Severus Alexander

Yes, that’s what I figured. It does seem like this project would bear fruit. I wonder if @curtislclay has attempted it. Having paid close attention to more SA coins than any other emperor, I have a “feel” for portrait dates, though I’m not at all sure that feel is accurate. I would love to take a shot at a basic version of the project. FWIW, I associate the portrait type on your Mars Ultor denarius with very late in the reign, even after 232. This style is characterized by an elongated head, longer than the more rounded OP portrait type (the OP coin is dated 233). An acsearch on TR P XIIII (dating to 235) seems to support this notion. The elongated style is also found on some TR P XIII coins, but others tend more towards the OP style. Interestingly, the earlier OP style has a more prominent beard, despite its earlier date. So I would tentatively date your coin to 234 or 235, @maridvnvm. @Qcumbor’s Providentia has this same late style: Whereas @Salomons Cat’s Mars Ultor is intermediate between the late style and the OP style:

Very cool acquisition, @Ryro! Those foundation of Carthage types are popular and hard to get. I know @zumbly has a bunch of cool ones. I have quite a few Carthagineans (for a generalist, that is). Artistry-wise, this is probably my best, a shekel from the early 3rd c. BCE. (Yours looks to be the same type, @mcwyler... probably Carthage rather than Sardinia. The references I have recorded are MAA 57x; Müller, Afrique 286; SNG Copenhagen 151. Referencing Carthaginean coins is annoyingly difficult, I find!) At the same time, they were issuing these ugly things in Sardinia: Perhaps the residents of Sardinia weren't as enamoured of Tanit as the residents of Carthage? 😆 This is my newest acquisition, from the Libyan revolt, 241-238 BCE: From Spain at the time of Hannibal, a quarter-shekel: The late issues (200-146 BCE) are surprisingly difficult to find! Here's my trishekel (27mm, 18.69g): Under the Romans: And under the Vandals: Those are cool too!! 😄 Here's my Heraclian revolt pentanummium (608-610):

That's a fabulous SA, @CPK! I would add one thing to its list of virtues: the reverse style. Not only is the detail excellent, Sol was engraved exceptionally well. I have a bunch, of course, but mostly middle bronzes. Of those, my avatar coin (a dupondius) is probably my favourite: For denarii, coins that are a bit unusual always attract me. That's why I bought this coin, which has an attractive but rarely seen portrait style: This coin definitely goes all-in on the 'burns and the 'stache! Given how many of his coins are dated, yearly throughout the reign, this would be pretty straightforward, at least for the basic progression. (Within years would be tricky and probably not consistent.)

Thanks, buddy!! I was sorta kinda prioritizing those two (Alex I and Amyntas III) but felt very uncertain... and now I have the weight of authority behind those pursuits! The labours set is pretty cool, even if it is modern. That medallion though? Hmm... 🤐 😄

I recently added the same type @Ryro! As you say, his importance is outsized compared to the length of his reign, plus I love this type with the wolf gnawing on something... so I'd been trying to get one for while. Finally managed to snag one in a group lot. (Yes, why did they group it?!? Crazy.) I don't have my own photo yet, so here it is, cropped out of the group: Your collection of Argeads is admirably complete, my friend! Pre-Alex III, I only have Philip II and Archelaos. 😞 Who are the next two or three "most essential," would you say? (Talking primarily historically, though also to some extent numismatically.)

And all the portraits except for Wiglaf, WOW!! Some stratospheric coins there, @Nap, congrats. I’d love to get a cut half of Offa like yours, @John Conduitt. That’s all I aspire to, so as to represent Mercia in my collection. They don’t come up often though!

I’m no expert, but besides using more indirect light to deal with the glare problem, I would recommend being very careful with the white balance. If you can include a white or grey card in the shot and then use that as your white balance reference in software (e.g. Canon DPP Pro), you’ll get much more accurate colour. Without doing this it’s pretty much impossible, I’ve found!

Thanks so much, Mike!

Thanks for the awesome write-up! Which, as usual, I will steal, unashamed! (Well, credited. So borrow?) Mine is overstruck. I like how part of the legend of the undertype appears on the head:

Well, yes, but we don't fully believe that. I'm thinking this was pretty important too... 😛

Oh no!! I just came back to Numisforums today after a hiatus of several months, and had no idea Terence had passed away. I met him several times at coin shows (he always wore a bright cravat/ascot!), we chatted on the phone, and he even came to Kelowna to visit me once. Just a fantastic guy all around, a stalwart of the Canadian ancients community, and a character too. I'll really miss him. He was full of great stories, coin stories and otherwise. Let me add one here. He mentioned in the interview that he was in the army, but it was more than just that... he actually went to Viet Nam during the conflict there, and drove a tank! One of the stories he told me about this was of the satisfaction he felt when driving his tank down the main street in a recently taken town. It wasn't because of the military success. One of the "suits'" (government types') fancy Mercedes was carelessly parked in the middle of the street, where it shouldn't have been. Terence was in command of the tank, and his subordinate indicated that he would of course take the trouble to maneuver around the Mercedes. Belay that, says Terry. Just drive over it. It made a very satisfying "crunch" he said. 😆 Needless to say, he also had some awful stories from that time. I have a coin from his collection, which I acquired accidentally, only learning it had been his much later: When I bought it from Triskeles auctions in 2018, he was downsizing his collection. Maybe some of you have ex "Maple Leaf collection" coins as well? It's good to know that his collection will live on through us and others. I know that would have made him happy.

Very nice portrait style! I only have an Indian imitation: Note the deviant legends. It's also a die-match to a coin actually found in India: https://www.zeno.ru/showphoto.php?photo=31226 I sometimes wonder how many of the poorer style portraits, like some of those classified in Giard's group VI, are in fact Indian imitations. Look at this coin, for example (not mine): The style is very similar to my coin. Is it that a coin from these Lugdunum dies served as the model for my Indian imitation? or is this coin in fact an imitation as well? (Whether it's an imitation or not, I think it's pretty plausible that a coin like this served as the model for mine. You can even see how the correct legends on the bottom coin, due to metal flow and wear, got converted to the wonky version on my coin. I also suspect the wear on "Livia"'s chest, which created the groove down her front on the bottom coin, was copied to the dies on my coin.) (Source: https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=10493029) Or what about this coin? (Source: https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=12107987): Again, CNG attributes this coin to Lugdunum, but I wonder... In any case, it's clear that the OP coin comes from original Lugdunum dies. I agree the portrait is very "Tiberius" too. Great coin!

I agree, you can't go wrong with Constantine! A couple favourites are this early London follis (his first coin): And this eyes-to-heaven anepigraphic Dafne: More in keeping with the OP (numismatic snacks) is this humbler coin. I love the baby face!

Thanks, @sand, for the mention and the kind words! I am indeed doing OK. I've been missing-in-action from the from largely because my cancer + treatments have left me with very little energy over the past few months. What energy I had I devoted to family stuff. But I am starting to feel a little better (hopefully?) so today I resolved to dip my toes back into the forum! (Warning: the NHL playoffs start soon, though, so don't expect to see me around too much... I am Canadian, after all! 😝) That JII is a beauty, @ewomack, congrats! Phenomenal detail on the obverse, I love it. Can't get enough of your coins, @voulgaroktonou! I remember that great 2nd reign sole portrait coin, @ela126, very hard to get. I agree that your coin must be an imitation, @Postvmvs, very interesting piece! Here are some of my favourite JII's. A first reign tremissis: A late first reign half follis, dated year 9: ^ This coin is super rare, to the extent that I haven't seen another. (The DO's alleged year 9 simply isn't. What they suggest is a theta is clearly just a ϛ.) My only 2nd reign coin, a half-follis: Nothing from Syracuse for some reason, all the above are Constantinople.

Wow, that Maximian struck under DD is the best I've seen! Congrats!! I especially love the nice plump eagle. 😄 (That style eagle seems to correlate with officina gamma.) Here's my set (except for DD himself!):

That's a truly beautiful portrait of Athena, @Curtisimo, and what a fascinating writeup! I'm particularly interested in the early history of the Olympians even though it's hard to conclude much with any certainty. (Maybe that's why I find the subject so fascinating!) I think my two favourite portraits of Athena are on this diobol from Thurium: and on this Leukas stater (which I don't have in hand yet): I like these facing portraits issued by Antiochos I too: (@Ryro, let's see that awesome animation again!!) For full-length depictions, maybe I'd pick this Bactrian drachm: or this Gigantomachy depiction on a big provincial of Gordian III from Seleukeia ad Kalykadnon:

Excellent!! I'm very happy all three coins will be going to good homes. 😊 I'll aim to post a wrap-up comment later today.

Okeedoke, I'll do my best... though I fear that we greybeards form more than our fair share of the pool! 😆 Here goes... The basilikon is all yours, @mc9, should you choose to accept it!

OK, now for the final prize. Surprisingly (at least to me) the most valuable coin in monetary terms is the last to be chosen! This lovely (if partly flat-struck) basilikon: will go to a thread participant who had 9 ballots or fewer (as per the rules in post #1). Here are those participants, with their ballot numbers: And random.org chooses: Coingrats, @Edessa!! If I'm not mistaken, the coin fits pretty well with your collection. Let us know if you intend to keep it or pass it on in some way. All three coins are ex my collection, so I'll include their flip inserts, complete with my snazzy collection logo... which happens to be Byzantine themed! 😄

That's wonderful... I'm sure they will greatly appreciate it! Congrats again! 🙂 I wish I could have included you, I really enjoyed the coins you showed us! It wasn't the lack of contributions to our thread, not at all. Instead one of the rules was that to be included in the balloting a participant had to have made at least 50 posts outside this thread. That is, the contest was intended for those who have proven themselves significant Numisforums contributors... something I'm sure you'll do before long.

Congrats again, @Nerosmyfavorite68, I hope you enjoy the coin! BTW I only tagged you (instead of pm'ing), so it wasn't a pm problem. 🙂 That said, be sure to pm me your address so I can send you your prize. (I won't miss your message because my settings are such that I get an email whenever I receive a pm... highly recommended!) AND... on to the next one! Congratulations!! It's about time one of our pre-eminent numismatists won something, don't you think? @Valentinian, let us know if you'd like one of the two remaining coins, or if you'd rather assign your prize to someone else or redraw. Here's what's left:

Sorry for the extra day's wait! My excuse is the NHL season is starting and my Flames were playing last night... you'll be pleased to know they trounced Vancouver 10-0!! 😄 I used random.org to draw from our total of 302 ballots. The ballots were assigned as follows, in accordance with the list I posted a few days ago: Congratulations, @Nerosmyfavorite68! Which of the following coins do you want most? Since ID work is at least half the fun of collecting I've provided only minimal information (there's a tiny bit more on p.1 where the prizes were initially announced). If you have a question, though, don't hesitate to ask. As per usual with these things, prizewinners always have the option to offer their prize to someone else, e.g. a beginner collector or young numismatist. You may also request that I redraw from the pool of participants who had 10 ballots or fewer. Once @Nerosmyfavorite68 has made his choice, I'll draw for the next prize.

Fantastic!! Note that Fox’s remarks are still consistent with a pre-Roman date (after all, we know the smaller denomination existed then too e.g. in Seleukid coinage). Even if it’s Roman it would likely be early i.e. Republican.

This Naumann coin appears to be a 1427, officina gamma: Leu sold a lovely 1426 last year: In retrospect I wish I had bid on that coin!

After reading the whole thread I’m also inclined to think it’s a fantasy. But I want to add one other theory to the mix since a fantasy ex nihilo seems so unlikely, what with the surfaces and testimony of later alteration. Overstrikes can produce some puzzling coins. The bull reminds me most of the Seleukid type introduced by Seleukos I: What if that were overstruck by e.g. this Dionysos type of Alexander Balas? Maybe you could get those leaves appearing out of context. Both coins come in a variety of styles so could maybe produce the somewhat cherubic look of the OP coin. (Both coins are the right size, too.) That leaves the odd reverse legend to explain. My suggestion there is that the mess produced by the overstrike was “restored” (i.e. tooled) into its present form, along with some smoothing to reduce the evidence of overstriking. That would fit with what the dealer said. It’s quite likely that the two types I’ve chosen here aren’t the best ones to represent the general idea, but I wanted to put it out there in case someone else can improve upon it. I do think the Seleukid bull is the best match for the reverse, other than the legend of course. Maybe a later Seleukid bull type was overstruck on a Dionysos coin, i.e. I’ve got the order wrong. There are other Dionysos coin possibilities, and the Seleukid bull motif was used later e.g. by Selekos II. The bull was paired with heads other than Medusa as well, e.g. Apollo: The cleaner lines of the head of Apollo might fit better than the complex Medusa. Anyway, you get the idea! @kirispupis, it seems to me there are some indications on the coin that overstriking is a possibility. What do you think? P.S. I hadn’t seen John’s suggestion or the later discussion just now. I will add that there are examples of the bull type fitting the size and weight criteria e.g. http://numismatics.org/sco/id/sc.1.23 .