David Atherton

Cool coin, glad you got it!

I use the term "reference coin" for specimens cited by the catalogue but not pictured in the plates.

Thank you for pointing that out! Yes, after looking at the other two varieties I believe mine is actually RPC 1406 - which is now corrected above!

Admittedly, not the sexiest of coins, but it's decently rare and sports a stylish portrait. Also, it's my first coin from Cotiaeum. Vespasian Æ19, 6.57g Cotiaeum (Phrygia) mint, Tiberius Claudius Varus magistrate Obv: ΚΟΤΙΑΕΙΣ ΟΥΕΣΠΑΣΙΑΝΟΝ ΚΑΙΣΑΡΑ; Head of Vespasian, laureate, l. Rev: ΕΠΙ ΤΙ ΚΛΑ ΟΥΑΡΟΥ; Zeus (?) stg. l., with hand raised RPC 1406 (1 spec.). Acquired from Ken Dorney, December 2023. Cotiaeum fleetingly produced brass coins during the Flavian period under Vespasian and Domitian. Most varieties are fairly rare, known only from one or two specimens. This undated Zeus standing type was struck by the magistrate Tiberius Claudius Varus. Only one specimen of this Zeus type with left portrait is cited by RPC in the core collections. In hand. It wasn't until I researched this coin that I realised how rare it really is. Possibly third known! As always, thank you for looking!

Maybe they are Ex Baron Dominique de Chambrier collection? 😁

I was absolutely thrilled to have recently acquired this RIC reference coin ... Ex Curtis Clay Collection no less! Vespasian Æ Sestertius, 23.86g Rome mint, 71 AD Obv: IMP CAES VESPASIAN AVG P M TR P P P COS III; Head of Vespasian, laureate, r., with aegis Rev: PAX AVGVSTI; S C in field; Pax stg. l., with branch and cornucopiae RIC 182 (R3, this coin). BMC -. BNC -. Ex Harlan J Berk BBS 225, 30 November 2023, lot 9. Ex Curtis Clay Collection. Ex CNG E93, 7 July 2004, lot 83. A unique Pax variety with aegis portrait. This is the RIC reference coin and an obverse die match with BMC 567 (RIC 200, R3). The rarity of this unique aegis variety indicates the mint was phasing out the more elaborate portrait designs at this point in time. In hand. Please feel free to share your own reference coins. Thank you for looking!

Aside from the rarity, I was initially attracted by the stylish portrait. The Rome mint had a fairly talented engraver in its workshops cranking out dies under Titus in 80-81 ... the best of these are the left facing portrait dies. I couldn't resist this one! Domitian as Caesar [Titus] Æ Sestertius, 18.64g Rome mint, 80-81 AD Obv: CAES DIVI VESP F DOMITIANVS COS VII; Head of Domitian, laureate, bearded, l. Rev: S C in field; Minerva adv. r., with spear and shield RIC 331 (R2). BMC -. BNC 241. Ex Harlan J Berk BBS 225, 30 November 2023, lot 138. Ex Curtis Clay Collection. Ex Lanz eBay, 18 July 2009. A sestertius struck for Domitian as Caesar under Titus featuring his patron deity Minerva. DIVI VESP F tells us the coin was struck after Vespasian's deification. The date of Vespasian's consecratio is dated by the epigraphic evidence sometime between 8 September 79 and 29 May 80. Nathan T. Elkins has proposed that the opening games of the Colosseum were in honour of Vespasian's deification. If so, this sestertius could not have been struck much earlier than June 80. This Minerva reverse from 'Group 3' is very rare. It is missing from the BM with a footnote in the catalogue (BMC 233) that doubts its existence! In hand. As always, thank you for looking!

Late to the game here ... but I believe there are two different types of 'smoothing' encountered on coins. 1. Smoothing during the cleaning process, confined to just the patina. 2. Smoothing of a coin's actual surface to enhance its appearance. Normally done when pitting or corrosion of the original surface is present. #1. is quite acceptable, especially if the patina is rough or pitted. #2. is on a case by case basis, but when done lightly can greatly improve a coin's appearance (such as seen with @lordmarcovan's Claudius shown above). Of course, 'tooling' is a completely different thing all together and should be avoided!

No luck on my end for locating another. I'm now inclined to think it's a mule and appears to be a dupondius, based on the colour of the metal showing through the patina.

I recognise that one - it's from Pete B! Very nice!

As I previously mentioned in the OP, I am inclined to agree with Kleiner that this represents an arch erected in Rome by Domitian to mark his Chattan victory, though it is odd the type would surface on the Alexandrian coinage! If that is the case, it's not difficult to imagine it later becoming a 'stock' type at the Alexandrian mint, recycled for Trajan and Hadrian. Differences in the later rendering of the structure could be an engraver's whim? But, as you say, an interesting mystery!

Wow. What a superb coin! As a sceptical fan of cryptozoology that coin is right up my alley. Thank you so much for sharing this!

A wonderful Trajanic example! Interesting to see the differences in the arch between Domitian's earlier type and your Trajan specimen. Two different arches or two different visions?

Thank you! I think you may be on to something with the provenance being a misspelling of some sort. I like the Schimmer/Nürnberg Münz theory. Maybe with this new avenue of approach I can dig up something with Nürnberg Münz Auktion No. 16, 18 Okt 1986? Superb research Curtis!

About a decade after Domitian made the coinage reforms at Rome that increased the fineness of the denarius, the Alexandrian mint underwent a similar overhaul. Standards were raised producing a finer style coinage with completely new types. My latest coin is one of those new types. It ticks a couple of major boxes for me: it's an architectural type and a Domitianic Alexandrian - personally it doesn't get much better! Domitian Æ Drachm, 21.63g Alexandria mint, 94-95 AD Obv: ΑΥΤ ΚΑΙϹ ΘƐΟΥ ΥΙΟϹ ΔΟΜΙΤ ϹƐΒ ΓƐΡΜ; Head of Domitian, laureate, bearded, r. Rev: Triumphal arch; date LΙΔ RPC 2708 (6 spec.). Emmett 257.14. Dattari-Savio 542-3. Ex Harlan J Berk BBS 225, 30 November 2023, lot 505. Ex Shimmer, 1986, lot 118. 'He erected so many and such huge vaulted passage-ways and arches in the various regions of the city, adorned with chariots and triumphal emblems, that on one of them someone wrote in Greek: "enough!" '- Suetonius, Life of Domitian, 13.2. Thus we begin with a pun. Some nameless wag scrawled 'ARCI' on one of Domitian’s many arches, punning on the similarity between arcus (‘arch’) and the Greek arkei (‘enough’). Suetonius thought the joke clever enough to pass it along in his Life of Domitian. Domitian was a builder and he did indeed erect many arches throughout the city of Rome and the wider empire. This remarkable drachm struck at Alexandria for Domitian features a grandiose triple-span triumphal arch. The exact location of the structure is unknown. Some scholars have argued it represents a local Alexandrian arch (Price-Trell 1977, Vogt 1924, Handler 1971). F. Kleiner on the other hand convincingly proposes it to be a triumphal arch erected in Rome commemorating Domitian's victory over the Germanic Chatti. That it's a triumphal arch is fairly sound. The rooftop central figure of the emperor driving a triumphal quadriga pulled by six horses, flanked by twin trophies with defeated captives makes it fairly clear the arch was erected with a triumph in mind. The type first appeared on Alexandrian tetradrachms in 86, just a few years after the victory over the Chatti making a connection to that triumph very appealing. How accurate is the depiction? We simply do not know. Quite possibly the Alexandrian engravers based the composition on generic stock triumphal types, perhaps augmented by written descriptions, paintings, or sketches. The arch did not survive antiquity, but it is replicated on drachms of Trajan and Hadrian, likely repurposed for their own needs (whether it was located in Rome or Alexandria) and seemingly escaped damnatio memoriae destruction. Luckily, the coins survive to give us an idea of what this impressive monument may have looked like. In hand. The provenance 'Shimmer, 1986' is puzzling to me. I assume this was a pre internet auction house? At any rate, I cannot find any info online about it. Any help would be appreciated! As always, thank you for looking!

This is a great post! A detective story and travelogue combined with a sweet coin. Almost tops any of my $25 rarities. 😉 Congrats!

I believe they are wearing rough woolen cloaks - the 'spikes' are a kind of Roman engraver's shorthand for rustic wholesomeness. Bib overalls would be the modern equivalent.

Vespasian struck this unusually rustic themed reverse in 77-78 for both himself and Titus Caesar. Vespasian AR Denarius, 3.19g Rome mint, 77-78 AD Obv: CAESAR VESPASIANVS AVG; Head of Vespasian, laureate, r. Rev: IMP XIX in exergue; Goatherd std. l., milking goat l. RIC 977 (R). BMC 220. RSC 220. BNC 193. Acquired from Ancient Delights, August 2012. Titus as Caesar [Vespasian] AR Denarius, 3.53g Rome Mint, July 77 AD - December 78 AD Obv: T CAESAR VESPASIANVS; Head of Titus, laureate, bearded, r. Rev: IMP XIII in exergue; Goatherd std. l., milking goat l. RIC 985 (R). BMC 230. RSC 103. BNC 204. Ex Harry N. Sneh Collection. It was never repeated again.

Questions of tooling aside, the major problem with this piece is the obverse match to a denarius die (cast?) and the wrong style of the reverse. The tooling is a minor concern and really has no bearing whether it's a forgery or not.

Thanks for the update!

IMHO, that is a pretty nifty mistake. You don't see plated examples of that type very often!

I took a chance with this one. Domitian achieved tribunician power for the 16th time on 14 September 96 AD. He was assassinated in a palace plot four days later on 18 September. In between those two dates the mint struck only one issue of denarii recording Domitian as TR P XVI, needless to say they are extremely rare! The Senate decreed Damnatio Memoriae within a day of Domitian's assassination which would have quickly halted production at the mint for his coinage. I believed this coin to be one of those elusive TR P XVI denarii. Read below to find out why I was wrong. 😞 Domitian AR Denarius, 2.96g Rome mint, 95-96 AD Obv: IMP CAES DOMIT AVG GERM P M TR P XV; Head of Domitian, laureate, bearded, r. Rev: IMP XXII COS XVII CENS P P P; Minerva stg. l., with thunderbolt and spear, shield at her l. side (M3) RIC 789 (C2). BMC 234. RSC 291. BNC 208. Acquired from Aegean, January 2024. I purchased this coin on a hunch that this could possibly could be RIC 819 due to a reverse die match with the Paris TR P XVI specimen (BNC 213) and crucially what appears to be a 'I' engraved above the 'V'. Unfortunately, in hand the mystery numeral is just a die flaw. At least I didn't pay too much for it! Do you have a numismatic 'mistake'? Misery loves company, I'd love to see it. 🙂 Thank you for looking!

Nice example! Here's mine, purchased way back in 2004. https://www.forumancientcoins.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pid=10667

I have the 1999 edition without the cropped pages. As Curtis has already pointed out, your coin is not illustrated. For the record, here is the uncropped image of the plate coin.

Thank you so much for including these write-ups!