Ancient Coin Hunter

Did anyone win coins at the recent FSR auction? I won three bids - Byzantine, the first one a 31mm 11.7 gram Follis of Maurice Tiberius. The style actually pretty good but the legend, as is common with the Theupolis (ok, Antioch) types is blundered. I received the lots on Tuesday in the mail. It's posted over on the Byzantine subforum.

Curious to see how other folks came out. The other wins were folles of Tiberius II  and Romanus I.

I'm also thinking of Hadrian

I also picked up a Follis of Tiberius II and one of Romanus I. Will share later

As @ewomack says, I believe the legend is blundered, possibly because the mint workers at Antioch had a weak knowledge of Latin.

New from the recent Frank Robinson auction of January 23rd.

Maurice Tiberius, 582-602 C.E.

AE Follis 31mm 11.7 grams

Antioch as Theopolis

DN TNT CM MAV TIB PP AVG

Crowned and mantled bust facing, trefoil pattern on crown, holding mappa and eagle tipped scepter. 

ANNO to left, cross above, regnal year to right, mintmark THEUP

Reference: SB 532 MIB 95

Please share any coins of Maurice, the man who wrote, or caused to be written, the famed Strategikon military treatise.

Great coins all.... really enjoying the thread

I received a Leu Win Saturday via a signature required tag left in the mailbox. Since we have been more or less snowed in in the last 5 days I admire the fortitude of the mail carrier.

I picked it up at the post office this morning and here it is:

Anonymous Follis, time of Romanus IV 1068-1071. He was known as a skilled general but suffered perhaps the worst defeat (Manzikert) since Adrianople or maybe the Yarmuk River where Heraclius' army lost the Near Eastern provinces to the Arabs. The foe this time was the Seljuk Turks leading to the loss of most of Anatolia...there is a bit of a funny story here. My Byzantine History prof at Berkeley (Warren Treadgold) rued the loss at Manzikert as an inflection point for Byzantium; whereas my Central Asian History prof (John Masson Smith) celebrated it as a great win for the nomadic tribes...

AE 9.69 grams, 24 mm

Obverse: Christ Pantocrator Nimbate

Reverse:  Virgin Mary (Orans with arms extended)

Please share any Leu Byzantines...

Another PRINCIPI IVVENT

Phillip II as Caesar, A.D. 244-246

AR Antoninianus, 25mm, 4.1 grams

Rome, A.D. 244-246

Obverse: M IVL PHILIPPVS CAES, radiate and draped bust right

Reverse: PRINCIPI IVVENT, prince standing left, holding globe and spear; to left, captive seated left

Reference RIC 219 From the Eng Collection 

I have one of the young Caesar photographed. Here it is. To be honest, I am not sure who I purchased it from, might have been Frank Robinson sometime in the past 4-5 years. It is a garden variety GLORIA EXERCITVS type. The army at that time surely was glorious but as pointed out above, Constantine II marched against his brother Constans and was the loser, Constans thereby staying in power until 350.

For that matter here is a Constans, with the legend "FL CONSTANTIS BEA C" or something like "To the Happy Flavius Constans Caesar"

I guess he was happy to have prevailed in the conflict. This type apparently was only issued at Siscia

Great duo. I hope they make their way to a good home!

Sorry to hear of your loss. I've had a couple of historically related incidents of theft, one when my phone was stolen from my bag at Siwa Oasis. Another was being held up by Islamists in the town of Kom Ombo at the temple of Sobek, Hathor, Khonsu, and Haroeris. It was built by Ptolemy VI Philometer on the site of an earlier New Kingdom temple. They absconded with hundreds of Egyptian pounds representing a nice payday. These events occurred in spite of the fact that I was dressed like an Egyptian, with dark long sleeved turteneck, khakis and had no skin showing which is considered offensive no matter how hot it is. It is wise in lesser known towns to aim for this attire in order to blend in, certainly not wearing shorts, bikinis or something of that ilk which folks on the large guided tours do led by Zahi Hawass and other showmen.

Excellent interview and a great story of a man who contributed much to the field of Classical Numismatics. May he rest in peace. Also as he approached the boatman for the crossing of River Styx he surely would have had a coin in his mouth.

With regard to Halley's comet, here is its depiction in 1066...

ISTI MIRANT STELLA means "They wonder at the star"

Which has got me wondering about other depictions of stars. On the double majorinas of Julian the Apostate a star appears in the field near the Bull, maybe to indicate that Taurus the constellation and astrological sign is meant.

There is the passage from Ammianus stating that Julian chided his attendants on his deathbed for "mourning the loss of a prince who was to be united with heaven and the stars."

Similarly another star appears on the FEL TEMP REPARATIO issues of Constantius II with the Phoenix bird, perhaps representing regeneration and the birth of a new golden age...

I did snap a photo after all (this eve)...portrait is OK but the top of his head is sort of missing. Definitely will be upgrading this one.

Quintillus A.D. 270

AE Antoninianus, Rome mint, 2.8 grams 20mm

Obverse: IMP CM AVR CL QVINTILLVS AVG Radiate, draped, and cuirassed bust right

Reverse: FIDES MILITVM; FIDES standing left, holding standard and vertical scepter. Epsilon in right field.

Reference: RIC 18

Interesting. My Quintillus is missing some of the legend and it's on quite a small flan. Portrait is good though. 5.3 grams is definitely a keeper in your case.

Still I have yet to photograph mine (so therefore I cannot share it)!

Drachm:

Ptolemy IV Philopator

or:

Iwaennetjerwy-menkhwy Setepptah Userkare Sekhemankhamun, a name that means "Heir of the [two] Beneficent Gods, Chosen of Ptah, Powerful is the Soul of Re, Living Image of Amun."

Ptolemy IV 221-205 BC AE Drachma. (75.52g, 41mm, 12h)

Obverse: Bust of Zeus Ammon right

Reverse: ΠΤΟΛΕΜΑΙΟΥ ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ, Eagle standing left on thunderbolt, cornucopiae in front, ΛΙ between legs Reference: SNG Cop 199. 

In 241 Tranquillina's father Timesitheus was appointed the head of the Praetorian Guard by the Roman Emperor Gordian III. In May that year, Tranquillina married Gordian. She became a Roman Empress and received the honorific title of Augusta. Her marriage to Gordian was an admission by the young emperor of both Timesitheus' political indispensability and Tranquillina’s suitability as an empress. 

Tranquillina Augusta, 241-244 C.E. AE25, 10.7g

MESOPOTAMIA, Singara (modern Sinjar, Iraq)

Obverse: SAB TRANQVILLINA AVG, Diademed and draped bust right

Reverse: Veiled Bust of Tyche Right; Centaur Sagittarius leaping right and discharging bow above

Reference: BMC Arabia p. 136, 14; SNG Copenhagen 258

Next: coin of another Mesopotamian city

Sad to hear, though I had no conversations with him I did appreciate his beautiful coins. May he rest in peace.

9 hours ago, Ancient Coin Hunter said:

Today is the day that SEC chair Gary Gensler will either approve or disallow Bitcoin ETFs. Any opinions on this? There are 10 firms who have filed documents including Fidelity and Blackrock to begin trading as soon as possible. Any thoughts?

Well, I guess this is a coin-related thread after all. 🕓🍿

Gensler approved the funds with the caveat that crypto is "risk-oriented" and may not be suitable for Main Street investors. However lots of money will flow from CD's and money market funds into Bitcoin...as the presence of big names helps to de-risk the asset class

29 minutes ago, John Conduitt said:

Au contraire. Only $1200. But you can't really enjoy it. It's more like the wise monkeys.

Wow I had seen one sell for tens of thousands, I suppose because of the condition. This isn't that much more than a regular coin of his.

Right now I have a few bids in the Frank Robinson auction ending on Jan. 23rd, hopefully they will work out.

I didn't bid on anything but read their emails with interest.

The Carausius with radiate lion is really cool. Not surprised they didn't have any CARAVSIVS ET FRATRES types for sale with the 3 jugate busts of the usurper and the central government tetrarchs. That's more of a six-figure coin I guess.

Good luck during the remainder @Prieure de Sion !

If I miss out on a desired coin at auction I usually turned to the fix priced lists at Vcoins and M-A shops to see if I can get a coin almost as good for (usually) a higher price. Sometimes there are a few deals out there. My avatar coin came from a Polish collector selling his entire collection of Probus coins (139 in total as I recall) so I was able to find a cool coin for a fair price, and not one that is usually encountered, at least not so much.

Today is the day that SEC chair Gary Gensler will either approve or disallow Bitcoin ETFs. Any opinions on this? There are 10 firms who have filed documents including Fidelity and Blackrock to begin trading as soon as possible. Any thoughts?

Well, I guess this is a coin-related thread after all. 🕓🍿

Another of Leo VI, who issued apparently one of the most iconic types in this latter Byzantine era. In this case the light patina makes the devices stand out. This coin weighs in at over 8 grams