Emperors of 238 ad - And a fantastic ringstone

[Severus Alexander]

Nice one, @Prieure de Sion!  By the standards of a typical Gordie denarius, I wouldn't call those "worn dies."  Definitely a good buy.

I took a swipe at a couple near the end of the auction too, but missed.  (Should've gone a bit higher on the Max Thrax that looked like Sev Alex.)  But I'm happy because I finally landed a Pescennius Niger!!! 😄  So Leu has been a success for me.

Here's my Gordie denarius.  Not as struck, perhaps(?), but I love the portrait and the toning.  Hammer: 40 eur.

And my Gordie Farnese Hercules, @Curtisimo!  Pretty much as struck, I'd say.  Minus the little ding on the cheek and it would be perfect.  Ah well...

Edited July 17, 2022 by Severus Alexander

[Romancollector]

Here's a coin struck slightly earlier in 237 AD

AE Sestertius of Maximinus I

Edited September 14, 2022 by Romancollector

[Phil Davis]

Every time I read the title of this thread, I see "ringtone," not "ringstone." I keep expecting to finally learn the Numis Forums theme song!

[shanxi]

13 hours ago, Phil Davis said:

Every time I read the title of this thread, I see "ringtone," not "ringstone."

You are looking for an emperor of 238 ringtone. Here it is:

 

 

[Prieure de Sion]

2 minutes ago, shanxi said:

You are looking for an emperor of 238 ringtone. Here it is:

 

Now I never want to collect coins of Gordianus III again. Would anyone like to buy my Gordianus collection?
🤪

[Al Kowsky]

My favorite Gordian III provincial ☺️.

[Prieure de Sion]

I ordered from a friend two Gordianus Antoninianus coins - but there are on the way to me with shipment. Will see they look live and real.
Once is RIC 84 with IOVI STATORI and the other is RIC 86 with LAETITIA AVG N.

[Topcat7]

A (very young) Gordian III of mine . . .

Gordian III (AD 238-244). AR antoninianus (22mm, 4.2 gm,). Rome, 1 January-March (?) AD 240.

Obv: IMP CAES M ANT GORDIANVS AVG, radiate, draped and cuirassed bust of Gordian III right, seen from behind

Rev: ROMAE AETERNAE, Roma, helmeted, in military dress, seated left on shield, Victory in right hand, spear in left.

RIC IV.III 38.

(Ex. J. Eric Engstrom collection (CNG)

Edited July 18, 2022 by Topcat7

[hotwheelsearl]

I'll probably never own Pup or Balb, but at least I have a pretty gordie

[Topcat7]

On 7/18/2022 at 7:06 AM, Severus Alexander said:

Nice one, @Prieure de Sion!  By the standards of a typical Gordie denarius, I wouldn't call those "worn dies."  Definitely a good buy.

I took a swipe at a couple near the end of the auction too, but missed.  (Should've gone a bit higher on the Max Thrax that looked like Sev Alex.)  But I'm happy because I finally landed a Pescennius Niger!!! 😄  So Leu has been a success for me.

Here's my Gordie denarius.  Not as struck, perhaps(?), but I love the portrait and the toning.  Hammer: 40 eur.

And my Gordie Farnese Hercules, @Curtisimo!  Pretty much as struck, I'd say.  Minus the little ding on the cheek and it would be perfect.  Ah well...

@Severus Alexander. . . .Is that a hint of a 'double strike' or an 'overstrike' on the Obv. of the Farnese Hercules??

Edited July 19, 2022 by Topcat7

[Severus Alexander]

23 minutes ago, Topcat7 said:

On 7/17/2022 at 2:06 PM, Severus Alexander said:

@Severus Alexander. . . .Is that a hint of a 'double strike' or an 'overstrike' on the Obv. of the Farnese Hercules??

I don’t have the coin in hand right now, but I don’t think so!

[Prieure de Sion]

19 hours ago, Prieure de Sion said:

I ordered from a friend two Gordianus Antoninianus coins - but there are on the way to me with shipment. Will see they look live and real.
Once is RIC 84 with IOVI STATORI and the other is RIC 86 with LAETITIA AVG N.

That was quick. Both Gordianii arrived today via DHL. But I am still undecided whether I should keep them. I like the front sides with the profile very much. But the backs could be better... hm... hm... hm...

 

 

[shanxi]

Keep them. Both are very nice coins. Despite some wear, you can still see the faces on both reverse sides. This is not so common.

[Prieure de Sion]

32 minutes ago, shanxi said:

Keep them. Both are very nice coins. Despite some wear, you can still see the faces on both reverse sides. This is not so common.

You are probably right. I'll sleep on it.

[Prieure de Sion]

Today is not my day - I bid kind of funny at Leu today. What I didn't really want I got, what I wanted I bid first, then thought oh no, then I wanted it after all, but I was too late. The hot weather in the office is not for me. Even my air conditioner isn't much use today.

I got these three somehow - but I'll be honest - maybe I'll swap them - I have to see them live. These b/w photos are sometimes not revealing. I'll wait until they're here. From right to left, RIC 37 with Gordianus, RIC 116 with Hercules and RIC 127 with Diana - which appears at almost every auction.

 

 

Actually, I wanted to have these two.

RIC 1- PIETAS but then I would have had to offer 1100 CHF for the next step. And somehow I was too stingy for that. It's not so bad that I didn't buy them at auction. I hope to end up under 1000 euros at another auction without many people noticing. We will see. Have any of you won this lot (4621)?

 

RIC 217 - VICTORIA for that I was just upset at the coin that I didn't get it. I bid diligently. And then I thought I was quite clever. I now enter a high amount, wait 3-4 seconds before the end and then click on "bid". It's just stupid when you can't see that you've accidentally entered 27ß instead of 270 because your glasses are so steamed up from the heat. Three seconds before the end of the bidding, it wasn't "You are the highest bidder" but ERROR. And then I could no longer correct the mistake in time. AHHHHH! Was one of you the lucky winner?

 

 

 

 

Edited July 19, 2022 by Prieure de Sion

[Severus Alexander]

My thoughts on the two that just arrived in the mail would depend on how much you paid.  @Prieure de Sion, do you use acsearch or something similar to look up prices?

**Why you all need acsearch: I find it to be a must-have for anyone buying more than a few coins a year... being able to order the coins by increasing price is super helpful.  Plus the search functions/syntax are good: e.g. ______* to catch variant endings of a word, using a "-" symbol before a word to exclude it, and enclosing multiple words within parentheses for an OR function of any length.  There's a built-in thesaurus and translation (pretty good, it equates "Trier" and "Treveri", but it misses the language equivalence between "antoninianus" and "antoninian", so I always search antoninian or antoninian* - past a certain length of word you don't need the *, it automatically includes longer variants, e.g. "Maximian" also gets you the results for "Maximianus".) You can also search within certain dealers/auction houses, find the results for a particular sale, and recently they introduced image search (to find die matches and provenances) for paid-up members, you get a few free per day.  It really is a fabulous resource, highly recommended!  I don't know what I'd do without it.  (Pro tip: CGB.fr has extensive historical notes on each coin, which makes for a ton of false positives sometimes.  To exclude pretty much all and only the CGB results use "-commentaires" in your search string.)  (NB: I have zero affiliation with acsearch!  Other than the fact that I gave them permission to include AMCC results.)

Back to you, Prieure!  I think some of your Leu wins are great!!  (Again, depending on the hammers of course.)  Some thoughts, as you seem to be soliciting these (apologies if I'm wrong):

7 hours ago, Prieure de Sion said:

 

The ant: Fabulous!!  Very good obverse and a spectacular high grade, well-engraved reverse.  Perfectly centred on a large flan.  Heavy too, I suspect?  Great coin!!

Both denarii: The denarii of GIII tend to suffer from fairly generic style and, worse, worn dies.  I think that applies to these two, although they're better than most.  Not exceptional obverses, though.

Hercules reverse: great!  Not the very best out there, perhaps, but excellent detail for these, and in good style.  The cheapest better one I found is this one, from Gorny in 2018.

Diana reverse: Well, depends what you're looking for!  I think the original engraving intent was for Diana to have a sort of bun at the top of her head, but on some denarii this morphs into the weird bishop's mitre-thingy you see on your win.  It's a great example of that engraving foible, but maybe you're not happy with that.

Depending on what sort of quality you're after, I think you'll find a GIII as Caesar ant for less than the Leu examples went for.  Is this one at Roma a couple years ago good enough?  Personally I'd aim for a sestertius which aren't as hard on the wallet, but I think you're a silver guy.

Bummer on that Victory ant!  But these come up often enough you'll have no trouble finding another you like just as well, probably for less money. 😄 

[Severus Alexander]

Forgot to add my one win from today that's spot-on appropriate to the thread.  It's a Max Thrax!  😮 A first-issue 238 coin, where the Sev Alex portrait was just modified by adding on a bit of a hooked nose:

I love the innocent expression on his face!  Hah!  Good-for-nothing traitor!! You'll get your comeuppance in a couple years heh heh heh... 😈  (IMO this is the best die [or at least best style-type, there are a few other similar dies] for these.  Didn't expect one to come up soon enough for me to get one, so I'm pretty pleased with this buy.  Good price too, these first-issue modified-SevAlex portraits tend to attract a lot of bidding.  Hammer on this was 75 chf.  I can find only one FIDES distinctly better on acsearch for less money, a coin I missed bidding on in Leu in 2019. D'oh!)

Edited July 19, 2022 by Severus Alexander

[Prieure de Sion]

29 minutes ago, Severus Alexander said:

My thoughts on the two that just arrived in the mail would depend on how much you paid.  @Prieure de Sion, do you use acsearch or something similar to look up prices?

I paid 100 euros for the two that arrived today.
 

I use acsearch and the SIXBID owl. But it's only a rough direction. Especially now that prices are skyrocketing. Last year you got the elephant Caesar for less than 1000€ - now in 2022 astronomical prices are being paid. If you use acsearch - the only thing you get is tears in your eyes. But I know what you mean. 
 

The three LEU coins today ranged from CHF 45 to CHF 75. Nothing earth-shattering. I was a bit unmotivated today. And also not concentrated on the task at hand. I bid strangely. Partly without a plan. But we also had a hot day today. 

I'll wait until the three Leu coins are here. Otherwise they go into my shop. As I said, the purchase was quite cheap and they will surely find their buyers. Let's wait and see. With Leu, the Koson stater was important to me, the Gordianii are just accessories. 

The Gordianus Caesar RIC 1 should be a very exclusive silver piece. But that is not urgent. The summer is still long.
 

37 minutes ago, Severus Alexander said:

I love the innocent expression on his face!

Fantastic! You have to admit - my taste anyway - Thrax has one of the most interesting heads on imperial coins in my view. Thrax and Philippus II Arabs. I always find impressive portraits of both of them.

You have a beautiful piece there. Congratulations. 

[Severus Alexander]

34 minutes ago, Prieure de Sion said:

I paid 100 euros for the two that arrived today.

Very reasonable, but not stellar I'd say.  Prices sound better for your Leu wins.

35 minutes ago, Prieure de Sion said:

Especially now that prices are skyrocketing

Hmm... could just be the summer doldrums, but I see some softening in the mid-range.  Not so much at the high end but I don't really operate there. 😄

39 minutes ago, Prieure de Sion said:

The Gordianus Caesar RIC 1 should be a very exclusive silver piece. But that is not urgent. The summer is still long.

Absolutely, and as you say, you got your Koson!! 👍👍  (Is there something special about RIC 1?  First issue, yes, but...  Here's my first issue ant:

A bit off centre, but it was from a CoinTalker's collection.  I paid 45 USD with no buyer's fee.)

43 minutes ago, Prieure de Sion said:

You have to admit - my taste anyway - Thrax has one of the most interesting heads on imperial coins in my view. Thrax and Philippus II Arabs. I always find impressive portraits of both of them.

100% agree!!

[Prieure de Sion]

8 hours ago, Severus Alexander said:

Very reasonable, but not stellar I'd say.  Prices sound better for your Leu wins.

50 Euro per piece.

8 hours ago, Severus Alexander said:

Absolutely, and as you say, you got your Koson!! 👍👍  (Is there something special about RIC 1?  First issue, yes, but...  Here's my first issue ant:

Not necessarily - it is just "the first coin" as Caesar - then the reference to his parents the Gordianii. One can already collect them. I already had an RC 1 specimen - but passed the coin on at the beginning of the year 🙂

My ex coin:

8 hours ago, Severus Alexander said:

100% agree!!

Also an ex-coin of mine - which I had passed on. Philip has such magnificent heads on his coins.

[Al Kowsky]

23 hours ago, Prieure de Sion said:

That was quick. Both Gordianii arrived today via DHL. But I am still undecided whether I should keep them. I like the front sides with the profile very much. But the backs could be better... hm... hm... hm...

 

 

Excellent photos ☺️! The first coin shows the beginning of a moustache 😮, along with one of your body hairs 🤣.

[Qcumbor]

Since Gordianus III is starring this thread here are a few more :

 

 

Q

[Severus Alexander]

23 hours ago, Prieure de Sion said:

On 7/19/2022 at 4:21 PM, Severus Alexander said:

Absolutely, and as you say, you got your Koson!! 👍👍  (Is there something special about RIC 1?  First issue, yes, but...  Here's my first issue ant:

Not necessarily - it is just "the first coin" as Caesar - then the reference to his parents the Gordianii. One can already collect them. I already had an RC 1 specimen - but passed the coin on at the beginning of the year 🙂

Sorry @Prieure de Sion, I misunderstood.  I thought you were referring to RIC 1 as Augustus, but you meant RIC 1 as Caesar (listed separately under Balbinus & Pupienus.)  Of course RIC 1 as Caesar is special... the only silver issue as Caesar!  (As Augustus, all of RIC 1-6 are part of the first issue and so equivalent.  Which is #1 is just determined by the reverse legend coming first alphabetically, in this case FIDES MILITVM.)

Those are some pretty swell ex coins of yours!

[Prieure de Sion]

A new acquisition bought at auction from Catawiki before the weekend. I know the seller, though. Otherwise, I don't buy anything there anymore. Here, however, the seller is - positively - known to me. Greetings to Vienna 😉

Let's see when the denarius arrives here next week. This is an original picture of the seller. Let's see how it looks in real life. Gordianus III, Securitas seated, RIC 130, Rome, diameter 20mm and 3.62g weight.

[Orange Julius]

On 7/10/2022 at 1:35 PM, Severus Alexander said:

I managed to grab another 238 coin this morning too: this Balbinus!

Maybe this thread brought us both good luck, @Prieure de Sion! 😄 

That’s a great score, congrats! Has it arrived yet, how does it look in-hand? I need one of those now!