robinjojo

Brunswick-Luneburg-Celle, 1662-LW, 2 thalers. Dav-LS174 57.5 grams

I really don't follow Judean coinage, but I have noticed large numbers of bronze coins available through sellers such as Zurquieh. According to Forum Ancients the First Revolt bronze coins started flooding the market last year, bringing down prices for them. That trend seems to be carrying over this year. Could it be that Israeli sellers/middlemen are using other sellers outside the country to market these coins? As with the origins of other hoard coins the process of these coins entering the market is very opaque to the outside collector.

"It occurred to me that there have always been selkie women: women who did not seem to belong to this world, because they did not fit into prevailing notions of what women were supposed to be. And if you did not fit into those notions, in some sense you weren't a woman. Weren't even quite human. The magical animal woman is, or can be, a metaphor for those sorts of women." Theodora And her husband: Justinian I, follis, Antioch, officina Γ, year 13 (539/40 AD). Sear 218 22.7 grams

I think that the war in the Middle East has caused some significant disruption in the flow of coins to the market from Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, Egypt and Israel. In the past Israel has been an important transit point for hoard coins flowing in from the surrounding countries. I base the observation on the groups that have been presented to me in the past. The two sources for these coins are gone and I don't know if there are others out there. The closest to that kind of source is the UAE seller, Zurquieh. The flow of ancients continues with him, apparently, but where they are coming from is, I am sure, a well guarded secret. On the Greek side I have noticed a pronounced drop in the number of pharaonic owls on offer, compared to 2022. There are still a number of Tigranes II tetradrachms appearing from what must have been a very large hoard that emerged in 2023. Also, the bronze prutahs of the First Revolt and other Judaic coins remain plentiful on Zurquieh's webpage, As far as I can determine, nothing is coming out of Israel since the war began, so how or even if coin hoards from this strife-ridden region enter the supply stream is unknown to me, and really, in perspective, this is a very minor issue compared to the scope of the ongoing tragedy unfolding before us.

The latest hammer struck silver rider that I have is dated 1673. I'm not sure how much further they were struck this way before being replaced by a press. I know that the silver riders recovered from the wreck of the ship "De Liefde" (Shetland Islands, 1711) are all machine struck, so the transition was clearly occurring at the time. Holland, silver rider, 1673, 3 over 2 (scarcer overdate). Davenport 4933 32.51 grams

This coin does have rough surfaces, but the reverse portrait of Isi is rather nice. Domitian, Alexandria, AE diobol, year 3 (83/4 AD). RPC 2490 7.40 grams

You're welcome. The KM # for your coin is 32.

While considered desirable, a full crest is by no means the determining factor in judging the qualities of a particular coin. Since the crest is much more often than not partially or nearly completely missing, the artistry of the portrait and owl are important, and for your coin they are very nice.

Nice coin! You're correct about the attribution to Lima, with a blurry by mostly legible "L" in the lower right corner of the "tic tac toe" layout. The assayer is "H" for Francisco Hurtado. As for the date, there is a clear "7" and 1", followed by an incomplete number which is likely a "0". Sedwick, in his cob reference, has two date ranges for this assayer: 1701-05 and 1710, so 1710 for your coin it is. Your coin has been salvaged, but the corrosion is minimal making this a very desirable coin. Congrats! I don't have a 1710 dated cob for this mint. Here's an 8 reales of 1704, assayer H, purchased from Freeman Craig back in the mid 1980s. Lima, 8 reales, 1704 H. KM 34 26.9 grams

That's a lovely coin, perfect as a type coin!

I watched that podcast with great interest, especially the section on Athenian owls. The dating put forth by Harlan Berk basically is in line with the current consensus. The main issue in the past has been when to start the date of the first owl. Berk's year of 520 BC is a bit earlier than 510 BC. For the archaic owls, other scholars such as Seltman based dating on historical and artistic style factors, but I am not sure what approach Berk used, at least based on the podcast. Coin #11 is a very odd one, the "discovery coin". The pairing of an apparent Starr group II reverse die with a later obverse die, possibly a group IV is very unusual. Could this be a case where an old reverse die was reused by the mint for some reason, but on a very limited basis, perhaps even as a one-off? For another perspective on the dating of the archaic owls, here's a link to Roberto Delzanno's YouTube video, part two of his series:

Call them silver riders, or ducatons or ducatones or ducatoons, these massive silver crowns produced by the various Dutch mints from 1659 to the 1790s are very impressive coins not only for their size, but also for their place in history. Since concentrating on ancient coins for the past few years, I have not acquired these and other world crowns on an ongoing basis, but these two recent arrivals are the exception. A word about these coins. When production began in 1659 these coins were hammer struck, and remained so for many years. It really wasn't until the 18th century that machine produced "milled" silver riders were produced by the mints, and that was a slow introduction. The two coins that recently arrived are hammer struck examples. As hammer struck coins they exhibit the typical results of this minting process, similar to the Spanish coins of the period and indeed the coins of antiquity. Strike quality can vary widely, with centering and weak areas being normal quality issues with these coins. The hammer struck silver riders have a charm all their own. Each example has its own character, something generally lacking with machine produced coinage. These early silver riders are by no means coins produced with aesthetically or artistically produced dies. These coins, after all, were produced to promote commerce and make the Netherlands a dominant economic, political and colonial player on the world stage in the 17'th and much of the 18'th centuries. As with the Athenian owls, speed of production was the rule of the day. This rule also applied to the lion daalders and silver ducats produced during this period. The first coin demonstrates the variable detail that often is the result of hammer striking. Netherlands, Gelders, silver rider, 1666. Davenport 4923 32.35 grams This coin, which measures 44 mm at the widest point, is well centered, but with obvious weak areas, in addition to a couple of flan flaws on the obverse. The flan also has two clipped sides, also quite typical for these large coins. It seems that the flans were cut from a thick strip of sliver before being annealed and struck. Another possibility for these flat edges is weight adjusting at the mint to bring the coins within the acceptable weight range. There's the other coin. Netherlands, West Friesland, silver rider, 1660. Davenport 4939 32.53 grams For a hammered coin, this example is quite remarkable for overall detail and flan quality. This coin is about 46 mm at the widest point. It could be a salvaged coin, but regardless, the weight, strike and excellent preservation make it a standout for this type. Here are two more silver riders, dated 1734, both from the Vliegenthart salvage. These are machine produced coins. Netherlands, Gelders, Two silver riders salvaged from the Vliegenthart (1735). Davenport 1824 32.6 grams left and 32.5 grams right. So, please feel free to share you silver riders, lion daalders, hammer struck coins or any thing else! Thanks

Very nice purchases! The seated folles of Justinian I are scarce compared to his portrait types. Here's a dirhem of Badr al Din Lu'lu that came out of Roma E-Sale 116, lot 1603. This was a former coin sold by Steve Album back in 2013, Auction 17. I'm using the Roma photo - I'll take my own soon, I hope. For a few years now I've focused on the Islamic portraiture coinage. I find the combination of Islamic and western influences, as well as the symbolisms, fascinating. Lu'lu'ids, Badr al-Din Lu'lu Æ Dirham. al-Mawsil mint, AH 631 = AD 1233/4. Diademed head to left; star below chin, all within square border; mint and date in margins / Legend citing the Abbasid Caliph al-Mustansir, Lu'lu, and the Ayyubid overlords al-Kamil and al-Ashraf in four lines and around. Album 1874.1; S&S Type 68. 8.14g, 24mm, 3h.

Yes, overstriking was a very useful expedient measure for emperors of the 6th century and beyond to employ. It was both economical and, as mentioned, supplants in one or two hammer strikes, the emperor of the day over previous emperors, because, after all, in the business of being a Byzantine emperor, the more publicity, especially in the form of coinage, the better. I do not have a Heraclius overstrike/countermark follis of Sicily, but instead a follis of Cyzicus, struck over a follis of Anastasias. Heraclius, follis, Cyzicus, officina A, RY 3 (612/3AD). Overstrike on an Anastasius follis of Constantinople. Sear 839 12.39 grams

I hope you feel better soon, Donna. It seems that covid is now the new flu, a seasonal bug that will require an annual injection, especially for older folks and geezers like me.

Link: Canopus of Osiris Antoninus Pius (138-161), Egypt, Alexandria. BI tetradrachm, year 2 (AD 138/9). Bareheaded, draped and cuirassed bust right/ Canopus of Osiris right.; ЄTO VC B (date) around. Emmett 1373

Here are four coins purchased at the recent coin show in San Jose. The group consists of three Sasanian drachms of Kurshow II (very common), and a nice follis of Tiberius II Constantine. The follis came from Kenneth W. Dorney. I am still doing some research on the Kurshow II drachms (mint, date, etc.). The Tiberius II Constantine follis is RY 6 (580/1 AD), Constantinople, officina A. The coin weighs 14.73 grams.

I'm inclined to agree that the pits on both sides of the coin are caused by corrosion. I have seen this condition innumerable times in the past, and they are associated with horn silver. My guess is that the coin came out of a hoard dark and encrusted. It was aggressively cleaned which led to the exposure of the pits. Some of the horn silver is still present and if they were removed there would be more pits. Another feature of the OP coin is that the reverse, the side that would receive the force of the hammer die, is clearly concave. Coins that are cast tend to be basically flat on both sides in my experience.

Nice coin! The reverse looks as if it was struck with a worn die.

Here's another Alexandrian Roman provincial BI tetradrachm, part of my piecemeal effort collecting this extensive series. This somewhat rough coin came from the UAE, which many of you probably know just based on the country of origin. He has some pretty decent buys from time to time. Nero with Tiberius, 54-68 AD, BI tetradrachm, Alexandria, Year 13 = 66/7. RPC I 5295 12.98 grams This is the second coin of this type that I own. I purchased it mainly because of the different style portrait of Nero. Here's the other coin: 12.54 grams

Thank you! I often confuse Heraclius with Constans II, based on the portraiture, alone and not really looking at other details. I suspected that the year is 24 and not 14, but I couldn't make out the top "X" until you pointed it out. As for the cleaning, I took a very cautious approach. Examining the coin, I concluded that the surfaces below the "sand" patina are dark and rough, especially on the obverse. So I simply put the coin in a distilled water bath for about 30 minutes and, using a toothpick, gently removed some of the loose deposits. That was followed with a brushing with a cotton swab. So, the results are slightly better, but most of the sand patina is still intact. Heraclius, follis, Constantinople, RY 24, officina Γ. MIB 164b 6.29 grams

Trier is a wonderful, picturesque city to visit, with solid Roman roots. I was there in 1987 and loaded up on German wine. Since I was traveling only with a carryon bag, the trip back to the US with an overloaded bag full of wine bottles was an adventure. I did crazy things like that back then. Now I do different crazy things. This is my only Roman coin from that city: Postumus, double sestertius, Treveri, 260-69 AD. LAETITA reverse. RIC 143 33mm, 27.97 grams

Thanks. I might, possibly cleaning the high points and trying to preserve the patina in the fields?

Here's a rough Arab-Byzantine fals, which I am still researching. This coin is the "standing emperor" type, but instead of the usual globus cruciger held by the emperor's left hand, there is instead a bird, presumably a hawk. The bird is a little hard to see, but its outlines are apparent. The reverse has a small crescent below the M. Arab-Byzantine, AE fals, Imitating Constans II, late 7th century AD. 3.40 grams

Here's a coin that arrived recently, a Constans II follis with what seems to be authentic "sand" patina. As far as I can determine, the regnal year on the reverse is 14, but I have been able to locate another coin of this type with that RY. The "X" of the date is somewhat weak, but the outline seems pretty clear. Does anyone have another example? Thanks Constans II, follis, Constantinople, RY 14, officina Γ. 6.29 grams