Post a (literally) random coin!

[kirispupis]

Thought I'd start up this game to see if it sticks. 

1. Organize your coins in some linear manner. For those with databases, that's trivial.
2. Use a random number generator to select one coin.
3. If you don't have a photo of that coin, run it again.
4. Display it here along with some info about it and what made you buy it.

Thessaly, Krannon Æ Dichalkon (16.5mm, 3.78g, 6h) c. 350-300 BCE Horseman riding r. R/ Hydria on cart BCD Thessaly 119; SNG Copenhagen 43 Ex London Ancient Coins

 

When choosing the city coins for my "Philip II, Alexander III, and the Era of the Diadochi" collection, the rule is the city has to have something to do with the three, and it needs to come from the rough time period in question. Krannon was the site of the Battle of Krannon, fought in 322 BCE. The battle, a Macedonian victory, ended the Lamian War. Coins from Krannon are common. I chose this one since it covered the period of the battle and was in reasonable condition.

FWIW, the first two picks were a Diocletian and Aurelian. However, I haven't gotten around to photographing either, so this one was next.

Now it's your turn...

[Ryro]

Fun coin! And that idea🥳

 

Pamphylia, Aspendos or Pisidia Selge

Ae (2nd-1st century BC).

Obv: Round shield with monogram ΠΘ or ΠO.

Rev: Athena wearing crested Athenian helmet

Condition: Very fine.

Weight: 1.89 g.

Diameter: 14 mm.

Ref: BM Lycia p. 262 no. 55 and Numismata Graeca #850

Ex Savoca

 

If wanted one of these for a while due to the monogram on the shield (I'dlove to know who/what it references. So this one popped up I snagged it up on the cheap!

 

[Alegandron]

Random:

Carthage - Zeugitana

AR Shekel-Didrachm

360-264 BCE

Tanit

Horse r head l palm

SNG COP 141

Reason I purchased:  I collect Carthage.  Gorgeous coin. Spoke to me.

[ambr0zie]

Titus AD 79-81. Rome

Denarius AR

16 mm, 2,86 g

January-June AD 80. IMP TITVS CAES VESPASIAN AVG P M, laureate head of Titus right / TR P IX IMP XV COS VIII P P, Pulvinar (throne) of Jupiter and Juno with square seat, draped, with tassels and triangular frame. RIC 124. RSC 313a.

Reason - condition is under my (low) standards but I wanted to add this type of a reverse at a low price.

[Roman Collector]

Random: Philip I. This coin's reverse inscription is translated "Peace established with Persia." Back in January, 2020, the US assassinated Qassem Soleimani, which brought the United States to the brink of war with Iran. When things calmed down through diplomatic efforts, I added this coin to my collection.

Philip I, AD 244-249.
Roman AR Antoninianus, 3.51 g, 21.4 mm, 1 h.
Antioch, AD 244.
Obv: IMP C M IVL PHILIPPVS PF AVG PM, radiate, draped and cuirassed bust, right.
Rev: PAX FVNDATA CVM PERSIS, Pax standing left, holding branch and transverse scepter.
Refs: RIC 69; Cohen 113; RCV 8941; Hunter 120.

[CPK]

Fun idea!

I just brought up the folder with all my photos, closed my eyes, and put my finger somewhere on the monitor. This is the coin:

 

Purchased from Sahar Coins last year.

Last year a friend of mine was assigned to give a two-part topic series on the Fall of Jerusalem at our church. He and I both enjoy history, and I thought it would be cool to have a small display of artifacts from the time period on display during/after the topics. So this was one of the first things I purchased, a First Jewish War prutah. A week or so later I bought another one, not quite as nice. I also bought an oil lamp, a Roman sling bullet, and a Roman arrowhead, all from 1st century Judaea. My friend bought a little working model of a ballista which I put together the night before his talk. We had a number of other early Roman Empire coins as well. I typed up a paper giving the historical information on each artifact and printed them on antique-looking paper. It was fun to put together, and everyone seemed to enjoy seeing and handling the artifacts. The comment I most heard was, "I had no idea you could just buy things like these! I thought they were only in museums!" 😁

As a matter of fact, this is what really got my started collecting ancient coins.

 

 

 

Edited June 3, 2022 by CPK

[Curtisimo]

Randomly selected as directed 🙂 

Roman Empire
Antoninus Pius, AD 138-161
AR Denarius, Rome mint, Struck ca. AD 140-143
Wt.: 3.01 g
Dia.: 17 mm, 6h
Obv.: ANTONINVS AVG PIVS PP TR P COS III; Laureate head right
Rev.: AEQVITAS AVG; Aequitas standing left, holding scales and sceptre
Ref.: RIC III 61; RSC 14

This was one of my Top 10 coins of 2017. I bought it for the portrait and was pleasantly surprised by the beautiful tone. 

Edited June 3, 2022 by Curtisimo

[Orange Julius]

Randomly selected! I bought this coin because not only was it a beautiful example of the type but it was also only $22 all in shipped. 

Elaiussa-Sebaste, Cilicia. AE unit. 100-1 BC. 

Bearded head of Zeus right, hair bound in a taenia. KI behind head

ELAIOYSIWN, Nike walking left, holding wreath, NA (resembles NK) and NE monograms in left field. 

Ziegler Kilikien 559-560; Imhoof Elaius 3 in RSN 7-8; SNG Levante 828; SNG Pfalz 443; SNG von Aulock 6090.

Edited June 3, 2022 by Orange Julius

[DANTE]

Randomly selected: I rubbed my finger over the mousepad in 'pictures', then did the same with the cursor. This is what you end up with. It's not even a coin, but you wanted random.😊 Still, it's better than a holiday pic...

34mm.

I bought this pendant last year, a bycatch in an auction, unprovenanced and undated. It caught my eye in the catalog and I liked it. I have always found the faravahar and winged sun fascinating. The winged sun as a symbol goes back to ancient Assyrian Mesopotamia, where it was associated with the god Ashur . In Achaemenid times it was adopted as a symbol in Zoroastrianism and as a general symbol of power and kingship, It fell out of use in Parthian times. The flower on the back is (I assume) a lotus, regarded as a symbol of purity. I have no idea of its age or provenance, but the Achaemenid period is as good a guess as any. I should really show this to someone more knowledgeable in this area than me. The symbols fascinate me, but the finer points of it still elude me.

Edited June 3, 2022 by DANTE

[Nerosmyfavorite68]

Date: 51 B.C.
Denomination: Fouree Denarius. 
Diameter: 19 mm. 
Weight: 3.15 grams.
Obverse: Laureate head of Apollo r.; SER behind; SVLP before. 
Reverse: Naval trophy; Macedonian captive on l.; clothed figure on r., looking on.
Reference: Crawford 438/1. Sydenham 931.
Grade: Good Very Fine.  (Herakles Numismatics)

 

It's one of only two fouree's I have. I bought it because it was an expensive type.

[zumbly]

Google RNG picked this one for me to show.  I didn't have an eastern mint Septimius Severus at the time, and I'll just blame @dougsmit for making me want one at all. 😊 The opportunity for me to acquire it came in Berk's Sale 198 in 2016, which had a run of interesting pieces from Curtis Clay's collection, and I happened to have a voucher from them to spend.  I picked this particular coin because it wasn't too pricey, and I liked the "SEV SEV" legend error. 

SEPTIMIUS SEVERUS
AR Denarius. 2.95g, 17.5mm.
Eastern mint, AD 194-195. RIC 371 var. (obv legend).
O: IMP CAE L SEV (sic) SEV PERT AVG COS II, laureate head right.
R: CERERI-FRVG, Ceres standing left, holding wheat ears and long torch.
Ex Curtis L. Clay Collection

[Severus Alexander]

Bahmani sultanate: Muhammad Shah III (1463-1482), AE 2/3 gani dated AH 86x (867-869)

I went into Calgary Coin while visiting the city to chat with Robert and check out his stock.  He had a bunch of Indian coins on hand very cheap, that he'd acquired at a bargain basement price from Steve Album.  I'm a generalist history-based collector and my coverage of India at the time was very poor, so I went to town and bought a bunch!  This one cost me about 5 bucks Canadian, so basically free in USD. 😄

The Bahmani sultanate was a breakoff of the Delhi sultanate on the Deccan plateau, and was continually warring with the Hindu Vijayanagara empire.  (No doubt some of the modern Hindu-Muslim tension on the subcontinent can be traced to this conflict.)  Muhammad Shah III came to the throne at the tender age of 9 years; his famous "renaissance man" first minister Mahmud Gawan (1411 – 1481) shared the regency at the time this coin was minted, and became the sultan's most trusted minister of state.  Until, that is, some enemies of Gawan hatched a plot against him, forging documents alleging he was conspiring with the Vijayanagara.  Drunk, the sultan had the old man executed, but was devastated later upon discovering the deception.  He died the next year, allegedly "of remorse." 

[Qcumbor]

Cool idea for a thread

I don't have the coin anymore. I bought it for its beautiful portrait (to my eyes at least), and finally let it go to a buddy who collects consecration coinage and wanted it desperately

Diva Faustina II, Denarius - Rome mint, after AD 176
DIVA AVG FAVSTINA, Veiled and draped bust right
CONSECRATIO, funeral pyre
3.26 gr, 18 mm
Ref : Cohen # 77, RIC # 747, RCV # 5218

Q

[Spaniard]

This was my first Western Kshatrapas coin many years ago..

A couple of bucks and before I knew it's better to have as much of the reverse legend readable as possible..🤪

Mahakshatrapa, silver drachm
Head of king right, date behind head: (off flan)
Chaitya (3-arched hill), river below, crescent moon and sun above, Brahmi legend around
' rajno mahakshatrapasa rudrasenaputrasa rajno mahakshatrapasa bhartrdamnah

[dougsmit]

This is a way that might get some coins posted that otherwise might never come up.  Mine is #2009 coming to me in November 1999 at a Baltimore show from Jonathan Kern who was probably my favorite dealer in those days (before he started slabbing coins and had bags of pick out opportunities).   It is just another of the antoninianus types from the Antioch mint.  It has the best style portrait from this mint and is reasonably well struck.  It is the more common variety with legend ending in PM rather than having those letters under the bust. The Spes walking is rather ordinary but the legend is quite special SPES FELICITATIS ORBIS.  Once there was a joke about beauty contestants with nothing better to say always wishing for world peace.  Philip's hope for world happiness worked for him only for a short while.  Why did I buy it?  I thought it was pretty and worth the $35 price tag.  Jonathan was usually reasonably priced for the coins from his bags partly because he did not put in a lot of (expensive) time cataloging each individual coin.  This one came from a bag of decent silver ants from which I bought six that day.  This was not the best one from that haul but the random number generator dictated that you see it anyway.  At that period, I was spending more time and money on coins compared to times before or after.  It was the period after the kid was out of college and before I retired to fixed income.  I spent hours each week writing up new pages for my website. Those were the good old days for my coin career.

[Ryro]

Today's rando.... drum roll please....

Ahh, it's Napoleon with the love of his life Josephine. The man was such a creep that despite all they'd been through, when she (its always the woman's fault when conception doesn't take place, of course) couldn't give him an heir. He divorced her for a young pretty princess who had no love for him nor qualms about remarrying while he was imprisoned in the island. 

Napoléon FRANCE,PremierEmpire. 1804-1814. AR Medal (35mm, 24.11 g, 12h). On the Coronation Festival at the City Hall of Paris. By N.G.A. Brenet. Dated AN XIII (1804/5). NAPOLEON JOSEPHINE ., jugate busts of Napoleon, laureate, and Josephine, draped and wearing tiara and necklace, right; BRENET below /

Ex: Monnaies d’Antan

 

 

Edited June 3, 2022 by Ryro

[Ancient Coin Hunter]

Randomly...here's an item

 

Volusian (251-253 A.D.)

AE Sestertius, 29 mm 16 grams, Rome mint

Obverse: IMP CAE C VIB VOLVSIANO AVG, laureate, draped and cuirassed bust right

Reverse: FELICITAS PVBLICA S-C, Felicitas standing left, leaning on column, holding caduceus and sceptre.

Reference:

RIC 251a, Cohen 35, Sear 9786.

[kirispupis]

Today's random selection.

This was an auction "snack" I picked up when I'd just started collecting and it looked like a cool coin. It's from Amisos in Pontos and was minted around the same time as Mithridates VI. Since I can't afford his stunning tets, this is as close as I'll get to him for some time.

[hotwheelsearl]

Here's a sestertius I paid $38.70 for, which I think is a good deal for a Lucilla. Nice patina as well

[Dafydd]

This is a random idea.

I bought this because I had never seen one before or even heard of a reduced sestertius and at the time I had picked up some coins of Gallienus and Postumus and reading about a really tumultuous period so the coin interested me.

REDUCED SESTERTIUS OF AURELIAN: 
CONCORDIA. ROME, AD 274-5. RIC: 80

Obverse: IMP AVRELIANVS AVG, Laureate and cuirassed bust of 
Aurelian facing right.

Reverse: CONCORDIA AVG, Aurelian, in military attire, standing left, holding sceptre in left hand and clasping hands with Severina standing right, radiate bust of Sol facing
right between them. No officina mark.

RIC: 80. Sear: 11646. [Rome, AD 274-5].

Diameter: 25 mm. Weight: 9.6 g.

[dougsmit]

I wonder how long this thread could run before the same type coin was picked at random for the second time.  

[Zimm]

Here‘s what the random number generator gave me

A follis of Constantine VII and Zoe (as regent), Sear 1758

Although in the photo it may not look that special, in hand the coin great with almost all of the details preserved, which is what drove me into buying it. It simply looked too nice to pass up on.

 

Edited June 3, 2022 by Zimm

[Ancient Coin Hunter]

3 hours ago, Dafydd said:

This is a random idea.

I bought this because I had never seen one before or even heard of a reduced sestertius and at the time I had picked up some coins of Gallienus and Postumus and reading about a really tumultuous period so the coin interested me.

REDUCED SESTERTIUS OF AURELIAN: 
CONCORDIA. ROME, AD 274-5. RIC: 80

Obverse: IMP AVRELIANVS AVG, Laureate and cuirassed bust of 
Aurelian facing right.

Reverse: CONCORDIA AVG, Aurelian, in military attire, standing left, holding sceptre in left hand and clasping hands with Severina standing right, radiate bust of Sol facing
right between them. No officina mark.

RIC: 80. Sear: 11646. [Rome, AD 274-5].

Diameter: 25 mm. Weight: 9.6 g.

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

[DonnaML]

I finally figured out how to do this. Here's coin no. 173 from my personal catalog:

Hadrian AR Denarius, Travel Series, Rome Mint, 130-133 AD (according to RIC II.3) [134-138 AD according to Mattingly & Sydenham in old RIC II]. Obv. Bareheaded and draped bust right, viewed from back or side, HADRIANVS - AVG COS III PP / Rev. Alexandria, draped, standing left, holding sistrum in extended right hand and basket in left hand with snake emerging from it and situla (water pail) hanging below*; ALEX-AN-DRIA. RIC II.3 1504 & Pl. 31, old RIC II 300, RSC II 156, BMCRE III Hadrian 826, Foss 94a, Sear RCV II 3460 (obv. var.). Purchased from Dix Noonan Webb Auction 253, 13 March 2022, Lot 1408; ex B.A. Seaby Ltd. London, retail purchase 1990 (with coin envelope from Seaby). 

*See Strack (1933) at p. 164, stating that the round object beneath the basket is a situla, Isis's normal two-part water pail or container, hanging from her left wrist in the coin type: "am Handgelenk hängt das der Isis eigene zweiteilige Wassergefäss." It certainly makes sense that Alexandria would have some more of the attributes of Isis in Romano-Egyptian iconography -- just like "Aegyptos" -- given that she already holds a sistrum.

Wikipedia describes a situla as a bucket or pail, and specifically mentions it as an attribute of Isis. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Situla:

"The term is also used for pails carried by figures in other art forms; according to Plutarch and other sources this was a sign of a devotee of Isis, who herself is often shown carrying one (containing water from the sacred Nile), of a rather different shape, with a rounded bottom, and sometimes lidded. This rounded shape, often with a "nipple" at the bottom (see Luristan example in gallery), is believed to have represented the female breast.[14] These were also donated to temples as votive offerings by devotees."

Edited June 4, 2022 by DonnaML

[Ancient Coin Hunter]

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