Shea19’s Top 10 of 2022

[Shea19]

I always enjoy putting together these year-end lists, and I’ve certainly enjoyed reading all of your lists.   Overall, I did not add nearly as many new coins this year, but I ended up with a quite a few that I really like.   I’ve always been a fan of Roman coins with strong portraits, but I was happy to also venture a little bit out of my usual collecting area this year.  

These are my top 10(well, actually 13) coins of the year…I couldn’t quite decide how to rank these, so these are just in chronological order.

1. Achaemenid siglos- This is definitely outside of my normal collecting area, but I’ve always thought this was such a cool design (along with an interesting history), so I’m glad to now have this example in my collection.
Persia, Achaemenid Empire, Time of Ataxerxes II to Ataxerxes III, circa 375-340 BC, AR Siglos, (15 mm, 5.47g), Lydio-Milesian standard, Sardes mint, Persian king or hero in kneeling/running stance to right, holding dagger in his right hand and bow in his left./ Rev. Rectangular incuse.

2.  Perseus/Medusa bronze- I’ve wanted an example of this fun (and popular) mythological type for a long time.  I was very happy to find this unusually well-centered example where they managed to fit all of the gory details on the flan:  Perseus holding Medusa’s head in one hand, a bloody harpa blade in his other hand, and Medusa’s body at his feet.  

Pontos, Amisos, Time of Mithradates VI Eupator, circa 100-85 BC. (AE, 30 mm, 19.58 g). Head of Athena to r., wearing crested Attic helmet decorated with Pegasus./ Rev.AMI-ΣOY Perseus standing facing, holding harpa in his right hand and head of Medusa in his left; Medusa's body at his feet, monograms to lower left and right.

3. Hadrian denarius- A nice bold portrait of Hadrian, and a well-detailed Salus reverse.  

Hadrian AR Denarius. Rome, 133-135 AD ,(18mm, 3.02g),HADRIANVS AVG COS III P P, bare head to right / SALVS AVG, Salus standing to right, feeding snake coiled round altar. RIC II.3 2048; 

4. Divus Antoninus Pius denarius- A common type, but with an unusual portrait style that really stood out to me.

Divus Antoninus Pius (Died 161 A.D.), AR Denarius. Rome. Struck under Marcus Aurelius. (19mm, 3.26 g), DIVVS ANTONINVS, Bare head right of Divus Antoninus Pius to right/ Rev: CONSECRATIO. Eagle, with head left, standing right on altar. RIC 430 (Aurelius).

5. Marcus Aurelius denarius- A fierce looking portrait of the philosopher-emperor.

Marcus Aurelius, AR Denarius. 166 A.D., Rome., (19 mm, 3.2g), Obv: M ANTONINVS AVG ARM PARTH MAX, Laureate head of Marcus Aurelius to right./ Rev: Pax standing left, holding branch and cornucopia. RIC 159 

6. Septimius Severus provincial- From a fairly rare city in Macedon, and with a strong portrait of Septimius.

Septimius Severus, Macedon, Stobi, (AE, 25 mm, 9.31 g). IMP CSP SEVERV Laureate, draped and cuirassed bust of Septimius Severus to right./ Rev. MVNICI STOBENS Victory advancing r., holding wreath and palm.; in r. field, pellet-in-crescent

7. Caracalla provincial from Cilicia- This big provincial bronze is a little worn, but I just loved the reverse on this.  It has a very detailed galley with a full sail(!), and even has 4 rowers and a captain.  And as a nice bonus, it comes from Cilicia, which was famous for piracy…it’s always nice to have any boat-related type from there.

Caracalla, Cilicia (Tarsus), 198-217. (AE 34 mm, 19.40 g).  Mantled bust of Caracalla to left, wearing demiourgic crown./ Rev. Galley under full sail with four oarsmen and gubernator.

8. Julia Mamaea denarius- Just a pretty portrait of a very influential empress.  I have a sestertius of hers with the matching reverse type.

Julia Mamaea, AR Denarius. Rome, 228 A.D. (20mm, 2.13g), IVLIA MAMAEA AVG, diademed and draped bust to right / FELICITAS PVBLICA, Felicitas standing facing, head to left, legs crossed, holding caduceus and leaning on column. RIC IV 335 (Alexander);

9.  Severus Alexander denarius- This one may be my favorite of the year.  It has a great high-relief portrait of the young emperor from shortly after he was old to enough to grow his first beard, and a nicely-detailed Spes on the reverse.

Severus Alexander, AR Denarius, 232 A.D., Rome,  (19 mm, 3.29 g), IMP ALEXANDER PIVS AVG Laureate, draped and cuirassed bust of Severus Alexander to right./ Rev. SPES PVBLICA Spes advancing left, holding flower in her right hand and raising skirt with her left. RIC 254.

10. Maximinus Thrax denarius- A nice example of one of his early “transitional” portraits…it looks nothing like Max Thrax and strongly resembles his predecessor Sev Alexander (the folks at the mint didn’t know what the new guy looked like yet, so they did the best they could). 

Maximinus I, AR Denarius, Rome, 236 A.D., (20 mm, 2.90 g). IMP MAXIMINVS PIVS AVG Laureate, draped and cuirassed bust of Maximinus I to right, seen from behind. Rev. SALVS AVGVSTI Salus seated left, feeding serpent, rising from altar, out of patera held in her right hand and leaning with her left elbow on throne.  RIC 15.

11. Claudius II “flip-over double strike” - This is a fun “error coin” known as a flip-over double strike. After the coin was struck, they determined that it needed to be struck again, but when they put it back in to be restruck, they accidentally flipped the coin over so that the obverse was struck on top of the (original) reverse side, and vice versa.  They ended up with this hot mess of a coin which has a full portrait on both sides, and most of the reverse design on both sides too. 
Claudius II Gothicus, AE Antoninianus (24.95mm, 3.71 g), Siscia, 268-270 A.D, Radiate and cuirassed bust of Claudius II right/ Rev. Laetitia AVG, Laetitia left. RIC VI 181 Siscia

12. Maximinus II/ Mars dragging captive- I don’t collect much from this era, but I loved this reverse type of Mars with a captive…for whatever reason, I just found something a little funny about this poor schlub being captured and dragged by his hair by the god of War himself. 
Maximinus II, AE Follis (21 mm, 3.85 g), Antiochia, 312. Laureate head of Maximinus II to right. Rev.VIRTVTI E-XERCITVS / ✱ - I / ANT Mars advancing right, holding shield and trophy in his left hand and dragging captive behind him with his right. RIC 169b corr

13. VRBS Roma- Finally, this is a common type which had been missing from my collection, and I was happy to pick up a nice example.  

Commemorative Series, Follis (19 mm, 3.20 g), Siscia, 330-333. VRBS ROMA Draped bust of Roma to left, wearing crested Attic helmet. Rev. She-wolf standing left, head facing, suckling the twins Romulus and Remus; above, two eight-pointed stars; in exergue, ΓSIS. RIC 222. From the collection of Dipl.-Ing. Adrian Lang.

Interested to hear which of these you like the best.  Please share your comments (and any related coins), and please vote for your favorites!  Wishing you all a Happy Holidays and a Happy New Year!

[happy_collector]

Great pickups, @Shea19. My favorites are your coins #1, 2 and 3.
I agree that the Hadrian portrait on your #3 is very nice. 🙂

Edited December 28, 2022 by happy_collector

[SimonW]

My vote goes to the super detailed and beautiful VRBS ROMA 🙂 All others are great, too!

[ambr0zie]

All great coins and serious candidates for a top 10 - but my top 3 will be

- 1. Achaemenid siglos - great obverse with clear portrait and visible bow - these types might be common but not with good details and centering
- 2. Amisos - for similar reasons
- 7. Caracalla from Tarsus. I like this mint more and more - large provincial coins with artistic designs (and unique). 

[Spaniard]

@Shea19

Lovely selection!

1, 6, & 10 for me but all the denarii have sweet portraits..Congrats.

[CPK]

It's been a good year. I vote for:

#2 - for some reason it's very hard to find a really nice example of this type, but yours is about the best I've seen

#7 - really interesting and artistic galley reverse - lots of great detail

#8 - a lovely portrait and an overall excellent coin

Honorable mentions go to Hadrian, Antoninus Pius, and the VRBS ROMA. 

[Sulla80]

Congrats @Shea19, an interesting mix - I picked 7 Caracalla,8 Julia, 13 VRBS Roma as my favorites.  The ship on the Caracalla is fantastic! Lots of nice detail on your other coins too e.g. 9 - Spes Severus Alexander...best wishes for 2023!

[Al Kowsky]

10 hours ago, Shea19 said:

I always enjoy putting together these year-end lists, and I’ve certainly enjoyed reading all of your lists.   Overall, I did not add nearly as many new coins this year, but I ended up with a quite a few that I really like.   I’ve always been a fan of Roman coins with strong portraits, but I was happy to also venture a little bit out of my usual collecting area this year.  

These are my top 10(well, actually 13) coins of the year…I couldn’t quite decide how to rank these, so these are just in chronological order.

1. Achaemenid siglos- This is definitely outside of my normal collecting area, but I’ve always thought this was such a cool design (along with an interesting history), so I’m glad to now have this example in my collection.
Persia, Achaemenid Empire, Time of Ataxerxes II to Ataxerxes III, circa 375-340 BC, AR Siglos, (15 mm, 5.47g), Lydio-Milesian standard, Sardes mint, Persian king or hero in kneeling/running stance to right, holding dagger in his right hand and bow in his left./ Rev. Rectangular incuse.

2.  Perseus/Medusa bronze- I’ve wanted an example of this fun (and popular) mythological type for a long time.  I was very happy to find this unusually well-centered example where they managed to fit all of the gory details on the flan:  Perseus holding Medusa’s head in one hand, a bloody harpa blade in his other hand, and Medusa’s body at his feet.  

Pontos, Amisos, Time of Mithradates VI Eupator, circa 100-85 BC. (AE, 30 mm, 19.58 g). Head of Athena to r., wearing crested Attic helmet decorated with Pegasus./ Rev.AMI-ΣOY Perseus standing facing, holding harpa in his right hand and head of Medusa in his left; Medusa's body at his feet, monograms to lower left and right.

3. Hadrian denarius- A nice bold portrait of Hadrian, and a well-detailed Salus reverse.  

Hadrian AR Denarius. Rome, 133-135 AD ,(18mm, 3.02g),HADRIANVS AVG COS III P P, bare head to right / SALVS AVG, Salus standing to right, feeding snake coiled round altar. RIC II.3 2048; 

4. Divus Antoninus Pius denarius- A common type, but with an unusual portrait style that really stood out to me.

Divus Antoninus Pius (Died 161 A.D.), AR Denarius. Rome. Struck under Marcus Aurelius. (19mm, 3.26 g), DIVVS ANTONINVS, Bare head right of Divus Antoninus Pius to right/ Rev: CONSECRATIO. Eagle, with head left, standing right on altar. RIC 430 (Aurelius).

5. Marcus Aurelius denarius- A fierce looking portrait of the philosopher-emperor.

Marcus Aurelius, AR Denarius. 166 A.D., Rome., (19 mm, 3.2g), Obv: M ANTONINVS AVG ARM PARTH MAX, Laureate head of Marcus Aurelius to right./ Rev: Pax standing left, holding branch and cornucopia. RIC 159 

6. Septimius Severus provincial- From a fairly rare city in Macedon, and with a strong portrait of Septimius.

Septimius Severus, Macedon, Stobi, (AE, 25 mm, 9.31 g). IMP CSP SEVERV Laureate, draped and cuirassed bust of Septimius Severus to right./ Rev. MVNICI STOBENS Victory advancing r., holding wreath and palm.; in r. field, pellet-in-crescent

7. Caracalla provincial from Cilicia- This big provincial bronze is a little worn, but I just loved the reverse on this.  It has a very detailed galley with a full sail(!), and even has 4 rowers and a captain.  And as a nice bonus, it comes from Cilicia, which was famous for piracy…it’s always nice to have any boat-related type from there.

Caracalla, Cilicia (Tarsus), 198-217. (AE 34 mm, 19.40 g).  Mantled bust of Caracalla to left, wearing demiourgic crown./ Rev. Galley under full sail with four oarsmen and gubernator.

8. Julia Mamaea denarius- Just a pretty portrait of a very influential empress.  I have a sestertius of hers with the matching reverse type.

Julia Mamaea, AR Denarius. Rome, 228 A.D. (20mm, 2.13g), IVLIA MAMAEA AVG, diademed and draped bust to right / FELICITAS PVBLICA, Felicitas standing facing, head to left, legs crossed, holding caduceus and leaning on column. RIC IV 335 (Alexander);

9.  Severus Alexander denarius- This one may be my favorite of the year.  It has a great high-relief portrait of the young emperor from shortly after he was old to enough to grow his first beard, and a nicely-detailed Spes on the reverse.

Severus Alexander, AR Denarius, 232 A.D., Rome,  (19 mm, 3.29 g), IMP ALEXANDER PIVS AVG Laureate, draped and cuirassed bust of Severus Alexander to right./ Rev. SPES PVBLICA Spes advancing left, holding flower in her right hand and raising skirt with her left. RIC 254.

10. Maximinus Thrax denarius- A nice example of one of his early “transitional” portraits…it looks nothing like Max Thrax and strongly resembles his predecessor Sev Alexander (the folks at the mint didn’t know what the new guy looked like yet, so they did the best they could). 

Maximinus I, AR Denarius, Rome, 236 A.D., (20 mm, 2.90 g). IMP MAXIMINVS PIVS AVG Laureate, draped and cuirassed bust of Maximinus I to right, seen from behind. Rev. SALVS AVGVSTI Salus seated left, feeding serpent, rising from altar, out of patera held in her right hand and leaning with her left elbow on throne.  RIC 15.

11. Claudius II “flip-over double strike” - This is a fun “error coin” known as a flip-over double strike. After the coin was struck, they determined that it needed to be struck again, but when they put it back in to be restruck, they accidentally flipped the coin over so that the obverse was struck on top of the (original) reverse side, and vice versa.  They ended up with this hot mess of a coin which has a full portrait on both sides, and most of the reverse design on both sides too. 
Claudius II Gothicus, AE Antoninianus (24.95mm, 3.71 g), Siscia, 268-270 A.D, Radiate and cuirassed bust of Claudius II right/ Rev. Laetitia AVG, Laetitia left. RIC VI 181 Siscia

12. Maximinus II/ Mars dragging captive- I don’t collect much from this era, but I loved this reverse type of Mars with a captive…for whatever reason, I just found something a little funny about this poor schlub being captured and dragged by his hair by the god of War himself. 
Maximinus II, AE Follis (21 mm, 3.85 g), Antiochia, 312. Laureate head of Maximinus II to right. Rev.VIRTVTI E-XERCITVS / ✱ - I / ANT Mars advancing right, holding shield and trophy in his left hand and dragging captive behind him with his right. RIC 169b corr

13. VRBS Roma- Finally, this is a common type which had been missing from my collection, and I was happy to pick up a nice example.  

Commemorative Series, Follis (19 mm, 3.20 g), Siscia, 330-333. VRBS ROMA Draped bust of Roma to left, wearing crested Attic helmet. Rev. She-wolf standing left, head facing, suckling the twins Romulus and Remus; above, two eight-pointed stars; in exergue, ΓSIS. RIC 222. From the collection of Dipl.-Ing. Adrian Lang.

Interested to hear which of these you like the best.  Please share your comments (and any related coins), and please vote for your favorites!  Wishing you all a Happy Holidays and a Happy New Year!

Shea, Excellent variety with your 2022 additions 😊. My favorites are the mother & son denarii, #8 & 9, great portraits on both coins 😍.

[kirispupis]

Nice pickups! I'd have to go with the Perseus/Medusa, a great example of a type I've been tempted on myself.

[panzerman]

Some really nice coins/ for you "13" is  a lucky number!

 

I would choose 9   12    13

 

John

[Limes]

Many great coins, congratulations! Although the AE of Pontos is splendid and shows an interesting, graphic reverse, my favorite would be your Caracalla. Also love the portrait on your imperial denarii, especially the divus Antoninus Pius. 

Best whishes for 2023! 

[Shea19]

On 12/28/2022 at 4:56 AM, ambr0zie said:

All great coins and serious candidates for a top 10 - but my top 3 will be

- 1. Achaemenid siglos - great obverse with clear portrait and visible bow - these types might be common but not with good details and centering
- 2. Amisos - for similar reasons
- 7. Caracalla from Tarsus. I like this mint more and more - large provincial coins with artistic designs (and unique). 

Thanks!  And if you’re into big provincial bronzes, I definitely agree that the Tarsus mint is one of the best…huge flans, and some great reverse types from there which you can’t really find anywhere else.

[Hughie Dwyer]

Nice coins. I'm always drawn to coins of the Nerva-Antonine dynasty so naturally they are my favourites. However, the 'flip-over double strike' coin is really interesting and something I have never seen before. I think it is a really cool coin to add to your collection!😀

[quant.geek]

There is something about the dagger on that siglos that has me drooling.  I also like that galley!  But overall, they are all really nice coins. Congrats to your 2022 acquisitions...

[Severus Alexander]

Coingrats on a great year, @Shea19!!  It was virtually impossible to narrow down my favourites to just 3, though I ended up voting for the Sev Alex (of course! I think this era of his portraiture is the best, and the Spes is great), the early SA-style Max Thrax (great example!), and the Cilician galley with its cool piracy connection.  I agree the style on the A. Pi portrait is very unusual and a great pickup (love the minty flowlines too), the VRBS ROMA is a beauty, what a great Mamaea portrait, and who doesn't love a dramatic flip-over double?  Those were my runners-up.  Which covers practically your whole list. 😄 

To post something related, here's a similar style SA portrait:

[Qcumbor]

Wow on the caracalla Galley and the severe Severus

Nice selection overall

Q

[Ursus]

Congrats on a good collecting year! The Julia Mamaea portrait is, at least in my eyes, of especially good style.