Ursus

I only have this type for Constantius II, Crispus' brother. Both my coins are from London. The second example is rather lackluster. I'm keeping it nonetheless because of the helmeted bust:

Constantine II Iunior, Roman Empire, AE3, 322–323 AD, Londinium mint. Obv: CONSTANTINVS IVN N C, bust of Constantine II, radiate, cuirassed, l. Rev: BEAT TRANQLITAS, globe on altar inscribed VOT/IS/XX; above, three stars; in fields, F-B; in exergue, PLON. 19mm, 3.22g. Ref: RIC VII Londinium 257.

Constantine II Iunior, Roman Empire, AE3, 323–324 AD, London mint. Obv: CONSTANTINVS IVN NC; helmeted and cuirassed bust of Constantinus Iunior l. Rev: BEAT TRANQUILITAS; globe on altar with inscription VOTIS XX; mintmark PLON. 19mm, 2.83g. Ref: RIC VII London 287.

Nice to see you here! 

6 hours ago, FitzNigel said:

is it worth having Medieval Monday if there’s a whole separate forum for medieval coins

I’d say yes, most definitely.

On 5/27/2022 at 8:58 PM, ambr0zie said:

I intend to keep posting there. Usually I avoid non-numismatic discussions and just ignore trolls.

Ditto. I will remain a dual citizen for the time being, though I was generally not happy with how CT evolved over the course of the last couple of months or so. On the one hand, there were too many trolls and too much vitriol spilled in completely non-numismatic discussions. On the other hand, I had the impression that quality content and well-researched write-ups became rarer or were quickly pushed to the second page by a flood of ID requests and threads showing new acquisitions without giving much numismatic background information. That made CT much less informative and fun to follow, and I hope things will be different here!

As to my avatar, it is a medieval bracteate penny showing a little dragon. It was minted in Freiburg, a city located in the Black Forest region in Germany and known mostly for its university, Gothic cathedral, scenic surroundings and efforts in environmentally sustainable urbanism. I bought it from Allen Berman in 2018. My main collection is medieval bracteates, dragons are awesome, and I currently live in Freiburg – so it seemed like the obvious avatar choice:

Freiburg im Breisgau, civic issue, bracteate penny ("vierzipfliger Pfennig"), ca. 1250 AD. Obv: dragon ("Lindwurm") r. Rev: incuse design (bracteate). 18mm, 0.37g. Ref: Berger 2432–3; Slg. Wüthrich 54; Wielandt, Breisgau 44.

Nice example of this type! Here is my Jaime II along with a coin of his father, Jaime I, also known as "all nose and no mouth:"

Kingdom of Aragon, under James I “the Conqueror”, BI dinero, 1213-1276 AD, Jaca mint. Obv: ARAGON; crowned bust of James I l. Rev: +IACOBVS : REX; patriarchal cross. 19mm, 0.80g. Ref: Crusafont i Sabater 1992, 318.

Kingdom of Aragon, under James II “the Just”, BI dinero, 1291–1327 AD (struck ca. 1308 AD), Sariñena mint. Obv: ARAGON; crowned bust of James II l. Rev: +IACOBVS : REX; patriarchal cross. 17mm, 1.02g. Ref: Crusafont i Sabater 1992, 364.

The following two coins are not exactly medieval but early modern. Yet, since they are from the siglo de oro of the Spanish Empire that followed the late medieval reconquista as well as the of the different independent kingdoms and principalities of the peninsula, I'll add them anyways:

Spanish Monarchy, under Philip II, AE 4 maravedis, 1584–1585 AD, Burgos mint, moneyer: Juan De Morales. Obv:  [+DON·PHELIPPE·II· ]; castle; in fields, B–M and circle Rev: [+REI·DE·LAS·HESPAÑAS]; crowned lion l. 21mm, 4.07g. Ref: Calíco 2008, 781.

Spanish Monarchy, under Philip III, CU 4 maravedis (countermarked as 8 maravedis), 1602 AD, Segovia mint. Obv:  +PHILIPPVS·III·D·G·OMNIVM; castle in octolobe; in field, C. Rev: ·HISPAN·REGNORVM·REX· 1602; crowned lion in octolobe; countermark: crowned VIII with B below. 27mm, 6.22g. Ref: Calíco 750.

@Mat's Cappadocian Caligula is fantastic. This emperor is very hard to find in silver.

My own Germanicus as is, just like @Ryro's, a postumous issue struck under Claudius. It is one of my favorite acquisitions from last year:

Germanicus (postumous issue under Claudius), AE as, 40–54 AD, Rome mint. Obv: GERMANICVS CAESAR TI AVG F DIVI AVG N; head of Germanicus, bare, r. Rev: TI CLAVDIVS CAESAR AVG GERM P M TR P IMP P P; large S C. Ref: RIC I (second edition) Claudius 106. 27mm, 10.81g.

(By the way and surprisingly enough, this coin hasn't shouted obscenities at me yet – despite the fact that I'm German 😄)

This coin is not unique anymore. There are now two known examples of this reverse type combined with a veiled bust. One is owned by me, the second by our forum friend @Roman Collector and previously has been in the custody of @Severus Alexander:

Faustina “the Elder” (postumous), Roman Empire, As or Dupondius, 141 AD, Rome mint. Obv: DIVA FAVS[TINA], bust of Faustina, veiled, r. Rev: [A]VGUST[A], Vesta standing l., holding palladium and sceptre; in fields flanking, SC. 27mm, 9.05g. RIC III Antoninus Pius 1179 var. (veiled bust)

Both examples are referenced in Dinsdale's online catalogue as no. 018330: (see here: http://romanpaulus.x10host.com/Antoninus/07 - Diva Faustina I - Undated 140-161 - 2nd ed (med_res).pdf)

I have tried different strorage solutions ove time. I didn't like binders, so I kept my coins in saflips and stored them in boxes made for photographic slides. The upsides of this method were that the boxes took little space and could be transported easily and safely. I bought them used for very little money on ebay. The main downside was that they made it hard to look at multiple coins at the same time:

At some point, I decided to switch to trays. I have too many coins for Abafil trays to make sense financially and when it comes to storage space, so I decided for Beba trays. The Beba Maxi system, which I use, consists of stackable boxes measuring about 30x30x14cm. Each box holds up to ten trays. Since I wanted to keep my old inserts from the Saflips with the coins, I bought trays with 36 compartments measuring 4.5x4.5 cm. Smaller compartments would work for most ancient coins, too:

Good idea for a thread and beautiful cat, @ValiantKnight!

A very old ancient cat:

Kings of Lydia, under Croesus, AR ⅙ stater, 565/53–550/39 BC. Obv: confronted foreparts of lion and bull. Rev: two incuse square punches of unequal size. 8–11mm, 1.76g. Ref: Berk 25; SNG Kayhan 1019; Sunrise 13.

A Roman cat:

Septimius Severus, Roman Empire, AR denarius, 202–210 AD, Rome mint. Obv: SEVERVS PIVS AVG; head of Septimius Severus, laureate, r. Rev: INDVLGENTIA AVGG IN CARTH; Dea Caelestis, draped, riding r. on lion, holding thunderbolt in r. hand and sceptre in l. hand; below, water gushing from rock. 19mm, 3.32g. Ref: RIC IV Septimius Severus 266.

A colorful medieval cat:

Brunswick-Lüneburg, under William of Lüneburg (aka William Longsword, William of Winchester), 1195–1213 AD, Lüneburg mint. Obv: Welf lion passant l. Rev: negative design (bracteate). 22mm, 0.55g. Ref: Berger 373; Bonhoff 77.

A goofy medieval cat:

Seljuq Sultanate of Rum, Kaykhusraw II, citing caliph al-Mustansir, AR dirham, 1241–1242 AD (639 AH), Qunya (Konya) mint. Obv: Kufic legend citing caliph: "al-imam al-mustansir billah amir al-mu'minin;" lion r. with sunface above. Rev: name and titles of Kaykhusraw II in Naskh: "as-sultan al-azam / ghiyath al-dunya wa ud-din / kay khusraw bin kay qubadh;" around, mint and date: "duriba bi-quniyat / sanat tis' / thel[athin] sittm'iat." 23mm, 2.97g. Ref: Album 1218.

My cat (called "Tiger" but doesn't listen to her name; always hungry; likes to climb on my desk and purr into the camera during work video calls):

I like this type a lot. A nice addition, @ambr0zie!

Roman Republic, moneyer: M. Herennius, AR denarius, 108–107 BC, Rome mint. Obv: PIETAS; head of Pietas r. Rev: M HERENNI; Aeneas or one of the Catanean brothers Amphinomos and Anapias carrying his father r. 19mm, 3.94g. Ref: RRC 308/1b.

5 hours ago, Lhevae said:

Would anyone have a Laelianus to share ?! 🤠

Nope, but I do have a small collection of beardy break-away Postumus coins to contribute:

Postumus, Gallic Roman Empire, AR antoninianus, mid–end 260 AD, Trier mint. Obv: IMP C POSTVMVS. P. F. AVG; bust of Postumus, radiate, draped, cuirassed, r. Rev: SALVS PROVINCIARVM; river god reclining l., head horned, r. hand resting on knee, and holding pitcher and anchor in l. hand; to rear, l., forepart of boat. 23mm, 3.15g. Ref: Mairat 14; RIC V Postumus 87.

Postumus, Gallic Roman Empire, AR antoninianus,  mid–end 260 AD, Trier mint. Obv: IMP C POSTVMVS.P.F.AVG; bust of Postumus, radiate, draped, cuirassed, r. Rev: HERC DEVSONIENSI; Hercules stg. r., with r. hand leaning on club, and holding bow in l. hand and lion’s skin over I. arm. 23 mm, 3.57g. Ref: Mairat 15; RIC V Postumus 64.

Postumus, Gallic Roman Empire, BI antoninianus, 260–261 AD, Trier mint. Obv: IMP C POSTVMVS P F AVG; bust of Postumus, radiate, draped, cuirassed, r. Rev: VICTORIA AVG; Victory running l., holding wreath in r. hand and palm against l. shoulder in l. hand, kicking bound and std. captive to l., with r. foot. 21mm, 3.76g. Ref: Mairat 19/106; RIC V Postumus 89.

Postumus, Gallic Roman Empire, AR antoninianus, 261 AD, Trier mint. Obv: IMP C POSTVMVS P F AVG; bust of Postumus, radiate, draped, cuirassed, r. Rev: HERC DEVSONIENSI; Hercules stg. r., with r. hand leaning on club, and holding bow in l. hand and lion’s skin over I. arm. 24 mm, 3.44g. Ref: Mairat 100; RIC V Postumus 64.

Postumus, Gallic Roman Empire, AR antoninianus, 261 AD, Trier mint. Obv: IMP C POSTVMVS P F AVG; bust of Postumus, radiate, draped, cuirassed, r. Rev: P M TR P COS II P P; emperor helmeted, standing l., holding globe in r. hand and long spear (points up) in l. hand. 24.5mm, 2.94g. Ref: Mairat 108/109; RIC V Postumus 54.

Postumus, Gallic Roman Empire, AR antoninianus, 262–263 AD, Trier mint. Obv: IMP C POSTVMVS P F AVG; bust of Postumus, radiate, draped, cuirassed, r. Rev: MINER FAVTR; Minerva running l., holding branch in r. hand and long transverse spear (points up) and shield in I. hand. Mairat 235; RIC V Postumus 74. 22mm, 3.08g.

Postumus, Gallic Roman Empire, AR antoninianus, 262–263 AD, Trier mint. Obv: IMP C POSTVMVS P F AVG; bust of Postumus, radiate, draped, cuirassed, r. Rev: IOVI PROPVGNATORI; Jupiter, walking l., holding thunderbolt in r. hand and eagle in l. hand. 22mm, 4.07g. Ref: Mairat 237; RIC V Postumus 72.

Postumus, Gallic Roman Empire, AR antoninianus, 262–263 AD, Trier mint. Obv: IMP C POSTVMVS P F AVG; bust of Postumus, radiate, draped, cuirassed, r. Rev: NEPTUNO REDUCI; Neptune stg. l., holding small dolphin in r. hand and vertical trident in l. hand, at feet, to l., prow of ship. 23 mm, 3.64g. Ref: Mairat 243; RIC V Postumus 76.

Postumus, Gallic Roman Empire, AR antoninian, 262–266 AD, Trier mint. Obv: IMP C POSTVMVS. P. F. AVG; bust of Postumus, radiate, draped, cuirassed, r. Rev: MONETA AVG; Moneta, draped, standing l., holding scales in r. hand and cornucopiae in l. hand. 23mm, 2.96g. Ref: Mairat 246/320; RIC V Postumus 75/315.

Postumus, Gallic-Roman Empire, AR antoninianus, 262–263 AD, Trier mint. Obv: IMP C POSTVMVS P F AVG; bust of Postumus, radiate, draped, cuirassed, r. Rev: HERC PACIFERO; Hercules, standing l., holding olive-branch, club, and lion's skin. 22mm, 2.74g. Ref: Mairat 248–250; RIC V Postumus 67.

Postumus, Gallic Roman Empire, AR antoninian, 263 AD, Trier mint. Obv: IMP C POSTVMVS P F AVG; bust of Postumus, radiate, draped, cuirassed, r. Rev: P M TR P IIII COS III P P; Mars, walking r., holding spear in r. hand and trophy in l. hand. 21mm, 2.84g. Ref: Mairat 255; RIC V Postumus 57.

Postumus, Gallic Roman Empire, AR antoninian, 263–266 AD, Trier mint. Obv: IMP C POSTVMVS P F AVG; bust of Postumus, radiate, draped, cuirassed, r. Rev: FELICITAS AVG; Felicitas, draped, standing l., holding caduceus in r. hand and cornucopiae in l. hand. 23mm, 2.71g. Ref: Mairat 265/317.; RIC V Postumus 58.

Postumus, Gallic Roman Empire, AR antoninian, 266–7 AD, Trier mint. Obv: IMP C POSTVMVS P F AVG; bust of Postumus, radiate, draped, cuirassed, r. Rev: DIANAE LVCIFERAE; Diana walking r., quiver in the back, holding long-handled lighted torch in both hands. 20mm, 2.77g. Ref: Mairat 334.

Postumus, Gallic Roman Empire, AR antoninian, 266–7 AD, Trier mint. Obv: IMP C POSTVMVS P F AVG; bust of Postumus, radiate, draped, cuirassed, r. Rev: SALVS AVG; Aesculapius stg. r., head l., with r. hand leaning on serpent-staff which rests on the ground; at feet, r., globe.. 21mm, 3.12g. Ref: Mairat 348.

Postumus, Gallic Roman Empire, AR antoninian, 266–267 AD, Trier mint. Obv:  IMP C POSTVMVS P F AVG; bust of Postumus, radiate, draped, cuirassed, Rev: SAECVLI FELICITAS; Postumus, draped, cuirassed, standing r., holding spear in r. hand and globe in l. hand. 21mm, 4.31g. Ref: Mairat 365; RIC V Postumus 83/325.

Postumus, Gallic Roman Empire, AR antoninian, 266–267 AD, Trier mint. Obv:  IMP C POSTVMVS P F AVG; bust of Postumus, radiate, draped, cuirassed, r. Rev: SERAPI COMITI; Serapis standing l., raising arm and holding sceptre. 20mm, 3.52g. Mairat 364, RIC V Postumus 329.

Postumus, Gallic Roman Empire, AR antoninian, 268–269 AD, Trier mint. Obv:  IMP C POSTVMVS P F AVG; bust of Postumus, radiate, draped, cuirassed, r. Rev: PAX AVG; Pax standing l., holding olive-branch and transverse sceptre; in field l., P. 21mm, 3.97g. Mairat 466–7; RIC V Postumus 318.