SimonW's Top 10 of 2023

[SimonW]

2023 has been a particularly exciting year for me. Mainly because of two tesserae that I was able to acquire just a few weeks ago (number 1 and 2 in my list below). But also because I started to focus more on Roman AE tesserae in general, a highly fascinating area with many mysteries yet to be solved. Another reason is that I started to expand the scope of my collection (quadrantes, semisses and tesserae) to include contorniates, another seemingly (or not? 😄) related area.

I hope you enjoy them as much as I do. Please feel free to comment and share anything related.

Happy Holidays!

10. A rather common type, but I was excited to find the two old pedigrees.

Anonymous, Quadrans (15 mm, 2.62 g), Rome, 81-161 AD.
Obv. Bust of Minerva, helmeted, r., draped. Rev. S – C, owl standing r., head front. RIC 7 (C). Ex Sally Rosenberg, Auction 72 (11.06.1932), Lot 1040; Leo Hamburger, Auction 76 (19.10.1925), Lot 2004.

 

9. A gilded quadrans of Antoninus Pius. This is just one of many examples of gilded AE fractions produced in the early 2nd century. Possibly an indication that these were used as donativa at the time.

Antoninus Pius, Quadrans (19mm, 2.91 g), Rome, 140-144 AD.
Obv. ANTONINVS AVG PIVS P P, head of Antoninus Pius, laureate, r. Rev. COS III / S C (ex.), owl, eagle, head l., and peacock, head r., tail spread. RIC 709a (R). Gilded.

 

8. An extremely rare and well preserved quadrans of Titus.

Titus, Quadrans (18 mm, 3.37 g), uncertain mint (Thrace?), 80-81 AD.
Obv. IMP T CAES DIVI VESP F AVG, head of Titus, laureate, r. Rev. IVLIA AVGVSTA, Julia seated left holding patera in her right hand and transverse scepter with her left. RIC 505 (R2). RPC II -.

 

7. Rare, difficult to find in good condition.

Anonymous, Tessera (18 mm, 2.31 g), Rome, 1st-2nd century AD.
Obv. A·P·P·F, within wreath. Rev. Scepter surmounted by bearded male head left. Cohen VIII, p. 272, 53. Dancoisne 54. Ex Numismatica Ars Classica, Auction 2 (21.02.1990), Lot 664.

 

6. One of the few contorniates copying an actual coin.

Anonymous, Contorniate (33 mm, 21.99 g), Rome, late 4th century AD.
Obv. NERO CLAVD CAESAR AVG GER P M TR P IMP P P, laureate head left; uncertain monogram incised to left. Rev. S - C / ROMA (ex.), Roma seated left on cuirass, right foot on helmet, holding Victory and parazonium; shield behind; IXI incised to right. Alföldi, Kontorniat 129; Tocci –; Sachero –.

 

5. One of the highly sought after spintriae with an erotic scene.

Anonymous, Tessera (22 mm, 5.51 g), Rome, 23 AD.
Obv. Couple engaged in sexual act on kline; drapery above, small figure seated below left with knees drawn up to chest, chous below right. Rev. III, within beaded circular border within wreath. Simonetta/Riva 4C (this coin); Buttrey 'Type 9'. Ex Münzenhandlung Adolph Hess Nachfolger, Auction 141 (28.11.1912), Lot 542.

 

4. A completely unrecorded variation of the mercury/caduceus anonymous quadrans type.

Anonymous, Quadrans (15 mm, 3.18 g), Rome, 81-161 AD.
Obv. Bust of Mercury, draped, wearing winged petasus, l. Rev. S – C, winged caduceus. RIC 31 var. (bust of Mercury r.).

 

3. An extraordinarily rare tessera of the "carpentum group" (a small group of AE tesserae, most of which show a carpentum on the obverse and agricultural motifs on the reverse).

Anonymous, Tessera (17 mm, 3.55 g), Rome, 81-161 AD.
Obv. Carpentum right, drawn by two mules. Rev. Olive branch. Cohen -. Dancoisne -.

 

2./1. Tesserae of the spintriae group are all quite rare, but those of Mitreius seem to be among the rarest (almost all in museums). Only two have been offered in the last 25+ years. They can be divided into two subgroups, one with the "regular" numeral on the reverse, like most spintriae, and one with a basilica on the reverse with a number incised in the exergue. I was lucky enough not only to buy one recently, but also to exchange a second one from a fellow collector - also a member of this forum - at the same time, for which I am extremely grateful.

Anonymous, Tessera (20 mm, 3.70 g), Rome, 23 AD.
Obv. C MITREIVS L F MAG IVVENT (NT ligate), bare head of Gaius Mitreius, son of Lucius, r.; below, cornucopia. Rev. IIII, within dotted circle; all within laurel wreath. Crisà, A./Gkikaki, M./Rowan, C. (Hrsg.): Tokens. Culture, Connections, Communities (RNS Special Publication 57), London 2019, 79-94, fig. 19 (this coin). Ex Classical Numismatic Group, Triton IV (05.12.2000), Lot 449.

 

Anonymous, Tessera (20 mm, 3.88 g), Rome, 23 AD.
Obv. C MITREIVS L F MAG IVVENT (NT ligate), bare head of Gaius Mitreius, son of Lucius, r.; below, cornucopia. Rev. Two story building (basilica?), each with five columns on each floor; between floors, L SEXTILI S P; in exergue, incised VI. Rowan, Ashmolean p. 102, 1b. Ex Frank L. Kovacs, Mail Bid Sale XV (01.10.2003), Lot 304; Italo Vecchi, Auction 16 (09.10.1999), Lot 389.

Edited December 25, 2023 by SimonW

[ambr0zie]

These are really interesting. I think this is the first spintria I see posted in a forum. But I have never heard about gilded quadrantes - that Pius is magnificent. 

[singig]

Fascinating areas of collecting  , very nice . Congratulations ! 

[JayAg47]

Your list have some coins that I'm seeing for the first time! very intriguing, especially the Nero contorniate, from a time when coins were made with cartoonish busts, and also love that Spintria!

[DonnaML]

These are fascinating, @SimonW. Are you familiar with the new Open Access book by Clare Rowan on the subject of Roman tokens (covering what are often called tesserae, along with spintriae, etc.), entitled Tokens and Social Life in Roman Imperial Italy, available online as free pdf download? 

See https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/tokens-and-social-life-in-roman-imperial-italy/19CCED5AACE529587F3E921C0D0A82F0 . Pdf is at https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/19CCED5AACE529587F3E921C0D0A82F0/9781316516539AR.pdf/Tokens_and_Social_Life_in_Roman_Imperial_Italy.pdf?event-type=FTLA 

Tokens and Social Life in Roman Imperial Italy

Clare Rowan, University of Warwick

Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Online publication date: November 2023
Print publication year: 2023
Online ISBN: 9781009030434
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009030434

Tokens are under-utilised artefacts from the ancient world, but as
everyday objects they were key in mediating human interactions. This
book provides an accessible introduction to tokens from Roman
Imperial Italy. It explores their role in the creation of imperial
imagery, as well as what they can reveal about the numerous identities
that existed in different communities within Rome and Ostia. It is
clear that tokens carried imagery that was connected to the emotions
and experiences of different festivals, and that they were designed to
act upon their users to provoke particular reactions. Tokens bear
many similarities to ancient Roman currency, but also possess important differences.

The tokens of Roman Italy were objects used by a wide
variety of groups for particular events or moments in time; their
designs reveal experiences and individuals otherwise lost to history.
This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.

Clare Rowan is Associate Professor in the Department of Classics
and Ancient History at the University of Warwick. Her previous
books, Under Divine Auspices: Divine Ideology and the Visualisation
of Imperial Power (Cambridge University Press, 2013) and From
Caesar to Augustus: Using Coins as Sources (Cambridge University
Press, 2018), have demonstrated the enormous potential of coin evidence for understanding the Roman world. She held a European Research Starting Grant, entitled Token Communities in the Ancient Mediterranean, from 2016 to 2021, and this volume represents the
findings of this work. She is currently the ancient editor for the
Numismatic Chronicle.

Table of Contents

List of Figures
Acknowledgements
List of Abbreviations
1 Introduction
2 Tokens and the Imperial Family
3 Creating Identities in Rome, Ostia and Italy
4 Cult, Euergetism and the Imagery of Festivals
5 Tokens, Finds and Small-Scale Economies
6 Conclusion: Tokens and the History of Roman Imperial Italy
References
Index

[Nerosmyfavorite68]

They're all worthy. My favorites are the Titus (the 'full circles strike', as Forum would put it) and the Gaius Mitreius.

[lordmarcovan]

The owl quadrans and Nero contorniate are what caught my eye!

[Di Nomos]

Very interesting coins, an area of collecting I know nothing about, but I really like number 7. Number 3 comes in second.

[Limes]

Something very different from my collecting preferences, and I don't see these types posted here often. I never heard of gilded quadrantes! Hard to pick favorites, they are all very interesting coins and appealing, thanks for posting this list. By the way, the reverse of your no. 5 looks a bit corroded, is it active? (Hope not of course!)

Edited December 26, 2023 by Limes

[seth77]

I really like no. 7 with the scepter that looks like a hair pin.

[Roman Collector]

Absolutely fascinating field of collecting! I love the Titus IVLIA AVGVSTA!! 

[David Atherton]

14 hours ago, SimonW said:

2023 has been a particularly exciting year for me. Mainly because of two tesserae that I was able to acquire just a few weeks ago (number 1 and 2 in my list below). But also because I started to focus more on Roman AE tesserae in general, a highly fascinating area with many mysteries yet to be solved. Another reason is that I started to expand the scope of my collection (quadrantes, semisses and tesserae) to include contorniates, another seemingly (or not? 😄) related area.

I hope you enjoy them as much as I do. Please feel free to comment and share anything related.

Happy Holidays!

10. A rather common type, but I was excited to find the two old pedigrees.

Anonymous, Quadrans (15 mm, 2.62 g), Rome, 81-161 AD.
Obv. Bust of Minerva, helmeted, r., draped. Rev. S – C, owl standing r., head front. RIC 7 (C). Ex Sally Rosenberg, Auction 72 (11.06.1932), Lot 1040; Leo Hamburger, Auction 76 (19.10.1925), Lot 2004.

 

9. A gilded quadrans of Antoninus Pius. This is just one of many examples of gilded AE fractions produced in the early 2nd century. Possibly an indication that these were used as donativa at the time.

Antoninus Pius, Quadrans (19mm, 2.91 g), Rome, 140-144 AD.
Obv. ANTONINVS AVG PIVS P P, head of Antoninus Pius, laureate, r. Rev. COS III / S C (ex.), owl, eagle, head l., and peacock, head r., tail spread. RIC 709a (R). Gilded.

 

8. An extremely rare and well preserved quadrans of Titus.

Titus, Quadrans (18 mm, 3.37 g), uncertain mint (Thrace?), 80-81 AD.
Obv. IMP T CAES DIVI VESP F AVG, head of Titus, laureate, r. Rev. IVLIA AVGVSTA, Julia seated left holding patera in her right hand and transverse scepter with her left. RIC 505 (R2). RPC II -.

 

7. Rare, difficult to find in good condition.

Anonymous, Tessera (18 mm, 2.31 g), Rome, 1st-2nd century AD.
Obv. A·P·P·F, within wreath. Rev. Scepter surmounted by bearded male head left. Cohen VIII, p. 272, 53. Dancoisne 54. Ex Numismatica Ars Classica, Auction 2 (21.02.1990), Lot 664.

 

6. One of the few contorniates copying an actual coin.

Anonymous, Contorniate (33 mm, 21.99 g), Rome, late 4th century AD.
Obv. NERO CLAVD CAESAR AVG GER P M TR P IMP P P, laureate head left; uncertain monogram incised to left. Rev. S - C / ROMA (ex.), Roma seated left on cuirass, right foot on helmet, holding Victory and parazonium; shield behind; IXI incised to right. Alföldi, Kontorniat 129; Tocci –; Sachero –.

 

5. One of the highly sought after spintriae with an erotic scene.

Anonymous, Tessera (22 mm, 5.51 g), Rome, 23 AD.
Obv. Couple engaged in sexual act on kline; drapery above, small figure seated below left with knees drawn up to chest, chous below right. Rev. III, within beaded circular border within wreath. Simonetta/Riva 4C (this coin); Buttrey 'Type 9'. Ex Münzenhandlung Adolph Hess Nachfolger, Auction 141 (28.11.1912), Lot 542.

 

4. A completely unrecorded variation of the mercury/caduceus anonymous quadrans type.

Anonymous, Quadrans (15 mm, 3.18 g), Rome, 81-161 AD.
Obv. Bust of Mercury, draped, wearing winged petasus, l. Rev. S – C, winged caduceus. RIC 31 var. (bust of Mercury r.).

 

3. An extraordinarily rare tessera of the "carpentum group" (a small group of AE tesserae, most of which show a carpentum on the obverse and agricultural motifs on the reverse).

Anonymous, Tessera (17 mm, 3.55 g), Rome, 81-161 AD.
Obv. Carpentum right, drawn by two mules. Rev. Olive branch. Cohen -. Dancoisne -.

 

2./1. Tesserae of the spintriae group are all quite rare, but those of Mitreius seem to be among the rarest (almost all in museums). Only two have been offered in the last 25+ years. They can be divided into two subgroups, one with the "regular" numeral on the reverse, like most spintriae, and one with a basilica on the reverse with a number incised in the exergue. I was lucky enough not only to buy one recently, but also to exchange a second one from a fellow collector - also a member of this forum - at the same time, for which I am extremely grateful.

Anonymous, Tessera (20 mm, 3.70 g), Rome, 23 AD.
Obv. C MITREIVS L F MAG IVVENT (NT ligate), bare head of Gaius Mitreius, son of Lucius, r.; below, cornucopia. Rev. IIII, within dotted circle; all within laurel wreath. Crisà, A./Gkikaki, M./Rowan, C. (Hrsg.): Tokens. Culture, Connections, Communities (RNS Special Publication 57), London 2019, 79-94, fig. 19 (this coin). Ex Classical Numismatic Group, Triton IV (05.12.2000), Lot 449.

 

Anonymous, Tessera (20 mm, 3.88 g), Rome, 23 AD.
Obv. C MITREIVS L F MAG IVVENT (NT ligate), bare head of Gaius Mitreius, son of Lucius, r.; below, cornucopia. Rev. Two story building (basilica?), each with five columns on each floor; between floors, L SEXTILI S P; in exergue, incised VI. Rowan, Ashmolean p. 102, 1b. Ex Frank L. Kovacs, Mail Bid Sale XV (01.10.2003), Lot 304; Italo Vecchi, Auction 16 (09.10.1999), Lot 389.

That is a spectacular list! What a awesome year you had!

[SimonW]

Thank you all for your kind words!

And a special thanks to @DonnaML for the link to this new book, which I hadn't seen before! Clare Rowan has been publishing on the subject for several years, and the University of Warwick has a great collection of tesserae in both AE and PB.

Another interesting read is Tokens. Culture, Connections, Communities (RNS Special Publication 57, London, 2019) by Crisà, A./Gkikaki, M./Rowan, C. For spintriae, I recommend Alexa Küter's article Roman Tesserae with Numerals: Some Thoughts on Iconography and Purpose in the same publication.

[AETHER]

very nice! I especially like the last coin.

[jdmKY]

@SimonW thank you for sharing these,  they are extremely interesting and appealing! Coincidentally, I watched Aaron Berk’s latest Ancient Coin Podcast  (#38 I think) and he had a short discussion about contorniates as well as medallions. Very interesting segment.

[savitale]

What a great list for 2023! Love the tesserae, I'll wager there is a still a lot of research to be done on these. The gilded coins are very neat too.

[Curtisimo]

Wow! What a fascinating list. At the risk of being labeled a perv I will say my favorite is #5. The provenance is reassuring. As I understand it there are a lot of fakes of these so having one that is securely authentic is amazing.

[Qcumbor]

The whole lot is completely out of my fields, hence I find it fascinating to see all those novelties at once. Great collecting theme(s)

Q

Edited December 28, 2023 by Qcumbor

[Aleph]

The carpenter, no. 3, is a great find!  This series is tremendously rare but much more extensive than is generally realized.  Love no. 1 also!

The ‘regular’ Ae tesserae of Rome, e.g., the extensive Spintriae series, the carpentum and associated types, and then the letter series, are special fields that nobody comes to appreciate without spending a lot of time already in Roman numismatics.  Ranging from run of the mill rare like the Spintriae to torturously rare like the carpentum series, these are difficult to collect and amazing mysterious.  It is likely that no one else will ever hold 1, 2, 3 at the same time unless Simon sells these to that person directly!

[SimonW]

Thank you all. I very much appreciate all the kind comments.

 

On 12/26/2023 at 9:53 AM, Limes said:

By the way, the reverse of your no. 5 looks a bit corroded, is it active? (Hope not of course!)

I don't think it's active corrosion, but more likely verdigris. The surface hasn't changed since 1912, as far as I can tell from the Adolph Hess Nachfolger plates, except for the edge split.

 

On 12/26/2023 at 9:26 PM, jdmKY said:

Coincidentally, I watched Aaron Berk’s latest Ancient Coin Podcast  (#38 I think) and he had a short discussion about contorniates as well as medallions. Very interesting segment.

Thank you very much for the recommendation, @jdmKY! It is indeed podcast #38. It's a shame they didn't talk more about contorniates. I think it's an area that deserves an exclusive podcast. 🙂 

 

10 hours ago, Curtisimo said:

As I understand it there are a lot of fakes of these so having one that is securely authentic is amazing.

Unfortunately, yes. Even those with old pedigrees are not always authentic as these have been forged for centuries.

 

1 hour ago, Aleph said:

The carpenter, no. 3, is a great find!  This series is tremendously rare but much more extensive than is generally realized.  Love no. 1 also!

The ‘regular’ Ae tesserae of Rome, e.g., the extensive Spintriae series, the carpentum and associated types, and then the letter series, are special fields that nobody comes to appreciate without spending a lot of time already in Roman numismatics.  Ranging from run of the mill rare like the Spintriae to torturously rare like the carpentum series, these are difficult to collect and amazing mysterious.  It is likely that no one else will ever hold 1, 2, 3 at the same time unless Simon sells these to that person directly!

Thank you very much, @Aleph! The carpentum series is so amazingly rare that I don't know if I will ever own a second piece from this group. In comparison, many of the spintriae series are downright common (at least if you don't collect by nummerals 😅).

Edited December 28, 2023 by SimonW