kapphnwn Posted June 21, 2023 · Supporter Share Posted June 21, 2023 (edited) t Last week I had embarked on a bit of an experiment. I wanted to see if after an extended forced hiatus caused by the pandemic I was capable of handling a long distance drive. So I chose two target destinations that were roughly 14 to 15 hours from home. The first was Vancouver and I found to my intense relief that it was little problem. The second drive was somewhat more challenging. It involved about 10 hours on winding mountain roads. Ugggh no fun. However while I was at both destinations I also was allowed to peruse a large number of FPL's and auction cats that can not be found on line. I will say that before I embarked on this trek I had thought of all the FPLs and auction cats ever printed that there were something like 20% could be found on line. I now believe that number is perhaps 1-2%. However enough of that. Back in September of 1991 after a rather uncomfortable night sleeping in a car near their headquarters I was sitting in the viewing room of Munzen& Medaillen then located in Basel Switzerland, I had saved money for about 2 years and decided I would like to purchase an aureus. I asked to see what they had in shop and they brought out 5 all of Antoninus Pius. I looked them over carefully and found this one. Aureus of Antoninus Pius 152-153 AD Obv Head right laureate Rv Pius togate standing left holding globe in his outstretched right hand. RIC 226 7.28 grms 20 mm Photo by W. Hansen When I was sitting there I had actually hoped for somebody other than Pius. But I was there, they were there and more importantly I had the money to purchase. I liked this coin. It had the best combination of grade, style and price of all of them so after a lot of negotiations which included paying in multiple currencies I managed to purchase the coin. At the time that is all that I knew. When I got home I did check the M & M FPL to see if my coin was illustrated but it wasn't so I simply assumed that they did not list it because it had already been sold. That is more or less how things remained for many years. However about 5 or 6 years ago I began to realize that the issue of pedigrees might impact the salability of my coins. As this coin had nothing but my memory of it being purchased, I realized that while I knew it was the truth it was not provable. About a year ago I was asked to do a lecture in a neighboring city on guess what .... The Lifetime Coins of Alexander. I was unable to go last year but made a concerted effort to do so a few weeks ago. From there I went into the US to visit a friend. Both the organizer of the talk and my friend had prodigious collections of Auction cats and FPLs. While going through some FPL's issued by Munzen & Medaillen (Basel) that were issued in 1991 I found my coin. It was no 27 in Liste 541. Now where did they get it from??? Never ending. Show any coins of Antoninus Pius and /or any new discoveries of pedigrees. Edited June 21, 2023 by kapphnwn additional note 13 1 2 1 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Kowsky Posted June 21, 2023 · Member Share Posted June 21, 2023 That's a handsome looking coin with just a touch of wear. I wouldn't be surprised if you could trace it back further 😉. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
expat Posted June 21, 2023 · Supporter Share Posted June 21, 2023 Absolutely beautiful example and great that you could trace it back, so far, 32 years. An Antoninus from my "green collection", 13 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Kowsky Posted June 21, 2023 · Member Share Posted June 21, 2023 Last January I won a bronze coin of Antoninus Pius that turned out to be a puzzler, not for the provenance, but for the first date letter on the coin 🤨. ROMAN JUDAEA, Gaza. Antoninus Pius, AD 138-161, (dated CY 215 ?, AD 154/5). AE: 20.23 gm, 30.5 mm, 12 h. Obverse: Laureate, draped & cuirassed bust facing right. Reverse: Bust of turreted, draped & veiled Tyche facing right, date letters EIC ? in left field. Rosenberger 75, Sofaer 94, RPC IV-. CNG 531, lot 639; Ex Kenneth S. Abramowitz Collection. CNG dated the first of three date letters E, that doesn't look very convincing. After doing some research, I found a coin sold by V Coins dealer Pavlos S, Pavlou, that looks similar to my coin that he dated BIC, (CY 212=AD 151/2). See his coin pictured with mine below. RPC IV lists over a dozen different examples of this coin type with no examples using the date letters EIC or BIC 😮💨, but they do list two examples using the Greek letter Theta, see the photo below. RPC IV.3, 6667 (temporary), AE 30 mm (average diameter), 12 h. NUMIS FORVMS members are welcome to give their opinions on the first date letter on my coin 😊. 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
expat Posted June 21, 2023 · Supporter Share Posted June 21, 2023 Even though it is worn in that area, there is a circular shape with a partial crossbar visible, so my impression is Theta 1 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Kowsky Posted June 21, 2023 · Member Share Posted June 21, 2023 1 hour ago, expat said: Even though it is worn in that area, there is a circular shape with a partial crossbar visible, so my impression is Theta I'm leaning in the same direction as you 😉. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.