seth77

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.

Deventer for the Bishops of Utrecht? The peck marks are clear, it certainly circulated in the Baltic area.

Similar to https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=4467867 ?

That's one big alley cat @lordmarcovan

11 minutes ago, Prieure de Sion said:

Yes... if the customer comes from Germany or EU - i must pay for my win a tax called "Differenzssteuer" of 19%. But i dont know before - when i place a coin - was the next buyer a customer inside EU or outside EU. As i said - the different was, that i have at Vcoins 99% customers outside EU and at MA-Shop 99% customers inside EU. So the "risk" for me, that a EU customer buy at MA-Shop was higher - and then i must calculate the 19% "Differenzsteuer" at my winning marge. 

 

 

And thats not true Klaus!

MA-Shop is a company based in Germany - and when you get the provision invoice - you get the provision amount plus the German 19% tax (Mehrwertsteuer)!
Netto Provision + 19% Tax = Brutto Provision. 

VCoins is a US Company and you get the invoice without adding 19% tax! So at Vcoins i pay only the provision without any adding taxes.
Netto Provision = Brutto Provision.

This is very evocative of the reasons why the EU is lagging behind the US in terms of business growth: it seems way easier to do business in the US than in the EU. And also cheaper.

3 minutes ago, Phil Anthos said:

Andre has always been pretty cool.

 

No doubt. He once sent me an order before I even paid and I had to actually do detective work and get the MA team involved to get the payment details and eventually pay the man.

Except for Andre Cichos, everyone else I have bought from charges more on MA than VC or eBay for the same material.

Great quality items. I wonder how did they end up at that particular museum, perhaps from a private collection?

The Messenian town of Thouria for Caracalla c. 198-202

AE23mm 4.63g copper-based alloy assarion
AV[...] ANTONINOC; laureate, draped, cuirassed bust r. seen from back
ΘΟΥΡΙ - [ΑΤΩΝ], Λ-Α; Tyche wearing mural crown standing left, phiale in right, cornucopia in left hand.
cf. BMC 7, BCD 833-834.6

Notes: Another Peloponnesos town with very similar coinage. The Λ-Α in fields could mean that at the time, the town was still a Lakedaimon dominion as it had been from the time of Augustus, when the emperor awarded it to Lakedaimon (Sparta) as punishment for Thourians siding with Marc Antony. The explanation stems from Pausanias (A Numismatic Commentary on Pausanias p. 65 - Pausanias IV, 31.1). The Tyche type seems to be minted for Severus, Domna, Caracalla and Geta Caesar -- as usual, at Thouria coinage is not known for Plautilla, implying a coining prior to 202.

Those of you who are familiar with my posts know by now that my main 'thing' is trying to date stuff. Imperial coins are usually dated quite fittingly tight, thanks to continuous minting, dated legends (COS TR P IMP etc) and a logical progression in effigy and Imperial names. With 'provincial' or 'Greek Imperial' coins often there is no such hint in the coin per se, but rather there is a more contextual approach and theories based on hoard finds and or correlations with Imperial types and/or Imperial effigy are sometimes used to put a ballpark period for the minting of a particular type, almost always in the case of emperors who had long and eventful reigns. There are of course dated 'provincials'/'Greek Imperials' - either by regnal year or different local or political eras (Pompeian, Actian...) - but they seem to be more of the exceptions than the rules. The most known such mints are also the ones that are prolific to the point that they have a steady output year after year - like Antioch in Syria or Caesarea in Cappadocia but also more centrally Viminacium and/or Dacia - almost in the same general manner of the mint at Rome. But most other cities and towns - like it was the case with my previous post about Orthosia - struck coins at particular times for either specific local needs or to ingratiate themselves to the Imperial figure and family when they came visiting. 

In the general case of the Balkan area - Moesia Inferior and Thracia - most researchers consider that coinage was struck, at least starting with the Severan period (but perhaps earlier too), usually for municipal council needs and expenditures, rather than day-to-day economic needs. That means usually municipal building campaigns, be they religious and or civil, or holiday celebrations and popular games. 

The other main reason is what interests me here: the Imperial presence. 


Caracalla AE29mm 14.75g minted at Serdica c. first half of 214 - with Hera seated right holding scepter and phiale, or is this iconography usually reserved for the Queen of the Gods meant here to also serve as a representation of the province of Thracia in a not-so-subtle try at religious and symbolic syncretism?

What would be the cause of an Imperial presence in a provincial town or city for that matter -- or actually even in a general area where a group of cities are located for a koinon? Generally it's a military campaign: the emperor moves towards the borders for war and travels a certain itinerary because he needs to both gather troops and perhaps establish new provincial representatives and set up logistics mechanisms for his campaign. On his way back from the front, there are the triumphs and the dedications and the games/celebrations in honor to the emperor by the local elite of a city. In such events the striking of coins might easily be simultaneous with the dedication of inscriptions honoring the emperor and his triumph locally. 

Caracalla started East in 213, soon after his Germanic triumph in Raetia. His itinerary is more or less known thanks to Cassius Dio, Herodian and the Historia Augusta, and they all more or less agree that he wintered 213-14 in Nicomedia, where he arrived around early December. Dio mentions that the Imperial entourage even took a detour to Troas before the new year. But instead of continuing eastwards, the emperor is again in Thracia in February 214, where he recruits Thracian and Illyrian soldiers - that is possibly also when he gets the idea of recruiting Greeks for a 'Macedonian phalanx' unit. Then he moves north to Dacia Porolisensis for other business -- it's worth noting that there was discontent and a possible revolt or at least raiding parties and the legate for the trium Daciae was in deep trouble after the death of Caracalla in 217. 

What is interesting numismatically is that at this point, probably before mid 214, Caracalla announces his explicit interest for an actual Eastern campaign in a very official Roman fashion as his 'profectio ad Orientem' complete with an 'adlocutio' in or near Serdica. This moment is distinctly marked on the coinage of Serdica, for the city mints with a distinctly Imperial iconography for the 'adventus/profectio':

Caracalla AE30mm 16.89g minted at Serdica in the spring-summer of 214, saluting the troops and the province

Thracian cities minted extensively for the later Severans, but Caracalla is favored at Serdica. This type, with emperor on horseback marching right and saluting (the army and the province too likely, see above for the connection with the seated Hera and the military effigy of Caracalla) was very likely minted while the Emperor either resided at Serdica or was in the general area of Serdica, marking also the time when he decided to both launch his 'expeditio felicissima orientalis' (the military campaign against the Parthians) and start his 'imitatio Alexandri'.

This makes the Serdica coinage of 214 a first rate historically important coinage.

Moderately small AE10mm 1.36g from Sestos c. 350-300BCE:


Herm facing
Σ - A; Amphora with two handles in between

This pleasing AE14mm 1.92g Abgar VIII of Edessa and Commodus that has almost full legends, not a common fixture with these:

7 hours ago, CPK said:

Thank you everyone! Lots of beautiful coins posted here! 🤩

I do all of my editing using GIMP - a free image editing program. Basically, I cut the coin out of the original photo and paste it onto a different background. I've not found a satisfactory way to do this automatically so it takes a bit of time carefully tracing around the edge, but it works for me. It takes a little time to get familiarized with using GIMP, but IMO it's worth it for those who don't want to spend $$$ on other programs like Photoshop.

I wonder if it wouldn't work easier getting rid of the original background with the likes of removebg and then pasting the new transparency image onto the new background? 

I considered the Archelaos too, but glad I did not pursue it. It makes way more sense with your collection.

Thank you for the honest thread. I clicked not expecting to see small coins and I wasn't disappointed.

And Nic Cage for good measure>