Ancient Coin Hunter

LINK: Gratianus Gratianus AE 2, 379-383 Obverse: D N GRATIANVS P F AVG - Diademed bust right, draped and cuirassed Reverse: REPARATIO REIPVB - Gratian standing front, head left, raising kneeling, turreted female holding Victory on a globe. Reference: RIC IX 26a Mint: Siscia

LINK: Galley Theodosius (379-395 C.E.) 24mm 5.5 grams AE2 DN THEODOSIVS P F AVG GLORIA ROMANORVM - Emperor atop Galley helmed by Victory

LINK: Commodus/Thunderbolt Commodus (180-192 C.E.) Billon Tetradrachm Alexandria, Egypt 25mm 12.6 grams Obverse: Commodus laurel wreathed bust right Reverse: Zeus Holding Thunderbolt and staff, K Theta Reference: Milne 2678; BMC 1399; Dattari 3896; Geissen 2244; Demetrio 2280; SNG Oxford 2677; Bern 167.

EGYPT. Alexandria. Maximianus, first reign, 286-305. Tetradrachm (Potin, 19 mm, 7.26 g, 12 h), RY 8 = 292/3. ΜΑΞΙΜΙΑΝΟC CЄΒ Laureate, draped and cuirassed bust of Maximianus to right. Rev. Є/ΤΟΥC / H within laurel wreath. Dattari (Savio) 5999. Emmett 4161.8. K&G 120.67. Extremely rare. Light deposits, otherwise, very fine. From the Rhakotis Collection, formed in the 1960s and 1970s (with collector’s ticket). Leu auction 2/21 Next: Greek lettering in wreath

Add a few solidi of some more obscure Byzantine rulers, not just Heraclius or Justinian. Also, finally pick up a tribute penny of Tiberius. Maybe add an Aemilianus sestertius or ant in good condition. The last is one of the few "mainline" imperators that I don't have. Edit: Also Gordian I and II preferably in sestertii

Very interesting thank you.

Sorry to hear this and it really has been an ongoing saga. They did send out the realized prices and "success" blurb about the auction and as I recall the realization was about six times above opening bid for all of the lots. Which seemingly would offer good value to consignors but obviously not. 7,000 coins was probably just too many which kind of leads to the argument you make above. I followed along during the Byzantine gold and electrum offerings and there were like 15 nomismata of Constantine X one after the other. It seems like that would not give the consignors top dollar and bidding fatigue would lead to some steals for buyers. Good for Leu but not for sellers

I also have one. I guess he stuck around long enough for the Alexandria mint to produce decent quantities. Mine weighs in at 9 + grams because of pitting/crystallization.

Another miliaresion... 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. Originally a Leu Numismatik win posted on Coin Talk

Some superb additions to the collection Donna. 2023 will be a year to remember. Happy Holidays and New Year as we head into 2024!

Link: Trophy of arms GALLIENVS, (253-268 C.E.) AR Antoninianus Lyons mint (before 260) Obverse: GALLIENVS P F AVG, Heroic portrait of emperor radiate left holding spear and shield Reverse: GERMANICVS MAX V, two bound captives with trophy plus arms and armor RSC 310. Sear5 10225. (two large shields: Wareham hoard 271, Stevenage hoard 489a; Goebl 0872m; two small shields: Wareham hoard 272, Stevenage hoard 489b). 3 examples from hoards. Purchased from Marc Breitsprecher in February 2022 P.S. Note coin was struck in final years when good silver was still used, the type also appears on a rare As

Salonina (254-268 C.E.) Billon Tetradrachm, Alexandria mint Obverse: Finely detailed coiffed bust of Salonina right Reverse: Eagle standing beak to right Note: Fine glossy chocolate patina, talented engraver produced a lifelike image of the empress

Hmmm....a very weird occurrence. I would have guessed fake but the preponderance of die matches militates against this conclusion. It doesn't scream fake, either. So I kind of agree with the limes "denarius" hypothesis. In that case, you got a rarity for less than a Big Mac at McDonald's. I also hope Doug weighs in on the discussion.

Link: Consecratio Claudius II Gothicus, AE antoninianus, Milan mint. Obverse: DIVO CLAVDIO, radiate head right Reverse: CONSECRATIO, altar with flames above, front divided into four sections with dot in each section. No mintmark. Reference: RIC V-1, 261 Milan, Minster hoard 476

Very interesting and thank you. I suppose that for those management teams seeking multiple valuation returns, e.g. 5x-6x of initial bids that the house starts with versus prices realized, that the temptation to engage in shill bidding, at least to move prices up 3-4 x the opening bid, is too great to avoid. We need more data to say anything conclusive but this is an excellent start. Certainly the web and online app technology has made it way easier to conduct shill bidding than in the days of mail order and phone bidding like the times up though 1995-1996. Let's see how generative A.I. impacts the auction houses and their ability to deal with individual bidder experiences!

Merry Christmas and Happy Hannukah to all! A wonderful coin tree. I'll post my recent Leu win featuring the Virgin Mary along with the familiar Christ Pantocrator facing portrait. I did watch the "The Greatest story Ever Told" on Saturday on TCM featuring Max von Sydow as Christ, Jose Ferrer as the villainous Herod, and oddly Telly Savalas as Pontius Pilate. A bit dated but that's OK. One has to admit that the portrait of Christ looks a bit like that on the Shroud of Turin, but I digress...

Here's my Claudius II. I'll bet the soldiers felt swindled by the whole thing. "Here instead of silver you get a cheap, ragged token with a phony, or almost phony silver wash." The flan on this one is clearly challenged but the portrait of Gothicus, to be fair, is one of the best I've seen, even with care-worn bags under the eyes. But he was a busy man defeating the Goths who just a few years before had run roughshod over the Imperial defenses, even burning down the Acropolis in Athens. AE antoninianus, 3.4g, 20mm Mediolanum (Milan) mint Obverse: IMP CLAVDIVS PF AVG Radiate, draped, cuirassed bust right Reverse: FELI-C T-EMPO; Felicitas standing left, holding cadeucus and scepter Reference: RIC Va 145, p. 223 From the Doug Smith Collection #3175 vis-avis @JAZ Numismatics (Thanks Doug!!!) @dougsmit

I finally got my Leu invoice as a PDF file attached to an email. There are a couple of links on the email for different payment methods. I tend to use Stripe as it is Europe based. On Paypal/credit card option payments with some European auction houses I've had the transaction flagged as a potential threat and they've put a hold on my card. To avoid this I use Stripe. Terms are 10 days from receipt of the invoice. Leu did make clear that they were not going to ship the 7000 lots until mid-January to avoid holiday shipping snafus.

Here is the latest courtesy of the Leu Web auction. I consider Byzantine coins "ancient" because they represent continuity from the world of Late Antiquity, when the solidus and follis were introduced. Meanwhile the Byzantines never called themselves anything other than "Romans." Jesus' face is in good condition. Likewise so is the Virgin Mary's. Anonymous types usually feature the "Jesus Christ, King of Kings" inscribed legend on the reverse, Mary is somewhat rare as it turns out. This is probably my last purchase in 2023. In 2024 I plan to do some housekeeping and sell some of the coins in my collection maybe through Leu or CNG. Anonymous Folle, time of Romanus IV, circa 1068-1071. Follis (Bronze, 26 mm, 9.69 g, 5 h), Constantinopolis. Nimbate bust of Christ facing, wearing tunic and pallium, raising his right hand in benediction and holding book of Gospels in his left; in fields, IC - XC. Rev. Nimbate bust of the Virgin Mary facing, orans, wearing pallium and maphorium; in fields MHP - ΘV. DOC Class G. SB 1867. Some deposits, otherwise, very fine.

Full disclosure is good business sense. Obviously, caveat emptor but at least you know what you are getting when you make the purchase. So while I wouldn't buy the coin myself I'm sure others would...

Great bio @Victor_Clark and it's nice to see a Navy connection. My Dad was drafted in 1961 and went to OCS school in Rhode Island. He was commissioned as an Ensign and sent to the South Pacific on the USS Black. While there he crossed the equator and they had some kind of celebration of Neptune. In 1968 he was sent to a year in Viet Nam as a Lieutenant and served as Captain of the USS Madera County, an LST. Before that he taught celestial navigation at the Naval Academy where I was born. We moved to Washington DC, San Diego, Hawaii, and Japan. He was Captain of the cruiser USS Fox in the Persian Gulf during the Iran-Iraq war. He rounded out his career as Commandant of Military Sealift Command (Pacific) which was during the 1st Gulf War, then he retired. Anyway it was interesting moving all the time. Great collection and thank you for kindly gifting me a few coins including Maximinus Daia GENIO IMPERATORIS type follis from Alexandria and also a coin of Galeria Valeria. That was a very nice intro to CoinTalk for me a few years ago...thanks for the engaging interview!

Pretty nifty pick up!

Link: Trajan Decius AR Antoninianus Bust of Decius Abundantia - Part of Decius' effort to trumpet "traditional values" and worship of the old gods Next: Another less often seen personification

Constantine I the Great (306-337 C.E.) AE nummus CONSTANTINVS AVG, diademed bust right PROVIDENTIAE AVGG, camp gate 7 layers topped by two turrets and star Some silvering Next: Another Constantine Edit: @Prieure de Sion was quicker than I, what he said is next

Oh. Another Dikaiosyne. If you can say the name of the goddess three times quickly you win a prize!! 😉