Ursus

Nice! If you still have a bit of time today, I can strongly recommend a visit to the Rheinisches Landesmuseum at Trier. Their Roman exhibition is outstanding.

In Germany, we had a spree of museum burglaries recently. In 2017, a 100kg golden Big Maple Leaf was stolen from the Bode-Museum in Berlin. In 2019, the same criminal group stole the historic Saxon royal jewellery from the Green Vault in Dresden. In 2022, a large hoard of Celtic gold coins was stolen from a museum in Manching. In all cases, the culprits got rather minimal sentences while the stolen objects either remain missing or resurfaced only partly, having been damaged or melted down. I would love to see these criminals go on a long involuntary cruise to Australia, but I doubt the Australians want to have them...

Not pretty but at least rare: I picked up this little bracteate from Mainz as part of a lot last November. It took me a while to take pictures and properly attribute it. Archbishopric of Mainz, under Dietrich I. von Erbach, AR bracteate (Hohlringheller), c. 1434–459 AD, Bingen mint. Obv: arms of Mainz and Erbach in shield Rev: incuse design (bracteate). 14mm, 0.24g. Ref: Link 87, Slg. Walther 139.

Faustulus finding Romulus and Remus suckled by a she-wolf: Roman Republic, moneyer: Sex. Pompeius Fostlus, AR denarius, 137 BC, Rome mint. Obv: head of Roma, helmeted, r.; behind, jug; before, X. Rev: SEX·PO[M FOSTVLVS]; she-wolf suckling twins r.; behind, ficus Ruminalis with birds; in l. field, the shepherd Faustulus leaning on staff; in exergue, [RO]MA. 18mm, 3.87g. Rev: RRC 235/1c. Next: wolf

Link: Faustina II Faustina II, Roman Empire, AR denarius, 145–161 AD, Rome mint. Obv: FAVSTINAE AVG PII AVG FIL; bust of Faustina the Younger, band of pearls round head, with hair waived and coiled on back of head, draped, r. Rev: VENUS; Venus, draped, standing l., holding apple in r. hand and rudder set on dolphin, which coils round it, in l. 18mm, 3.06g. Ref: RIC III Antoninus Pius 517C (denarius). Ex Secret Saturnalia 2021.

Good idea for a thread! I'm looking forward to seeing the dragon coins others will show: Freiburg im Breisgau (?), civic issue, AR bracteate penny ("vierzipfliger Pfennig"), ca. 1250 AD. Obv: dragon ("Lindwurm") r. Rev: negative design. 18mm, 0.37g. Ref: Berger 2432–3; Slg. Wüthrich 54; Wielandt, Breisgau 44. County of Mansfeld-Eisleben, Johann Georg III, AR ⅓ Taler, 1669 AD, Eisleben mint. Obv: (anchor) IOHAN. GEORG. COM. IN. MANSFELT. NOB ; 1/3; St. George on horseback r., slaying dragon with lance; on horse’s saddle, arms of Mansfeld-Eisleben. Rev: (anchor) DOM. IN. H. S. ET. S. FORTITER. ET. CONSTANTER; 16-69; crowned coat of arms of Mansfeld-Eisleben; AB-K for moneyer Anton Bernhard Koburger. 32.5mm, 9.12g. Ref: Tornau 493; KM #118.

Nice find, @expat! I only have the more common VICTORIAE GOTHIC type, albeit in pretty style and condition: Claudius II Gothicus, Roman Empire, BI antoninian, 268–270 AD, Kyzikos mint. Obv: IMP CLAVDIVS P F AVG; bust of Claudius Gothicus, radiate, draped, r. Rev: VICTORIAE GOTHIC; trophy between two seated captives; in exergue, SPQR. 20mm, 2,58g. Ref: RIC V Claudius Gothicus 252.

Probus is outside of my collecting focus but I have two coins struck for him: 1. This is part of the somewhat mysterious EQUITI-series. The mints of Rome and Ticinium struck two different coded series of coins with the letters AEQUIT or EQUITI as fieldmarks for the different officinae. More on this codeword can be found here on @Sulla80's blog and in this article by Gert Boersema. Also note the consular bust featuring the imperial mantle (or tunica palmata) and eagle sceptre. Probus, Roman Empire, AE/BI antoninianus, 281 AD, Ticinium mint. Obv: IMP C PROBVS AVG; radiate bust of Probus l., wearing imperial mantle, and holding eagle-tipped sceptre. Rev: MARTI PACIF; Mars walking l., holding olive-branch, spear and shield; in fields, I – *; in exergue, QXXI. 22mm, 3.38g. Ref: RIV V Probus 508. Ex AMCC 3, lot 571. 2. This one I bought years ago, shortly after I had started to collect. Back then, I was attracted to the portrait style and the unusual mint. Today, I'd probably be more picky and wait for a coin with better surfaces. The mint still makes me keep this coin in my collection, though: Tripolis only struck coins from c. 274 to 286 AD, and this is the only example from this mint that I have. @Valentinian has an educational website on the short-lived Tripolis mint. Probus, Roman Empire, AE/BI antoninianus, 276–282 AD, Tripolis mint. Obv: IMP C M AVR PROBVS AVG, radiate, draped and cuirassed bust right. Rev: CLEMENTIA TEMP. Emperor standing right, holding eagle-tipped sceptre, receiving globe (or pileus?) from Jupiter, holding sceptre. Crescent in lower centre; mintmark KA. 23 mm, 4.13 g. Ref: RIC V Probus 928 (crescent).

That's a nice one! At least in my eyes, your first sestertius gets serious bonus points for a clear and discernible depiction of Roman scale armour on the bust. That's a detail I look for in coins of Decius. Honestly, the portrait is above average imho, yet the reverse would have bothered me for two reasons. First, the die break on Dacia's face seriously impacts the overall appeareance of the coin. Secondly, the head of the dragon standard (draco) that Dacia holds is somewhat blurry. I consider this the most important detail of this reverse type. Personally, I would thus prefer a coin, even in lower grade, with a sharply struck standard. My Decius coins were all bought because of the provincial reverses. The first one is a Dacia-type antoninianus and features what I call the "wolf's head" standard. (I'm still searching for a nice "bearded dragon's head" standard.) The portrait is nothing to write home about but has scale armour: Trajan Decius, Roman Empire, AR antoninian, 249–251 AD, Rome mint. Obv: IMP C Q TRAIANVS DECIVS AVG; bust of Trajan Decius, draped, cuirassed, and laureate, r. Rev: DACIA: Dacia standing left, holding draco. 22mm, 3.66g. Ref: RIC IV Traian Decius 12. The second one shows the two Pannoniae. This one I actually bought for the fine portrait style. Look, for example, at the naturalistic depiction of Decius' receding hairline at the temples, or at his nasolabial grove. For the good style (and good provenance), I was willing to live with some reverse weaknesses and wear: Trajan Decius, Roman Empire, AR antoninianus, 249–251 AD, Rome mint. Obv: IMP C M Q TRAIANVS DECIVS AVG, bust of Trajan Decius, draped and radiate, r. Rev: PANNONIAE, the two Pannoniae standing, holding standards. 23mm, 4.14g. Ref: RIC IV,3 Trajan Decius 21b. Ex Warren Esty; ex PMV Inc., "Late Summer List" 1982, lot 94; ex Dorset County Museum. The last one shows the genius of the Illyrian army. The portrait shows what I call the "barracks emperor style:" Decius' features are sharp, expressive and slightly overemphasized. (And again, the portrait gets extra points for scale armor.) I am quite bothered by the die break and flat strike on the reverse, though. This coin was a chance purchase and I'm not certain that I won't "upgrade" it at some point. Trajan Decius, Roman Empire, antoninian, 249–251 AD, Rome mint. Obv: IMP C M Q TRAIANVS DECIVS AVG; bust of Trajan Decius, radiate, draped and cuirassed, r. Obv: GENIUS EXERC ILLVRICIANI; Genius of the Illyrian army standing l., holding patera and cornucopia, modius on head, standard to r. 23mm, 4.67g. Ref: RIC IV Trajan Decius 16. Ex H. D. Rauch (Vienna), auction 50, lot 424.

Much of the Balkans was under Ottoman rule during the early modern period. Due to the Franco-Ottomon alliance (see here) and the resulting trade relations, it's not surprising that French coins have made their way there in some capacity.

An attractive coin! I enjoyed reading your write-up on Baybars. He's a fascinating historical figure. I'll try to do that nonetheless, if you don't mind. My first coin is a dirham, the second one a fractional dirham. The weight especially of the fractions varies greatly. I read somewhere that these apparently were valued by weight rather than per coin. Mamluk Sultanate, under Baybars I, AR dirham, 1262–1278 AD (662–676 AH), al-Quahira (Cairo) mint. Obv: names and titles of Baybars: "al-salihi / al-sultan al-malik / al-zahir rukn al-dunya wa al-din / baybars qasim amir al-mu'minin;” below, lion l. Rev: central kalima: "la ilah illa allah / muhammad rasuluallah / arsalahu bi'l-huda;" marginal legend: “duriba al-quahira / sanat [date off-flan].” 20mm, 2.87g. Ref: Album 883. Mamluk Sultanate, under Baybars I, AR fractional dirham (struck from dies for full dirham), 1262–1278 AD (662–676 AH), al-Quahira (Cairo) mint. Obv: partial names and titles of Baybars: "al-salihi / al-sultan al-malik / al-zahir rukn al-dunya wa al-din / baybars qasim amir al-mu'minin;” below, lion l. Rev: partial central kalima: "la ilah illa allah / muhammad rasuluallah / arsalahu bi'l-huda;" marginal legend: “duriba al-quahira / [date off-flan].” 14mm, 1.04g. Ref: Album 884.

I still think this is one of Santa's elves riding on Rudolph the Reindeer: "Tetricus I" or similar, Roman Empire, barbarous radiate, late 3rd century AD, unofficial mint in Gaul or Britain. Obv: [...] I II II, bearded, radiate head r. Rev: V I [...]; human figure riding on stag l.; 13–14mm, 1.38g.

Gosh! They say "pecunia non olet" – but I guess that didn't apply to those 21 gold coins when they "resurfaced."

There might be some imagination involved, but I see a three-headed hydra, at least if you turn the reverse 180° around.

I am from Germany but have lived in the US from 2015–2020. In those years, I regularly travelled back and forth between the US and Europe, and I often bought some coins when I was I Europe and brought them back to the US with me. Customs never asked any questions. For good measure, I always had the respective invoices with me as proof of legal purchase.

I think so, too, although I tend to be somewhat reluctant when it comes to adding coins with such provenances to my collection. Partly because I don't like their previous owners, partly because I don't want to buy what possibly has been Nazi plunder with all the legal and moral baggage attached to that. Nonetheless, I own, for example, several coins from the Hildebrecht Hommel (1899–1996) collection. Hommel was another German classicist who, although to a somewhat lesser extent than Taeger, furthered his academic career by offering his services as a professorial mouthpiece to the Nazi regime. This coin, on the other hand, was sold by Karl Kreß in 1942. Kreß had taken over the firm Helbing Nf. after the Jewish Hirsch family had been forced out of business by the Nazis. I did some research on Kreß a while ago and posted it elsewhere: Gordian III, Roman Empire, antoninianus, 238–239 AD, Rome mint. Obv: IMP CAES M ANT GORDIANVS AVG; bust of Gordian III, radiate and draped, r. Rev: VIRTVS AVG; Virtus standing l., leaning on shield and holding spear. 22mm, 5.00g. Ref: RIC IV Gordian III 6. Ex Otto Helbing Nachf., München, Auction 86 (11/15/1942), lot 1757; ex AMCC 2, lot 464. Here are the old ticket and catalogue listing. I believe @Curtisimo owns a couple of coins from the same auction, which apparently was mostly a sale of stock that Kreß had taken over from the Hirsch family: A nice herd you have there! Also, this coin still has the olive leaves on Athena's helmet and thus is closer to the representation of the goddess on Athenian tetradrachms. There is a theory that replacing the olive leaves with a Scylla represents the city somewhat distancing itself from Athens. That's a phenomenal fish on your example, Peter. Much more naturalistic than mine. I wonder whether somebody more knowledgeable could discern what species is depicted. I should have guessed that you didn't miss that auction, Curtis. Regardless of everything else, Taeger had a good eye for coins. Judging from the catalogue, he didn't just collect coins by grade but carefully looked for examples that show good style, are well-centered, and look pretty overall. Your coin is a good example.

The coin My first big purchase of 2024 is a lovely silver coin from Magna Graecia, showing all the artistic quality that classical pieces from this region are famous for. It has beautiful old cabinet toning that is a bit stronger on the obverse. Apparently, the coin was stored lying on the reverse for a long time. It is far from uncirculated: if I had to, I would grade it good fine. Nonetheless, it is an extremely attractive piece in hand: Lucania, Thourioi, AR nomos, c. 400–350 BC. Obv: head of Athena r., wearing helmet decorated with Skylla holding oar (?) and pointing. Rev: ΘΟΥΡΙΩΝ; bull butting r.; in exergue, fish r. 21mm, 7.63g. Ref: HN Italy 1800; SNG ANS 1002–14. Ex Rhenumis 11, lot 10005; ex Fritz Taeger collection. History and Iconography The city of Thourioi (latinized: Thurium) was founded in 444 BC on the southern coast of Italy, close to or even at the site of the city of Sybaris, which had been destroyed in 510 BC following a lost war against the city of Kroton. Its early population consisted partly of former Sybarites, partly of recently arrived Athenian and Peloponnesian colonists. These twofold roots are also visible in the iconography of Thourioi’s coins. Their obverse, on the one hand, shows Athena. This probably was a nod to the part of the population that had Athenian roots. The development of the Athena’s crest, which initially consisted of an olive wreath, deserves special attention. Towards the end of the 5th century BC, the wreath was replaced by a Scylla, a sea monster with a female upper body. The continuity with Sybaris, on the other hand, is illustrated by the reverse of Thourioi’s coins. Here, we see the bull that already had been the emblem of Sybaris. It is not clear whether this animal must be read as an agricultural reference or as the depiction of a river god. The standing or walking bull on the early coins of Thourioi changed into the butting animal visible on my coin around 400 BC. This change might be a visual pun on the city’s name, which is related to the Greek adjective “thouros” (θοῦρος) that translates as “impetuous”, “rushing”, or “warlike”. In Roman times, the city changed its name into Copia. In the Middle Ages, it was abandoned. Today, its ruins can be visited in the Sybaris Archaeological Park (picture from Wikipedia): Provenance My coin comes from the collection of the classicist Fritz Taeger (1894–1960) that contained over 1.400 pieces. The collection was sold as a whole in Rhenumis 11 in November 2013, my coin being lot 10005. Many of Taeger’s coins were grouped together in large lots and are currently offered by different dealers who appear to have acquired the respective lots. I bought this coin as well as two others (see here) from one of them. Fritz Taeger was a pupil of the German historian Wilhelm Weber. He served in the First World War and got his PhD from Tübingen in 1920 with a thesis on the influence of Polybius on later classical writers. In 1926, he acquired the venia legendi from Freiburg with a second book on Thucydides. In 1930, Taeger became professor for classical history in Gießen but changed to a more prestigious chair in Marburg in 1935. Already in the Weimar Republic, Taeger sided with the political right. After 1933, he was quick to join different Nazi organizations and carved out a career for himself as an academic supporter of Hitler’s regime. After the Second World War, Taeger was nonetheless allowed to continue teaching. He resumed his old position at Marburg in 1948. The fact that Taeger published a rather celebrative study of ruler cults in Greek and Roman antiquity as late as 1957 makes me doubt that his political convictions had changed much. I have mixed feelings about this provenance. On the one hand, Taeger is not a figure for whom I can muster much sympathy. On the other hand, he had good taste in coins and his collection was built before 1970, when the UNESCO treaty on the Ownership of Cultural Property was adopted. I guess I don’t have to tell anybody that the latter point is becoming more and more important. Feel free to post your bulls and other Greek coins from Italy!

In my eyes, Becker forgeries are collectables in their own right. Fortunately enough, they are well-published. Otherwise, I at least would have a hard time to distinguish them from real ancient coins. Becker certainly had artistic talents and was meticulous in making his coins appear "right." Allegedly, he tied pouches containing fake coins and iron filings to the axles of his carriage to slowly give them the appeareance of having been circulated for ages... The Bode Museum in Berlin owns some of Becke's hand-engraved dies. He apparently struck his coins the same way the originals were produced, making it even harder to identify them as fake:

I don't mind at all! Your example of RIC 87 is fantastic, and the amount of detail on your second example of RIC 88 is stunning. Just look at how finely executed the little bull is.

Baldwin III: Kingdom of Jerusalem, Baldwin III, BI Denier, 1142–1163 AD, Jerusalem mint. Obv: BALDVINVS REX; cross pattée. Rev: + DE IERVSALEM; Tower of David. 16mm, 0.97g. Ref: CCS 21.

Fine coin! I have the same reverse type minted for Licinius in London under Constantine, back when the two were still buddies: Licinius I, Roman Empire, AE2, 313–314 AD, London mint. Obv: IMP LICINIVS PF AVG; bust of Licinius I, laureate, cuirassed, r. Rev: GENIO POP ROM; Genius standing l., holding patera in r. hand, cornucopia in l.; in fields, S-F; in exergue, PLN. 21mm, 3.04g. Ref: RIC VII Londinium 3.

I see your point. The lesson here is probably to not buy coins before researching them thoroughly. This is why I am skeptical when it comes to such advice. I remember that in a fun thread back on CoinTalk, @TIF showed some "ancient coins" from a mysterious place called Tiffily in Tiphonia showing an Iguana and a small TIF-monogram. She apparently had struck them with a hammer and some rebar pieces engraved with the help of a dremel. There is no reason to believe that professional forgers can't do the same and thus create forgeries that have all the right cracks and "flow lines." The best advice to avoid forgeries in my opinion therefore still is "know the coin or know the dealer". Oh my dear, you're right – I can't unsee it! Thanks for that. That troglodyte Apollo is pure gold. Reminds me of good old Mr. Tooly here:

Interesting information – and thanks for the book recommendation! As already said in the OP, I don't usually clean coins. My short fling with uncleaned ancients back when I started to collect was less than satisfying. Some later attempts at restoring better coins sometimes worked well and sometimes failed. After these experiences, I consider cleaning coins a different hobby than collecting, and I'm just more drawn to the historical and artistic side of numismatics than to the artisanal process of cleaning and restoring. Furthermore, I have a healthy respect of messing with potentially harmful chemicals... That said, I read about removing horn silver with sodium thiosulphate here, found out that this substance isn't poisonous, and decided to give it a try. The procedure was simple and the results convincing. I might occasionally do this again in the future but doubt that restoration will become a real hobby for me. EDIT: In case someone with chemical knowledge reads this: Would sodium thiosulphate also work against bronze disease? If I understand correctly, horn silver is silver chloride (AgCl), and bronze disease is cuprous chloride (CuCl). If sodium thiosulphate dissolves and binds silver chlorides, would it do the same with copper chlorides? I'm asking out of ignorance and because I still have 70g of sodium thiosulphate lying around without much other use for it...

I recently bought these two denarii of Elagabalus, which I think deserve a small write-up: Elagabalus, Roman Empire, AR denarius, 218–222 AD, Rome mint. Obv: IMP ANTONINVS PIVS AVG; bust of Elagabalus, horned, draped and laureate, r. Rev: SACERD DEI SOLIS ELAGAB; Elagabalus, in Syrian priestly robes, standing right, sacrificing out of patera in right hand over lighted altar, holding upright club in left hand; star in r. field. 18mm, 2.13g. Ref: RIC IV Elagabalus 131. Elagabalus, Roman Empire, AR denarius, 218–222 AD, Rome mint. Obv: IMP ANTONINVS PIVS AVG; bust of Elagabalus, horned, draped and laureate, r. Rev: INVICTVS SACERDOS AVG; Elagabalus, in Syrian priestly robes, standing left, sacrificing out of patera in r. hand over tripod (?), holding club in l. hand; behind tripod, bull lying down; star in l. field. 18mm, 3.09g. Ref: RIC IV Elagabalus 88b. 1. Why they are interesting There are a couple of coins that show the eastern cult of the sun god Elagabal that Elagabalus, whose actual name as emperor was Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, tried to introduce in Rome whithout much success apart from getting murdered. My denarii are two of them. The reverse of my first coin shows the emperor in Syrian priestly garments sacrificing over an altar. The star (or sun?) in the field, which appears on many coins of Elagabalus, deserves special mention. The most common theory is that it is a symbol of the new celestial religion and indicates the emperor's divine status. Most important to me is the reverse legend naming the deity that became synonymous with this emperor. SACERD(OS) DEI SOLIS ELAGAB(ALI) translates as "priest of the sun god Elagabal." The legend thus gives a description of the role in which the emperor is shown here. My second coin also shows Elagabalus in eastern priestly robes and with a star. This time, he is performing an animal sacrifice. In his left hand, Elagabalus holds a club he has apparently used to kill the bull lying below the brazier to his right. With his right hand, he is holding a patera and pours an offering of the bull's blood into the flames. Coins showing Roman animal sacrifice with so much detail are scarce and, in my eyes, particularly fascinating. Here, the legend "INVICTUS SACERDOS AVG(USTUS)" translates as "unconquered and august priest." The mysterious "horn" on the emperor's forehead that is visible on the obverse of both coins deserves a special mention. This type of headdress is only known from coins of Elagabalus. It probably had religious significance, and there is a scholarly debate about what this object actually is. One particularly colorful suggestion is to read it as the tip of a bull's penis strapped to Elagabalus' head. 2. The provenance Recently, the collection of Fritz Taeger (1894–1960) has been dispersed and entered the market. Both coins come from this collection. Fritz Taeger was a well-known German classicist. His scholarly work might deserve merit, his deep involvement with the Nazi regime does not. Taeger's collection of some 1400 Greek and Roman coins was inherited by his daughter and remained untouched until being sold in November 2013. The auction house (Rhenumis) in my opinion didn't do a spectacular job. It grouped many of the coins, including some true rarities, into large lots. As a consequence, different German dealers currently offer coins from the Taeger collection on MA-Shops, ebay, and other platforms. I bought another and more spectacular coin from the Taeger collection and will write a bit more about this provenance when I post it here somewhen in the near future. 3. What I did to them The two coins were bargains: I paid 54€ for the pair, which is very good for these. On the one hand, they were offered as "coins of Caracalla" by a seller clearly not familiar with ancient coins. On the other hand, they looked like this when I got them: I usually don't clean coins, but here I took the risk. Both coins took a short bath in a solution of thiosulfate, which took care of the horn silver. Thanks to @Roerbakmix for introducing this method to our forum community! I am quite happy with the result and think that both coins were improved by the treatment. Please post your coins of Elagabalus!

I just saw this coin offered on ebay Germany: It is a dramatically failed attempt at faking an exceedingly rare gold stater of Pyrrhus of Epirus. There is just so much wrong with it. Take a look at Athena's jaw (an orthodontist's nightmare), the little ghost owl in the left obverse field, or Victory's leg posture that says "I need to go to the loo – urgently"! I believe this is the worst and most comical fake I have seen so far. It gave me a good laugh. Now, I am even tempted to buy it... For comparison, this authentic example sold at Morton&Eden for more than my mortgage is worth: Please show me the worst (or funniest) fakes that you have encountered!