Marsyas Mike

What a wonderful collection you've assembled. I am thoroughly enjoying it. Many thanks!

The way I collect, I'll wind up mortgaging my home because I spend $20.00 10,000 times, over and over. Why buy one really nice coin when you can buy 50 cruddy ones? Not a strategy I'd recommend...😥

Thanks again - I'm not seeing the two you posted as die-matches to mine or the London Ancient Coins (and the Paris one lacking an eagle). Which leads me to believe there are others out there. Again, thanks for the numismatic digging.

You're the best, RC. Thank you - I never have much luck finding coins in the Paris collection(s?) unless OCRE links one.

Recently a cruddy sestertius of Antoninus Pius showed up on eBay that was a bit too cruddy even for my low standards. But I do love the AEs from his reign and the reverse seemed slightly different than the usual types commonly found. Is that an eagle standing at the foot of Jupiter? After ferocious bidding I got it for $20.50 on a $20.00 opening bid. Jupiter is not a common type for AP in the sestertius denomination - OCRE brings up six types, but with only 4 examples between them. Four of the five are IOVI STATORI, one is a seated type, and then there's mine, RIC 962, which has TR POT XX reverse: http://numismatics.org/ocre/id/ric.3.ant.962 (OCRE describes Jupiter as "naked" but he is wearing a bath towel (not the official Roman name for it 😀) When I started looking for other example of the sestertius in all the usual places, I found none in the British Museum, none in Wildwinds or FORVM and only one in acsearch - which was the only one I found. It was incorrectly listed with the numbers transposed as RIC 692 (which is an As, Ceres standing). This a reverse die-match, possibly an obverse die-match to mine (both are in such poor condition they were hard for me to interpret). London Ancient Coins: https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=1838210 There is also an as and dupondius with the same reverse - for some reason these are more common: http://numismatics.org/ocre/results?q=deity_facet%3A"Jupiter"+AND+(denomination_facet%3A"As"+OR+denomination_facet%3A"Dupondius"+OR+denomination_facet%3A"Sestertius")+AND+portrait_facet%3A"Antoninus+Pius"+AND+fulltext%3AXX I did find a dupondius auction with helpful issue information (CGB.fr): "CGB.fr MONNAIES 31; Lot 272; 21.06.2007 "This...was struck at the time of the emperor's vicennalia...for the 20th tribunitian power. For this type (Jupiter standing with lightning bolt and long scepter) we have...the denarius, sestertius, dupondius and as. Only the aureus is missing from the series, struck only in 156-157." (Google translate from the French, with some tweaking) https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=385040 Here's mine (the white spots all over it may be BD; I've been soaking it - sometimes this white stuff seems more like the remnants of a bad wax-job, but I'm not sure - you get what you pay for!): Antoninus Pius Æ Sestertius (156-157 A.D.) Rome Mint [ANTONINVS] AVG PIVS P P I[MP II], laureate head right / [T]R POT XX CO[S II]I[I], S-C, Jupiter standing front, head left, holding sceptre and thunderbolt, eagle standing on ground left RIC III 962. (22.00 grams / 30 x 28 mm) eBay May 2024 $20.50 Note: OCRE and British Museum have no examples; I could find only one sold at auction: Die-Match Obv. (?) & Rev.: London Ancient Coins Auction I; Lot 156; 31.01.2014 RIC III 692. (sic for RIC 962?) Antoninus Pius struck a Jupiter type with IOVI STATORI reverse, which is more common. The TR POT XX types seem to be scarce. Here's mine with the only other example I could find, London Ancient Coins - pretty confident about the reverse die-match, not so sure about the obverse: If anybody has seen another one of these, please let me know. And feel free to share your unexpected rarities, etc. P.S. Another recent pick-up is this Antoninus Pius sestertius showing Mars advancing with trophy and spear - this one surprised me because AP was such a peaceful guy - this Mars type is more commonly encountered on the later Aurelius, Commodus, Septimius Severus, etc. It is RIC 778, I think (I'm still working it up). Though worn, it is one of the best portraits in my collection - I love the expressive eye and the green patina: This one is fairly common; I'd like to see others if you have one.

Thanks for sharing this, @Roman Collector. By coincidence I am reading a piece on Aldernay in Harper's that involves digging in the dirt - I haven't finished the article but there are claims that when the Nazis occupied the island, that it functioned as another site for the Holocaust. That Russian slave laborers were worked to death there is known, but some say Jews were transported there as well. There's modern cable-Internet controversies going on too - I am not in any way mentioning this to be political, just that Aldernay seems to be a historically busy place, though small. This has a paywall, but here's the Harper's piece: https://harpers.org/archive/2024/03/the-holocaust-angle-rebecca-panovka/

Nice find, good research, and excellent cleaning job @JayAg47 I too was wanting one of these for a long time - last year two came my way that were affordable; digging around, I also found die-matches. These were a lot of fun to research because of the circumstances of their minting, who minted them, etc. One of mine was issued by an usurper and the other one has a Mithridatic War connection, apparently. The ones with the red background on top are mine: Apollonis, Lydia Eumenes III (Aristonikos) Cistophoric Tetradrachm Year 3 (131-130 B.C.) Cista mystica with serpent within ivy wreath / Bow case with serpents, thunderbolt above, laureate & bearded head (Zeus?) left, laureate & beardless head (Dionysos?) right, BA-EY within coils of serpents, Γ on bow case, AΠ-OΛ across lower field. SNG von Aulock 2897; Kleiner & Noe Series 2; DCA 349. (12.28 grams / 26 x 25 mm) eBay August 2023 Die-Match Obverse: London Ancient Coins (Vcoins) SKU: LG2941 Sold £ 200.00 / $254.68 "When the Pergamene king Attalos II died in 134 BC, he bequeathed his kingdom to the Romans. Because the Romans were slow in securing their claim, Aristonikos...(claimed) the throne, taking the dynastic name Eumenes. Although unable to capture Pergamon, his revolt lasted 4 years, until he was defeated...by the Romans under consul M. Perperna. After his surrender, he was paraded through Rome and executed." CNG Tralles, Lydia Cistophoric Tetradrachm Magistrate Atta - (c. 89-85 B.C.) See notes. Cista mystica with serpent, ivy wreath with fruits around / [T]PAΛ | ATTA, two serpents around bow case, Dionysos standing right holding thyrsos and grapes, panther at feet. (12.49 grams / 24 x 23 mm) eBay April 2023 Attribution and Notes: SNG Copenhagen 655; Imhoof LS 13; GRPC Lydia S505. "Given the already mentioned connection between Dionysus and Mithridates, the introduction of Dionysus as a control mark in the issues of ATTA and ΘEOΔ suggests a dating in the course of the First Mithridatic War." Lucia Francesca Carbone Provenance: Noonans Auction 269; Lot 61; 8 March 2023 Price realized: 80 GBP (Approx. 95 USD / 90 EUR) Die-Match Reverse: Roma Numismatics Ltd. E-Sale 86; Lot 546; 08.07.2021

When I was looking up info on mine, I saw several that had definite corn wreaths, but a lot that seemed ambiguous to me (mostly because of wear). Here's the British Museum example - corn wreath not mentioned, but RIC number being the corn-wreath type (if OCRE is correct, which is not a given!) - the thin line under the diadem might be corn. Or is it margarine? 😀: https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/C_R-9003

Liking the whole idea of Sabina Sunday @Roman Collector. Nice job as always. My very small collection of Sabinas does have a IVNONI REGINAE type, an as/dupondius. Because of this post I decided to clean up the attribution, and found I had some difficulty with the two basic types - diademed (stephane) with and without the corn-wreath. The British Museum example cites the corn wreath type, but does not describe the corn wreath, compounding my confusion. Mine is so worn, I was kind of guessing (see notes below): Sabina Æ As/Dupondius (133-135 A.D.) Rome Mint [SABINA AV]GVSTA HAD[RIANI AVG P P], diademed, draped bust right / IVNON[I REGINAE] S-C, Juno standing left holding patera and sceptre RIC II Part 3 (2nd ed.) Had. 2557 (old RIC II Hadrian 1038a). (9.55 grams / 26 x 25 mm) eBay Dec. 2018 Lot @ $2.05 Note: Two types, per OCRE; as this (probably) lacks corn wreath, it is RIC 2557 (probably): RIC II Pt. 3 Hadrian 2555: "wreathed with possible corn wreath, wearing stephane with hair in queue" (BMCRE 1894 cites RIC 2555 but does NOT mention the corn wreath) RIC II Pt. 3 Hadrian 2557: "diademed, wearing stephane with hair in queue"

Wow - that is a wonderful collection of Cappadocians you've put together @Sebastian. I only have a few, but I recently blundered on a hemidrachm that was listed Vespasian (eBay), but as it turns out is Titus (my attribution notes below). It is worn, but the portrait looks more Titus, I think: Titus Hemidrachm Caesarea, Cappadocia (c. 80-81 A.D.) ΑΥΤΟΚΡΑ[ΤΩΡ ΤΙΤΟϹ ΚΑΙϹΑΡ ϹΕ]ΒΑϹ, laureate head right / Nike advancing right, holding wreath and palm RPC II 1661; Ganschow 83; Metcalf, Caesarea 19; Sydenham, Caesarea 116. (1.74 grams / 14 x 13 mm) eBay March 2024 $16.50 This is Titus, not Vespasian, the visible part of the obv. legend and a die-match suggests this: Titus: ΑΥΤΟΚΡΑΤΩΡ ΤΙΤΟϹ ΚΑΙϹΑΡ ϹΕΒΑϹ Vespasian: ΑΥΤΟΚΡ ΚΑΙϹΑΡ ΟΥΕϹΠΑϹΙΑΝΟϹ ϹΕΒΑ Die-Match Obverse: Classical Numismatic Group Electronic Auction 350; Lot 380; 06.05.2015 Here's the obverse die-match, in much better shape:

Nice denarius @Nikodeimos - it actually is even more interesting than it looks - yours has slight drapery on the shoulder, so it is a variety (and as such rather scarce). I did a quick acsearch and found a couple. Here's the search: https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?term=pius+denarius+175+annona&category=1-2&lot=&date_from=&date_to=&thesaurus=1&images=1&en=1&de=1&fr=1&it=1&es=1&ot=1&currency=usd&order=0 I only found a few - I found yours (Leu) and an obverse die-match (Roma). Neither auction notes the drapery - but draped variations of AP issues are fairly frequently encountered: https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=9176194 https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=1929575

Interesting post, @ominus1.... don't get me started on medals - about two weeks ago I accidentally bought a 19th century Papal metal and I am going into collector's feeding frenzy mode...I need help. From an old CT post: A few years ago I lucked into a big batch of 17th century engravings based on gems and seals from Greece and Rome. Here is what they are: Leonardo Agonstino Gemmae et sculpturae antiquae depictae, [Amsterdam: Abraham Blooteling, 1685] The work consists of "engraved gem illustrations mostly taken from the antique with annotations by Giovanni Bellori, the noted Italian antiquary. the text is little more than a factual explanation of the objects depicted, but the engravings are remarkable for 'relatively little detail' but done in a 'clever, fresh buoyant manner'" (Sinkankas quoting C. W. King, Antique Gems and Rings). The designs in Part I are mainly portraits of one kind or another plus some of animals, the designs in Part II are of gods, heroes and philosophers in various poses and activities plus some animals. All the plates have a title at the top and below the name of the gem on which they are carved (cristallo, onice, lapis lazzali etc). The designs are by Agostini and the engravings by Giovanni Battista Galestruzzi. Agostini (1593-1669) was born near Sienna and served as antiquary to Francesco Cardinal Barberini. He was appointed by Pope Alexander VII as superintendent of antiquities in the Papal States, and he directed in Rome the excavations of the Forum and of thermae near the church of San Lorenzo in Panisperna. And here are a few examples of things we'd see on ancient coins - Septimius Severus & Julia Domna: Bacchus in a biga pulled by panthers - meow! Faustina the Elder - Isis & Serapis - Asclepius, Hygia & Telesphoros - no offense to the God of Healing, but Telesphoros gives me the creeps: A trophy and a deer(?) - Sabina, wife of Hadrian - I have a couple dozen of these. They frame nicely - here's an Unknown Poet - Poeta Incognito - good name for an alternative band:

Nice batch of auction wins. My only auctions are on eBay, and since I blow my budget there, I dare not look elsewhere. I like too all those Juno Sospita examples - this one is a bit unusual as she is on a sestertius of Antoninus Pius: Antoninus Pius Æ Sestertius (140-144 A.D.) Rome Mint [ANTON]INVS AVG PIVS PP TR P COS III, laureate head rt. / [IV]NONI SIS[PITAE], S-C, Juno Sospita advancing right, brandishing javelin & holding shield, snake before. RIC III 608; Cohen RSC 473; BMCRE 1248-1249. (27.53 grams / 32 x 29 mm) eBay Dec. 2023 MAWX Die-Match Obv. and Rev.: American Numismatic Society (via OCRE) Identifier: 1952.41.1 Die-Match Obverse: British Museum Museum number R.13446 BMCRE 1249, p.201. "This issue is part of a series of coins struck in preparation of the 900th anniversary of Rome, figuring scenes from Ancient Roman legends. Juno Sospita was the goddess of Lanuvium, the birthplace of Pius, and one of the most ancient figures in the Roman pantheon." FORVM Charles S

Wow, you really did some impressive work on that @Roman Collector - nice job. That others are floating around is indeed interesting. For the record, I did not buy it, but the seller did make me an offer - 100 GBP I think. But it was sold before I could take the bait. 😌

Thanks for the compliment - that is quite a bit better than my typical denarius. It was a lucky find. Yeah, my die-match sleuthing is still in the amateur stage. With ancients, so much depends on the strike and die-wear that I get confused.