumaeus wiped away a tear then quickly said: 'Eumaeus, it's strange indeed to see this dog lying in the dung. He's finely built, but I can't tell if he had speed to match or was only a dog fed from the table, kept by his master for show.'"Then, Eumaeus, the swineherd, you replied: 'Yes this dog belongs to a man who has died far away. If he had the form and vigour he had when Odysseus left for Troy you'd be amazed by the speed and power. He was keen-scented on the trail, and no creature he started in the depths of the densest wood escaped him. But now he is in a sad state, and his master has died far from his own country, and the thoughtless women neglect him. When their masters aren't there to command them, servants don't care about the quality of their work. Far-voiced Zeus takes half the good out of them, the day they become slaves.'"With this he entered the stately house and walking straight into the hall joined the crowd of noble suitors. As for Argus, seeing Odysseus again in this twentieth year, the hand of dark death seized him."(Homer, Od. XVII.290-327). Roman Republic AR Denarius serratus(3.72g), 82 BC, Rome mint. C Mamilius Limetanus, moneyer. Draped bust of Mercury right, wearing winged petasus; caduceus over left shoulder and behind, control-mark I / C·MAMIL – LIMETAN; Ulysses standing right, holding staff and extending his right hand to his dog, Argus. Crawford 362/1 Privately purchased from the personal collection of Edgar L. Owen 31 January 2022, ex Numismatica Ars Classica 64, 17 May 2012, 2304 ANS SITNAM f7a7310d By the way, Edgar L Owen's personal collection is apparently for sale and he is entertaining offers for all coins not marked as "sold", even though not obvious on all pages of his website. A few pages even say the coins are "not for sale", including the one I bought this coin from. It doesn't benefit me in any way if you buy anything from him, but I think it's worth taking a look and making an offer if you you're interested. I felt the prices were very fair on the coins I bought.