CPK

A beautiful coin @kirispupis, congratulations on the milestone acquistion!

Thanks - I also don't usually mind overpaying a bit, if it's a rare opportunity and I really want it - but in some cases, it might take a little while for the pain to subside. 😉 Thanks! I've definitely experienced the flip-side before of regretting not being more aggressive when I had the chance. Thanks! I know I will not regret this purchase. And since I have been selling so many coins I was well able to afford it, even though it was pricey! I still very much appreciate the worn rarities in my collection - and as a matter of fact, I just purchased an AE provincial that is in rather poor shape, but I'm very excited to own!

That Vespasian is a rare type. Congrats!

To complete the Flavian Dynasty, I needed a good Vespasian denarius. But even though I came across a number of possible candidates, none of them really seemed to 'speak' to me, if you know what I mean. Then I noticed a particularly fine example scheduled to be auctioned off later that month and put it on my watchlist. The bidding stayed pretty low, so I was hopeful of being able to snag it for a decent price. Ha, think again! The evening before the auction was to go live, I decided to make my move - so I placed a bid about double what the current bid was. Not enough. Both my bids and a feeling of desperation kept inching up and up as I tried to top the winning bid. Sigh. Yes, I finally topped the max bid, but by that point we were both in the stratosphere, almost double what I had previously decided would be my max bid, and it was with feelings of annoyance, guilt, hope, and resignation that I finally closed the web browser and headed for bed. Well, to make a long story short, my winning bid held - there were no additional bids placed, so I won the coin! But whew. I am afraid I may have overpaid for it, but oh well, it really is one of the finest portrait denarii of Vespasian I've ever seen! Plus, it is a rare type, rated "R" in RIC. So I will now present what might be the best yet in my 'quality' collection: VESPASIAN, AD 69-79 AR Denarius (18.35mm, 3.26g, 6h) Struck AD 74. Rome mint Obverse: IMP CAESAR VESP AVG, laureate head of Vespasian right Reverse: PONTIF MAXIM around winged caduceus References: RIC II 686 (R), RCV 2306 Lightly toned and lustrous. A magnificent portrait of Vespasian, and an exemplar of the veristic style of Flavian portraiture.

I'm glad you bought that one...because it keeps me from spending the money on it! I saw that as well and thought it was a shockingly good deal coming from that particular dealer. Congrats on the acquisition! It is a handsome coin despite the wear.

Interesting! If I want to take some coins somewhere to show people I usually just put them in flips. Occasionally I'll staple them into cardboard holders. Most times it's just a few coins so it works fine.

That is a beautiful coin, all around! Heavy, too. Congratulations!

Very nice coin!

Nice coin and writeup @DonnaML, thanks for posting! Good to hear you're on the mend. Doesn't seem to me you've lost any brain cells. 😉

Nice coins. I like the Divus Commodus, and the depiction of Anubis on the last coin. The photos are great too - do you take them yourself?

Happy Leap Day! SICILY, SYRACUSE Time of Dionysios I, 405-367 BC AE Hemilitron (18.22mm, 2.95g, 6h) Struck 405-400 BC Obverse: Head of Arethusa left, with hair in sphendone; branch behind neck Reverse: ΣΥΡΑ, dolphin swimming left, cockle shell below References: Favorito 15 Dark patina with good details.

Very nice coin (and photo!) I see it is from the Vitangelo Collection...is it also ex London Ancient Coins, by any chance? I believe my Pompey the Great denarius which I bought from LAC is also from the same collection (came with a little white tag written in Italian.) Never found out terribly much about who "Vitangelo" was but he appeared to have a sizeable collection. Thanks! I didn't know the reverse was unique for Domitian. Interesting! Thanks! Was Titus' use of the reverse type the first since Republican/Imperatorial times?

Wow, beautiful coins @red_spork! I love the reverse on that didrachm.

Thanks @Nerosmyfavorite68! Here is another one of my new 'quality' acquisitions - perhaps not quite as eye-catching as the Titus denarius, but still quite nice. I especially like the portrait style, which seems to be of a more individual and artistic style than the standard Domitian portrait. The reverse is nice as well - I like the little owl - and it is struck on a full weight, quality flan. DOMITIAN, AD 81-96 AR Denarius (19.29mm, 3.53g, 6h) Struck AD 88-89. Rome mint Obverse: IMP CAES DOMIT AVG GERM P M TR P VIII, laureate head of Domitian right Reverse: IMP XVII COS XIIII CENS PPP, Minerva standing right on top of rostral column, holding spear and shield; owl to lower right References: RIC II 657 (R) A rare type, well-struck on good metal with light toning. An excellent portrait of Domitian in fine style. It also so happens to be a rare (R) type. If I may quote @David Atherton: "Domitian did not take the consulship in 89, so this rare denarius is dated by TR P VIII between September 88 and September 89. The date can be further narrowed down by the 17th imperial acclamation. A military diploma dated 7 November, 88 records Domitian as IMP XVII, so this issue must have been struck briefly at the end of 88, perhaps just a month or so due to the rarity of the acclamation number on the denarii and the fact they were being awarded at a fairly rapid pace due to increased military activity along the Danube." - Image search results - "domitian ric 657" - RIC 657 Domitian - Classical Numismatics Discussion - Members' Coin Gallery (forumancientcoins.com)

Thanks! But you're too hard on your coin. That's an interesting and less-common reverse type as well! Thanks! Yes I would be more of that opinion myself. The Flavians never tired of boasting about the Judaean victory. Thanks @Qcumbor! That is a fabulous gift coin, indeed!

The past several months I've been working at shifting my collection from 'lots of average coins' to 'fewer coins but of higher quality'. Part of that has involved selling off a lot of coins to free up funds for new purchases, and there's still a bunch more I want to move on. In the meantime, I've greatly enjoyed being able to spend a bit more per coin and being a bit more discriminating in what I purchase. Like many people I am drawn to the fine portrait artistry on Roman coins, so I've been building a small collection of portrait denarii, prioritizing eye appeal - artistic style, top condition, quality of strike, and toning. Of secondary importance is good full weight, rarity of type, interesting provenance, etc. The goal is to buy the very best I can afford - which naturally varies somewhat by emperor. Needless to say, I won't be able to acquire them all. My rule is one per emperor, so if I want to upgrade I will have to sell the current coin. Hopefully that will keep it manageable and affordable. I also am trying to keep it to lifetime coins as Augustus, so no 'DIVVS' or coins as Caesar. So far I am content with my representations of Augustus, Tiberius, Antoninus Pius, and Septimius Severus. I've posted all those before and I won't bother with them again here. But more recently, I was thrilled to acquire this beautiful denarius of Titus. Not only does it have great 'eye appeal', but it's also a somewhat rare and historically significant reverse type: TITUS, AD 79-81 AR Denarius (18.54mm, 3.34g, 6h) Struck September-December, AD 79. Rome mint Obverse: IMP TITVS CAES VESPASIAN AVG P M, laureate head of Titus right Reverse: TR P VIIII IMP XV COS VII P P, bound captive kneeling under trophy of arms and armor References: RIC II 49, RCV 2511 var. (obv. leg.) A choice specimen, sharply struck with a superb portrait. "The reverse type refers either to the victory in Judaea or, alternatively, may be associated with the activities in northern Britain of the celebrated governor Gnaeus Julius Agricola, father-in-law of the historian Tacitus." - David R. Sear (Roman Coins and Their Values, Vol. I, p. 465) Being able to afford coins like this takes the hobby to a whole new level for me. I will be posting more later on, so stay tuned. 😉

Neat type!

Very nice coin @kirispupis. It amazes me how they were able to carve such an artistic design onto such a tiny die!

Well done!

Outstanding!

I agree with @Orange Julius. Tooling is definitely more prevalent on certain types than on others, and in many cases it is not too hard to spot. I certainly wouldn't say that "just about every bronze is tooled". Out of curiosity, could you post a picture of the sestertius you saw yesterday?

Wow, what a cool gift! Regarding authenticity I don't see any red flags. Not sure about attribution.

Carausius minted a quantity of high-quality silver denarii - probably as a donative for his soldiers. They're rare and in high demand. CNG just sold a whole bunch in their most recent Triton auction. Here's one example: https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=12061284 "Carausius. Romano-British Emperor, AD 286-293. AR Denarius (19.5mm, 3.95 g, 6h). 'RSR' mint. IMP CARAVSIVS P F AVG, laureate and draped bust right / VIRTVS SAECC, radiate lion walking left, holding thunderbolt in mouth; RSR. RIC V.5 174; cf. RIC V 591 (for similar type); cf. Shiel 92-3 (same). Toned, flan crack, light scrapes and scratches. Near EF. Extremely rare, only 2 examples noted in RIC V.5. From the Dr. Malcolm Lyne Collection. Ex Numismatica Ars Classica 114 (6 May 2019), lot 844. Found in St. Mary Bourne, Hampshire, 2015 (PAS ID BM-B49CF4). The reverse type with the radiate lion holding a thunderbolt in its mouth is first seen in the coinage of Caracalla. What exactly the significance and meaning of this type is has been a source of much discussion. David Woods in his article "From Caracalla to Carausius: The Radiate Lion With Thunderbolt in its Jaws" for the 2018 BNJ suggested that the scene is a reference to courage inspired by the classical account of a pair of dream premonitions concerning Alexander the Great as recounted by Plutarch of Chaeronea. Caracalla, a fervent admirer of Alexander, would likely have been familiar with the account and enthusiastic to compare his courageousness to that of Alexander. Later, Carausius revived the reverse type as is found here on this coin. Carausius' coinage is ripe with literary references, so it is not astonishing to think that he would have picked up on this previous design and elected to strike coinage depicting it. His legend reads VIRTVS SAECC, or "courage of the ages." A quite aspirational expression but one that was perhaps not fated to be sustained as Carausius' rebellion came it an abrupt end in 293 upon the fall of his fortress of Gesoriacum (today's Boulongne-sur-Mer)."

Top right one, too, I think...

Sorry to hear! I got it a couple years ago, and it was about the same as you describe - 101+ temp, sore throat, congestion, etc. What @rNumis says seems to be the case though, it's gotten milder over time, so hopefully it won't stick around too long for you. Hope you feel better soon!