expat

Nice to see some good portraits out of what almost seems to be a multitude of poor ones available. I finally got a half decent one recently

Gallienus AE Antoninianus. Rome. AD 260-268 (Sole Reign). 4.13 g. GALLIENVS AVG, radiate, cuirassed bust right. / AETERNITAS AVG, Sol, radiate, standing left, chlamys draped over shoulder and hanging down behind, holding globe and raising right hand. Γ in left field. RIC V-1 Rome 160; Goebl 0577w.

IVLIA, deity and child. All characters different to above but similar theme

Julia Domna AR Denarius.
IVLIA AVGVSTA, draped bust right / SAECVLI FELICITAS, Isis, wearing polos on head, standing right, left foot on prow, holding Horus; behind, rudder. RIC 577, RSC 174, BMC 75

No longer my coin. I gifted it at Saturnalia

NEXT, Carinus or his Father

Nice addition @lordmarcovan

I have a provincial to fill that slot at the moment, very similar to that of @Sulla80

Gordian III

6Hr

Keep this moving along with;

SASANIAN KINGS. Ohrmazd (Hormizd) IV (579-590). Drachm.
( 4.11 g. 32.8 mm ). .900 Silver
Obverse
A portrait of the king facing right wearing a crown with two teeth, a crescent and a globe. To the left of the crown there is a star, and to the right a crescentwith a star. "Royal ribbons" flow from his shoulders. Above his left shoulder there is a crescent. His hair is in a bun and his face bearded. There is a necklace around his neck. There is a single rim around the portrait. Behind the rim are three crescents with star.
Pahlavi legend
Reverse
A fire altar "atasdan" with two straight standing figures. The column of the fire altar is covered with ribbons with the ends upwards. To the left of the fire there is a star, to the right a crescent. There is a single rim around the portrait.

NEXT: A fire altar

A rather tenuous link between song title and reverse image (14 layers of stone/rock)of coin. I was listening to an album I had not played for some time, this song came on and the seed was planted in my brain for this post.

Constantine II AE follis. 337-340 AD. CONSTANTINVS IVN NOB C, laureate head right / PROVIDENTIAE CAESS, 14 layer campgate with no doors, two turrets and star above. Mintmark: Epsilon SIS double crescent.
Siscia 2.92 g, 19.2mm
RIC VII 216

9 minutes ago, Vel Saties said:

I add a piece and an Italian problem if not at a European level: in addition to the shipping costs from us to Italy, it has become impractical to import material from the UK. Material stopped at customs, long waits (even several weeks of detention), documentation to send and additional fees to pay.
You risk paying a coin double its hammer value
This is why many of us don't even look at English auctions anymore

 

I don´t remember which UK auction house it was, but they addressed this problem by shipping the lots out of their EU premises. Delivery was quick and cost effective.

Gallienus

Bought purely to have a portrait of Gallienus that is presentable

Gallienus AE Antoninianus. Rome. AD 260-268 (Sole Reign). 4.13 g. GALLIENVS AVG, radiate, cuirassed bust right. / AETERNITAS AVG, Sol, radiate, standing left, chlamys draped over shoulder and hanging down behind, holding globe and raising right hand. Γ in left field. RIC V-1 Rome 160; Goebl 0577w

After leaving Procul Harem, Robin Trower formed his own venture.

An apt opportunity to show my new acquisition

RPC Volume: IX №: 1701
Reign: Trajan Decius Persons: Trajan Decius (Augustus)
City: Antioch  Region: Syria Province: Syria Coele
Denomination: Tetradrachm Average weight: 11.69 g. Issue: Group 3, officina 2
Obverse: ΑΥΤ Κ Γ ΜΕ ΚΥ ΤΡΑΙΑΝΟϹ ΔΕΚΙΟϹ ϹΕΒ; laureate, draped and cuirassed bust of Decius, right, seen from rear; below bust: •• (Officina 2)
Reverse: ΔΗΜΑΡΧ ΕΞΟΥϹΙΑϹ, S C; eagle standing on palm, left, spreading wings, holding wreath in beak
Reference: Prieur 578, McAlee 1126b. Specimens: 16

26mm, 11.48g.

My current example is worn and with a thick, dark green patina and doesn´t sit comfortably with his Wife

Well, that changed today when his upgrade was delivered. A provincial this time, showing his scowling Majesty,

Here is the new upgrade

RPC Volume: IX №: 1701
Reign: Trajan Decius Persons: Trajan Decius (Augustus)
City: Antioch  Region: Syria Province: Syria Coele
Denomination: Tetradrachm Average weight: 11.69 g. Issue: Group 3, officina 2
Obverse: ΑΥΤ Κ Γ ΜΕ ΚΥ ΤΡΑΙΑΝΟϹ ΔΕΚΙΟϹ ϹΕΒ; laureate, draped and cuirassed bust of Decius, right, seen from rear; below bust: •• (Officina 2)
Reverse: ΔΗΜΑΡΧ ΕΞΟΥϹΙΑϹ, S C; eagle standing on palm, left, spreading wings, holding wreath in beak
Reference: Prieur 578, McAlee 1126b. Specimens: 16

26mm, 11.48g.

Feel free to post anything relevant

4 minutes ago, Dafydd said:

I read somewhere years ago that there was a preponderance of left handedness amongst the Vikings and the gene sometimes exhibited itself as a condition known as Dupuytren's contracture. Left handedness was mentioned in the Sagas. I also remember Malcolm McDowell portraying Caligula @expat  His later role as "Little Alex" maintained the violence and rebelliousness.

 contracture

His role as Alex in A clockwork orange was stunning. The film was banned in England after it was claimed to be responsible for similar crimes as portrayed in the movie.

Alexander III of Macedon, AE15. Salamis Mint, Cyprus, struck c. 323 - 315 BC, Facing gorgon with lolling tongue at center of ornamented Macedonian shield with alternate 5 pellets and double crescents. / B-A to left and right of Macedonian helmet, caduceus below left. Price 3158

NEXT; Alexander III

5 minutes ago, DonnaML said:

British education for the win! Hey, I saw the movie "If," made in 1968, with Malcolm McDowell. 

In its day, the violence, rebelliousness and sexual fantasy was almost a mirror of what was happening in real life.

24 minutes ago, DonnaML said:

I thought that went out with the 19th century! I was the only left-handed person ever known to appear in my family, but nobody ever tried to force me to change, either at home or in school. This was in the late 50s/early 60s in New York City.

Yes, mid to late 60´s, the rules then were very Victorian even then, teachers could run the classroom as they saw fit.

23 minutes ago, DonnaML said:

All the best people are left-handed, including me.

I am left handed too. For many years when I was young, I was ambidextrous. At primary school around 6 years old, a teacher used to crack me over the knuckles with a metal ruler when he saw me writing left handed, and tell me to write like the rest of the class.

Troas, Gergis. Circa 4th-3rd Century BC. AE12mm, 1.28 g. Head of Sibyl Herophile right, three-quarters facing / ΓEΡ, Sphinx sitting right. SNG von Aulock 1515; SNG Ashmolean 1147; SNG Cop 338.

NEXT: 4th century BC

Maybe buy him a binder with larger pockets so you are not so limited in what you have to buy? It would make a nice gift with the medal already inside the binder.

Link; Commodus

Commodus, AR Denarius, 187-188 AD. M COMM ANT P FEL AVG BRIT, laureate head right / P M TR P XIII IMP VIII COS V P P, Hercules naked, standing front, holding patera and club. RSC 534; RIC 162. 17 mm, 2,91 g

From my perspective it is pretty easy and affordable. The only auction house I tend to deal with is Savoca these days. No added charges for paying with PayPal, and FedEx is only 15Euros, always delivered 4 days later. If I want to use a dealer and a fixed price transaction, there are a number of very good V-Coins dealers here in Spain. Internal postage with tracking is very cheap. Obviously cost are kept to a minimum with EU-EU deliveries, and will rise to meet the costs expended to deliver an item outside of EU.

Lysimachos, Kingdom of Thrace, AE 20mm, 5.20 gr. Generous flan. Lysimachia mint. 305-281 BC. Helmeted head of Athena right / BAΣIΛEΩΣ ΛYΣIMAXOY, above and beneath lion leaping right, spearhead and M on O monogram below. Mueller 74.

NEXT: Thracian

Just for a laugh, here is a bear stylised as the city of Berlin for its 750 th anniversary

Carry on with bears

Link: Head of Apollo, right

L. Memmius AR Denarius (20mm, 3.77 g.)
Rome mint, struck 109-108 BC Gens Memmia
Obv. Apollo facing right, wearing oak wreath, mark of value below chin.
Rev. The Dioscuri standing facing, each holding spears and bridle of their horses, Xanthus and Cyllarus. Moneyer name in exergue.
Crawford 304

NEXT: Gordian III

A tribute to Duane Eddy who passed away last week aged 86. In the late 50´s and 60´s he had a string of hits, with a very catchy "twangy" guitar sound.

A young Geta