Ancient Coin Hunter

That's a nice Miliarense of Theodosius II.

Aeternitati AVG (Sol standing right, holding globe) - Gordian III, 238-244 A.D. Also, note the jugate busts of Probus and Sol on my avatar with the legend IMP C PROBVS INVIC PF AVG

Yes indeed. Your statement sounds like Carl Sagan.

Also did some gold panning in the Sierra foothills, found a bit. Also very interesting is the fact that gold is produced in supernovae and neutron stars, with the formation of heavy elements as a result of increasingly intense fusion of the gases. So all of the gold found on earth was seeded by dying stars and ended up eventually in protoplanetary nebulae that became solar systems throughout the universe.

I would guess that males heavily outnumber females, not sure why. In astronomy, my other hobby, it is similar. If you look at the membership of local astronomy clubs in the U.S. you will find aging, mostly white men. Even young folks are reticent to get involved in the hobby, partly due to the "instant gratification" of social networks. In the LA Times, there was an article about the lack of interest in the subject amongst younger folks, which was blamed on screen time and mobile phone proliferation. Some of the same factors may be impacting ancient coin collecting.

A silver piece that was consistent for a long time, but also not as well known as the follis or solidus. Therefore, I will share an example from my collection: Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus, with Romanus I and Christopher, 913-959. Miliaresion. Constantine was the fourth Emperor of the Macedonian dynasty reigning from 6 June 913 to 9 November 959. He was the son of Emperor Leo VI and his fourth wife, Zoe Karbonopsina, and the nephew of his predecessor Emperor Alexander. He was known as a scholar and the epithet "born in the purple" refers to his birthplace in the Imperial chamber adorned with the purple stone porphyry. Much of his reign was covered by regencies, first under his mother and later under Romanus I.(AR, 25 mm, 3.15 g, 12 h), Constantinople. IҺSЧS XRISTЧS ҺICA Cross potent set on three steps; below, globe. Rev. +ROmAҺO' / XPISTOFOR' / CЄ COҺSTAҺ' / ЄҺ X'ω ЄVSЄ/b' bASIL' R' in five lines. DOC 18. SB 1754. Please post your Miliaresions in this thread! And, Happy Father's Day from the Byzantine Empire.

Happy Father's day all. Here's a Gordian III, son of Gordian II and grandson of Gordian I. Gordian III Aeternitas featuring Sol, Rome mint, 4.67 grams

Any area of collecting ancients is worthwhile, there are many roads to travel...

Here's an Elpis.... Marcus as Caesar from Alexandria:Type: AE Drachm, 33mm, 22.95 grams of AlexandriaObverse: Bare headed and draped bust of Aurelius rightM AVPHLIOC KAICAPReverse: Elpis Standing left holding flower and hitching skirtLEND EKATOVReference: BMC 1238 listed as "rare" by R.A. Numismatics

Not a Roman coin but random pick... KUSHAN DYNASTYVima Kadphises, 95-127 AD.AE Tetradrachm, 28mm, 16.5g, 2h.Obv. BACIΛEΥC BACIΛEωN OOHMO MEΓAC OOHM KAΔΦICHC; Kadphises, standing facing, head left, sacrificing over altar to left and holding hand on hilt; to left, filleted trident behind, tamgha and club to right.Rev: Shiva with three heads standing facing, holding trident in raised right hand and resting lowered left hand on bull Nandi standing to right, behind; tamgha above to left.with kharoshthi legend maharaja rajadhiraja sarvaloga isvarasa mahesvarasa.Mitchner 3040

So sorry to hear @ValiantKnight- I lost my kitty Indy a couple of years back, probably to a coyote but we'll never know.

My financial advisor for a family of funds I own has been suggesting a crypto/blockchain position in their new ETF. I so far have avoided it. It's open to accredited investors who put in a minimum of $100k in an initial transaction. The idea is to spread risk by investing in crypto infrastructure firms rather than the currency itself. So far I have dragged my feet on the proposal which was represented as a ground floor opportunity. So I don't plan on investing in it.

I've been collecting ancient roman coins for a long time. I used to be in the "get a coin of every ruler and personage" club but since have focused on acquiring what pleases me and/or is rare or especially interesting, regardless of ruler. Coins of Roman Egypt and the 3rd century have been recent foci.

He tends to have a lot of stuff from Egypt and the Near East (being in UAE helps) and a lot of coins from Roman Egypt. Looks authentic but I'm no expert on carved bone relics.

Nobody has posted a Balbinus (e.g., the Gerber baby) sesterce, so here goes: Balbinus. AD 238.Æ Sestertius, 33mm, 22.9g, 12h; Rome mint. 1st emission. Obv.: IMP CAES D CAEL BALBINVS AVG; Laureate, draped, and cuirassed bust right. Rev.: CONCORDIA AVGG; Concordia seated left, holding patera and double cornucopia; S C in exergue. Reference: RIC IVb 22, p. 171.

Great coin Donna with a very nice patina. The reverse is highly interesting.

I was eleven and living in Hawaii at the time. I had been a voracious reader of ancient mythology and history since 3rd grade, even reading the encyclopedia entries about Greece, Rome, and Byzantium and had memorized all of the emperors so I could recite them sequentially, and many other books such as the Time-Life book on Imperial Rome. One day I went to the shopping mall with my parents and passed a coin shop. Mostly world coins and U.S. coins (the usual suspects) but there was a tray off to the side in a display case. There were a number of darkish bronze coins and some silver pieces. I stared at them and realized they were Roman coins. There was one shiny piece that I asked to look at. So the proprietor who was wearing an Aloha shirt and sandals grabbed the coin which was in a flip and handed it to me. It looked a bit crude as far as the lettering I thought, but I could make out "GORDIANVS". On the reverse was Mars wearing a helmet and toting a spear and round shield, marching to the right. The proprietor told me that it was minted to fund a war against Persia. How cool was that? He explained that this was the last time in history that the temple of Janus was opened. Hooked, I bought the coin for $30. I had a thriving lawn-mowing business so I usually earned around $50/week mowing lawns, so was a well-heeled 11-year old. When we moved to the SF Bay Area when I was 13 I kept up collecting under the guidance of Frank L. Kovacs, whom I used to visit in his office on Post Street in SF.

Auriga the charioteer is one of the bright winter constellations, somewhat creative verbage used by the author of the coin's description.

number 4 Trajan Decius? Something about the forehead.

Just to say after a week's membership this place is rockin'. Love it. Great content. An erudite membership, etc. Thanks @Restitutor What do you like about it so far, dear reader?

It's a denarius of Trajan. 🤑

Interesting piece @robinjojo- thanks for the share.

No second century republican denarii but here is a mosaic of gladiators from a villa in Germany.

I don't mind Frank's photos. And you can tell from his detailed descriptions that he comes from the mail order catalog days, when snail mail was the way to go. I suppose he could get an android or i-phone and spruce things up a bit. On the other end of the spectrum I really enjoy the photos Leu puts up for their online auctions.

Random coin for today...to add some spice - guess who this is and what denomination!