Rand

Two volumes of Hahn's book have been published in English. I do recommend them, even though they may not add much to your extensive knowledge of the gold coins of the period. These are probably the best books on the early Byzantine coins.

Hahn W, Metlich MA. Money of the Incipient Byzantine Empire (Anastastius I - Justinian I, 491-565). Vol 1. 2nd edition, revised, was published in 2013

Hahn W, Metlich MA. Money of the Incipient Byzantine Empire (Justin II - Revolt of the Heraclii 565-610). Vol 2., 2009.

The 1975 German-language version of the book has three volumes, still popular and expensive. I remember my Euro 400 bid was outbid before the English version was published (which is better for me as I am not interested in later coins).

Below is your coin from the book and my copy of the two volumes. 

@Hrefn This is a very nice Anastasius solidus without an officina letter, published in Hahn W, Metlich MA. Money of the Incipient Byzantine Empire (Anastastius I - Justinian I, 491-565). Vol 1. 2nd edition, revised, 2013.

There are few of these, I missed one in 2019, and have to wait for another to appear.

On 11/12/2023 at 11:22 AM, Tejas said:

For those who read German there is the book "Theoderich der Grosse" by Hans-Ulrich Wiemer from 2018.

Thank you, @Tejas 

Following the post, I initially bought it on Amazon in German and realised that I had lost whatever little German I knew. English readers would love to know that the book was released in English this year. I got it from both Apple Books and Audible (but it is also available for Kindle).

So far, the book is excellent, with a good balance of factual details and a critical perspective of the events. It is very well-referenced, has good maps and even a few coins! 

For my eyes, of all Ostrogothic tremisses, those from Milan under Theodoric had the best style.

29 minutes ago, Hrefn said:

My recent acquisition from CGB has the same dots for hair, but the mintmark is not obviously Ticinum.  

It's a nice coin. It has similarities to the first coins, but the lettering, chest flaps, and the reverse have different styles - they could have been produced some time apart?

1 hour ago, Tejas said:

This tremissis has an obverse bust style which can also be found on some very rare silver coins of Teja/Theia. The coin was minted in the name of Anastasius, with the name starting to disintegrate. I think this may be one of the few or only gold coins tentatively attributable to the last Gothic king. Hence, the coin would date to AD 552.

The mintmark appears to be COMOI

 

Aha. Now I know who got it. It was quite a bidding (I did not bid). I liked this coin - the same style as Ratto's no. 247, but Ratto's photo did not let seeing all details.

1 hour ago, Tejas said:

I have one tremissis attributable to Baduila, which was minted in the name of Anastasius. The mintmark is COMOB and the coin may have been minted at Rome in around AD 550.

 

Amazing coin. I have never seen it. Must have been in your posession for some time. It also has similarities to the coins mentioned in the previous post. This seems a nice little cluster.

1 hour ago, Tejas said:

I have four tremisses attributed to Baduila, three in the name of Justinian. The first two show the mintmark COMOT or CONOT and have likely been minted at Ticinium. The third one seems to show the mintmark COMOB and has probably been minted at Rome.

 

 

 

The third coin must be from the same series as my first two. Given the time gap between Anastasius and Justinianus, they must be from Baduila. Their style differs from the usual Ticinum tremisses - likely from another, more established mint. As Ravenna makes little sense and coins from Rome had very different styles before and after the Justinian conquest, Milan seems the most plausible choice?

On 11/14/2023 at 4:08 PM, Tejas said:

Has anybody wondered why Totila is also called Baduila/Baduela?

Very interesting. I suspect that Tejas (as a king's name) also has a history. It is also spelt variably.

The period since Totila started putting 'Anastasivs' on his coins and till the end of the Ostrogothic Kingdom has produced many interesting varieties of solidi and tremisses. At least Totila likely minted coins gold coins in different mints, possibly following his victories. I have tried to find a way to attribute it, but I have had little success so far.

Below are some coins probably from the period, but they do not have such a clear attribution, such as the nice coin above.

This one has a Justinian's Ravenna tremisses style. But Justinian would not put 'Anastasivs', and Totila did not take Ravenna (as far as I know).

This one was found in Mersham, Kent in 2018. https://finds.org.uk/database/artefacts/record/id/908451

This one can be from Ticinum under Totila.

27 minutes ago, Prieure de Sion said:

Here is my small Totila Tremissis from Ticinium...

Congratulation. A very nice win today! (I was not an underbidder)

@Hrefn Apologies, if my line of thinking is confusing or if I made a mistake. I cannot spot the problem to fix it, sorry.

@Tejas, I agree. Indeed, we have:

• AD 493, proposed by Arslan and favoured as 'most likely' by Metlich in his 2004 book.
• AD 500, favoured by most, which Metlich admitted.
• AD 509, celebrating the victory over the Burgundians and Franks - has a strong argument.

Each date can be supported now by more arguments than those listed by Metlich in 2004. 

Let me argue for 511 - not that I claim it is necessarily correct.

• In 511, Theodoric took control of the Visigothic Kingdom after deposing Gesalec and nominally installed his grandson Amalaric, a minor. This year, the two Gothic nations were united under a single rule. This would be the most appropriate occasion for the VICTOR GENTIVM legend. 
• Even though also uncertain, 511 could be the year when the siege of Arles was over ending the war (rather than 509), and even may be the year when Clovis died.

511 was a glorious year for Theodoric.

Let us assume the VPW tremissis above were produced for the same occasion as the Senigallia Medallion:

• They were the only Ostrogothic coins with the VPW effigy. 
• VPW was a standard Visigothic tremissis type, and taking over the Visigothic kingdom was an excellent reason to produce some VPW tremisses.
• The Senigallia Medallion has both Victoria looking left (on obverse) and right (on reverse) - fitting the two types of the Ostrogothic VPW tremisses.
• Metlich's view that these VPW tremisses were the first tremisses of Theodoric does not fit the existence of Burgundian ANASTASIVS PERP VPW tremisses. It does not explain why Theodoric would stopp producing them changing to VGC, and the Gaul would follow the short emission for decades.

Now we have this possibly unique tremissis, which has both the Visighotic style of Victoria and close stylistic similarities to the Ostrogothic tremissis pictured underneath. The Theta points to Theodoric. This implies the tremissis was minted in the Visigothic domain under Theodoric's authority, which is unlikely to be before 511, and so was the Senigallia Medallion. I bought it from a Spanish auction, which indirectly supports Gallic or Spanish rather than Itallian minting. 

The similarity of Victoria with the palm and wreath on the Senigallia Medallion and the tremisses shown above makes me think that they (and other denominations) were produced at the same time. Their scarcity may indicate their donative nature.

The nature of the occasion is a matter of speculation but could be the celebration of the victory over Odovacer and becoming the ruler of the new Ostrogothic Kingdom.

5 minutes ago, Al Kowsky said:

The coin pictured below, in the collection of Francesco Gnecchi,

I think the original of the Senigallia Medallion is now in the Palazzo Massimo alle Terme, Rome.

https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/C_B-11479 BM has an Electrotype facsimile of the medallion, made when it was in Gnecchi's posession. 

I am glad the period is increasingly seen as more colourful than the 'Dark Ages'. The political links within the previous Empire had not completely disintegrated until the Justinian invasion. 

 I see this period as the Roman Commonwealth and the gold monetary system as a franchise
I can not call Theodoric or Gundobad barbarians; they were well educated, better than, say Zeno or Justin I (as far as we know)

Just now, Tejas said:

Wonderful coins. I'm afraid I bid against you on the last one.

Sorry. It was still a bargain - much cheaper than the first two.

Last Roma's auction pained me more, but I was lucky with a few similar (but not same) in the previous Roma auctions and decided it was time to share and did not push bidding.

1 hour ago, Tejas said:

While the Theodahat follis is rare and very seldom offered in auction, there are much rarer Gothic coins. For example, this early Half-Siliqua of Theoderic, minted to the eastern weight standard, is excessively rare. I know of two pieces in museums, but to my knowledge this may be the only piece in private hands.

A stunning coin @Tejas! Wow.

The reverse is very close to the elusive tremissis below, which I only know from the Metchlich's book. It is cited as a Berlin piece, but it is not in the online part of the National Museum collection in Berlin. You are well familiar with the coins of the period, and you have come across this type. I would be grateful for any info. 

Metlich MA. The coinage of Ostrogothic Italy. Spink, London, 2004

3 hours ago, Tejas said:

While the Theodahat follis is rare and very seldom offered in auction, there are much rarer Gothic coins. For example, this early Half-Siliqua of Theoderic, minted to the eastern weight standard, is excessively rare. I know of two pieces in museums, but to my knowledge this may be the only piece in private hands.

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.

3 hours ago, Deinomenid said:

notorious  Greek bidder

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).