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FIFTY SHADES OF RED


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Severus Alexander (222 - 235 A.D.)

Egypt, Alexandria
Billon Tetradrachm
O: A KAI MAP AYP CEYHP AΛEΞANΔPOC EYCEB, Laureate, draped and cuirassed bust right.
R: Tyche (Fortuna) facing left, reclining on a "lectisternium" (vessel) holding a rudder with her r. hand, leaning head on left. At left LE=5th yr. or 226 AD
Alexandria Mint
10.4g
24.6mm
Dattari 4384 Emmett 3140.5

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This has a subtle pink/red background

Faustina Junior. Augusta, AD 147-175. Orichalcum Dupondius
Rome mint. Struck under Marcus Aurelius, circa AD 170-175/6.
Obv. FAUSTINA AUGUSTA. Draped bust right. Hair curls down cheek, hair in low chignon fastened with band of pearls.
Rev. JUNO standing left, holding patera and scepter; at feet to left, peacock standing left, head right. SC across fields.
 (25mm, 11.53 g.) RIC III 1647 (Aurelius)

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venturing into medieval, but I'm pretty fond of this red patina on this coin.

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Artuqids of Mardin. Nasir al-Din Artuq Arslan, AD 1201-1239. Dirham
(Bronze, 29 mm, g, 10 h), Mardin

Obv: Male figure sitting cross-legged on throne, holding small globe.
Rev: Kufic inscription, citing the Ayyubid ruler al-Kamil Muhammad
as overlord.
Reference: Spengler & Sayles 46; Album 1830.9.

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53 minutes ago, Celator said:

I think this qualifies.

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Constantine I
Siscia mint
321 to 324 AD
AE 3
Obvs: CONSTANTINVS AVG, Laur right.
Revs: DN CONSTANTINI MAX AVD, around wreath enclosing VOT XX. ЄSIS
19mm, 3.5g
RIC VII 180

Yep. 🤣

If we're sticking to the Roman Empire, this is my reddest, at least where the red comes from deposits and not exposed copper.

Clodius Albinus Sestertius, 194-195
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Rome. Bronze, 29mm, 17.97g. Head of Clodius Albinus, bare, right; D CLOD SEPT ALBIN CAES. Minerva, helmeted, draped, standing left, holding olive-branch in right hand and shield set on ground in left hand; spear rests against left arm; MINER PACIF COS II; S C (RIC IV, 54A). Found near Wisbech.

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I didn't post anything in the "Green" thread -- too many to choose from! -- but I have only a couple of coins that can legitimately be described as red or reddish, at least in part (as opposed to merely looking that way as an artifact of the photograph).

Anonymous colonial civic issue, AE 23, 251 - 260 AD (Trebonianus Gallus to Valerian I), Troas, Alexandria Troas Mint. Obv. Draped bust of Tyche right, wearing mural crown, vexillum inscribed CO AV over right shoulder, CO ALEX TR / Rev. Horse (of Erichthonius?)* grazing to right, COL AVG, TROAD in exergue. RPC IX 505 (see https://rpc.ashmus.ox.ac.uk/coins/9/505 ); Bellinger A486 [Alfred A. Bellinger, Troy, The Coins (Princeton 1961)]; BMC 17 Troas, 46 var. [diff. legends]; see also id. 45, 47-50 var. [Warwick Wroth,  A Catalog of the Greek Coins in the British Museum, Vol. 17, Troas, Aeolis, and Lesbos (London 1894)]; SNG Copenhagen 108-113 [Sylloge Nummorum Graecorum, Copenhagen, The Royal Collection of Coins and Medals, Danish National Museum, Part 20, Troas (1945)]. 23 mm., 5.80 g.  Ex: Pars Coins; Ex: Kenneth W. Dorney.

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* See BMC 17 Troas at xviii, citing Cavedoni (Spicil., p. 151) for the suggestion that the grazing horse, first depicted on the coins of Alexandria Troas ca. 300 BCE, is one of the horses of Erichthonius, father of Tros, after whom Troas was named.

Claudius II Gothicus, Billon Tetradrachm, 269/270 AD (Year 2), Alexandria, Egypt mint. Obv. Laureate, draped, and cuirassed bust right, AVT K KΛA - VΔIOC CEB / Rev. Eagle standing left, head right, holding wreath in beak, L-B (Year 2) across fields. Emmett 3879.2, Milne 4248 at p. 101 [Milne, J.G., Catalogue of Alexandrian Coins (Oxford 1933, reprint with supplement by Colin M. Kraay, 1971)], Dattari 5412. 20 mm., 9.28 g, 12 h. 

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Very very nice coins everyone. I read somewhere that the reddish patina is typical of lead oxyde (like we often see on Alexandrian tetradrachms), so many of the coins here may have been made with an alloy which contains lead. Red could also be an indicator of harmful corrosion. In geology, when you see a rock that color, it always indicate the presence of a few percent of manganese. Is there a chemist here to confirm that ?🤓

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Some more reddish coins...

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Achaea. Arcadia, Tegea. Caracalla Æ22

Obv: Laureate, draped and cuirassed bust of Caracalla to right.
Rev: TEGE ATΩN, Pan standing left, on goat legs, holding syrinx and lagobolon.

 

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Caria, Mylasa. Geta AE38 Medallion. Cult statue of Artemis

CARIA, Mylasa. GETA. As Caesar, 198-209 AD. AE Medallion (22.95 gm; 38 mm). Bare-headed, draped, and cuirassed bust right / Tetrastyle temple of Zeus Labraundus, cult statue of Artemis within, holding labrys and spear; tresses hanging from each hand. Round shield with two supporters in pediment.
Akarca 90; BMC 38; Price & Trell 442.

 

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Cilicia, Seleucia ad Calycadnum. Gallienus. Æ27. Athena/anguipede Giant

Obv: Laureate, draped, and cuirassed bust right.
Rev: Athena advancing right, brandishing spear and shield at anguipede Giant, raising both hands.
27mm, 7.9 gm.
SNG Levante 789

 

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Judaea, Askalon. Titus AE24

Obv: ΣEBAΣTOΣ, laureate head right.
Rev: AΣKAΛΩ, Tyche standing left on prow, holding standard and aphlaston, altar to left, dove standing left over ΔΠΡ (year 184) in right field.
RPC II 2209; BMC 117.
Dated AD 80-81.

 

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Lycaonia, Iconium. Herakles/Perseus AE16. ca 2nd century AD.


Obv: Bearded Herakles right, lion's skin knotted at neck, club over left shoulder.
Rev: COL ICONI, nude Perseus standing, head r., holding harpa in l., head of Gorgon in r.

 

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Mesopotamia, Carrhae. Caracalla Ae18

Obv: M AVR ANTONINV F VA.
Laureate head right.
Rev: COI MET ANTONINIAN Δ AVG.
Veiled head of Tyche right, wearing mural crown.

 

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Moesia inferior, Nikopolis. Septimius Severus AE17. Eros standing

Obv: AV KL - CEVHROC / Septimius laureate, r.
Rev: NIKOPOLITW NPROCIC / Eros, winged, nude, stg. l. with crossed legs, holding short torch in extended r. hand, l. hand behind back.
AE17, 3.2g.

 

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Phrygia, Laodikeia ad Lycum. Philip II, as Caesar. Æ25

Obv: Μ ΙΟΥ ΦΙΛΙΠΠΟϹ ΚΑΙϹ. Bare-headed, draped and cuirassed bust of Philip II, r., seen from front.
Rev: ΛΑΟΔΙΚƐΩΝ ΝƐΩΚΟΡΩΝ. Homonoia standing l., holding patera and cornucopia; at feet, lighted altar.
RPC VIII, — (unassigned; ID 20773)

 

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Pontus, Amisos. Æ20. Tyche/Eagle

Obv: ΑΜΙϹΟϹ / Head of Tyche r.
Rev: ΑΜΙϹΟΥ ƐΛƐΥΘƐΡΑϹ / Eagle standing r., wings open, head l.
Time of Maximinus 235-238AD.

 

 

 

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Here’s a really red one from my collection.

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Maximinus II, AE follis. Alexandria. 315 AD. IMP C GAL VAL MAXIMINVS PF AVG, laureate head right with parallel wreath ties, rounded ends (important for the id) / GENIO IMP-ERATORIS, Genius standing left, modius on head, naked but for chlamys over left shoulder, holding patera from which liquid flows, and cornucopiae. Crescent over K in left field. Gamma over P in right field. Mintmark ALE.
RIC VI Alexandria 139b.

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I'll add one more, my only Antoninus Pius Zodiac drachm from Roman Alexandria: the patina is primarily green, but the coin does have a few patches of red. I remember nothing about high school chemistry, so I won't even try to speculate as to what it represents!

Antoninus Pius AE Drachm, Zodiac Series, Sun in Leo (day house), Year 8 (144-145 AD), Alexandria, Egypt Mint. Obv. Laureate head right, ΑYΤ Κ Τ ΑΙΛ ΑΔΡ ΑΝΤѠΝƐΙΝΟϹ ϹƐ-Β ƐYϹ (legend begins at 8:00) / Rev. Lion springing right; above to left, bust of Helios, radiate and draped; above to right, 8-pointed star; L H (Year 8 ) below.  RPC IV.4 Online 13547 (temp.) (see https://rpc.ashmus.ox.ac.uk/coins/4/13547 ); Emmett 1530.8 (ill. p. 74A); BMC 16 Alexandria 1084 at p. 127 (ill. Pl. 12); Milne 1813-1815 at p. 44 (No. 1815 has same obv. legend break as this coin, i.e., ϹƐ-Β ƐVϹ); Dattari (Savio) 2968; K&G 35.278 (ill. p. 173); Köln (Geissen) 1495.  Ex Dr. Busso Peus Nachfolger, Auction 428, Lot 555, 28 Apr. 2021; ex Heidelberger Münzhandlung Herbert Grün e.K., Auction 79, Lot 1284, 10 Nov. 2020.* 33 mm., 20.95 g. [Footnote omitted.]

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Edited by DonnaML
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This T-Bone has pink tinge to it

Gaius Vibius Trebonianus Gallus. AE Sestertius, Rome, AD 251-252

IMP CAES C VIBIVS TREBONIANVS GALLVS AVG, laureate, draped bust right / PIETAS AVGG, S-C, Pietas standing facing before lit altar, raising both hands.
RIC 117a; Cohen 86; Sear 9676.
23.15g. 28x31mm

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A red coin from China. Here you can see the red Cuprite crystals.

Ming

Emperor: Lóng Qìng 隆慶 (Mù Zong 穆宗)
Obv: Lóng Qìng Tōng Bǎo 隆慶通寶
Rev: -
year: after 1570
AE, 4.07g, 25.64mm
Ref.: Hartill 20.138, FD1969, S1183

 

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Edited by shanxi
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