Rand

This half-siliqua was likely part of the celebratory issue by Theoderic that included other denominations. Below are three very rare tremisses likely from the same series - probably the only ones in private hands. The first two were bought from the NAC Auction 93 above. The third coin was bought recently and is still in post. Except for these three, museums have three tremisses with Victoria looking left and four tremisses with Victoria looking right.

2016 NAC Auction 93 was probably the latest major sale of the coins of the migration period with many amazing pieces, including two Theodohad's follises (lots 1184, 1185). https://www.arsclassicacoins.com/wp-content-nasecure/uploads/2020/06/2016-NAC-93.pdf Sadly, my budget for that auction was depleted even before I reached Theodohad's lots. I would love to know who the collector was. The auction is one of the few provenances I value. Below is a coin I missed during the sale but was lucky to get later from another sale. Theoderic in the name of Anastasius. Solidus, Ravenna with Theoderic's monogram.

Sadly the literature is scarce. The book by Webster and Brown below was published in 1997 and is still one of the best summaries on the topic. There are few specialist numismatic books. The publication by BALDI (2014), 'Ostrogothic coins in the British Museum, London' is useful, free and possibly the reasons why Ostrogothic coins in BM have been photographed and available online in good quality https://www.academia.edu/7937463/BALDI_2014_Ostrogothic_coins_in_the_British_Museum_London The 187 coins in the corpus is by no mean a measure of availability. They are by far rarer than gold coins of the period. I hoped to bid twice in the last 10 years with no luck by a margin.

Thank you @Tejas These four coins represent one of the world's biggest collections of this impressive and desirable type. British Museum has only seven! Berlin holds a bit higher number. In 2004, Arslan E.A. and Metlich M.A. published 'A die study of Theodahad Folles' in The Coinage of Ostrogothic Italy (Spink), pp. 125-134; plates A-F. As part of the project, they have assembled a corpus of 187 coins from 20 obverse and 64 reverse dies, a large proportion being in public museums.

A very interesting interview. I admire specialist/variety collections - a great way to deep-dive into the dynamics of the period and discover its secrets. Faustina Friday is undoubtedly a highlight of the forum. I had read a few back issues when I joined. I know the size does not matter… Still, from childhood, when meeting another boy (I wish there were girls) collecting coins, the first question was how many do you have? Please ingore is this was not part of the interview on purpose.

For once, I followed my own advice on shifting focus away from a highly contested area and let four outstanding coins go. Congratulations to the new lucky owner(s). I got an ‘academic’ Anastasian coin to avoid going away empty-handed. It links two die clusters and two reverse varieties -- old style ‘spike’ winged and new style ‘rounded’ winged Victoria -- helping their dating (coins from my collection).

I liked the video of the coins being collected by divers.

I did not know Greeks were allowed to possess ancient Greek coins in Greece. I remember bidding at NAC (online) for a Greek friend, a casual collector, who visited me and kept the winning until he emigrated from Greece. Possibly, the rules are different for coins bought abroad - otherwise, BCD would not be able to keep his coins in Greece (my assumption).

I am unaware of a method to aggregate purchases from a bidder. Auction houses are unlikely to be keen on this, not to discourage underbidders. I used to like old-style CNG bidding with aliases. It was later removed. During my collecting lifetime, there were a few new avid collectors who made some of my collecting areas suddenly too competitive. I had to buy coins, which I deemed too rare to miss, at multiples of the estimates. In contrast, after losing bids, I purchased a few coins much cheaper when resold. My learning point was that enthusiastic, deep-pocketed collectors tend to lose their interest soon, and sometimes, I should accept this, shift focus, and wait. For example, early medieval Burgundian coins (especially with Gundobad’s monogram) are tough to compete for right now - I am waiting and focus on the Goths.

Given that the coins were found during diving, they were likely related to maritime trade unless the shoreline had changed. 30 or even 50 thousand bronze coins would still be a modest amount for bigger transactions. As such, it is less likely to be part of a treasury for military operations. Hopefully, its content will become available to the researchers and the public for analysis. The historical value of this find is more important than the monetary value.

I found where the idea came from. Love Johnny English movies. Hope there are some agents left.

Further disturbing news about the safety of historical artifacts stored in public museums. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-nottinghamshire-6730397 Thieves stole a haul of "priceless" silver military antiques by cutting through a museum's floor. Staff at the Royal Lancers & Nottinghamshire Yeomanry Museum noticed a number of items were missing when they arrived at work on Sunday . A search then revealed a hole had been drilled up through an archway to allow the thieves to reach into a display cabinet. Detectives described the raid as "audacious" and "well organised".

I enjoyed his ANS Long Table 133 Presentation. The Joy of Die-Studies: Cataloguing the Coinage Of Gordian III. He acknowledged the major shift in the source of the research material from museum collections to sale coins, which were previously kept at lower regard. This follows his long-term academic interest, which was the foundation of his PhD. THE COINAGE OF GORDIAN III FROM ANTIOCH AND CAESAREA. https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10116536/1/Bland_thesis.pdf

Thank you. Hopefully the publication finds a new home. Off topic, as I tend do, apologies. I struggle to find a copy of Bridge RN. Some unpublished Byzantine gold coins. Spink's Num. Circ 78 (1970). Keen to buy the issue if someone is aware of a seller or have an unwanted copy. I have seen whole year Spink's Num. Circ bundles on auctions, but do not need every issue and others may need.

It is beautiful for my eyes!

This was an exciting and underappreciated period of history that influenced both the East and West. Vytautas had poor taste in key allies. He married away his only daughter to the Grand Duke of Moscow, who still failed to turn up to the battle Battle of the Vorskla River, which ended up a major defeat for Vytautas. Still, Vytautas managed to hold Ukraine from Tatars and used their trick on him to defeat Teutonic Germans in the Battle of Grunwald. The Battle of Grunwald was the largest European battle of the century, which ended the German hope of expanding to the east. It is a pity that the coins of Vytautas are so primitive. A child can probably imitate them.

Thank you. I did not know about Muscovites. Vladimir Olgerdovich imitated Gulistan mint coins after Lithuanians took over a big chunk of Ukraine from the Horde. Those coins are even smaller (0.3-0.4g). I am keen to buy one but am waiting for a nice one.

Thank you. This is very interesting. There are many types spread over time and the expanse of the Golden Horde with variable 'fonts', and they are often poorly struck. This can make reading the inscriptions difficult even for an expert. The size, weight, and styles also vary considerably. Can they be useful to narrow down the attribution? Were the coins mainly produced for local use or circulated more widely through trade and military campaigns?

I agree with all the comments above that negative emojis are mostly unhelpful. Still, non-verbal communication is a huge part of human communication; emojis are meant to imitate this. We do not always have to say something to support communication. We may nod of agreement, change expression (or say ‘pardon’) if we do not understand something or have a blank face if we disagree. It is hard to replicate this on a forum. I hope the smile above is still acceptable - meant to be a friendly smile.

This post reads sarcastic to me, irrespective of what the OP might have meant.

Personally, I do like debating and being disagreed with, and I am more than happy to clarify my point or writing. My best experience from this forum was the criticism of my ideas about some coins. I am not offended by the current emoji. Previously, I clarified my writing with such emoji and saw the emoji removed. I deleted a post when I could not understand what caused the confusion and did not feel like debating further. Still, the emoji looks rather non-friendly, and I can see how it may be used for confrontation. I would prefer it to be replaced by three emojis 1. A friendly ‘I do not understand’ 2. A friendly ‘I disagree’ 3. A friendly ‘I quite disagree’ Their use does not always need elaboration in writing. We do not always explain what we like when we put a like. While not putting a like is another option, this also includes other feelings like ‘boring’, or ‘too busy to reply’. Sadly, I do not have time to read every excellent post on the forum. I went through the previous threads and removed two confused emojis that I placed: one meant ‘I disagree’, which was explained, and one ‘I do not understand’. I apologise if this upset the authors and if I missed any other such emojis. I agree with @Salomons Cat that some comments are beyond what a friendly forum should have.

While I usually voice myself on the risks of collecting hobby addiction, pointing out the positives to prevent the thread from becoming too gloomy is helpful. Close neurobiological links exist between feeling happy and the compulsion to seek further stimuli. It is hard to put the costs on feeling happy! I am not aware of robust research on the matter, but if the hobby helps mental health, money used to build a collection in happness are better spent than money spent for treatments in misery. While forums and seeking likes may trigger irrational behaviours, the forums are excellent ways of communicating with same-minded people and the sense of belonging to a social group. I do like the thrill of bidding, the desire, almost lust, for getting new coins. I feel sad when older friends dispose of their lifetime collections. This tends to be a grim sign. Being a specialist collector, letting coins pass may be more difficult as many varieties are unique and may only appear once in my lifetime. The coin I desire most was last (and only once publicly) sold 40 years ago. For this reason, it is not uncommon for me to bid many times the estimate. However, the other side of specialist collecting is that when the amount of material on auctions depletes the allocated collection budget, there is plenty of joy in working on the database and literature and putting together historical puzzles.

Master engraving, indeed. I have never been able to find another one from the same dies. This is mine closesed I have. Still, does not compare in stile. They are likely from Mediolanum, likely earlier that the well recognised series from this city (which constinues rather lovely style). The second coin is from this later series - looks better in hand. Roma Numismatics Limited. Auction 25. 22/09/2022 Solidus Numismatik. Auction 31. 30/06/2018 PS. A lovely solidus from Rome. I feel, we are still missing Ostrogoth types from Rome. Hopefully there are more to come.

The Rothschild family has been the most prominent donor of art ever. They have donated over 120,000 pieces of art to over 200 museums and libraries in France alone https://academic.oup.com/jhc/article-abstract/30/1/182/4584180?redirectedFrom=fulltext. Significant donations have been made in Britain, including the British Museum https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/galleries/waddesdon-bequest, US museums and museums everywhere. The family's coin collection scope remains a mystery, and I hope it still contains many treasures preserved over centuries. Below is one of the most beautiful Anastasius solidi (likely minted by Ostrogoths), donated to Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris. https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b11350297w

I am no expert in fakes! The straight cuts on the curves of the letters on Byzantine coins concerned me for a long time. After a website suggested these were signs of modern machining, I stayed away from such coins, likely missing a few good purchases. I kept observing and noted that such cuts are very common on certainly authentic coins. Below is one of my such examples (also on reverse only). I do not dismiss such coins for now unless there are other concerns (I may be wrong). Numismatica Ars Classica NAC AG. Auction 100. 29/05/2017