seth77

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

The Valentinians and the Theodosians make a very generous numismatic theme, but I am going to add just some stuff that hasnt been already added: Gratian for his quindecennalia c. 380-2 Valentinian II for his decennalia c. 383-5, from Alexandria, struck with a die made by a guy who was quasi latilliterate. Theodosius II c. 425-35 from a unrecorded issue of Nicomedia lacking any officina mark: Valentinian III from Cyzicus c. 425-35, but likely 425 for the elevation of Val. III as Augustus in the West under Eastern auspices:

It could've been worse: I was called names on a Facebook group some time ago for identifying a person's coin as something else than his pipe dream. Being taken for granted is not cool, but being insulted and verbally abused by illiterate would-be scammers testing the water is a few steps lower on the ladder to the bottomless pit of insanity that social media often can be.

Had the biggest crush on FF 😍 (the coins are not bad either).

Is that a shadowy dot there, that is what you mean? If Rome mint, the dot is probably an optical illusion, since Rome did not use this marking system.

It seems like the hairstyle is not really helpful for a chronology of Etruscilla coinage at Antioch, unlike in the case of the coinage for Faustina. And by recycling older types and copying the current coinage of Rome, Antioch seems to not have had an individual and coherent Imperial coinage. At the same time the city was also minting the S-C D-E Greek Imperial coinage: the billon tetradrachms and AEs.

These coins of Herennia Etruscilla from Antioch are mentioned briefly in RIC IV-3, for both regimes of Traianus Decius and Trebonianus Gallus. There is not much detail on how to separate the coins minted under Decius from those minted under Gallus, so perhaps this post might help a bit in this problem: AR24mm 5.03g antoninianus minted at Antioch ca. mid 251 to later. HER ETRVSCILLA AVG; draped bust right, wearing stephane, set on crescent; hairstyle arranged vertically PVDICITIA AVG, Pudicitia seated left, drawing veil from face and holding transverse scepter. Dot in exergue cf. RIC IV-3 65a (Antioch) At a certain point, probably around 250, the Imperial mint at Antioch starts marking the officinae involved in the production of silver-billon antoninianii. There are two types of markings recorded -- either by Roman numerals or dots, but both usually positioned on the obverse under the bust during that last part of the reign of Decius. This specimen has a dot on the reverse in the exergue, a highly unusual position for an officina marking on Decian coinage. The marking in the exergue on the reverse would become more prominent during the reigns of Trebonianus Gallus and Volusian (in 252?) -- which indicates that this 'experimental' issue for Etruscilla is at the very least very late in the reign of Decius, possibly past mid 251 (so after the death of Decius), since Gallus did not discontinue the coinage minted for neither Etruscilla nor Hostilian at Antioch (see RIC IV-3 pp.113-119 pp. 155-6). In the case of Etruscilla the coinage might have continued for the rest of the year, even if in small quantities. RIC has all Etruscilla coinage under Decius (including the coins struck after mid 251) and even so the type is quoted as R(are) -- certainly not rare anymore, but not very common either. A similar die, with what looks like at least one dot in the exergue was used for a rare coinage for Volusian at Antioch (RIC 233b), dated late 252 to mid 253. So if one wanted to separate the coinage for Etruscilla minted at Antioch under Decius (perhaps late 250/early 251 to mid 251) from the continuation of the same coinage under the new regime of Trebonianus Gallus (later in 251 to very early 252?), looking for the position of officina markings might be a good starting point.

I think that's Aemilian AN XIV

Man, I wish they added this leap day to like June or July rather than boring and frigid February.

Tbh I was kind of expecting to see here one of the Hostilians PROVINCIA DACIA that I have seen from Savoca in their Blue weekly auctions.

I have actually noticed different these last few months. In fact Jerusalem/Aelia Capitolina is one of the cities I meant that I see getting high prices regardless of emperor or condition in the auctions I follow. Mints from Judaea, Samaria, the Decapolis etc. seem to be more available now than last summer for instance.

The 18th... century? 🤔

In my case, there are more markets that act completely independent from each other. 1. In the medieval market things went to a standstill for me as early as 2022 or thereabouts. Things that I would like to add in this field are at this point unreachable, not on account of price but mostly of rarity. 2. In the Palaiologan market 2023 was probably the best year for scarce and interesting trachea types, mostly very affordable. My top 2023 post was dedicated to these coins. The overall look of these coins and the difficulty in making attributions if you are not familiar with the types and features of these issues mean that most get offered with minimal or even no attribution at all and most of the time individual research really pays off. 3. In the Greek Imperial market there is great polarization: types and towns that command very high prices in ANY condition and towns and types that are really slept on despite the objective interest, be it mythological or historical. But even in the high-price areas good deals are to be had as much as it was before, especially in the unattributed areas. 4. In the Late Roman market I have been noticing a rise in prices for very common but very high grade material in the last 5 years. The trend has been steadily building and now I add the best-looking common 4th century coins in my watchlist just to see how high would they rise once the auction starts. At the same time, decent condition material continues to be very affordable even for scarce types and under-attributed material where rarities might dwell is readily available at any time. 5. The last 2-3 years I used the weekend auctions on biddr not just as means to follow certain interests but also as a relaxation venue. That means I would have my beers while following the live auctions and decide ad hoc to bid on things that I had previously not researched, if 'cheap'. It was part of a frame of mind everybody here knows too well: the 'let's add stuff to make the shipping fee worth it' approach. This has brought very interesting results but mostly just regular stuff that does not spark joy. How many F to VF- maiorinae from the second half of the 4th century does one need before they become uninteresting? All-in-all I stand by my observations from 2020/1 onward: what I am after did not jump in prices at all after the covid debacle. In fact it kept mostly in the same nominal ballpark price-wise, which in the situation of high inflation means an actual decrease in price. Regular groceries are up 80-90%, energy bills around 30-50% higher, but when it comes to coins, 100EUR can still command the same good value and interest (if not more) in all categories listed (with the exception of medieval) as in 2020. At least for me. Some latest swell bargains, none posted before: