Ancient Coin Hunter

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!

Great coin Donna and I wonder if the situla represented contained holy water distributed from the coin operated vending machines created by Hero of Alexandria that poured out a specific measure of holy water upon insertion of a coin. (World's first vending machine!) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hero_of_Alexandria

Very interesting piece and certainly not common. Do we know if an antoninianus was worth 8 sestertii at this time?

Welcome to the new hangout. Sounds like a great trip.

Randomly...here's an item Volusian (251-253 A.D.)AE Sestertius, 29 mm 16 grams, Rome mintObverse: IMP CAE C VIB VOLVSIANO AVG, laureate, draped and cuirassed bust rightReverse: FELICITAS PVBLICA S-C, Felicitas standing left, leaning on column, holding caduceus and sceptre.Reference:RIC 251a, Cohen 35, Sear 9786.

Hi and Welcome...

I watched a documentary on the Celts of England last night. Specifically it focused on the Iceni (under Boudicca) and Demetae, who lived in southwestern England but remained outside of Roman rule until Titus' time when the region was pacified. There were a number of hill forts with encircling stone and earthen walls of 4 to 5 meters in height. A chief or petty king's burial was located at the top of one of these hills with grave goods including an iron sword and a ceremonial chariot. Pretty interesting.

Here's the image of the Lucilla sestertius. She was eventually killed by the order of Commodus. Lucilla Augusta, AD 164-169.Æ sestertius, 30mm, 24g, 6h. Rome mint.Obverse: LVCILLA AVG ANTONINI AVG F; Draped bust right.Reverse: IVNONI LVCINAE; Juno seated left, holding infant and flower // SCReference: RIC 1747.

I have a juno type of lucilla, wife of Lucius verus and famed because of gladiator. Since I am on my phone I will be post the image tomorrow.

Hello Alwin and glad you could join....

I just wanted to add a comment about the design. Clean, simple, and elegant. A true masterpiece on the web.

Great! I'd also like to suggest a donate feature, in addition to a monthly subscription option. Looking forward to participating for a long time.

Very difficult choice. Probably my most interesting coin from an architectural, religious, and historical perspective currently is this one. It was quite reasonably priced. I once saw a documentary on the Discovery channel about the city of Zeugma, which is situated on the Euphrates just inside the Turkish border. The archaeological finds from the town have been spectacular including legionary armor and a roll list of the legion stationed there (IVth Scythica). As a major prize, it was sacked by the Persians in 256 during the time of Valerian and Gallienus and completely destroyed. The Capricorn was the symbol of Legion IV Scythica, so is depicted on the coinage. COMMAGENE, Zeugma.Philip I the Arab or Philip II. 247-249 AD.Æ31, 19.2g; 6hEx: JAZ NumismaticsObv.: AYTOK K M IOYΛI ФIΛIΠΠOC CЄB; Laureate, draped, and cuirassed bust right.Rev.: ZЄYGM-ATЄΩN; Peribolos containing grove of trees, seen in perspective; tetrastyle temple in distance, draped figure within (Zeus?); in exergue, capricorn to right.Reference: Butcher 31c; BMC 35.

As a many times traveler to Egypt I would say the best source to see what Egyptians of the Roman period looked like are the painted funeral masks of the fayyum and antinopolis. A wide variety of racial influences are apparent, even though it is assumed that only the well to do could afford embalming.

I forgot about the "Greek" part. The folks in the East, and even the die engravers in Rome (Greek slaves/artisans) spoke koine Greek and wrote in Greek if they were literate. Latin and the Roman alphabet probably were not second nature to them.

Pretty big mistakes. So wouldn't the celator stop cutting the die once they realized that the spelling was off? Or maybe they were illiterate and were following some incorrect written source jotted down on papyrus...

A lot of Justinian's success can be attributed to a few men in his service. In the military it was the generals Belisarius and Narses the eunuch. In architecture, it was the master builder Isadore of Miletus, who said if Justinian could provide the gold he would build something rivaling heaven. (Hagia Sophia). Whether Justinian really appreciated these folks is doubtful. Supposedly Belisarius died a pauper begging for alms in the streets of Constantinople, at least this is the story told by Robert Graves in Count Belisarius. What is a bit strange is that Hollywood has never made a film illustrating this most interesting period of Roman history.

This new forum (just focusing on ancient and medieval) has a good prospect for being a real mover and shaker in the world of coin forums. And it's nice to stay away from folks talking about misplaced mintmarks on U.S. pennies and other collecting minutiae.

An admirable goal. It might be tough to get each ruler including the very short lived emperors but it's worth a try. It's amazing that the Byzantine Empire lasted more than 1,000 years.

Beautiful coins folks. Gordian gets a bad rap.I have 5 antoniniani of his but I will post when I am on the laptop instead of the phone!

Donations, subscriptions, ads or sponsorships are some of the ways to monetize a site and/or defray expenses. I agree with @Curtisimoon ads on CT. On the science forum where I'm a co-admin there are periodic donation drives not unlike PBS which cover the server, software, and hosting costs. Three years in on the project and there is still no advertising. In a way it was a similar story - 2nd largest web forum on a topic was reduced to rubble by the admin and the members left to go elsewhere. In that case it was constant service interruptions and downtime because of technology issues.

Constantine X Ducas, 1059-1067. He was the founder and first ruling member of the short-lived Doukid dynasty. During his reign, the Normans took over much of the remaining Byzantine territories in Italy while in the Balkans the Hungarians occupied Belgrade. He also suffered defeats by the Seljuk sultan Alp Arslan. Somewhat unhealthy throughout his reign, he died in 1067 at the age of 61.AV Histamenon Nomisma. (AV, 28 mm, 4.41 g, 5 h), Constantinople. +IhS XIS RЄX RЄςNANTҺIm Christ, nimbate, seated facing on square-backed throne, wearing tunic and pallium, raising his right hand in benediction and holding book of Gospels in his left. Rev. +KωN RAC Λ O ΔOVKAC Constantine X standing facing, wearing crown and loros, holding labarum in his right hand and globus cruciger in his left. DOC 1a. SB 1847. Long live the Byzantine Empire. May Constantine Palaelogus Return!

Maybe Herodian. Have to go back and read it. Or the Historia Augusta or even Cassius Dio.

Yes, Augustus collected greek coins and I have heard that the emperor Caracalla collected coins of Alexander the Great. He actually struck a medallion with Alexander and featuring himself on the reverse.