seth77

Were you following this?

The ΔΕ (with or w/o SC) base metal coinage is known mostly from Antioch. Here is one from Laodicea ad Mare: It's a Latin coinage, Laodicea had been minting Latin language currency since the reign of Septimius Severus, who conferred it the status of Latin colonia and metropolis. It is also of the same general specs as the small denomination ΔΕ / SC inside wreath minted at Antioch. It's also a very interesting reverse which can be interpreted either : 1. at face value - as Heracles and Dionysus standing nude wrestling with each other, with each of their attributes - the club and the thyrsus behind them 2. symbolic -- the athletae facing in a traditional wrestling contest, reenacting the wrestle between the 2 gods for a prize It's possible that this coinage was struck periodically on certain local or regional sporting events involving (also) Greco-Roman martial arts. From the Dictionary of Roman coins: This was a rather unexpected win.

Possibly weights from Roman scales?

Pamphylia is under-represented in my 'provincials' but here is one that I like a lot: Artemis Pergaia cult statue inside distyle temple from the time when coinage turned from late Hellenistic period to early Imperial c. 50-30BC.

I used to gamble when I was young but I always went for the safer bets, like Blackjack and crapshoot.

Exceptional result

I steer clear from these because I am afraid of the damage they might suffer en route but wow, what an extraordinary coin.

This would likely be a very interesting package deal: all 4 coins from this purchase with the full paperwork - envelope and invoice/receipt exactly as they were purchased in 1969.

When the central theme of the coin is decently preserved, even these awkward coins command some premium. Here the LE III P on the reverse is highlighted by the earthen filling and can be easily read. As a consequence, the hammer price on it was 240EUR:

Those auctions are great and I follow them regularly, but it's very easy to lose perspective and end up in bidding wars for something that you wouldn't have expected to see in that particular venue. I have noticed strong prices in everything that is not characteristic for their auctions whenever it appears there - Spanish provincial, 3rd-4th century Western mints, even French feudal (in the very rare instances when they have such material in auction).

Oh man it was you who bought that one...

Just a suggestion, if your dad kept old paperwork that came with buying the coin, you could also add pics of those old tags/receipts to the thread. It would be interesting to see the amount paid for the coins in the 60s for instance.

Great silvering still present.

I'm actually very glad you showed it here @Marsyas Mike. That's a coin that I'd very much like to add myself as the final stage of the local mint operation.

That is a pretty amazing coin. For starters, Decius seems to have minted the most at Rhesaena in it's c. 45 years of colonial coinage. But your coin has Etruscus as Augustus, which is from May 251 until Abrittus that summer when both Augusti fell in battle. The fact that the short period at the end of the reign of Decius is so well represented and the large number of emissions noted in RPC under Decius could mean that the mint struck continuously during these 2 years and not just then and there as it had happened at the beginning. And while the reverse does focus on the foundation of the town by Severus in 197, its original purpose as a military base is recorded in the reverse legend -- L III P is Legion III Parthica.

I think the most eastern mints known to have minted for the Roman Empire were Singara and Nisibis. Although there are some distinctly Mesopotamian minimi that sometime pop up at biddr auctions, sometimes lumped together with the small Carrhae coins, but that I am not sure are actually from Carrhae and not somewhere else in the neighborhood.

Mine was a grand total of 2EUR, probably best spent 2EUR in the history of people spending 2EUR on things. Also, I think there was a mixup: the bull was on the vexilla of LIII Gallica, LIII Parthica Severiana had the centaur as its symbol. This is why the centaur archer is on the reverse of the coins of Elagabal.

Glad you liked it. I also ended up seeing these weirdos when looking for Mesopotamian mints that struck for Alexander as Caesar. And while the coinage for Caracalla can be seen in better shape, the absurd pike-holding Elagabal is one of the mid to better specs for the type.

Rhesaena gains importance as the garrison of the Legio III Parthica Severiana, after c. 197, when Severus annexed Mesopotamia. Coinage here starts very likely around 215, in anticipation of Caracalla's eastern campaign. The base metal is a rather distinct coinage, that looks like war money from the start and is dedicated to the Legio: Caracalla AE18mm 5.32g orichalcum(?) unit, c. 215-17 [...] ANTW - NINOC; laureate head right, supported by eagle with spread wings [L]EG - III / P - S (reverse); in center field vexillum with Δ on banner But then under Elagabal, things really get weird: Elagabal AE23mm 6.19g copper unit, c. 218-222 [...] laureate, draped an cuirassed bust right seen from back, holding boar-hunting spear(?) Right field: Sagittarius running right, about to shoot arrow; left field: veiled Tyche(?) wearing polos; in the background center: two military standards This type in a few variations is present in RPC VI 7899-7904 (temporary), although with some errors -- most visibly the bust type that seems to be generally seen from the back and certainly always cuirassed beneath the drapery. There is an old study on these from K.O. Castelin - The coinage of Rhesaena in Mesopotamia from 1946, but it seems rather dated so I am not going to reference it as a catalog. It is still an interesting read for the background of the town itself, it's similarity to its more famous sibling of Dura-Europos and its connection to the copper mines of Arghana Maden, which probably provided the metal for Rhesaena's coins including these two specs. But the most interesting stuff here is the oversized 'boar spear' that Elagabal seems to be holding, that looks nothing at all like any Roman weapon but rather some pike from fantasy LARPing.

In the OP I mentioned the fact that the client king had limited sovereignty, with full autonomy in internal politics but owed allegiance to Rome externally. He also had coining rights outside Commagene and his coinage follows the Roman coinage in Syria in style and metrics. One of the mints that struck these 'Syrian' coins was Anemurium in Cilicia Trachaea, an area completely separated from Commagene, a town that was given to Antiochus in 38 by Caligula. The coins minted here for Antiochus are very 'Hellenistic' in appearance and rather scarce, so I'm really glad I could win one: AE26mm 11.69g orichalcum dupondius(?) minted ca. 48-9. ΒΑΣΙΛΕΥΣ·ΜΕΓΑΣ·ΑΝΤΙΟΧΟΣ ΕΠΙΦΑΝΗΣ; diademed and draped bust of Antiochos IV, r. ΑΝ[ΕΜΟΥΡΙΕΩΝ] - [L ΙΒ] (in field); Artemis standing, right, with bow, and drawing arrow from quiver. RPC I 3705; The local coinage of Anemurium starts with these issues for the Roman client king of Commagene, who received the town together with other territories in Cilicia Trachaea and Lycaonia. 'Antiochus received territory in Cilicia Tracheia and Lycaonia, separated from Commagene by Cilicia Pedias. Dio (59.8.2) tells us that he was given [....] and his rule seems to have extended along the coast from Elaeussa to the border of Pamphylia; he minted coins for Anemurium, Celenderis, Corycus, Sebaste and Selinus. His possessions in the interior of Cilicia Tracheia cannot be determined.' (A..A. Barrett - Sohaemus, King of Emesa and Sophene, The American Journal of Philology, Vol. 98, No. 2 (Summer, 1977), pp. 153-159 (7 pages) p. 157). It's interesting for a client king to be given territories outside his nominal kingdom, but Antiochus was not a singular case, as remarked by A.A. Barrett with Sohaemus and others (pp. 157-8). This coinage was struck on beveled flans, similar to the early coinage of Samosata in Commagene proper, possibly as part of an operation by mint-masters from Antioch.

Hey, I dont look like that.

At least a very awkward obverse-reverse pairing: that Constantine II obverse with the Concordia reverse reminds me of that Diocletian post-reform follis paired with a Jovian AE1 reverse, which is possibly also a product of this 'workshop'.

Archon Tetronianus for Severus Alexander likely during Alexander's campaign in the East, c. 231: AE32mm 15.75g brass (orichalcum) multiple assaria Μ ΑΥΡ ⳞΕΥΗ ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΟⳞ ΑΥΓ; laureate, draped and cuirassed bust of Severus Alexander, l., seen from rear, holding spear pointing forward and shield [ΕΠΙ ΤΕΤΡΩΝΙΑΝ] - ΟΥ ΔΟΡΥΛΑΕΩΝ; Cybele seated on throne between two lions, l., holding patera and leaning elbow on tympanum. A combination of two known types: RPC VI 5722 for obverse and 5720 for reverse. As far as I know, this coinage is the only mention of a local archon for Dorylaeum, which was basically at this time a town of secondary importance, derived by its positioning on the land route between the East and the Balkans.

Tomis, c. 200 for Geta Caesar: This is a great post @kirispupis, it instantly reminded me of this little coin with some pretty neat grapes and vine.

Since medievals are also permitted, here are two very interesting 'oboles' from Raoul de Clermont-Nesle as acting Viscount of Chateaudun: 1285/6 1290