John060167

thats pretty fast, overnight international..! What was the cost? Ive had good experiences with FedEx, mostly took 2-3 days usually. Only once did a package come overnight, which was a pleasant surprise..! Cheers

Well, here is one hell of a pickup: Dionysius I (405-367 BC) AR decadrachm, 36mm, 41.16g, 9h struck 405-390BC, Gallatin R.III/C.IV Reverse signed by Euainetos Obverse: Charioteer, holding kentron in extended right hand and reins in left, driving fast quadriga left; above, Nike flying right, crowning charioteer with wreath held in her extended hands; below heavy exergual line, military harness, shield, greaves, cuirass, and crested Attic helmet, all connected by a horizontal spear; AΘΛA below. Reverse: Head of Arethousa left, wearing wreath of grain ears, triple-pendant earring, and pearl necklace; Σ[Υ-ΡΑ-Κ-ΟΣ]-ΙΩΝ behind hair, four dolphins swimming around, EY-AINE along lower edge. Definitely a dream coin for many of us, I never forget my first time handling the type. This one is particularly great since the obverse is so well struck and centered, without any die rust which is so prevalent for the decadrachm series. The reverse is a bit rough due to find patina but will be conserved soon anyway. Still, on the reverse, you have a beautiful portrait of Arethusa, designed by none other than Euainetos who signed the die right below her bust, below the dolphin. Euainetos’ decadrachm design is considered to be the more famous of the two types of decadrachm, against Kimon’s-they were copied much more than Kimon’s dies in other ancient coins afterwards. Euainetos’ dies are characterized as giving off an idealistic “nature goddess” vibe. In comparison, Kimon’s dies are characterized as a more realistic “Syracusan socialite” vibe, with her hairstyle likely influenced by the contemporary Syracusan ladies around at the time (I have shared one just below to show the difference). It seems that Euainetos was likely an apprentice to the diemaster Kimon- it was Kimon’s coinage that came first. Also, Euainetos’ decadrachm is more common than Kimon’s decadrachm today too, with both more examples and more dies of Euainetos known. Possibly total about 1000 syracuse dekadrachms are known today from both Kimon, Euainetos and unsigned varieties. Here is a size comparison between the decadrachm and different prominent coins, from left to right: Syracuse decadrachm, Peace Dollar, Walking Liberty half dollar, Athens tetradrachm Do you have any dream coins in your collection, or one you wanna get one day? Please share! Cheers!

Those are very cool, quite rare empresses indeed! I dont have either, but I do have Mr. Diddy J himself 🙂 AR denarius, 15.8mm, 2.72g, 11h Obv: IMP CAES M DID IVLIAN AVG; laureate head of Didius Julianus right Rev:PM TRP COS; Fortuna,,draped, standing left, holding rudder set on globe in right hand and cornucopia in left. RIC IV 2a Cheers and congrats!

thanks! Ahh, I was unsure what the reply meant…yeah, I believe it is just corrosion, not casting bubbles. Cheers!

Hi all, Two newer pickups I’d like to share-both Caligula denarii! The first one: Caligula (r. 37-41) AR denarius, 18.5mm, 3.62g, 6h RIC I 2 struck after 18 March, 37ad-Lugdunum mint. First emission Obv: C CAESAR AVG GERM PM TR POT COS; bare head of caligula right Rev: Radiate head of Divus Augustus flanked by two stars The second: Caligula (r. 37-41) AR denarius, 17.5mm, 3.41g, 4h Unpublished in RIC struck 41, Lugdunum mint Obv: C CAESAR AVG PON M TR POT IIII COS IIII; laureate head of Caligula right Rev: SPQR PP OBCS in three lines within oak wreath What makes this pair special is that they are Caligula’s first and last issue denarii, respectively! After Caligula ascended the throne in 37, the first issue he made depicts his great grandfather Augustus, advertising his legitimacy. The first coin above is an example of this type. Advertising his blue blooded heritage would be a trend in his coinage-of the precious metal issues he made, Augustus, Agrippina (his mother) and Germanicus(his father) are depicted. It was important to do this since he otherwise lacked military/political accomplishments, unlike his predecessors. Upon his accension, Caligula also recieved the corona civica for “having saved the people”, presumably from Tiberius’ tyranny. This was put on Caligula’s silver coinage in both 40 and 41. The corona civica reverse types are the rarest reverse type of Caligula’s denarii. The issues from 40ad are cataloged as RIC I 28, and differ from the much rarer 41ad issue by only the TR POT & COS year. The issue from 40 is TR POT III COS III, and from 41 is TR POT IIII COS IIII. These 41ad issues would be his last, as on 24 January 41, Caligula was assasinated. Due to how early in the year he was assassinated, not many issues from 41ad are known, RIC only catalogued two reverse types in silver. The rest, including the coin I have, are unpublished. Afterall, the mint did not have so much time to make 41ad dies, and they legends especially in the TR POT & COS portions seem quite sloppy-it makes me wonder if instead of making fresh dies, they used dies from 40ad and just added an extra I ? Anyway, truly fortunate to have added these two to my collection, my julio claudian set is growing! 😋 Do you have any coins you believe are relevant somehow? Lets see that coin porn! 😉 Cheers!

interesting type! who is depicted on the obverse?

beautiful tet, i want one like that for my set!

the eye is great, they just cleaned some deposits off the coin which resulted in it looking much better! a beauty for sure now. cheers

Got this coin in the last NAC auction: Perseus, 178 – 168BC. AR Tetradrachm, 30mm, 16.96 g, 12h Struck 174/3BC, Pella/ Amphipolis mint Obv: Diademed head of Perseus r., slightly bearded. Rev: ΒΑΣΙ – ΛΕΩΣ / ΠΕΡ – ΣΕΩΣ Eagle standing r. on thunderbolt, with open wings. Above, monogram, in r. field, MI and below, Φ. All within wreath. SNG Copenhagen 1266. Mamroth 8. De Luca 101d (this coin-illustrated(?)). Ex CNG 81, 2009, 374 and Triton XVI, 2013, 307 sales. From the RCM collection. Perseus was the last king of Macedon , the son of Philip V, who had his own wars with the Romans (The First and Second Macedonian Wars). Following Philip V’s death, Perseus took the throne and eventually continued the struggle against the Romans in the Third Macedonian War in 171BC, but in 168BC was defeated and following this, Macedon would be annexed by Rome. Following his defeat, Perseus was allowed to live his remaining days in Rome in comfort, but died in 166BC. This example is an attic standard issue, an earlier issue made by the magistrate Zoilos, who was known through some issues of Philip V and the issues of Perseus. The earliest issues bear a signature below the bust and are the most sought after issues of Perseus, but following these initial issues only a monogram on the reverse at 12h was placed, signifying it was Zoilos who issued them. Perhaps putting his full name right below the bust was considered too bold of a move for a magistrate, so the earliest issues were changed to reflect this. As time went on and the war started, Zoilos retired and the tetradrachms degraded in style and also were reduced in weight, as can be seen by later issues. Whilst still very beautiful and desirable issues, the toll of the war can be seen on these amazing issues nonetheless. Overall, the tetradrachms of Perseus are known for their super realistic and finer style portraiture, which really drew me in to picking one up. Definitely one of the more beautiful types of hellenistic coinage in my opinion! Please share any coins you feel are relevant! Cheers! PS: Here is a video if you wanna see: https://imgur.com/a/aiYoFr5

So well silvered! I haven’t seen many that look so silvered like that, is it quite rare or am i just not educated enough? Beautiful silver trachy collection, i’ve seen a bunch of trachies with large flan cracks, should one be worried about the larger flan crack trachys being particularly fragile? Cheers!

very beautiful coins, i especially love the design of the archangel on the second coin. I find the stylization on well preserved coins of this era to be pretty interesting , and yours seem to be of great quality. congrats on the win!

Hello everyone! Here is a new coin I got, a pretty exciting piece for me as I rarely get coins quite like this! Empire Of Nicaea Theodore I Laskaris (r. 1208-1222) AR Aspron Trachy, 31mm, 3.36g, 6h struck 1208-1212, Nicaea Mint Sear 2064 Obverse: IC-XC (barred), Christ Pantocrator enthroned facing, wearing nimbus cruciger with pellet in each branch of cross, pallium and colobium, holding book of Gospels in lap; Two pellets on stock to either side of throne. Rev: ΘΕΟΔΩPOC ΔEC-Π-OT ΘΕΟΔΩΡΟC, standing facing figures of Theodore I (on left), wearing crown with pendilia, divitision, loros and sagion, and St. Theodore (on right), nimbate and wearing military dress, each holding sheathed sword in outer hand; both grasping grounded staff surmounted by eight-pointed star between them. Ex. CNG eAuction 537, lot 610 (26 April 2023) Ex. Gasvoda Collection Ex. CNG eAuction 455, lot 456 (30 October 2019) Ex. JB Collection Ex. CNG eAuction, 121, lot 223 (24 August 2005) I’ve found late byzantine coins to be quite interesting with their scyphate shape and stylized designs. I have a specialist trachy friend who keep on showing me all these different trachies & so I had to get another one, theyre just so cool! This particular one is an AR aspron trachy, although it is also categorized as electrum in some cases as it is 80-90% silver and the rest gold from what I have read. This was struck after 1204, when the Byzantines lost constantinople to the crusaders, so it is from one of the rump states. Personally i am really drawn into the design of the issue, Christ is very well struck on the obverse and the reverse depiction of the two Theodores is quite sharp. Here is a comparison shot to other common AR issues, an Augustus denarius & an Alexander III tetradrachm. As you can see the diameter is pretty large even next to the tet, and the trachy looks to be of high purity silver as well, not much gold it seems. Does anyone else have any cool AR or EL trachies? Please share! Cheers!

Great insight, thanks for sharing! That all makes a lot of sense, they very well could be a special issue, although I do wonder how a heavy siliqua would fit into the post 355 system like you said…what face value would it have, or would it be traded based on weight? Also Ive seen issues for these by Gratian and Valentinian II interestingly, so the argenteus had a longer lifespan than I intially assumed (shared below)…maybe that could shed some light on these. http://numismatics.org/ocre/id/ric.9.aq.24 http://numismatics.org/ocre/id/ric.9.lug.42

Yes, the denominations of this time are confusing! For example, I wonder the rationale of having the miliarensia (heavy and light, 14:1 & 18:1 ratio), when the siliqua is 24:1. This means a heavy miliarense = 1.714 siliquae & light miliarense =1.333 siliquae… a strange ratio in my opinion, especially the heavy miliarense…why not round it off and make it 12:1 and 16:1 respectively (so a heavy miliarense =2 siliquae, a light miliarense =1.5)? I am not totally sure if the coins traded at face value although I would assume so. By the end of the 4th century, the weights of siliquae esp in the west were quite inconsistent, I have seen some as low as 1g for apparently unclipped pieces…the quality control was bad. I feel the only way people would’ve accepted such coins was if they were traded by face value! It is possible the argenteus was an attempt to reintroduce some denomination (maybe a “reduced light miliarense?) along with the existing reduced siliqua and miliarense, but I really have no idea..only speculating. Fun to think about and look into though. Cheers!

beautiful coin, from the east harptree hoard! i have a siliqua from the hoard, of julian ii from lugdunum …these siliquae tend to have a certain patina. oldest “provenanced” coin of my collection. i feel ive seen others youve had like this on cointalk as well. cheers!

Fine style coin: Sicily, Entella “Siculo Punic” issue AR tetradrachm, 24.5mm, 16.86g, 6h struck 320-300BC Jenkins 165 (O49/R148) Next coin: siliqua

Hello all! Here is a new pickup I have, an issue of emperor Valens-the so called “argenteus”. Valens AR argenteus, 19.5mm, 2.90g, 6h Struck 364-367, Constantinople mint RIC IX 11e.1 Obv: DN VALENS PF AVG, Pearl diademed, draped, and cuirassed bust of Valens facing left Rev: VOT V in two lines within wreath, with large central jewels. CONSA in exergue This example is a pretty great quality one, and a rare variety of a rare denomination-he is left facing! This coin, like many argentei, have a wreath reverse, which I love for its simplicity and beauty. Mostly blast white with a hint of color, came from CNG’s recent eAuction but also has CNG provenance going back to 2000! This is an interesting denomination, as it was issued alongside the “reduced” siliquae of the era. Apparently the denomination didnt last long since there are only issues known of Valens, Valentinian, Gratian & Valentinian II from what I know so far. They were mostly struck in Constantinople, but you also find some examples from Nicomedia, Lugdunum & Rome. The “argenteus” is mysterious. I wonder, why were they issued and what were their intended value? The weight of a “argenteus” is similar to a pre-reform siliqua, but siliquae, both before and after the reform, were tariffed at 24:1, so how did this weird denomination fit into the system of the time? The standard weight of an argenteus is ~ 3g, & the standard weight of a reduced siliqua is ~2.2g. We know the siliqua was tariffed 24:1, so 24 siliquae to a solidus. A standard argenteus is about 1.36x heavier, translating to a ratio of about 17.6 : 1. What is interesting is that this ratio is similar to the “light miliarense” ratio before Constantius II’s reforms, which was tariffed 18 : 1. Is it possible the argenteus was intended to be replacement for that? Does anyone know of any research on the denomination? Id like to hear your thoughts on this interesting denomination and please share any info you have on it (as well as related coins!) Cheers!

That’s one awesome collection you have there! Is Caligula one of your favorites? Cheers

Cool coins, especially like the pegasus on the reverse, coins from corinth are awesome! Cheers!

I love wreathed reverses, they are among my favorite designs, for their simplicity and beauty….I always seek ones like that out. Amazing coin! Here is the example i upgraded from, still attractive but yeah…this example has Germanicus on the reverse, so it goes along with RIC 14, and has looking portraits despite its issues. Cheers!

Yeah, typically fourrees aren’t that heavy and despite wear/cuts, no breaks so…i believe it’s probably official! good luck and let us know what you find

Thats neat, thanks for sharing! It has a great style & the surfaces have no breakage in the plating, & weight is on point for a silver issue! Is it really a fourree? Wonder if the “base metal” exposure is actually just deposit/dirt. Cheers

Anyone likes denarii of Caligula? I do! I really like collecting coins of infamous people as much as I do respectable, famous people…perhaps even more lol. Here is an upgrade to my current Caligula denarius, a nice example with the portrait of Agrippina the elder on the reverse. According to RIC, there is “practically no doubt” these issues were struck in Rome, although more modern authors contest this and say they were struck in Lugdunum. For RIC, the main difference between silver/gold issues struck in Lugdunum and Rome is that Lugdunum issues were struck only in 37-38 and show a bare head of Caligula, and later issues struck in Rome depict him with a wreath. So who knows where these were really struck! Caligula’s precious metal coins are rare as he didnt reign too long for a julio claudian & his issues were melted down in mass after his death, by Nero during his reforms & possibly as a part of his damnatio memoriae(?) So they demand a heavy premium, along with Claudius. 😞 Anyway happy to have this one! Have any coins of lil’ boots? Please share! Cheers

Here’s my favorite wins from the Ramskold collection- lot 2808 and 2781 respectively Cheers!

oh wow thanks a bunch!!! Really appreciate you helping out 😊 John