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Rand

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  1. Haha. This a very good point. I certainly not a mechanic and not into cars and feel that I keep buying not the best tires and breaks - whatever service advises. I shall perhaps spend less time reading about coins and more about tires.
  2. I agree with all this. My first post was about assigning high rarity status to coins that are not rare. It reads to me that collecting coins is not for dummies, and one must become an expert collector before buying them. This would be like only mechanics should buy a car, and it is ok for a seller to describe them the way they want - description is subjective anyway. Personally, I respect dealers describing coins accurately and going into a variety of details, if relevant.
  3. Mine does. Even though I have bought coins in the whole range of grades, I prefer well-preserved (ideally mint state) coins and would rather have a worn one than an 'improved' coin. Some problems, such as bent coins, can be difficult to appreciate from photos. I do put a degree of trust in the dealer's description as I hardly ever buy in person (I wish I did). This is what I do, learning from my mistakes. It does not mean misleading rarity attribution should be encouraged. Even though any coin description could be narrowed down to make it very rare, the rarity is typically assumed to refer to the type rather than variety or die pair (unless specified). Rarity assigment can be subjective, but is not uselless - helping collecters to spot uncommon types, especially if there are similar common once.
  4. This topic raises a broader question about how dealers describe coins. Common issues include overgrading and assigning various degrees of rarity to rather common coins. I recently discovered that a few of my best condition coins from top auction houses (e.g., choice extremely fine, almost FDC) were brushed. In all fairness, I did not notice this myself when handling them. It is common for auctions to say something like, ‘Author XYZ only recorded three examples’. This may be true, but if the book was published 50+ years ago, the available numbers could be completely different now. Also, a previous thread discussed what to do when a seller misses a true rarity. I do not think many collectors contact dealers about this.
  5. Were they made for local use or could somehow be related to the first crusade, which would mean being minted later. Even if produced by Emperor Heinrich II this would already be more than a century gap from the original coin.
  6. Nice coins. Burgunsian coins are so hard to get. I remember your exceptional Sigismund's tremissis. Given that these Justinus's solidi were in the Gourdon hoard with no other documented find spots (to my knowledge), their attribution to Sigismund is very likely. I am more careful attributing various Anastasian coins with S in different positions to Sigismund. Otherwise, his short reign during the Anastasius period (516-518) became very busy with heterogeneous coins, which contrasts with few under his father and brother. The solidi below are also often attributed to Burgundians, but I think they were post-511 solidi of Theoderic minted in Arle and had corresponding tremisses (A3 by Tomasini). The reasoning is rather complicated and largely speculative, but they do share 'officina' letters (A, E, I) and must have been produced in large numbers. Fritz Rudolf Künker GmbH & Co. KG. Auction 304. 19/03/2018. Gorny & Mosch Giessener Münzhandlung. Auction 228. 09/03/2015 These may or may not be part of the same series. Classical Numismatic Group, Inc. Triton XXIV. 19/01/2021. Coins from my collections. Please note the similarity of the hand execution on these solidi and your Justinus solidus.
  7. I have tried to gather any literature sources and archaeological facts about the Theoderic's Italian wars. There is very little information, and publications, when cited, lead to the same sources. It is generally accepted that Visigoths joined Theoderic, which could have been in 489 (as in Wiemer's book on Theoderich) or the summer of 490 after Odoacer defeated Theodoric at Faenza. In so doing, the Visigoths helped force Odovacer to retreat to Addar River, where he was defeated in August 490. We do not know how many Visigoths were dispatched or whether Alaric II led them personally. We know Gothic kingship did not stop Ostrogoths from joining Atilla to fight the Visigoths. Visigothic support to Teoderic is thus unlikely to be a charitable demonstration of kinship and more likely a paid-for arrangement, possibly by desperate Theodoric after being defeated by Odovacer. Considerable payments were expected, potentially with territorial gains (of which we know little). My speculations: As Burgundians were advancing to Liguria between 10/489 and summer 490, it would make sense for Visighoths to secure Arle, the reachest city in the region and the capital of the Gallic province under Theoderic after 511. The campaign needed considerable resources and payments before advancing to Italy. This could be the time of minting coins with Zeno's name. The coins in the name of Zeno and Anastasius are from the same series but have some stylistic 'step up' differences. In contrast, Anastasian coins progress through a very close style (with some die links) from ANASTAS-IVS PERP to ANASTAS-IVS PP to ANASTA-SIVS PP. I think there could have been a small gap between them, with minting possibly restarted after payments were received following the 490 defeat of Odovacer. Visigoths's presence in Italy was still needed during the siege of Ravenna till 493. It is possible that after this, Arle was returned to Theoderic, and further minting was relocated to Toulouse and later, in 507, to Narbonne (for the principal mints). There were three and possibly four Western series during 04/491-08/492 (ANASTAS[I]VS PERP) potentially corresponding to the different mints under Visigoths (coins related to your Zeno solidus), Burgundians (e.g., my top two coins above), and rare Italian style solidi (with features of earlier and later solidi from Rome, Milan or Ravenna, which makes them hard to place). Only Burgundians produced PERP tremisses, which started the Victoria Palm Wreath series and later transitioned into the typical Burgundian series. I agree about the gaps with Burgundian coins. Even for the Anastasian series, I cannot trace their continuity throughout. Below is another coin, which might be Burgundian. VAuctions. London Coin Galleries Auction 3. 10/11/2016
  8. Congratulations, this is a great set of beautiful examples!
  9. This is a nice coin @Tejas. I watched the auction, but they did not have Anastasian solidi in the "Migration period" section. I am of the same opinion that these Zeno solidi are of the same series as the Anastasian solidi above and linked to the Theoderics war with Odovacer. The Mare Nostrum Hoard produced a few nice examples, including yours, and was likely compiled soon after the war. I also think they were not minted in Toulouse. Because of their good style, fabric, and abundance in The Mare Nostrum Hoard, they were more likely to be minted closer to Italy in a city with minting traditions. The series must be extensive, given the many used dies and pseudo-officinae letters. I have not tried die analyses for the Zeno solidi, but the current projections for Anastasius are 29 obverse dies (8 known dies) and 110 reverse dies (10 known dies)! I am sure the number will be corrected downwards as more coins emerge, but this was undoubtedly a considerable issue. The issue includes Anastasius solidi, which rules out Syagrius, who was dead before 491 and makes other Roman enclaves unlikely candidates. Where could it be? There are different Anastasian solidi, which later evolved in the lettered Burgunidian issues. Lyon is a likely mint if Gundobad and Godigisel jointly minted solidi and tremisses from their spoils of this war. It is not impossible that Godigisel minted their own coins in Geneva, as there are two different styles of Burgundian solidi and tremisses from the same period. Below are my two PERP early solidi attributable to Burgundians. Roma Numismatics Limited. Auction 27. 22/03/2023 Roma Numismatics Limited. Auction 12. 29/09/2016 Arle could be a candidate mint for the Zeno-Anastasius solidi discussed above. This would explain their good style. My current impression (speculation only) is that coins were minted in Arle for the needs of the war by the Visigoths, and the minting was moved further to Toulouse with coins of inferior style (my example for comparison). Mike Vosper. 2017.
  10. I fully agree, and advances in scholarship are indeed on the minds of many specialist collectors. Still, getting evidence from a hypothesis may take a lot of time. More than one coin is needed, and it could be years before another surfaces. Firing away publications of hypotheses and speculations is one way of knowledge sharing, but some collectors may seek a more conclusive stage. It is for them to decide.
  11. There is no suitable emoji - 'sad', for these stories. I feel grieving after losing bids in auctions, knowing that a second chance is unlikely anytime soon or ever. This is nothing compared to losing the coins we love, whatever force led to this. Some exceptional coins are shown/described above.
  12. My assumption: the winner and the underbidder were not bidding randomly and had a reason to target the coin. My speculation: Even though this specific coin lacks the mentioned attributes, specialist collectors may be aware of similar examples and their relation to find spots, likely minting authority, and events surrounding minting these coins. The coin may be a valuable ‘linkage example’, helping reconstruct old stories. My wish: To know the reasons and the story.
  13. A very nice coin @Hrefn. Congratulations! I have not found a new book on Carolingian coins, but I am reading (well, listening) to this book to learn more about the period before diving it into its coins. The periods is so full of events that shaped the Europe and eventually the World the way they are now. Heart of Europe. A History of the Holy Roman Empire ©2016 Peter H. Wilson
  14. For typical data projects, data cleaning takes most project time (80% has been quoted). Yes, we referred to different ML/AI uses - I referred to AI as an universal solution of die analyse - my view the technology is not ready for this yet. We both agree that it is helpful, in some cases, for issues when many similar dies were used. Athenian tetradrachms are a good example of an issue where an ML/AI approach is desirable and may be the only solution. There is no point or possibility of training an AI/ML model for EID MAR aureus when only three or four examples are known. There will be a few situations when ML/AI may struggle and will need additional input from researchers - when: Similar dies were used for gold and silver issues, such as a few aurei and denarii, but only black-and-white photos are available. Similar styles were used on coins of different diameters (some late Roman Bronzes) The same dies were used for coins of different thicknesses, for example, some thalers and their fractions/multiples. https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=1478082 https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=3166387 https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=2708751 The above is now an issue for analyses of preselected images of coins of the same type.
  15. Yes. This is correct. I have been referring to the broader using of AI as a solution for die analyses and classification questions in numismatics. AI will help many individual tasks withing this ambition. 100K+ types of antient coins is one of a major challenges. Please note, the cited study used 'visual validation' as the grand truth (please see my AI [an eye] tool above). Applying the method to Nero's obverses makes sense to me (>2000 images for 1135 denarii). It would be less useful for multiple reverses, which could be easier to handle manually. Each of the coins passed manual labeling (this time selection as a particular type of obverse). Imagine doing this for all antient types. I showed these coin photos before. Humour aside, I need to know if this is the same coin or not for die number projections. There are no other coins known to me of this variety 'helmet with a cross on PERP type'. The seller did not have info on the provenance. If this is the same coin (which I think it is) a bonus would be a proventance to a famous Ratto sale. Could the proposed AI method help?
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