seth77

The veiled personification of the Boule of Hieropolis (not Hierapolis) of Phrygian Pentapolis:

I help people on facebook groups but I never post. I also frequent German, Italian and French forums, where I used to post, but now I seldom do, and when I do it's also to help with id. I used to do writeups on CT, but since the Ancient section of CT moved here I only do writeups here.

Caesarea Cappadocia is one of the great mints of the East with a steady output of coinage, at times larger than Rome itself.

Julia Paula 219

Elagabal 219-20

Alexander Caesar c. 221

Imperator Alexander Caesar c. 222

Why bother to blur the written name of the dealer if you keep the cover design and logo showing the name clearly.

🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳

Happy bday!

Not Orthosia and a rather far away city of Syria, neighboring Mesopotamia rather than the Phoenician coast:

Antoninus Pius, Hierapolis-Bambyce AE22 9.45g c. 150
... ΑΙΛ ΑΔΡ ΑΝΤω...; laureate head in truncation r.
ΘΕΑϹ ϹΥΡΙ / ΑϹ ΙΕΡΟΠΟ / Α inside laurel wreath
RPC IV 8545

... but a VERY similar style and flan type/size/weight. The letter font and the effigy are common to Laodicea ad Mare and Antioch c. 140-150, which makes it likely that the town of Orthosia relied on at least dies worked by Antiochene masters for its single-issue coinage. The coinage of Hierapolis-Bambyce at this time was also likely devised there, by possibly the same masters.

The Hierapolis-Bambyce coinage has markings for issues, similar to the S-C coinage of Antioch. This one is A and RPC only has 2 specs. But this is not a rare coinage, nor a particularly rare issue. The Thea Syrias legend is a dedication to Atargatis, the local main deity at Bambyce.

Semi-related, has anyone seen The Color out of Space with Nic Cage? 

Mallus, mid 3rd century (c. 250) pseudo-autonomous colonial coinage:

AE32mm 19.75g copper alloy multiple, minted at Mallus ca. 250
SACRA SINATVS; veiled and draped bust of the Senate (as a female), right
MALLO COLONIA; turreted and veiled Fortuna seated on rocks, left, holding ear of corn; on each side, Roman vexillum inscribed S and C; at her feet, two river gods (Pyramos) swimming in different directions
RPC IX 1437

21 specs in RPC but conspicuously missing from regular auction offerings.

7 minutes ago, ewomack said:

I have experienced this snobbery as well, but thankfully not very often. I usually dress comfortably at shows, which means my usual historical reproduction 1920s baseball cap (all wool and hand-stitched), jeans, a light coat, and a t-shirt from an off-the-beaten-path museum or tourist site I've visited in the past 5 years. In one of the coat pockets I usually have a wad of cash ready to spend. Purchased coins may sit in the other. The vast majority of dealers treat me just fine, but a small percentage (thankfully it's small), won't even look at me or say anything to me when I approach their booth. That makes it easy for me to take my wad of cash elsewhere. Though it likely doesn't happen, I secretly hope that they spot me buying from another dealer so they learn not to judge by appearances.

People judging like that are usually playing themselves, since they cannot really discern the fact that casual wear is not at all a marking of social class (if it ever was outside wannabe aristocratic circles and totalitarian societies). 

All three categories as presented seem like the good kind of dealer. I can add the stupid kind of dealer: the curmudgeon past his prime who treats potential buyers with superficial snobbery and might not even acknowledge you if you are wearing a tshirt or a sports cap. These were the norm in Europe in the 90s to 2000s and once internet started taking hold, they were the first to complain that coin collecting 'was dying'.

Here is the quadriga type of Antioch

The short answer is no, the long answer is hell no. 

I think this is worth some attention (at least mine) as it was very engaging to fully identify and of course date:

Hadrian, Parium, Mysia
AE17mm 4.07g, copper unit, struck c. 136-138
HADRIANV[S AVG] P P; bare-head of Hadrian, left
[C G I H P]; founder ploughing with two oxen, right
cf. RPC III 1542

RPC 1542 might have an error, lumping together two variations of the general type of Hadrian left / founding scene -- the regular obverse with Hadrian laureate and this one with Hadrain bare-headed (this coin is obverse die-match with RPC 1542 14 - the different bust types and engraving are obvious).

As for the dating of the type so late in Hadrian's reign despite showing the emperor effigy bare-headed there are some indications:

- the obverse legend is short, contains the title of Pater Patriae, and is certainly inspired by the late denarii of Hadrian

- the reverse ethnic of the minting city changes during Hadrian's reign, from CGIP to CGIHP, making this series obviously later

- the non-ethnic coinage showing Aelius and Sabina along with the obverse of Hadrian (RPC 1544 and 1545) also has the emperor bare-headed and with the short HADRIANVS AVG PP;

All these together indicate that this coinage was probably minted cf. Kluczek, Agata Aleksandra. 2023. “Hadrian, a Numismatic Lapse, And… Janus .” (Studia Ceranea. Journal of the Waldemar Ceran Research Centre for the History and Culture of the Mediterranean Area and South-East Europe 13: 1–22. https://doi.org/10.18778/2084-140X.13.24. pp. 9-11):

-- after 124/5 when Parium became  C[olonia] G[emella] I[ulia] H[adriana] P[ariana] as a result of Hadrian's stay in the city

-- after 128, when Hadrian receives the title Pater Patriae

-- and finally probably around late 136 to 138 if we accept the contemporaneity with the non-ethnic coinage showing Aelius Caesar as heir designated.

Possibly double die-match also here.

I bet kids nowadays wouldnt know how to use one of these.

A lot of wabi sabi in this thread

Offered as unknown Peloponnesian town:

IULIA DOMNA (193-217)
AE21mm 3.36g orichalcum (brass) assarion c. 202-5
[ΙΟΥΛI]A Δ - ΟΜΝΑ ...; draped bust r.
Φ[IAΛ - E]ΩΝ; Athena wearing Corinthian helmet standing left, right extended holding phiale/patera, spear in left
cf. BCD Peloponnesos 1653

It is a Phigalia coin from Arcadia, one of the more common towns in the Peloponnesus. 

Obverse die-match here. Another obverse die-match from Colonae in Messenia here. And from Cyparissa here. Further hints that the coins for multiple possibly all Pelopponesus towns c. 202-5 were products of the same workshop(s). 

Bought it blindly, hoping I would end up with a new Peloponnesian town.

1 minute ago, JeandAcre said:

Thanks, @seth77.  It was from French ebay; I can't even remember how complete the attribution was.  Regardless, it was mostly luck.

Yes, i remember French ebay, it brought much joy to me too.

20 hours ago, JeandAcre said:

That's an inspired adaptation of a fantastic coin.

I haven't evolved to doing anything along these lines, but the Chinonais /Bleso-Chartrain profiles of feudal France invite comparison both to Celtic and Picasso. 

Berry.  Lordship of Celles.  Robert I, 1178-1189.

Rev. +ROB[' D]E CELE.  Duplessy 611.

 

 

 

 

Excellent spec.

I did not have the time to follow this auction but I still got something worthy from it.

Slowly and patiently offering the time they deserve to coins that were likely overlooked by others:

ALEXANDER AE29mm 11.82g copper-based alloy multiple denomination, struck c. 231 (ΕΤ ΘΜϹ = 249 of local era)
ΑΥΤ Κ ΜA ΑΥ ϹΕ ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΟϹ ϹΕΒ; laureate, draped and cuirassed bust of Severus Alexander, right, seen from front.
ΑΝΑΖΑΡ[ΒΟΥ] ΜΗΤΡΟΠΟ / ΕΤ / ΘΜ/Ϲ [Β Γ]; Nike standing on globe, left, holding wreath and trophy.
RPC VI 7388

Between 229-231 the mint of Anazarbus strikes a large number of AE coinage, very likely in anticipation of Severus Alexander's eastern campaign against Ardashir. This type might refer to a Roman victorious campaign as it was just beginning, struck possibly as Alexander was in the city or in its vicinity: he departed Rome very early in the spring of 231 and was in Antioch that summer. His presence at Anazarbus for local games (the coinage also attests these games, possibly given by the local elite in honor of the emperor) is certainly possible and the vast monetary output, employing different types and denominations, could suggest a special occasion such as the Imperial presence in the city.

Anazarbus more generally has possibly 3 general periods of striking for Alexander:
1. for him as Caesar and during his early rule
2. briefly c. 223-4
3. heavily 229-31 involving Imperial victory, local celebrations and local games.

The coinage for Severus Alexander at Anazarbus ends before the local year 249 (230-1) ends and it is not resumed in 232 after the campaign, raising the distinct possibility that the city was visited by the Emperor prior to the actual military conflict and not during the Emperor's return to the West.

2 hours ago, lordmarcovan said:

I don’t pay enough attention to shipping details, but my feeling is that as long as all the terms and costs are clearly described up front for me to base my decisions on (i.e., factor into the cost of the coin), then it’s up to the seller what they want to charge.  I can either accept that, or walk away and shop somewhere else.  

(I do agree, however, that it is shady for a seller to charge a high price for a basic, slow service and not be transparent about it.)

Here is my most recent purchase, from Ritter via MA-Shops.

Shipped from Germany to USA for $21.40 USD.  As I recall, it was shipped via UPS.  It arrived quickly, within 2 or 3 days.  Regular post for $20+ would seem a bit high to me, but for 2-3 day transatlantic shipping it seems pretty reasonable.  (Whether the price I paid for the coin itself seems reasonable to you is an entirely different question.)

 

I also think that's top value for the money.

While I am doing separate threads with writeups for 20EUR coins, people add here Marc Antony denarii and Trajanus+Nerva aureus like it is nothing 😅🧛‍♂️

Getting ithy is fine, it's getting itchy that's kinda f-d up.

This Lysimachos from Lysimacheia or a Western Black Sea mint (Kallatis?):


AE16mm 2.68g copper unit, minted at Lysimacheia/Callatis(?) c. 286-281BCE
Head of Lysimachos as Herakles right, wearing lion skin
BAΣI / ΛYΣI; legend within grain-ear wreath.
SNG Copenhagen 1168-9; Müller 15, pl.II-14.

Mueller (Den thraciske Konge Lysimachus's Mynter p. 17) assigns this type (15) to a mint in the Thracian Chersonesos to a period after Lysimach's conquest of Macedonia in 286BC. On the basis of design similarities with Lysimacheia 'civic' coins it is possible that the type was struck at Lysimacheia.

An alternative mint for some of this type is Kallatis, likely on the account of the similarities with the silver coinage of Kallatis from the late 4th century to 3rd century BC. Similar here, here and here attributed to Kallatis.

Could also be a type struck by more than one mint.

I bought some books from them before Brexit. They shipped from UK.