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Valentinian last won the day on January 18
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Do you like overpaying for coins? I thought I didn't but ...
Valentinian replied to ambr0zie's topic in Roman Empire
Did they forget the decimal place when they published the PR? The listed price is unbelievable! -
Do you like overpaying for coins? I thought I didn't but ...
Valentinian replied to ambr0zie's topic in Roman Empire
That coin with a head of Pompey from Pompeiopolis is attributed by Roman Provincial Coinage II on-line to the time of Domitian. -
Yes. You can see it looped over her arm from the front at the elbow.
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CoinWeek has a series of articles on ancient coins. One recent article is on coins of the "House of Valentinian." https://coinweek.com/the-house-of-valentinian-coinweek-ancient-coin-series/ The illustrated coins are gold or silver. The inexpensive copper coins are not emphasized (only one is illustrated). But, each emperor is discussed and the coins are beautiful!
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That's a wonderful coin. Not everyone reading about it will realize that is is larger (22 mm) than AE3's and very rare (I don't have one!) and the third coin down in that post (Theodosius with bust left) is also rare and highly desirable. They are types 10 and 37 on my page: http://augustuscoins.com/ed/ricix/
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Here is an interesting overstrike. It is a Constantinian imitation overstruck on a official type from not much earlier. I'll illustrate 1) the coin with overstrike upright 2) a clearer example of the type of imitation 3) an example of the official prototype 4) the coin again with undertype upright and emphasized in red 5) another official coin illustrating the reverse undertype The overtype is a common type of imitation of a common type--"two victories" of Constantine. Here it is in the correct orientation with helmeted bust of Constantine left and "two Victories" on the reverse: 21-19 mm. 3.20 grams. Note the blundered reverse legend including something like "O H N N I I I I" at the top. Most "two Victories" imitations have the bust right and the two Victories much clearer. For example, this one; 18-17 mm. 2.73 grams. Here is an official example, with bust left, as on the imitation. 19 mm. 3.16 grams. VICTORIAE LAETAE PRINC PERP PARL for Arles, RIC Arles 192. "Struck 319" (This type comes from several mints. I am not claiming the coin imitated was from the Arles mint.) Now back to the original coin, but oriented differently. (Also, the reverses and obverses have switched.) The legend of the undertype IMP CONSTANTIN ... is so bold from 7:00 to 1:00 that there is no need to encircle it in red. On the left, the top oval shows the laurel wreath at the top of the head and the right oval shows a very weak face, eye, and chin. The reverse undertype remains quite clear, with, from 7:00 IOVI CONS which begins the very common IOVI CONSERVATORI (AVGG) legend, SIS for the Siscia mint, and Jupiter standing holding out Victory on a globe with an eagle at Jupiter's feet left. I don't have an example of the precise undertype to show. The next coin has a similar reverse type (but from a different mint) and the obverse is much different. 21-18 mm. 3.84 grams. This one is RIC VII Cyzicus 14, 321-4". It has "SMKA where the imitation's undertype has "SIS". So, the obvious question is, "Why would someone overstrike a coin with an imitation?" One possibility is that the official undertype was demonetized because the government decided it would no longer be valid currency. I have heard of demonetizations, but don't know of a reference to one at this time. I solicit your comments and ideas, as well as other examples of overstrikes.
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Cross above head - my small but growing collection
Valentinian replied to ela126's topic in Byzantine
If you are writing about this Justin, I think it looks as good as it ever will with the light cover it now has. The cover serves to highlight edges that would be less visible if the surface were uniform. I would not "clean" it (nor wax it). -
Even if the decline is as stated, it might not be that covid causes the decrease. If could be, for example, that vaccinated people are less likely to catch it at all and much less likely to be hospitalized. If lower IQs caused people to be less likely to be vaccinated, it would show up as people who have had covid, on average, have lower IQs. If that were the case, the causal direction of the correlation between covid and IQ would be from IQ to covid in contrast to being from covid to IQ. On the other hand, I know a person with "long covid" who is convinced her abilities have gone down terrifically from the disease. That, if tested, would show up as decreased IQ. Maybe covid of the regular variety does some of that at a less noticeable level.
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Constantine VIII & Basil II Anonymous Æ Follis, class A3...
Valentinian replied to ewomack's topic in Byzantine
My "anonymous folles" page has references, one of which is to a long thread on Forum which updates the list of ornamentation: "Ornamentation on Anonymous Byzantine Class A2 & A3 Folles (An Integration and Update of the Bellinger and Grierson Tables)" https://www.forumancientcoins.com/numiswiki/view.asp?key=Anonymous Byzantine Class A Folles and has a long thread of coins that members show that were possibly not on the DOC list. https://www.forumancientcoins.com/board/index.php?topic=98006.0 Metcalf, Coinage in South-Eastern Europe, discussed Class A2 and A3 on pages 55-62. He proposes that Class A3 comprises types in Bellinger 31-2, 29/41, 43-7, 24, 39-40. (The Bellinger list is illustrated below) This is from Metcalf (long ago, 1979. Many ornament-combinations have been added since then) but it allows you to see which ornaments he proposed to belong to Class A3. Perhaps someone could look to see if Sommers' Class A3 types are those proposed by Metcalf. Apparently there are many people who pay close attention to classes and their ornaments. A applaud their work, but am not one of them. -
Constantine VIII & Basil II Anonymous Æ Follis, class A3...
Valentinian replied to ewomack's topic in Byzantine
I'd also love to read more about that. The one source I know is Penna, Vasso. "Byzantine Monetary Affairs During the 8th, 9th, 10th and 11th Centuries," a PhD thesis of over 400 pages from Oxford University by Vassiliki Athanassopoulou-Pennas, available here at Oxford University's research archive: https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:02e4cf82-a638-4bd2-a45b-09c17c585dc8 -
Thank you! The page you cite is very interesting. I think its "Hypothesis 3" has some merit.
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Constantine VIII & Basil II Anonymous Æ Follis, class A3...
Valentinian replied to ewomack's topic in Byzantine
Are you referring to Sam Sommer, "Ancient Coins: Newbie Guide To Ancient Coins: Learn How To Purchase Ancients and Sell Online For Big Profit"? Often popular works have not kept up on scholarly disputes. I give more weight to the latest peer-reviewed published scholarship. -
As you may know, I have been interested in late Roman coins from RIC IX (Valentinian and later, AD 364 and later) for many years. One of my first major websites was on the reverse types of all the AE of the period: http://augustuscoins.com/ed/ricix/ I recently got one that surprised me. 17.7 - 17.1 mm. 2.50grams. Valens, with the very common SECVRITAS REIPVBLICAE reverse, from Antioch. Coins of that basic description could hardly be more common. However, when it came and I worked it up, I found out two remarkable things about it. The obverse legend is listed in RIC: DN VALENS PER F AVG. However, that legend is only on gold and silver and not on AE (It took me some time scouring RIC IX Antioch to confirm that). So that is one unusual feature. Antioch is known for its complicated field marks, this coin has Φ K Θ over the mintmark ANTA. But RIC has those fieldmarks only after the death of Valens (none for Valens), in the next issue when SECVRITAS REIPVBLICAE was not used (except one coin--exactly one coin--for Gratian, RIC Antioch 49 "r5"). So this coin attests those fieldmarks for Valens. (I cannot say "for the first time" because RIC IX was published in 1933 and much has been discovered since then, not all of which I know). So that is a second odd feature: this coin has fieldmarks that are well-known, but not in RIC for Valens. The issue with those fieldmarks has CONCORDIA AVGGG (Types 15 and 16: http://augustuscoins.com/ed/ricix/type15.html ) as its AE3 and the slightly smaller size appropriate for this issue after the slightly larger previous SECVRITAS REIPVBLICAE and GLORIA ROMANORVM issue. That suggests it really was issued in that later period. Research is fun, and that coin (very inexpensive) prompted a lot of research.
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Constantine VIII & Basil II Anonymous Æ Follis, class A3...
Valentinian replied to ewomack's topic in Byzantine
You can read my page on anonymous folles and the so-called "Class A3": http://augustuscoins.com/ed/ByzAnon/index.html Below the table of types the page says " Basil II died in 1025 and the terminal date of Class A2 is not known. Metcalf (1970, 1979) proposed a Class A3 with no change in design but a reduction in weight to about 2/3 the previous weight, that is, a weight of about 8 to 11 grams. He also proposed some were minted at "central Greek" local mints. He made the distinction between Class A2 and Class A3 using weights, style, and find locations. In his classification, certain ornament varieties in the table are given to Class A3 and some to central Greek mints. He asserted that older publications misclassify many Class A3 coins as Class A1 because coins with light weights that did not fit into Class A2 were put into Class A1, but with his scheme could be put into Class A3 using the ornaments above and below the reverse legend to make the distinction. For details, see Coinage in South-Eastern Europe, 820-1396 (published 1979). Although Sear mentions Class A3, most sources, including this page, have chosen to lump all sizes of Class A coins after Class A1 into Class A2 and omit Class A3. His Ph.D. student Vasso studied the matter and decided there were not central Greek mints and there is no distinctive Class A3. This web page agrees with Vasso and does not distinguish Class A3." So, the idea of "Class A3" coins has been discarded. There are still Class A2 coins of quite different sizes, but the reason to call the smaller ones A3 is not convincing. Remember, Basil II and this type lasted 50 years. It is not surprising that the size decreased over time. That's just the ancient version of inflation. This one is considered the first type--large at 35 mm and 19.76 grams. Class A2. Sear 1813. DOC 3.2 page 645, ornament type 1, plate XLVIII, A2.1.1. -
Heraclius overstruck onto an Æ Follis of Anastasius I...
Valentinian replied to ewomack's topic in Byzantine
Here is another one with the undertype weak. 35 mm. Sear 882 on Anastasius (Sear 19). The next one is similar, again Sear 882, but overstruck on Justin I (Sear 62) 32 mm. 14.49 grams.