JAZ Numismatics

The Hercules C/M is found on coins in the lower Danube region, so it makes sense that most of them are found on provincial issues. Mike's coins with the PR mark look like they could be Agrippa asses struck during Caligula's reign. The OP coin may be an issue of Tiberius?

Countermarks often served to re-tariff coins that were already in circulation, but we rarely know why they needed to be re-tariffed. In the case of these extremely worn early bronzes, my guess is that they were so worn that merchants refused to accept them. The countermarks were perhaps a way for local authorities to say, "these coins are still legal tender even though they're almost demolished." But that's just a wild guess.

2 minutes ago, expat said:

Some great examples shown. Those few that I have from that era are Constantine II or Constantius II. The exception is this one that I couldnt resist.

There aren't many LRB's that reference specific historical events. This is one of them. It commemorates Constantine's victory over the Sarmatians, who he fought on the Pannonian stretch of the limes, earning him the newly-invented title Samarticus Maximus.

My first ancient coin was a falling horseman of Constantius II, and the coins of the Constantinian Dynasty became my first collecting passion. I never get tired of these coins for some reason, despite the fact that many of them are common. Here are a handful from my current inventory...

Im not an expert on Portuguese coinage, but I know some of these issues are undated. Dating coins was not always a common practice throughout history. Often, a reference to the issuing ruler was enough. The weight and size of your coin might give a clue as to its denomination.

...ANOC CEB seems clear to me, so Diocletian is probably a good guess.

Yeah, I don't understand the classification. Lots of dealers list their Sassanian coins as Greek, They have almost no connection to Greek coins.

It's interesting to note that many ancient coins are basically memes. One definition of a meme is "an amusing or interesting item or genre of items that is spread widely throughout society." In our case it happens by social media, in the ancient world by coins. Look at all the propaganda on Roman Republic denarii for example. It seems that most coin memes (and maybe modern memes as well?) have to do with the victory of one group of people or ideas over another. It's the eternal struggle of all creation.

Gorgeous! Congratulations.

7 minutes ago, Valentinian said:

I put the OP coin my pages abut VOTA coins:
http://augustuscoins.com/ed/VOTA/
and made a few other minor changes.

If you have any VOTA coins, you might find that website interesting.

I love this page - very informative. I suggest everyone read it.

As far as B&M stores go, the one in my town will not sell me any ancient coins! He knows I'm a dealer on vcoins, and I guess he assumes I know something he doesn't (which is true), He doesn't get many ancient coins, but I've made fair offers for the ones he does occasionally have, and I guess he assumes they must be worth much more than my offers. Tells me he's going to sell them on eBay for twice as much. Okey Dokey.

Hey friends, if any of you are in the Lancaster PA area this Saturday, come to Red Rose Coin Show, at the Farm and Home Center, 1383 Arcadia Rd, 9AM to 3PM. I'll have a table there - I'm usually the only one with a lot of ancient coins so you can't miss me. But now I also stock a lot of different stuff: world coins, US, medals, and exonumia. Numisforums members get a free state quarter!!! (Just kidding.)

17 minutes ago, Ursus said:

+1

I have a couple of pugnacious opinions when it comes to modern numismatis. Most US and world collectors disagree. It's probably best for everybody that I never got into collecting anything from after 1700:

1.) Slabbing and fussy grading are a marketing strategy to sell boring coins to rookie collectors at inflated prices.

2.) Serious collectors know their coins better than the label on the slab.

3.) The more worthwhile a numismatic field is, the less nitpicky people are about grading. (That doesn't only refer to ancients. I know people who, for example, specialize in collecting American tokens, German notgeld, or coins from the Spanish Civil War. They care about historical interest, eye appeal, and completing whatever set they have in mind, not about a highly sophisticated grading scale.)

4.) 20th/21st century US coins are boring.

5.) NCLTs and "commemorative coins" constitute money-making schemes, not collectibles.

6.) Coin collecting is a terribly bad investment strategy.

 

That's a pretty good assessment. I would add that many of the collectors of US coins that I meet at shows are not interested in numismatics, but rather in speculation. How low a price can I pay, how much profit can I make, etc. I have one friend that collects nothing but Morgan dollars in slabs so that he can flip them. There's nothing wrong with that of course, but if you don't care about numismatics, you may as well be collecting beanie babies. I'm a dealer and it's my job to speculate, and if I don't do it well, my business goes under. That being said, it's not my favorite part of the gig. What I really like is collecting beautiful and sometimes rare coins, researching them, photographing them, discussing them, learning something new, etc. I just happen to sell them as well.

When you've looked at thousands of coins, sometimes your instinct nudges you to get something you're not sure about. And sometimes you come away with a rarity. Congratulations!

An unusually good bronze of Antiochus I Soter, Apollo seated on Omphalos type. Those of you that collect Seleucid know how rough the bronzes are. A well-struck coin with no deposits and an unbroken patina is pretty scarce...

39 minutes ago, ambr0zie said:

That is an excellent goal, @Parthicus

I will stick to ancients, but I will completely change my tactics. For more than 3 years I buy from auctions and usually get common budget coins, sometimes good deals. Like you, I was interested in history, geography, various events, animals, religion. 

NO MORE. I will stick to ancients like I said, but from now on I will buy only rarities because I want to build a collection with rare or very rare coins (I already sold my entire collection as there was no rarity there so this doesn't fit my collecting goals anymore). 

The first coin I bought is 

Description - Ultra Rare Coin ( Estimated Lydia).
Experts don't even know what it is, no one has ever seen anything like this. Found in Turkey in Manisa.

Well, if the experts don't know, good enough for me. 

Wow, you stole that coin!

Don't forget to check your dryer!

7 minutes ago, MrZun said:

My first Constantine follis

I don't know much about follis, they are bronze Coins with a thin layer of silver, right?

Those Vota types are typically very well struck, and easy to find in EF grades. Sometimes it's hard to believe they're ancient coins. Great choice for a first follis!

To attribute those, you'll need Sum Ting Wong's exhaustive treatise "Non-Galvanized Proto Money of the Wang Dynasty."

It's a stunning coin! I always feel a thrill at acquiring a plate coin, even though I know it's not objectively a huge deal - most authors use whatever coins they have available to them for plates. Still, I feel like I've acquired a "famous" coin.

10 hours ago, Hrefn said:

Manuel I, likely struck 1160-64.   On the left, Christ in glory clasping the Gospel.  On the right, Manuel with St. Theodore, a military saint martyred in the early 4th century.  Purchased from Solidus Numismatik, in Munich, Germany.  Christos anesti to all those celebrating Easter.  

 

Phenomenal strike for a scyphate, great find!

Here is something from my recent Spanish lot, a blanca of Enrique IV. The reverse shows a lion (traditional symbol of Christ) with the inscription XPS VINCIT XPS REGNAT, Christ conquers, Christ reigns. This legend is about as clear as they get on these types...

The coin is authentic. A left-facing laureate bust is a legitimate variety in this series. Check Coin Archives for examples.

What I absoluely can't relate to when it comes to collectors of moderns is the obsession with minute differences in grade. Each to his own, but I just find that kind of discussion beyond boring.

9 minutes ago, Nerosmyfavorite68 said:

Hopefully I'm not jinxing myself.  This thread inspired me to pick up an example.  I wanted one with a nice patina.

Philip I AE28 Commagene, Zeugma. Tetrastyle temple with statue of Zeus 

 

AYTOK K M IOYΛI ΦIΛIΠΠOC CEB, laureate, draped and cuirassed bust r.,

 

Rv. Tetrastyle temple with statue of Zeus seated, holding sceptre peribolos below containing grove below, capricorn leaping right. ZεYΓM - ATεΩN.

 

SNG Cop. 32.  AD 244-249.  14.93g.

I'm glad I'm not the only one that buys a coin just because someone started a thread about it!

Post any and all coins with Christian symbolism...

Michael VII Ducas, AD 1071-1078.
AE Follis, 25mm, 4.1g, 6; Constantinople mint.
Obv.: Nimbate bust of Christ facing, wearing pallium and colobus, holding book of Gospels; star to either side.
Rev.: MIXAHΛ RACIA O Δ; Bearded bust of Michael VII facing, wearing crown and loros and holding labarum and globus cruciger.
Ref.: SB 1878.

On 3/29/2024 at 7:21 PM, Ryro said:

Fun post! It's always cool when you come across something you set aside without much expectation and end up with a surprise. Here's a Spanish coin with a great story of my own:

Spanish States, Castile and León (Kingdom). Ferdinand V and Isabel I (Los Reyes Católicos - the Catholic Monarchs) CU Blanca. Sevilla (Seville) mint, 1474-1504. ✠ FЄRꞂAꞂDVS ◦ ЄT ◦ ҺЄLISABЄT, crowned monogram; S-S across fields / ✠ RЄX : ЄT: RЄGINA : CAST : LЄGI, crowned monogram; two stars across fields. Calicó 653; AC 46. 1.72g, 20mm, 12h. Saturnalia gift from @bcuda

This is the same Ferdinand and Isabel that enabled Christopher Columbus to find the new(ish) world and backed the infamous Spanish Inquisition!!!

I received a couple of those in my lot as well. It would have been nice for us collectors if they had bothered to date them!

I love the delicate script on this coin...

Nero Æ 22mm of Prymnessus, Phrygia. AD 54-68. Ti. Ioulios Proklos, magistrate. NEPΩNA KAIΣAPA ΠPYMNHΣΣEIΣ, laureate head to right / ΕΠΙ • ΤΙ • ΙΟΥΛΙΟΥ ΠΡΟΚΛΟΥ, Dikaiosyne standing facing, head to left, holding scales and grain ears. RPC I 3207; Von Aulock Phrygien II 1022-31. 6.60g, 22mm, 12h.