Severus Alexander

Two fabulous coins with an even more fabulous provenance. Congrats!! I guess I get to post my favourite Julian for the first time in this new venue. You will probably get bored of it. 😄 My favourite Magnus Maximus happens to be from the Constantinople mint, while Theo I very briefly recognized him: And here's my favourite hoard coin, Constantine's first follis (RIC 66) from the 2017 Rauceby hoard: I got it directly from the hoard's finder. He recently consigned one to Roma, and it sold a few days ago for... 1800 GBP plus juice!! 🤯 I'm glad I got in when I did, I could no longer afford this coin! The hoard contained only a few from this issue for Constantine, half of which the BM kept. I know of only 2 others besides mine and the Roma coin that made it into collectors' hands. The best one is @Heliodromus's. 👏

This still really makes my blood boil!! 😡 Great writeup! I had no idea this icon was celebrated on coinage so late. Surely related to his dreams of reconquest. Here's a Vatatzes tetarteron: And the Michael VIII "holding the city" (of Constantinople? even though the mint is probably Magnesia) that I posted in the "Byzantine faves" thread: Speaking of which...

I bet many people passed over it quickly, thinking it was this: i.e. Michael II with Theophilos. I always assume these large double portrait coins are those... now I'll be more careful! 🙂

Will try again: Hah, made it this time! This is a provincial dichalkon from Tyre (Phoenicia) of Aquilia Severa with a palm tree on the reverse. Next: wife of Elagabalus, but NOT a denarius

NEVER MIND, I don't know how I got so far behind! 🤪 Carthaginean shekel, Tanit/ horse head with Punic ' to right. Carthage mint, SNG Copenhagen 151. Next: a lovely horse

Impossible to pick an absolute favourite so I'll include a few! I'm sure @TheTrachyEnjoyer will forgive me. ☺️ First, there's my recently acquired 2 Johns rarity that I posted about here: (Cool, this forum site automatically gives you a little preview of the post!) The next coin that occurs to me is this half miliaresion of Leo III. Introduced along with the new miliaresion denomination, this was probably a ceremonial issue. Touched by the emperor?!? As far as I know there are only 4 known: (DOC 23, SB 1512A) I feel privileged to own an ex @ValiantKnight example of Justinian's Rome mint half follis. The significance of these western issues never fails to impress me: And who doesn't love their huge Justinian folles? At the other end of the scale, I really enjoy terrible portraiture. My prize coin in this department is this "Lowly Worm" Phocas pentanummium (Constantinople mint?): While the ID isn't 100% certain, I believe this is the only known year 9 Justinian II Constantinople half follis: I think this next one was the first really cool Byzantine coin that I got. It's a Tiberius III Apsimar overstruck on Leontius! (I love overstrikes.) This next one looks pretty unassuming, but it's the very rare last issue of Michael III on Syracuse (SB 1698 as opposed to the less scarce 1697). (Allegedly there are some examples of Basil I, but I'm a bit skeptical of them.) Last gasp in AE before the Muslim conquest of Sicily. (By contrast, Basil I is relatively easy to find in debased gold. Here's my semissis. Not perhaps among my absolute favourites, but I still like it a lot. end parenthesis) I can't get enough of this Nic II Phocas portrait: And I'm very attached to my ex Stevex6 "zombie Jesus" coin, also of Nic II Phocas (obviously a fourrée solidus): Jumping forward, I love my trachy of Michael VIII who reclaimed Constantinople from the barbarous westerners. The key feature for me is that he's holding a model of the city, quite symbolic of his achievement: Since we're talking about the Conquest, I'll close with my most closely-linked coin (lacking a Constantine XI of course. Calling @voulgaroktonou!) It's the very first coin issued by Mehmet the Conqueror from the Constantinople mint, an AH 865 akce = 1460-61: So, erm, perhaps that's more than a few of my faves. ☺️ You gotta indulge me, I have cancer. 😛

Yay, @Limes is here!! 👏 I think you might be underestimating how large the exodus from the old site has been... 😉 Personally I'll be posting almost exclusively here from now on.

Well, I'm glad that I didn't take it directly out of your hands, at least! And your consolation prize is pretty damn awesome I must say. That you have two is mind boggling! Looking forward to the article. Still dealing with the side effects of my immunotherapy that led to the ER visit, but I'm feeling much better today. 🙂

The first of my coins that comes to mind is this one: I got it hiding in a group lot for super cheap, thinking it was a great score as one of the rare LON first issues folles. But when I showed it to Hugh Cloke he choked on his coffee because it was the only example he'd seen with draped loins, a feature he'd made a special study of (and published). It's now got its own unique catalogue number, 1.01.002A, in Cloke & Toone and I couldn't be prouder. 😊 (By contrast, my family's reaction was more like this: 😑) It's pictured here until the revised catalogue comes out: http://www.hookmoor.com/home/?page_id=690 I think you might be surprised to learn how many of us have one of these doubles, since @Valentinian and @dougsmit brought them to our attention. 😁 But I guess officina H is a very scarce one... great coin in any case! Here's my officina delta: Awesomesauce, @TheTrachyEnjoyer!

It's quite a coup to score a Claudius denarius! I've never been willing to pony up. Still, I'm content with my other coins of his. My two favourites are this As and quadrans:

I think this is a great approach, Q. I picked "alienated" for my mood. As far as my avatar goes, my first ancient coin was purchased in Stratford, England on a trip with my family when I was 13. I loved browsing antique shops, and I also collected Canadian coins (mostly acquired from my grandma's old penny jar!) When I found some ancient coins in some trays in an antique shop, my eyes popped wide. I remember deciding between two, one that looked Roman to me and another I wasn't sure of... in retrospect I suspect it was a Greek bronze. I picked the Roman one: Cost my 5 quid. I remember puzzling mightily over "PIVSA" in the car after that! 😆 My next purchase was a Roman coin book (by Fox) in a coin shop, and I was off to the races! (Turns out the As of this type is actually quite rare... sort of an unusual first coin. I feel an affinity to our OP @maridvnvm whose first coin was also an SA!) When I joined the site formerly known as CoinTalk* in 2017 I chose Severus Alexander as my username because of this first coin. I had also tried to get examples of the type in other denominations. Right now I'm using my ex NAC dupondius as my avatar: At that point I didn't really have a specialist collection, but all the fun @David Atherton was having with his Flavians convinced me I should, so I started trying to complete a middle bronze SA type set. It's been fun. Don't think I'll ever manage to get the Coliseum type though! 🤑 * Now "white supremacy talk" 🙄

I would second this suggestion, @Restitutor! i.e. for the checklist on the right. It's sure hard to pick from my tets, but here's a selection, biased towards stuff I didn't post that often on the old site: (Well, I did post that one pretty often, but how could I leave it out?!) Demetrios Poliorketes: Antiochos III: Both of the above were chosen for the portraits, as you can probably tell! Demetrios II (who probably has the coolest portraits in the Seleukid series I'd say, followed by Antiochos I with his mournful brows): A different sort of tet, from the pre-Kushan Yuezhi on the silk road: And the Kushan denomination called "tetradrachm" (in this case Vima Takto): Moving to Roman Alexandria, here's Sev Alex with his mum, minted in Rome (a cool series introduced to me by @dougsmit): Aurelian: And finally, Diocletian with Harpokrates reverse: Oops, sorry @Alegandron, can't forget the tiny tets, can we! 😁 Here's a Thraco-Macedonian tetartemorion at 6mm and 0.23g:

Did they intentionally strike this coin on a hand-prepared flan, instead of a regular planchet? I figure at this point in history, especially in France, most coins were collar-struck, no? Absolutely... they were trying to imitate ancient coins. That's why I bought it. 😁

Here's a griffin that hasn't yet been posted: Like many of the others it's from Phokaia. 2.16g and 13mm. I think my smallest coin is this tetartemorion from Athens (390-353 BCE) at 4.8mm and 0.17g: Wow, that is a phenomenal coin, @TheTrachyEnjoyer!

Me too. But it really means: Herakles Stamps Out Cancer! 😁💪

Oh, and I can't forget this frog... Denarius/quinarius medallet, celebrating Napoleon's coronation as emperor Vive les grenouilles!

Sure do!! From my bestest coin buddies ever: Akragas AE tetras, c. 425-406 BCE; c/m Carthaginean(?) c. 405 From the Bretti, I also have this 14mm quartuncia with a nice crab on the reverse and, even better, Amphitrite wearing a crab headdress on the obverse: Let me also add a sea turtle from Aegina (stater, c. 525-475 BCE): Such a fun topic, @Alegandron!!

Thanks all, will follow up tomorrow hopefully! I’m totally exhausted after a trip to the ER today. 😖

I love that ultra-dark field toning, Q! The first coin that came to mind is this one, which I bought for the toning: I also have a Glabrio; not a beauty, but it makes up for it in my mind because it's from the Quidenham hoard, buried at the time of Boudicca's revolt:

A beauty! I agree, delta. 🙂 And you can upload videos directly on here? Wow, cool! You sure did pick a great platform and set up a fantastic forum, @Restitutor!!

There's also your luscious Faustina II, @zumbly! I think you're well endowed with quality asses. 😁 I love that JD type. Very cool provenance too! Here's my late JD, on a bit of a buzz-saw flan:

More in keeping with the others would be something like this: with Devanagari, Pahlavi, early Chinese, and Arabic script. (I just threw this together, you can probably make something much nicer!)

Welcome, +VGO/Jean!! There's even a Medieval category here. 😁 I'm so happy the new forum has taken off. Looks like it will be a great success.

You nailed it. Varbanov 3911, HrHJ (2020) 8.2.23.3. I actually misspoke... there are 4 serpents on the coin. You can see them depicted on the front of the biga:

@Ed Snibleis here!! 👏