ValiantKnight

Im guessing you guys saw that grouping of those coins listed recently too? To me, they have that 6th-7th century Constantinople siliqua fabric and style to them, so I’d guess that’s where they are from. And I’m not just saying that because I’ve exhausted my coin budget for the moment and can’t buy one 😁

Hadrian, Roman Empire
AE drachm
Obv: [AVT KAIC TΡAIAN AΔΡIANOC CEB], laureate head right, slight drapery on left shoulder
Rev: Isis Pharia sailing right, holding sistrum, the Pharos Lighthouse to right with three figures on its summit. L-I-[H] across fields
Mint: Alexandria
Date: 133-134 AD
Ref: Milne 1414; RPC 5895; Dattari 1767
(coin information from Wildwinds)

Same reverse but head left.

Domitian, Roman Empire
(later revalued in the Ostrogothic Kingdom of Italy)
AE As / 42 nummi
Obv: CAESAR AVG F DOMITIAN COS II, laureate head left, countermark XLII (42) in left field
Rev: VICTORIA AVGVST, Victory advancing right, standing on prow, holding wreath and palm branch, S-C across fields
Mint: Rome
Date: 73-74 AD (struck); 498-526 AD (revalued)
Ref: RIC 677

Bilingual Islamic fals; Arabic and Greek.

Marwan II and Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan, Umayyad Caliphate
AE fals
Obv: مِصر ("Misr": Egypt)  over AλE (ALE) in center, finance director's name in margin
Rev: Abbreviated Arabic name of al-Iskandariya "al-Is/rîya" in circle. caliph's name in margin
Mint: al-Iskandariya (Alexandria)
Date: 749 AD
Ref: A-151, W-Kh.9

Late 7th cent AD Umayyad fals overstruck on a late 4th cent AD Roman follis.

Umayyad Caliphate
AE fals (overstruck on a Roman follis of Honorius, Virtvs Exerciti type, RIC X 61)
Obv: The Kalima, in Arabic (D N HONORI [VS P F AVG], pearl-diademed, draped bust right)
Rev: Transformed cross(?) (VIRTVS-EXERCITI, emperor standing left, head right, holding spear and resting left hand on shield. Victory, standing beside him crowning him with a wreath)
Mint: (Constantinople for undertype)
Mintmark: (CON in ex.)
Date: 697-750 AD (post-coin reform; undertype struck 395-401 AD)

49 minutes ago, Nerosmyfavorite68 said:

What showed up? We're encouraged to post them as soon as we get them.

In the years I’ve participated, most people (including me) wait until the official start of Saturnalia on Dec. 17 to open their gifts. I only ever once opened mine early, by mistake when I thought the package was something else that I purchased.

It’s funny. The day (today) I send off my recipient’s gift is the same day I receive mine. Or at least I think it’s my SS gift, since I haven’t made a purchase lately.

 

 

 

Crispus, Roman Empire
AE follis
Obv: FL IVL CRISPVS NOB CAES, laureate, draped, cuirassed bust right
Rev: PROVIDEN-TIAE CAESS, campgate, 6 layers, 2 turrets, star above, no doors
Mint: London                                   
Mintmark PLON (in ex.)
Ref: RIC VII 295

4 hours ago, Curtisimo said:

the note that came with it was incredibly nice as well.

I always like the note about as much as the coin itself, and why I prefer to get something from my Saturn themselves rather than them just having the seller send it to me directly (although I would still be appreciative of the gift regardless if this was the case, and I would understand if they couldn’t send it themselves due to life circumstances or something).

Toledo, Ohio

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toledo,_Ohio

And Toledo, Spain:

Sisebut, Visigothic Kingdom
AV tremissis
Obv: + SISEBVTVS REX, bust facing
Rev: + TOLETO PIVS, bust facing
Mint: Toledo
Date: 612-621 AD
Ref: Miles 183a

The name of Carthage lives on in the name of Cartagena, a city in Spain which in turn inspired the naming of Cartagena (de Indias) in Colombia.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cartagena,_Spain

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cartagena,_Colombia

Hilderic, Vandal Kingdom
AE nummus
Obv: HILD [REX], pearl-diademed, draped, cuirassed bust right
Rev: Cross potent within wreath, ring above
Mint: Carthage                                                                    
Date: 523-530 AD
Ref: BMC Vandals 9



Gelimer, Vandal Kingdom
AE Nummus
Obv: GEIL-AMIR, pearl-diademed, draped bust right
Rev: Monogram of Gelimer within wreath
Mint: Carthage                                                         
Date: 530-533 AD
Ref: MEC 1, 28-30; BMC Vandals 4-6

There’s also a Paris in Texas: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris,_Texas

Charles II (the Bald), West Francia, Carolingian Empire
AR denier
Obv: CARLVS REX FR, cross above, cross within dotted circle in center
Rev: PARISII CIVITAS, temple facade, cross within
Mint: Paris
Date: 840-864 AD
Ref: Coupland, Early 19; Depeyrot 762; M&G 827; MEC 1, 843

7 hours ago, Nerosmyfavorite68 said:

I'm very Nero Wolfe-ish about going to the post office, as I really hate going there.  Can one do it the easy way, and have a vcoins dealer send it directly to the person? 

If I participate, I'd try to figure out what the recipient's collecting tastes are. 

 

If you’re in the US just schedule a pick up online on the USPS website and they’ll have no problem picking up the package you’ll be sending. Although if you don’t feel comfortable leaving it in your mailbox until the mail truck arrives then that’s understandable.

I’m in by the way @Curtisimo. Thanks for hosting again.

I never had any interest in acquiring any reproductions (being sold as such, as opposed to fakes designed to fool, although obviously I'm not interested in those either). But I saw this really nice and well-made reproduction of the portrait coin type of Charlemagne (which was struck 812-814 AD). The weight is about right (it’s .999 silver) and so is the diameter, and the style is close IMO. Since I won't be getting a real one anytime soon, this will have to do. But I very much like it. The seller had a toned option for it, but I wanted it shiny white, to see how a genuine one might have looked when brand new.

Photo of a genuine one (photo from Library of Congress website):

Has anyone else bought reproductions of any ancient or medieval coin type whether because they looked nice and/or just to use as a placeholder? Please feel free to share!

7 hours ago, CPK said:

Compressed air? Like the cans used for dusting sensitive electronics.

”Canned air” contains chemicals. Don’t want to expose my artifact to them. Plus they’re pretty bad for the environment.

https://www.ifixit.com/News/29870/cut-your-dirty-canned-air-habit-with-these-three-alternatives

From the above link, I like their idea of a dust blower.

I’d certainly go for the Licinius and Maximianus follis if I had coin cash right now… 😔

Cool acquisition @Magnus Maximus. I really like siliquae as well and hope one day I can try to dedicate myself more to collecting them. I've always found Magnus Maximus's role in late Roman history and connection to Welsh legend fascinating. Here's my only siliqua of him. It has an unusual obverse legend break, MA-XIMVS instead of the more common MAX-IMVS.

6 hours ago, DonnaML said:

However you decide to proceed, just test the method first on a small unobtrusive area to make sure that no harm is done. I try to avoid the issue by keeping all my ancient artifacts under glass, whether in vitrines or bell jars or the like.

I have it inside a bookshelf with a glass door in front. Rarely I will open it. Its weird though, I only checked one area of the rim at first (because I had to leave on an errand right after), and my finger had a light but noticeable layer of dust from that particular spot. Then when I went to actually remove the dust gently with a q tip, the rest of the rim almost didn't have any dust to speak of. I was even questioning if I was applying too little pressure. No glaze came off/flaked off or any of the terracotta. I did the rest of the rim and then lightly dabbed the inside. Got a very, very light spot of brown/light brown dust a couple of times (but apart from that there was practically nothing there either). I doubt it was glaze because I'm thinking it would probably flake off like old paint but that wasn't the case here. I'm thinking it might either have been dust or even just some bits of sand/dirt from where it was originally found. Otherwise, there was no noticeable damage done fortunately.

Inside after I took the q-tip to it. It's basically exactly how it looked before (how I bought it, pretty much).

By the way, anyone know what this small cup would have mainly been used for? Drinking cup? To hold oil? Perhaps just decorative?

As far as artifacts go, I have a small, modest collection of various items. I’d say this one is my favorite. It’s gathered a layer of dust on the rim and on the inside, and I was wondering if there was any particular way/approach to removing the dust carefully so as not to risk removing any of the black glaze or otherwise damaging it. I was thinking something like gently wiping it with a cotton ball or q-tip. Thanks for any help!
 

Anyone else being affected or is going to be affected? I’m in SE Florida and while we’re not going to get a direct hit, we’re still feeling a lot of the rain. Hadn’t been expecting any real effects until tomorrow at the earliest. Just had my side of the street lose power for almost 3 hours, and the street flooded (not so bad considering other places like Puerto Rico, though). For anyone in the path, stay safe and I hope all goes well for you and loved ones.

On 8/27/2022 at 9:05 PM, Severus Alexander said:

Erm, yep... maybe I was!  And maybe I landed it and finally took a photo! (Thanks for the edit, @Parthicus!)

Here she be:

As you can see, it's an Umayyad fals overstruck on a Roman coin, which is pretty easily identifiable as a Licinius because so much of the undertype is visible.  The overtype is likely the first reform fals of Abd al-Malik (685-705), Album-153 from Syria, with no mint or date, which standardly has la ilah illa Allah wahdahu on the obverse and Muhammad rasul Allah on the reverse.  Here's one (not my coin):

However it looks to me a though my coin has two obverses (?) like this example on zeno.

In any case, the simplicity of the design explains why so much of the undertype survives.  Here's a photo with the reverse rotated so you can easily see Sol:

At 3.22g and 22mm with a mint mark that looks like PT, a bust that appears to be a simple laureate head right, and Sol's hand inserted in the middle of INVI-CTO, it seems all but certain that the undertype is RIC VII 4 for Ticinum, which is quite a scarce coin minted under Constantine not long after he took over that mint (from Maxentius), and around the time of the Edict of Milan.  Here's one (not mine):

I find it amazing that a coin minted in Italy in 313 got re-used in Syria about 400 years later!

 

Glad to know that it was you won that coin! I had it saved in my watch list but I knew I wasn't going to bid on it since IIRC that was around the time I bought my Umayyad Alexandria fals and I needed to give my wallet a bit of a break! Very cool! 

On 8/1/2022 at 12:51 AM, DLTcoins said:

I thought I'd share another example of ValiantKnight's al-Iskandariya fals. This one is from my (former) collection of early Islamic copper. Ex J.S. Wagner Collection, CNG Triton XIV, 2011, lot 1825 (part).

On 8/10/2022 at 11:00 AM, Broucheion said:

Hi @DLTcoins,

I am the current curator for this coin. Can you let me know if you got it from CNG Triton XIV or later? (I bought it from you in July 2016.)

I should note the the word Misr is retrograde on this one, and it’s Walker p. 230, Kh.9v (Misr not retrograde); Lane-Poole 845; SICA-2, 1111v (same); Album 151 var: AλE.

P.S., this is my first post to Numis Forums.

- Broucheion 

It was this very coin that made me aware of the existence of this type, actually. Thanks for posting it! I'm been wondering, though. On my coin, do you guys think there is an E after Aλ? Or it looks more like just a section of the circular border? I still haven't been able to tell even in hand. My guess that its an E but when it was struck the E got distorted and this is why it looks strange.

I’ll never forgive FedEx for losing my Justinian I Carthage follis… 😠

John VIII Palaiologos, Byzantine Empire
AR stavraton
Obv: IC-XC, Facing bust of Christ, surrounded by eight dots
Rev: IWANHC DECPOTIC O PALEOLOGOC QV XAPITI AVTOKPATOP in two lines around nimbate facing bust of the emperor, dot to left and right
Mint: Constantinople
Date: 1425-1448
Ref: SB 2563
Size: 6.66 gr.



John VIII Palaiologos, Byzantine Empire
AR half-stavraton
Obv: IC-XC, Facing bust of Christ
Rev: IWANHC DECPOTIC Q PALEOLOGOC, nimbate facing bust of the emperor
Mint: Constantinople
Date: 1425-1448
Ref: SB 2565
Size: 3.3 gr.

Here’s Charles the Bald’s successor as emperor, Charles the Fat. 

Charles the Fat, Carolingian Empire
AR denier
Obv: CARLVS IMP AVG, cross above, cross within dotted circle in center
Rev: BITVRICES CIVI, cross to left, KRLS (Karolus) monogram within dotted circle in center
Mint: Bourges
Date: 881-887 AD
Ref: Depeyrot 198