Post your latest ancient!

[akeady]

The good news is that the Tantalus website is back online - hopefully it will stay up this time.   I've downloaded my data "Just in case" as I do want to do my own database and automating parsing the spreadsheet view into this will be a nice task.

I added this coin tonight - another that was waiting for me last week.

Cr. 100/5 - Canusium sextans of 209-208 BC.

5.08g, 19mm.

Here's another from the same auction - Cr. 41/9 - this is overstruck on something, but I'm not sure what - anyone hazard a guess?   Ca. 215-212 BC, 16.78g, 27mm.

ATB,
Aidan.

[Amarmur]

4 hours ago, Nerosmyfavorite68 said:

Yesterday.

Happy belated birthday. Alexandria Neros are always fun, super abundant, you can even do a mini set with the reverses! May many more Nero coins  come your way! 

[ambr0zie]

I just received my latest package with 3 coins from an auction. Very happy with all 3 coins. 2 of them deserve topics in my opinion. I would have created a topic for this one also, but there was a recent Faustina Friday topic about this type of coin. 

I bought it because I liked the reverse, the hook nose and the general condition. 

17,7 mm, 3.6 g

Faustina II, Augusta 147-175/6. AR denarius. Rome. 161-176.

FAVSTINA AVGVSTA, draped bust right, hair waved with two braided bands / FECVNDITAS, Fecunditas standing right, holding scepter and nude male child.

BMC 91; C. 99; RIC 677; RSC 99.

[expat]

Here is the first of 4 to arrive today. My first ever slabbed coin but don´t know whether to leave it in or release it.

ROMAN EMPIRE, Geta, as Caesar. 209-215 AD. AR Denarius.. Rome, AD 200-202. P SEPT GETA CAES PONT, bare-headed, draped and cuirassed bust right / SECVRIT IMPERII, Securitas seated left, holding globe in right hand. RIC 20b, BMCRE 240-243, RSC 183a,  Cohen 183 - SEAR RCV II (2002), #7200, page 565

 

[expat]

Number 2

Septimius Severus AR Denarius, Rome 207 AD. 20mm, 3.31gr.
RIC 207, RSC 493, BMC 531
SEVERVS PIVS AVG, laureate head right / P M TR P XV COS III P P, Africa standing right, holding out folds of drapery containing fruits, lion at feet walking right.

 

[expat]

Number 3

Julia Domna Denarius. Rome, 215-7 AD. 19.8mm, 3.12gr.
IVLIA PIA FELIX AVG, draped bust right / VENVS GENETRIX, Venus seated left, holding sceptre and apple, Cupid standing right, legs crossed, resting his right hand on her right knee. RIC IV-1 389b.  Rome mint. RSC 205; Sear 7099.

 

[expat]

And number 4

Lysimachos, Kingdom of Thrace, AE 20mm, 5.20 gr. Generous flan. Lysimachia mint. 305-281 BC. Helmeted head of Athena right / BAΣIΛEΩΣ ΛYΣIMAXOY, above and beneath lion leaping right, spearhead and M on O monogram below. Mueller 74.

 

[Valentinian]

8 hours ago, expat said:

Here is the first of 4 to arrive today. My first ever slabbed coin but don't know whether to leave it in or release it.

I would release it, but save the inserts--especially the one with the slab number. 
 

[Phil Anthos]

Free it! And I agree about the tags. I've only bought one slabbed coin, and that on sale, but I kept the entire empty case.

And by the way... great coins!

~ Peter 

[CPK]

Bought this little one in a group lot ages ago, but only now got around to taking pictures.

David Sear writes:

"This small group of civic coins, issued at the important eastern mints of Nicomedia, Antioch, and Alexandria, were formally attributed to the period of the pagan revival under Julian II (AD 360-63). However, based on recent research by Johan Van Heesch it now seems clear that these issues belong to the time of Maximinus' persecutions in AD 311-12 and only ended with that emperor's renouncement of his former policy."

-David R Sear (Roman Coins and Their Values, Vol. IV, p. 342)

[Roman Collector]

I got this little provincial with a cool bipennis!!

Sabina, 128-137 CE.
Roman provincial Æ 16.1 mm, 3.44 g, 6 h.
Lydia, Mostene, 128-137 CE.
Obv: ϹΑΒЄΙΝΑ ϹЄΒΑϹΤΗ, bare-headed and draped bust, right.
Rev: ΜΟϹΤΗΝΩΝ, bipennis between grapes and ears of grain.
Refs: RPC III, 1962; BMC 22.162,10; Sear GIC 1301; SNG Cop. 286; GRPC Lydia 45.
Notes: This specimen coin no. 5 at RPC. Ex Heidelberger Münzhandlung Herbert, Grün 75, 13–14 Nov. 2018, lot 288.

Edited September 26, 2023 by Roman Collector

[Ryro]

@Roman Collector helped me identify this beauty (he has some).

I don't think there's any way to figure the exact date, as the reverse is rough, but I really like her portrait and patina:

Ptolemy Philometer,180-145, BCE (Berenike II?).Phoenicia, Marathos, 221/0-152/1 BC. Æ (23mm, 6.208g, 12h), civic year ? (? BC). Veiled female head r. R/ Marathos standing l., holding aphlaston and leaning on short column. Duyrat, Ateliers Series 4, 98; DCA 830; HGC 10, 193. Green patina, VF. Purchased from Bucephalus.

[Valentinian]

Here is a coin new to me.

What is the best reverse type for Claudius II, Gothicus?  I'd say a type that explicitly has "Gothic" on it!

21-19 mm. 3.20 grams.
Claudius II, 268-270
VICTORIA GOTHIC
Trophy and two captives.
SPQR in exergue. The "SPQR" mint has often been equated with Cyzicus.
RIC V.I Claudius II 252, page 233.
Sear III 11381.

 

 

[ela126]

A new nummi denomiation reverse for me. Recieved from the great @Valentinian. I have what I'd like to think is a pretty good collection of the different nummi denominations from the 6th and 7th centry. I believe this is my 25th type. I'll need to make a dedicated post at some point. This one being a V V decanummium.

Constans IV - 641-668

Decanummium

Carthage Mint - minted 643-647

2.44g 14mm

Sear- 1064 

Edited September 27, 2023 by ela126

[Prieure de Sion]

Today - finally - fresh in, after I had to deal with Deutsche Post and customs once again with the (wrong) customs fees and a very long customs process. 

 

 

Leo V the Armenian, with his son Symbatios Constantinos

Reign: Leo V; Mint: Constantinopolis; Date: 813 AD; Nominal: Solidus; Material: Gold; Diameter: 22mm; Weight: 4.46g; Reference: Sear 1627; Reference: DOC 2a; Reference: Berk 240; Pedigree: Ex European Ambassador Collection, formed in the 1950s and 1960s; Obverse: Facing bust of Leo V, with slight beard, wearing crown and chlamys, cross potent in right hand, akakia in left; Inscription: • LЄ On ЬASILЄЧ; Translation: Leo Basileos; Translation: Leo, Emperor; Reverse: Facing bust of Symbatios Constantinos, wearing crown and chlamys, globus cruciger in right hand, akakia in left; Inscription: CONSτ ANτ’ ∂ЄSP’ Є; Translation: Constantinos Despótis; Translation: Constantinos the Despot

 

Leo V (born c. 775 AD; died 25 December 820 AD), called the Armenian, was Byzantine emperor from 813 to 820 AD. Leo served as a general under the emperors Nikephoros I and Michael I. After Leo had distinguished himself in the service of Michael I in the campaign against the Arabs in 812 AD, he was charged with a campaign against the Bulgarians in 813 AD. He abandoned Michael at the battle of Adrianople, took advantage of the discontent of the troops and, together with the allied generals Michael Psellos and Thomas, led a successful revolt against Michael and his son Theophylaktos. Leo legitimised his rule by repeated victories over the Bulgarians, who unsuccessfully attempted the siege of Constantinople (814-817 AD). He concluded a thirty-year peace treaty with the Bulgarian Khan Omurtag (ruled 814-831 AD) in 816 AD, thus ensuring peace on this imperial frontier for the time being. Leo resumed the iconoclastic (anti-image) policy of the Syrian emperors, who had been extremely successful militarily. From the end of AD 814, Leo took action against the image worshippers, who had gained increasing influence at court and among the clergy under Michael I (see Byzantine Image Controversy). It seems that Leo benefited from the fact that there was indeed an anti-image sentiment in larger parts of the population of Constantinople and that the doctrine of the Paulicians had spread in Asia Minor. Patriarch Nikephoros was even deposed in 815 AD. However, the emperor's new religious policy also met with rejection; several clergymen went into exile or were imprisoned, including Theodore Studites. Soon the fronts hardened, so that on the one hand the imperial church endured the emperor's policy, and on the other hand a larger pro-faith opposition formed. Although a conspiracy by his friend Michael Psellos had been foiled by the incarceration of the leaders, Michael's allies seized the opportunity and became active against the emperor. Leo was murdered in the palace chapel on Christmas Eve 820 AD, and Michael ascended the throne in his place. The lives of his wife Theodosia (a daughter of Arsaber) and his four sons, including the heir to the throne and co-emperor Constantine (Symbatios), were spared. In order to exclude them as possible heirs to the throne, however, they had to be castrated. Leo's youngest son died as a result of the castration.

 

Symbatios (born between 800 and 810 AD; died after 820 AD on Proti) was Byzantine co-emperor from 813/14 to 820 AD under the name Constantinos. Symbatios was the eldest son of the later Emperor Leo V and Theodosia, a daughter of the usurper Arsaber. He had three brothers Basileios, Gregorios and Theodosios. When Leo was elevated to basileus in a revolt against Michael I on 11 July 813 AD, Symbatios advanced to the throne. Soon after his father, he was crowned co-emperor while still a child and at the same time assumed the throne name Constantinos, which also appears on the coins issued for him. In 815 AD, Symbatios Konstantinos nominally presided alongside Leo V at the iconoclastic Council of Constantinople, which ushered in a new phase of the iconoclastic controversy. After the murder of his father on 25 December 820 AD, he was exiled with his mother and brothers to the princely island of Proti in the Sea of Marmara. There the brothers were castrated and shorn into monks. The new Emperor Michael II, however, allowed the family to keep some of their confiscated goods as well as some servants.

[expat]

Arrived this morning

TACITUS Antoninianus. Ticinum mint.
Obverse: IMP C M CL TACITVS AVG. Radiate, draped, and cuirassed bust right.
Reverse: PAX AVGVSTI. Pax standing left, holding olive branch and transverse sceptre; P in exergue.
 
RIC 150, Cohen 72.  Ticinum mint, early-June 276.  3,5 g - 22,5 mm

Marcus Claudius Tacitus was Roman emperor from 275 to 276. During his short reign, following the death of Aurelian, he campaigned against the Goths and the Heruli, for which he received the title Gothicus Maximus
Born: 200 AD, Terni, Italy
Died: June 276 AD Tyana, Cappodocia, Turkey.
Siblings Florianus
Reign: c. December 275 – c. June 276.
His Regnal name is shortened in the obverse Legend: IMPerator Caesar Marcus CLavdius TACITVS AVGustus.

 

[Prieure de Sion]

Another new Solidus today. I was taken with the portrait - often the faces are not so well preserved - this one is pretty perfect.

 

Imperator Caesar Flavius Anastasius Augustus

Reign: Anastasius I (Anastasios I); Mint: Constantinople; Date: 491/498 AD; Nominal: Solidus; Material: Gold; Diameter: 21mm; Weight: 4.49g; Reference: Sear 3; Reference: MIBE 4a; Reference: DOC 4 (unlisted officina); Pedigree: Ex Naumann Numimsatik Vienna, Austria; Pedigree: Ex Leu Numismatik Winterthur, Switzerland; Obverse: Pearl-diademed, helmeted and cuirassed bust facing slightly to right, cross on helmet, holding spear and shield with horseman motif ; Inscription: D N ANASTASIVS P P AVG; Translation: Dominus Noster Anastasius Perpetuus Augustus; Translation: Our Lord Anastasius, Perpetual Augustus; Reverse: Victory standing facing, head to left, holding long jewelled cross; star in right field; Inscription: VICTORIA AVGGG A CONOB; Translation: Victoria Augustorum, Constantinopoli obryzum; Translation: Victory of the Augusts, Constantinople 1/72 pound pure gold

 

 

 

And then I caught another beautiful Juba II with Cleopatra Selene....

 

King Juba II with Kleopatra Selene
(daughter of queen Cleopatra VII and the Roman triumvir Marcus Antonius)

Reign: Juba II, Kingdom of Mauretania; Mint: Iulia Caesarea; Date: 11/23 AD; Nominal: Denarius; Material: Silver; Diameter: 17mm; Weight: 2.83g; Rare: R2; Reference: MAA 99; Reference: Mazard 311; Reference: SNG Copenhagen 570; Pedigree: Ex Noble Numismatics Pty Ltd., Auction 128, 23 November 2021, lot 2668; Pedigree: Ex Dr L. J. Sherwin Collection, purchased 1 October 1987 from J. Anderson (Martin Daniel), Sydney; Obverse: Diademed head of Juba II right; Inscription: REX IVBA; Translation: King Juba; Reverse: Head-dress of Isis on left and sistrum on right with inscription divided by dotted line; Inscription: BACIΛICCA KΛЄOΠATPA; Translation: Basilissa Kleopatra; Translation: Queen Cleopatra

 

[Prieure de Sion]

Constantine V Copronymus, with Leo IV and Leo III

Reign: Constantine V; Mint: Constantinople; Date: 750/756 AD; Nominal: Solidus; Material: Gold; Diameter: 19mm; Weight: 4.46g; Reference: DOC 2c; Reference: Sear 1551; Reference: Füeg 4.B.1; Obverse: Crowned facing busts of Constantine V and Leo IV, each wearing chlamys; cross above, pellet between; Inscription: COҺSƮAҺƮIҺOS S LЄOҺ O ҺЄOS; Translation: Constantinos, Leon ho neos; Translation: Constantine, Leo the new; Reverse: Crowned facing bust of Leo III wearing loros, holding cross potent; Inscription: C LЄON P A MЧL Θ; Translation: Leon, Perpetuo Augusto Multos annos; Translation: Leo, forever Augustus, many years

 

Last new Solidus for this week 🙂 

[Ryro]

Always happy to get a the quarters facing Herakles boss where you can make out the hero turned good. And yet, as obvious as the Nemean lionskin headdress he's wearing is, the new addiction house still missed it and called him a gorgon. Doh!

Here's their missatribution:

Philip III Arrhidaios (323-317 BC). Ae 1/2 Unit. Salamis.

Obv: Macedonian shield, with facing gorgoneion on boss.

Rev: B - A.

Helmet; kerykeion to lower left.

Condition: Very fine.

Weight:4,16 gr

Diameter: 15,80 mm

Edited September 30, 2023 by Ryro

[Amarmur]

Added a Hadrian Egyptian Tetradrachm with a Nilus Reverse I won it with a $31 bid surprisingly. I really like the reverse of the coin. It really captures the Roman Egypt vibe.

[Prieure de Sion]

 

 

Marcus Antonius Gordianus III

Reign: Gordianus III, Roman Imperial; Mint: Rome; Date: 240 AD; Nominal: Antoninianus; Material: Silver; Diameter: 23.5mm; Weight: 4.55g; Reference: Cohen 130; Reference: RIC IV Gordian III 36; Provenance: CGB.fr Numismatique Paris, France; Obverse: Bust of Gordian III, radiate, draped, cuirassed, right; Inscription: IMP CAES M ANT GORDIANVS AVG; Translation: Imperator Caesar Marcus Antonius Gordianus Augustus; Reverse: Liberalitas, draped, standing front, head left, holding abacus in right hand and cornucopiae in left hand; Inscription: LIBERALITAS AVG II; Translation: Liberatlitas Augusti Secunda; Translation: Second liberality of the Augustus

 

 

 

CGB is certainly not one of the cheapest dealers - but if you watch the shop, you will always find real gems - even at fair prices. I really enjoy shopping at CGB.

[CPK]

Some of my recent purchases:

I'm always partial to a nice Claudius coin, and this one, though worn, has a good strike and eye appeal. The reverse type with Constantia is by no means scarce, but it does appear with less frequency than the Libertas type; nice ones don't show up too often. I also like the contrast between the wear and dark patina. 

 

The second coin is a type I've been keeping an eye out for for a little while, ever since reading Barry Cunliffe's book The Extraordinary Voyage of Pytheas the Greek. The story of Pytheas is a fascinating one - a Mediterranean Greek of the early Hellenistic era travelling across Gaul, Britain, and even Iceland in the Arctic Circle! Unfortunately, though Cunliffe does a great job reconstructing the voyage, there's just not much meat on the bone when it comes to our information about Pytheas or his travels. His book, On the Ocean, has been lost to us and only bits of it are preserved in later writers such as Strabo the Geographer.

A coin from Pytheas' native Massalia, struck around the time he was active there, was too hard to pass up! This one has nicer surfaces than most I've seen; the metal is sound and though the obverse is a bit weak it's still a very attractive specimen IMO.

 

The third item of interest is not a coin but an artifact: a Roman iron nail from the hoard found at Inchtuthil, Scotland. This massive hoard of around a million nails was discovered in 1960 at the site of the old Roman fortress, which had been abandoned by the Twentieth Legion in the late 1st century AD. Holding this piece of history and contemplating its strange journey through time is what makes this hobby so captivating to me!

 

 

[Prieure de Sion]

I'm on a "Solidus trip" at the moment.... 😄 

 

Tiberius II Constantine. 578-582. AV Solidus (21mm, 4.45 g, 6h). Constantinople mint, 1st officina. Crowned and cuirassed bust facing, holding globus cruciger, shield on left shoulder / Cross potent set on four steps; A//CONOB. DOC 4a; MIBE 4; SB 422

[expat]

GALLIENUS AR Antoninianus. 259-260 Lugdunum mint.
Gallienus AR Billon Antoninianus. GALLIENVS (dot) P (dot) F (dot) AVG, radiate, cuirassed bust right / DEO MARTI, tetrastyle temple with Mars standing left within, left hand holding inverse spear and resting right hand on shield. RIC 10 var (dots in legend). Goebl 889g. Elmer 85; RSC 149; Cohen 615. Sear5 10195.  2,2 g - 21 mm

 

[expat]

Marcus Aurelius, as Caesar. AE As. 152-154 AD. Struck under Antoninus Pius.

Obv: AVRELIVS CAESAR ANTONINI AVG PII FIL, bare head right.
Rev: TR POT VI COS II. VIR-TVS and S-C across fields. Virtus standing
left, foot on helmet, holding spear and parazonium (A parazonium is a long triangular dagger, wide at the hilt end and coming to a point. In Roman mythology, it is frequently carried by Virtus, particularly in early representations. It is also sometimes carried by Mars, Roma, or the emperor, giving them the aura of courage).

RIC 1307; Cohen 1013.13,0 g - 26,5 mm