CPK

Thanks Curtis! Great coins & provenances, especially the Commodus-as-Hercules denarius - that is some eye-catching toning on the reverse! 🤩 Thanks! Nice coins. I guess the vows were fulfilled by the time that denarius was struck, but it wasn't to last much longer! Thanks Roman Collector! Yes I thought it interesting the hammer was half the estimate, but then again $100 in 1980 would be worth about $400 today. A decent amount of juice even for a nice portrait coin. Makes me wonder if the coin has any prior provenance history. Great provincial coins, by the way - not just for the plate provenance but they're quite attractive by themselves!

That's a nice example of a historic type! Congrats!

An excellent specimen David! Congrats on acquiring such a rarity.

Been awhile since I was this excited about a coin! 😁 I was browsing the new inventory of a well-known dealer and saw an as of Commodus listed for sale. It was the excellent portrait which first caught my eye. I kept browsing other coins, but made a mental note to go back and take a closer look later. (dealer photo) In addition to the portrait, the coin is beautifully patinated. I also noticed that it was an interesting VOTA type, from the Jeff Clark VOTA Collection. As a collector of unusual as types, I did what I usually do when interested in a Roman coin – reach for the appropriate volume of Sear’s Roman Coins and Their Values and look it up. My eyes nearly popped out when I saw this! 😮 Is that the same coin?? I could hardly believe it! The listing did not mention anything about it being a plate coin. Could I be mistaken? I scrutinized both coin images. No question about it – it was the same coin! How on earth could a Sear plate coin lose such a provenance?? No matter, that was enough to push me over the edge! I bought the coin. Being so caught up in the excitement of discovering a plate coin, I hadn't noticed before that the rarity rating given in the dealer listing was 8/10. It's not even listed in RIC (that reference only recognizes this type as a dupondius.) There is one specimen in the British Museum collection, No. 566: coin | British Museum I did an exhaustive search on ACSearch and other archives but only found three other specimens. It was while searching Coryssa, the database created by our member @rasiel, that I came across this: Coryssa - The Coin Auctions Database - Coryssa - The Coin Auctions Database The same coin! Apparently, it was auctioned off by Numismatic Fine Arts on December 10, 1980. Turning to rnumis (thank you @rNumis!) I found the complete auction catalog. There was the coin – lot 537 – misdescribed as a dupondius, which hammered for $100 on a $200 estimate: Ancient coins. Auction IX : 10 décembre 1980 / Numismatic Fine Arts | Gallica (bnf.fr) How did this coin end up being illustrated in RCV? Thanks to a CT thread by our valued member @Curtis JJ, I learned that David Sear was a cataloguer for a number of NFA auctions, and used some of the coins in his RCV reference books. Check out the thread and Curtis's awesome Philip I plate coin here: https://www.cointalk.com/threads/finding-provenance.403741/page-2 So to make a long story short, I am now the proud owner of a Sear plate coin – which also happens to be an extremely rare type, has a terrific portrait, a beautiful patina, and an interesting collection provenance. Doesn’t get much better than that! 😁 Feel free to comment/post your own surprise plate coins, provenance discoveries, Commodus coins, or anything else! COMMODUS, AD 180-192 AE As (24.84mm, 7.59g, 11h) Struck AD 185. Rome mint Obverse: M COMM ANTON AVG PIVS BRIT, laureate head of Commodus right Reverse: VOT SVSC DEC P M TR P X IMP VII, Commodus, togate, standing left, sacrificing over tripod-altar; COS IIII P P in exergue, S C across fields References: RIC - , BMC 566, RCV 5897 (this coin illustrated) An extremely rare type, with a fine portrait and rich emerald patina. This coin is the illustrated plate coin in David R. Sear's popular reference series Roman Coins and Their Values (Vol. II, p. 411) From the Jeff Clark VOTA Collection.

Wow, what a coin! 🤩

Very interesting coins and a terrific article, @Roman Collector! Thank you for sharing.

Here is a recent purchase, picked up in one of the latest Artemide auctions. I had slapped on a lowish bid and didn't really expect to win, but apparently all the other bidders had bigger fish to catch because when the lot went live, there were no additional bids. I thought it was a very handsome portrait of Hadrian, nicely centered, with an interesting reverse type that is also well-struck. Plus, the coin is nicely toned. Choice VF, I'd call it. 😉 HADRIAN, AD 117-138 AR Denarius (17.73mm, 3.00g, 6h) Struck AD 137. Rome mint Obverse: HADRIANVS AVG COS III P P, bare head of Hadrian right Reverse: VOTA PVBLICA, Hadrian, togate, standing left, sacrificing from patera over tripod-altar References: RIC II 2326, RCV 3550 Attractively toned with a fine portrait. The reverse of this coin depicts Hadrian performing one of his many duties as Emperor - offering votive sacrifices on behalf of the public well-being (VOTA PVBLICA).

That is fascinating! I had no idea that Rome issued Alexandrian coins like these. Thanks for sharing!

That is a terrific specimen @kirispupis! Great to see you branching out into Roman coins. 😉 Here is my only Nero denarius, from the other end of his reign: NERO, AD 54-68 AR Denarius (17.24mm, 3.47g, 7h) Struck AD 68. Rome mint Obverse: IMP NERO CAESAR AVG P P, laureate head of Nero right Reverse: Legionary eagle between two standards References: RIC I 68, RCV 1947 A scarce type. Lightly toned with an excellent portrait. From the T. R. Hardaker Collection (1942-2019) "This type, among the last coins struck by the very unmilitary Nero, would seem to be an attempt to curry favor with the Roman legions of the provinces, which were beginning to rebel against his capricious rule. It did not work." - Classical Numismatic Group (lot description)

Thank you for the kind words! Your photo background idea looks/sounds neat. I've often thought it would be cool to try to photograph ancient coins as they might have appeared in ancient times - in a scene with props, etc. The trick would be getting the right balance of subject/background. Lovely coins, by the way!

If those are normal-sized dollar bills, yes. But in that case the burglars must be about 3 feet tall. 😆

Thank you! Both of your coins are remarkable - the denarius portrait especially. I agree that Severus Alexander's sideburns must have made a deep impression on whoever engraved that die. 😄

Lovely landscaping @panzerman - and that torte looks delicious!

That's interesting! We used to have a CO2 laser, but now all we have are fiber lasers. Fiber is just so much faster than CO2 and way more efficient. Of course, they're more expensive up front, too. As a matter of fact, I'm doing an etching job right now on our smallest laser, a 6KW which probably cost somewhere around $600K. 😉 These are stainless steel parts:

Nice! It's always fun to discover new and interesting aspects to coins already in your collection. That happened to me with this coin here: SICILY, SYRACUSE Time of Agathokles, 317-289 BC AE14 (14.22mm, 2.14g, 7h) Struck 305-295 BC Obverse: Head of Athena left, wearing crested Corinthian helmet Reverse: ΣΥΡΑ-ΚΟΣΙΩΝ above and below winged thunderbolt References: CNS 118, Favorito 38a (this coin illustrated) Attractive green patina. This coin is the illustrated plate coin in Emilo N. Favorito’s reference manual "The Bronze Coinage of Ancient Syracuse", published in 1990 by the Society Historia Numorum. Notated as being from the collection of Favorito himself. I bought this coin in a group lot with little to no description, and only much later found that it is actually a plate coin. I now own a copy of Favorito's reference catalog, which itself happens to be autographed by the author for one of the contributors.

Beautiful coin @CassiusMarcus!

That is a stunning portrait indeed! And you can even see Domitian's features in the reverse figure, too. Truly, a magnificent coin! In my opinion, this is artistry fully on par with the famed "Alphaeus Master" of Hadrian's coinage.

Whoa! That alligator - how common is it to see one crossing the street like that?? Shrimp looks good, too. 😉 Here's a view from my daily life - working at adjusting parameters for one of our fiber lasers. Boring? 😉 Perhaps slightly more interesting - a family trip to a local lake from a week or two ago. This is our youngest, 2 years old and about to turn 3 next month. Saw a black snake there too. Our oldest, 5, staring at the sun in the eerie half-light just before totality:

No doubt, Carthage produced some spectacular coins! Totally my coin: https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=4575650 Actually, I don't think I have any coins from Carthage. They're on my lengthy wish-list, though.

Lovely coin!

Apollo right SICILY, SYRACUSE Time of Timoleon and the Third Democracy, 337-317 BC AE (15.09mm, 3.00g, 8h) Struck 336-317 BC Obverse: Laureate head of Apollo right Reverse: ΣΥΡΑ, Pegasus flying right References: SNG Munich 1185 A very rare variant. Timoleon was a Corinthian general commissioned to aid the Syracusans against both the Carthaginian invaders and the local ruling tyrants. Timoleon brilliantly accomplished both objectives, ushering in the period of cultural and economic renewal and recovery known as the Third Democracy.

Beautiful photography @HipShot Photography - I really like your work and website. (And looking forward to your book!) 1 Kilo coin?? That is wild!

I've noticed that too. It seems that if there is a price difference between the two platforms, MA-Shops is always slightly higher. My guess is that the cost of listing on MA-Shops must be a bit higher and the dealer is passing that extra cost along to the customer. But I could be wrong.

Trident & dolphin MARCUS AGRIPPA, died 12 BC AE As (29.08mm, 11.54g, 6h) Struck under Caligula, AD 37-41. Rome mint Obverse: M AGRIPPA L F COS III, head of Marcus Agrippa left, wearing rostral crown Reverse: Neptune, draped, standing left, holding dolphin in extended right hand and trident in left References: RIC I 58, RCV 1812 Rich brown patina. A characteristically stern portrait of Marcus Agrippa, loyal friend of Augustus and grandfather to the emperor Caligula.

LYSIMACHOS, 306-281 BC AR Tetradrachm (28.30mm, 16.15g, 12h) Struck 297 - 281 BC. Alexandreia Troas mint Obverse: Diademed head of the deified Alexander right, with the horn of Ammon Reverse: BAΣIΛEΩΣ ΛYΣIMAXOY, Athena Nikephoros seated left, left arm resting on shield, transverse spear in background; cornucopia to inner left, Λ under throne References: SNG Stockholm 845 (same dies) A rare variant. Toned with scratches on reverse. Well centered portrait of Alexander the Great in fine style. Next: another Diadochi tetradrachm