Valentinian

Take a look at my page for beginners: http://augustuscoins.com/ed/ There are many linked pages designed for people like you, including one entitled "What should I collect?" Welcome to the hobby! I've been at it seriously for 50 years and still find it fascinating!

Antioch on the Maeander river in Caria was a minor town. It is famous primarily for having had a bridge which is no longer extant. But, it did strike a few impressive Roman provincial coins. This one is larger than a Roman sestertius at 36 mm and 24.03 grams. Gallienus (253-268) Helmeted bust left, holding spear forward and shield. Bridge with 6 arches, rivers flowing below, river god reclining on it with reed and cornucopia, and three-arch arch (with a bird on top) at the left end. Similar coins come as small as 31 mm. Obviously, the larger 36 mm version is more impressive. Sear Greek Imperial 4568. SNG von Aulock II 2430 and IV 8059 variety (with the arch on the right instead of the left). Price and Trell, page 50, figure 82 (reverse only). A second feature of interest is the helmeted bust of the emperor. In the late third century and fourth centuries emperors are often depicted helmeted on coins. I don't know of imperial or provincial coins which have the emperor helmeted earlier than than Gallienus. If anyone has one to show, I'd love to see it. Show us a bridge or an early helmeted Roman emperor!

In my experience, people who are not coin collectors won't be interested in even 20 coins no matter how interesting they are to those of us who care. If you can display ten well and some one looks at ten and turns out to be interested in them enough to ask questions, invite them back another time.

That must be one of the finest of its kind. It is on the high end of "5" and just wonderful!

I bought two denarii from Silicua in Spain Feb. 12, 2022. I live in the US Northwest. Unfortunately, the address they wrote on the envelope omitted my city and ZIP code--it had only my street address and state. My street address has 5 digits so that was apparently treated as my postal code. Tracking never admitted it was anywhere. Anyway, after I had given up hope and corresponded with Silicua several times, the envelope showed up 4 days ago, May 27. The Post Office or someone wrote in marker my city and postal code. It took three months and 15 days. Here they are, VOTA types of Caracalla: The first one has the sacrificial bull behind the altar. The first one has VOTA SOLVT DEC COS III, so vows for ten years paid, in 208. Caracalla became Augustus in 198, The second one has VOT SVSC DEC PON TRP V COS, struck in 202 this time with vows for ten years taken, possibly at the occasion when Septimius Severus paid his vows for ten years.

I think this happens at any tourist spot. If it is serious dealer, and some tourist spots have serious dealers, they may well accept a much lower and more realistic price if you demonstrate you know the market and the coin. They can sell the ignorant tourists come other coin. However, the time spend proving you are not just arguing about the price--like a tourist might--rather actually knowledgeable and offering a realistic price, may not be worth it.

Here is a Byzantine on one of the pages on my site "Introduction toByzantine Coins": http://augustuscoins.com/ed/Byz/index.html I like it for two good reasons. One is, it is an excellent example of a very rare type issued for only a very short time. Theophilus (829-842) and his son Constantine. 31-30 mm. 8.40 grams. The coin was struck 830 or 831. The figure on the right is Theophilus's son, Constantine. The obverse legend names both: ΘЄOFILOS S COSTAҺC The second S-like symbol is for "and". In this period sons were promoted to the throne young and the portrait coins do not reflect the co-ruler's true age. In this case Constantine was an infant who died within a year, making this issue very rare. Sear 1665, at Constantinople. The second reason I always think of when I look at it is that it was in a major firm's auction and it was, amazingly, overlooked. I won it for only a small fraction of the only other PR on acsearch.

I, too, think the OP coin is genuine.

Ah! Thanks, Phil. I didn't realize I could scroll down in that list of "Forum" entries. I (erroneously) thought the ones that showed up were all there were.

I was going to start a thread on dealer's photos compared to our photos (which I did), but when I tried to "Create new content" it required me to pick a "Forum" and none of the given categories fit. Maybe we need some more categories beyond "Greek, Roman Republic, Roman Empire, Byzantine, Medieval." However, I don't see the need to pick one of those at all--lots of Greek coins are of interest to those of us who emphasize other areas, and lots of Roman provincial coins cross over both Greek and Empire. Can we make selecting a "Forum" optional when we "Create" a thread? Or, add in at least "General," "Collecting," "Beginners," and "Other."

Here is the topic I want to discuss. Look at these two photos. The first is the seller's: The second is mine, taken with a ten-year-old iPad and color-adjusted (mostly reduced the "saturation") to more-closely look like the coin: Seller's may not have the time to make a good photo look better. It is especially hard, in my opinion, to make a coin image show any metallic glint it has. Now I think I have learned a bit about the photos of the Spanish auction firm Silicua. Do you know of sellers whose photos have characteristics worth knowing?

I expect to change my avatar every few months. Now it is a recent purchase of a Byzantine coin of Constantine VII (913-959). It is now the top coin on my web page about the coins and history of Constantine VII: http://augustuscoins.com/ed/Byz/ConVII.html It is a very Byzantine story!

Here is my site on coins of the Kingdom of the Bosporus: http://augustuscoins.com/ed/Bosporus/ This coin on it is similar to the OP coin: Rheskuporis IV, 242-27719 mm. 7.44 grams. Base AR.BACIΛEWC PHEKOΠOPIΔOCHis bust rightTwo busts vis-a-vis, Valerian and GallienusΘNΦ below (558 = 261/2)MacDonald 618. Anokhin 707.

There is an "edit" function. Could a post just be edited down to nothing?

This tiny coin came today: It is only 4.2-4.8 mm and 0.18 grams. A "tetartemorion" (one quarter of an obol). The seller described it as "Head of a griffin(?)" possibly for Teos. I didn't think it was and bought it just for it size. At some angles it almost looks like a lion's head left. But, upon close inspection and at this angle I think the most visible thing on it is a large human ear, so it is really an archaic head left, crowded so the tip of the nose, chin, and neck are not on the flan. It turns out that SNG Turkey I, the Kayhan collection, has #348 from Kolophon, Ionia, "late 6th century" is just like it, including the weight, and several similar coins of the weights 0.12 to 0.24 grams. It is too small to expect the weight to be precise. SNG Danish V Colophon [same place, spelled with a "C"] 133-134 "c, 525-490", are it, with the head named Apollo (0.25 and 0.15 grams). It is really hard to see the photos there. (I wish publications would use x2 or x3 photos for tiny coins.) The coin is tiny and the photos are dark. SNG von Aulock IV 7801 is close (and 0.18 grams), but with only an eye instead of a head. I didn't find it in Klein or Rosen. Well, I wanted a tiny coin and I got one.