Marsyas Mike

Thanks, RC. It looks like I missed that Faustina Friday back in February - the first three months of this year were hectic and I think I missed a bunch of posts around that time.

Yikes! Thanks for the very informative clarification... So I don't have the veiled type, but I think I have the non-veiled type, a very poor specimen. Here it is with my iffy attribution from 2019, when I was sloppier than I am nowadays: Faustina I Denarius 5th Phase: Anniversary of Faustina’s Deification (c. 150-160 A.D.) Rome Mint DIVA FAVSTINA, draped bust right / CONSECRATIO Ceres standing left, holding torch and raising right hand. RIC 382b; RSC 165a. (2.60 grams / 17 mm) eBay July 2019 $10.50 Request: do you have a full, Roman-Collectoresque attribution for the non-veiled type? I'd like to update my attribution and I am a little scared of this one!! 😥

Great catch, @Roman Collector. It is always an honor to have a die-match to one in your collection. I keep trying to get better photos of mine, without a lot of success - this one's a bit brighter, if nothing else. I think Faustina needs to see a dermatologist!

@DonnaMLyour write-ups are spectacular (the coins too). Thank you again for sharing them and keep up the fine work. So I can't contribute exactly, but here is Vespasian with some oxen, apparently imitating Republican types - I have three of them in various degrees of decreptitude:

I recently got two sestertii issued to commemorate Antoninus Pius's death:

Those are indeed elegant - some sources refer to this early type of Gordian III portrait as having the features of Balbinus. See these auctions (CNG and Nachfolger): Gordian III. AD 238-244. AR Antoninianus (4.63 g, 12h). 4th officina. 1st emission, AD 238-239. Radiate, draped, and cuirassed bust right / Providentia standing left, holding globe and transverse scepter. RIC IV 4; RSC 302. Good VF. Portrait with features of Balbinus. https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=318641 Römisches Kaiserreich GORDIANUS III. Antoninian. Belorbeerte, drapierte und gepanzerte Büste r. Rs: Pax steht l. mit Olivenzweig und Zepter. C. 173. R.I.C. 3. 4,86g. vz Eine Prägung der 1. Serie mit dem Portrait, das auch schon von ihm als Caesar unter Balbinus und Pupienus bekannt ist. Später herrschte dann das häufigere Portrait mit längerer Nase vor. Estimate: 150 EUR https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=784481 I had Google translate the German "Später herrschte dann das häufigere Portrait mit längerer Nase vor.": "Later, the more common portrait with a longer nose prevailed." Here are a couple of mine - the young "Balbinus-esque" portrait on the left, the more typical longer-nosed portrait right:

Great-looking portrait, @Tejas. This post inspired me to look through mine and I found one that looks a lot like yours - not a die-match, but the rendition of the portrait seems very similar - perhaps the same artist? He's got a bit of a sneer - as @Steppenfool suggests, making him look like a tough guy to take on the Persians! Gordian III Antoninianus (243-244 A.D.) Antioch Mint IMP GORDIANVS PIVS FEL AVG, radiate, cuirassed and draped bust right. / FORTVNA REDVX, Fortuna seated left holding rudder and cornucopia, no wheel below throne (Rome). RIC 210; RSC 98a; RCV 8613 (3.11 grams / 22 mm) eBay April 2019

Terrific write-up and coin, @DonnaML. This one is going in my reference files for this type. I've yet to get one of these in silver, but I do have a sestertius: Trajan Decius Æ Sestertius (249-251 A.D.) Rome Mint 3rd Officina; 6th emission. [IMP C M Q] TRAIANVS DECIVS AVG, laureate, cuirass. bust right / PANNO[NI]AE, S-C, two Pannoniae standing facing, each raising hand; right figure holds standard; left figure has vertical standard behind (14.77 grams / 26 x 24 mm) eBay Jan. 2018 $21.00 BO

Terrific Faustina Friday as always, @Roman Collector. So I thought I'd take the opportunity to share this odd-looking Faustina II - possibly not an official issue? The fabric is very lumpy, but I can't really find a base core, as with a fourree. Faustina II Denarius (c. 152-154 A.D.) Rome Mint FAVSTINA AVG P[II] AV[G FIL], bare-headed, draped bust rt. / CONCORD[IA], Concordia standing facing, head right, gathering up skirt and holding cornucopiae. RIC III Antoninus Pius 500b,3; BMCRE 1085; Cohen RSC 42. (2.90 grams / 19 x 16 mm) eBay July 2023 $9.50 BIN Note: OCRE has this as RIC III Antoninus Pius 500Ba However, Roman Collector has it RIC 500b,3: "FAVSTINA AVG PII AVG FIL is inscription (3). FAVSTINA AVG ANTONINI AVG PII FIL is inscription (6), WHICH IS INCORRECTLY PRINTED in the dative case as FAVSTINAE" Roman Collector NF Apr. 2023

Nice one, RC. I really like these late Republican issues. Ah, the memories. This is about the first ancient I ever got, back in 1988 - C. Considius Paetus with a curule chair. The seller was a dealer named Bill McDaniels who issued a fixed price list, no photos, a couple times a year. His prices were very low and I was always happy with the coin (including this one): Roman Republic Denarius C. Considius Paetus (46 B.C.) Rome Mint Laureate head of Apollo right / Curule chair with wreath, C•CONSIDIUS above, PAETI in exergue. Crawford 465/1b; Considia 3; Sydenham 990a. (4.01 grams / 16 mm) McDaniels May 1988

Very interesting. It looks good to me, fibrous R or not! Here's mine, which is pretty cruddy - however, I think it might be a die match to the OP? Or similar, anyway:

It looks pretty good to me, but I've only ever owned one of these. If you have a weight in grams, that would be helpful. As @John Conduitt notes, these get faked a lot!

Very interesting, RC. And a fine addition to your Faustina collection. Here is the Antoninus Pius Aequitas reverse type. It is one of my favorite portraits o AP - the wide, upward-looking eye resembles is DIVO PIO posthumous portraits more than his lifetime look: Antoninus Pius Denarius (c. 140-143 A.D.) Rome Mint ANTONINVS AVG PIVS PP TR P COS III, laureate head right / AEQVITAS AVG, Aequitas standing left, holding scales and sceptre. RIC 61a; Sear 4049; RSC 14. (3.02 grams / 16 x 18 mm) eBay Dec. 2018 It has a squashed rim - not sure what happened - a test cut gone wrong? It is very, very thin on the squashed edge:

Nice Vespasian, @thenickelguy. Here's the same type, but earlier, with Pax seated. Vespasian Denarius (January-June 71 A.D.) Rome Mint IMP CAES VESP AVG [P M], laureate head right / TRI POT II [CO]S III P P, Pax seated left holding caduceus and branch. RIC II Part 1 (2nd ed.) 41; BMCRE 61-62, 364; Cohen 566. (3.00 grams / 16 mm) eBay June 2019

Heck if I know what he's holding. My guess is rudder and globe - but I'm really guessing on the rudder part. Here's mine:

Congratulations on the prestigious exemplar, @Roman Collector. I have two from Antioch in Pisidia: This is an ugly one for Septimius Severus: Septimius Severus Æ 21 (c. 193-211 A.D.) Pisidia. Antioch [L SEPT SE]V PER[T AVG IMP], radiate head right / ANT[IOCH F]ORT[VNA CO]LON, Tyche standing left, holding branch and cornucopiae. SNG France 1120; Mionnet Supp. 7, 30. (3.68 grams / 21 mm) eBay Dec. 2019 Here's my blundered legend type like the @ambr0zie example above: Valerian I Æ 21 (c. 253-260 A.D.) Pisidia, Antioch IMP CAERAS LL OVNAHHIR, radiate, draped & cuir. bust right / ANTIO-OCHIOC, vexillum surmounted by eagle between two standards, S R in exergue. Krzyzanowska pl. XLVIII, VII and 31; Lindgren I 1250 var.; (5.44 grams / 21 x 20 mm) eBay Nov. 2021 "Note from Curtis Clay: According to Krzyzanowska, BM 130 and 134-5 are all from the same obverse die...The legend made no sense to the BM cataloguer G. F. Hill, and he misattributed them to Volusian. Krzyzanowska seems to be right that Valerian was meant." www.beastcoins.com

Interesting post. Here's an Ionic column base (below the horse), also said to be used by Pyrrhus, per romanist on Coin Talk a while back: Calabria, Tarentum AR Nomos, Zo-, Zalo-, and An- Magistrate (c. 280-272 B.C.) Naked youth on horseback right, crowning self; ΣΩ to left, ZAΛO & Ionic capital below / Phalanthos riding dolphin left, holding distaff & aphlaston; TAΡA[Σ] below; ANΘ to right. Vlasto 803–7; SNG ANS 1142. (6.30 grams / 19 mm) eBay Nov. 2019 Notes: "...your didrachm is of a reduced standard. The coin coincides with the arrival of Pyrrhus in Italy c. 280 BC at the request of the Tarentines...His battle with the Romans at Asculum occured in 279 BC, from which the term "Pyrrhic victory" emerged. The Ionic column below the horse rider is sometimes viewed as a symbol of Pyrrhus. There are other didrachms with a small elephant in place of the column, which is seen as another Pyrrhic symbol." romismatist at CT, Feb. 2022

Nice find, @JayAg47. I found one of these on eBay last year - it was in an unattributed lot so it was cheap. It is most likely posthumous, but I did have some trouble attributing it, since there were so many varieties and mine is so worn... Pompey the Great (era) Æ 18 Soloi-Pompeiopolis, Cilicia (c. 50 B.C.-50 A.D.) Bare head of Pompey the Great right / [ΠOMΠHIOΠOΛITΩ?], Nike advancing right, holding wreath; ΔI [ΛΑ ?] in right field. SNG France 1213-1217; SNG Levante 880-882 var. (5.50 grams / 18 mm) eBay June 2022 Attribution: Many varieties of this type; most online sources are vague about attribution. Reverse legends missing, except ΔI in right field. Some with ΔI also have ΛΑ below. See: Numismatik Naumann Auct. 42; Lot 576; 03.04.2016; Roma E-Sale 31; Lot 212; Nov. 2016 (asiaminorcoins.com); Artemide Aste 45E; Lot 242; Dec. 15-16, 2018.

Thank you for sharing this coin and the information - this kind of detailed information behind the emission is very interesting to me and you do a fine job of presenting it here. Please feel free to continue to do so with other Commodus/Marcus Aurelius issues (hint hint! 😀) I don't have any coins from this issue, but I do have a sestertius from what I think is from "the previous, much more common emission" of 177 A.D. Your post inspired me to look it over and check my attribution from 2020 when I first got it (which was wrong). There are a lot of these trophy-2-captives types and I was a little confused, since mine is so worn. However, I found a British Museum die-match, which always pleases me, so I think I've got it straightened out: Commodus Æ Sestertius (177 A.D.) Rome Mint IM[P L A]VREL CO[M]MODVS AV[G GERM SARM], laureate, draped and cuirassed bust right / [TR P II COS P P, S-C] | [D]E GERM in exergue, two captives seated at foot of trophy. RIC III Marcus Aurelius 1568; BMCRE 1654; Cohen RSC 84. (21.74 grams / 31 x 28 mm) eBay May 2020 Die-Match Obv. & Rev.: British Museum: BMCRE 1654; Museum number R.14800 (This is only OCRE example) Here is the die-match to the British Museum specimen (if my eyes aren't deceiving me): Thanks again for the informative post, @Marcus.

Thank you so much for providing that link, Dominic. That was a very interesting and instructive discussion.

My latest Roman Republican denarius is a fourrée issue (silver foil over a base-metal core) of L. Calpurnius Piso Frugi (90 B.C.). I was hoping the reverse damage was just some really bad case of planchet lamination, as the damage was covered in dirt when I got it. A gentle cleaning in distilled water revealed a very cruddy base core, probably bronze. The weight is low too. So yep, fourrée. Lately I've been hunting up die-matches to my purchases, and given this was presumably not an "official" issue, I didn't think I'd have much luck. Furthermore, this issue is enormous. But to my surprise, I found several obverse die-matches and one obverse-reverse. So here's mine with attribution, including die-matches: Roman Rep. Fourrée Denarius L. Calpurnius Piso Frugi (90 B.C.) Rome Mint Laureate head of Apollo right; H at throat / L• PI[SO FRV]G I ROM[A], horseman galloping right carrying palm frond, no control mark above. Crawford 340/1; Calpurnia 11. (2.75 grams / 17 x 16 mm) eBay Sep. 2023 Die-Match Obv. & Rev.: Numismatik Lanz München Auct. 141; Lot 267; 26.05.2008 Note: no control mark above horseman. Die-Match Obverse Only: American Numismatic Soc. Silver Coin, 0000.999.618 Leu Numismatik Web Auct. 3; Lot 767; 25.02.2018 A. Tkalec AG Auct. Oct. 2003; Lot 174; 24.10.2003 Numismatica Ars Classica Auct. 125; Lot 399; 23.06.2021 Numismatica Ars Classica Auct. 136; Lot 35; 15.12.2022 Here are photos of several obverse die-matches, the H-under-the-chin control mark - all of these had reverse control marks over the horseman, whereas mine does not have one - these are all from acsearch auctions: This is another obverse die-match from the American Numismatic Society Collection: This is the only obverse/reverse match I found, including the absence of a reverse control mark above the horseman - the reverse is so damaged on mine that I could be mistaken: I've heard theories that fourrée issues were actually issued by the Roman mint as a way to stretch the bullion supply - in other words, rather than debasing the entire issue, just minting a certain number of them with a base-metal core; this would explain the die-matches. Or counterfeiters made them outside official channels - but if so, why the die-matches? So I was wondering what NF members' opinions are about this. Feel free to share your favorite fourrées.

I got one from an eBay lot, in pretty poor condition: Theodora Æ 15 (337-340 A.D.) Treveri (Trier) Mint [FL] MAX [T]H[EO-DORAE AVG], mantled bust with necklace right / [PIETAS]-ROMANA, Pietas standing facing, head right, holding infant to breast; [•?]TRP• in ex. RIC VIII Treveri 56 or 65. (1.69 grams / 8 x 7 mm) eBay Aug. 2022 Attribution: Visible mintmark is [•?]TRP • which could be: RIC VIII Treveri 56: TRP• RIC VIII Treveri 65: •TRP• Note: Theodora, daughter or step-daughter of Maximianus, was second wife to Constantius I Chlorus, father of Constantine I the Great. She was Constantine's step-mother. "The reason for her coinage is uncertain, but it may have been directed by Constantine the Great's will." (FORVM)

Here's an unappetizing crown-sized silver 20 qirsh from Egypt - I really like these, with visions of wages paid to the guys digging up King Tut and poet C. P. Cavafy strolling the boulevards of Alexandria. This one has seen a lot of wear, and the reason I bought it was that it was mis-described and went for $10.50, which is under melt value. Anyway, as it turns out, it is a rather scarce date/mint mark combination - the Berlin mint apparently lost the Egyptian contract to mint coins that year, and so only 50,000 were minted with the W mint mark (see notes below). The bulk of that year's coins were minted at the British Heaton mint (425,000) What is interesting from a coin market perspective is that the two mintmarks minted for 1293 year 29 are the same price in lower grades (based on NGC information: https://www.ngccoin.com/price-guide/world/egypt-20-qirsh-km-296-1293-10-1293-33-cuid-1046909-duid-1240915 ). I wonder what a US Morgan dollar with a 50,000 mintage figure would go for? Egypt 20 Qirsh Abdul Hamid II (1876-1909) AH 1293 (1876) Year 29 (1903) Berlin Mint (mintage 50,000) Tughra above denomination and wreath, ٢٠ ش | W below / ٢٩ | ي رب فض | ر مص | ١٢٩٣ within wreath KM 296. (27.24 grams / 39 mm) eBay July 2023 $10.50 Notes: "The initial W stands for the designer Emil Weigand at the Berlin Mint. During the regnal year 29 (=1903/04) the Cairo government switched from the Berlin mint to the Heaton Mint in Birmingham, indicated by the letter H instead of W. All silver coins (1, 2, 5, 10, 20 qirsh) were struck at both mints in the regnal year 29..." Stephen Album

One of my favorites (in my collection) - a sestertius of Julia Mamaea with a huge crack:

Bringing up this thread again because I landed another one of these - it has a sistrum (a kind of rattle associated with Isis) as the obverse control. It is so large it seems more a part of the design, rather than a measly control symbol! Roman Republic Denarius Serratus L. Papius (79 B.C.) Rome Mint Trade Guild: Unknown Head of Juno Sospita wearing goat's skin right, sistrum behind / Griffin leaping right, plate of fruit below, L· PAPI in exergue Crawford 384/1, symbol 91; Papia 1; Sydenham 773. (3.75 grams / 18 x 17 mm) eBay August 2023 Control Symbol/Die-Match: Áureo & Calicó Auction 263; Lot 1077; 10.2014 (Wildwinds example) Agora Auctions Sale 101; Lot 284; 20.07.2021 Control Symbol Match (only): Soler y Llach Subasta 1127; Lot 505; 14.06.2022 Here are the die-matches I found: