Harry G Posted February 29 · Member Share Posted February 29 (edited) Hi all! Here is my (2 months late) top 10 list of coins from 2023! I haven't managed to buy too many coins (as I've been very busy studying), but these are my 10 favourites! (Plus an extra one that I bought a few weeks ago...) So, here goes: 10. Claudius II Gothicus - Unpublished & Unusual IMP CLAVDIVS AVG - Radiate, draped, cuirassed bust r. IOVI STATORI - Jupiter standing, facing right, holding thunderbolt and sceptre. At first glance, this appears to be a very normal antoninianus of Claudius II. However, the mintmark "XXIZ" wasn't used as a mark on antoninianii until Aurelian's reign! Probably barbarous, but still an interesting piece. 9. Postumus - Diana and her Stag IMP C POSTVMVS P F AVG - Radiate, draped, cuirassed bust r. DIANAE REDVCI - Diana walking left, leading stag. In pretty poor condition, but an iconic type nevertheless. A bargain find on eBay. 8. Aurelian - SERD(ica) IMP C D AVRELIANVS AVG - Radiate, draped, cuirassed bust r. CONSERVATOR AVG - Asclepius standing facing, head left, leaning on serpent-entwined staff, SERD in the exergue I've been after an example with this mintmark for a while, and this one has decent detail. I find it interesting how Serdica used such a different mintmark to all the other mints under Aurelian. 7. Commodus - by Trajan Decius DIVO COMMODO - Radiate head r. CONSECRATIO - Flaming altar Somewhat crystalized, but with otherwise good detail. This brings my total number of DIVI coins by Trajan Decius up to 3. 6. Aurelian & Vabalathus VABALATHVS VCRIMDR - Radiate, draped, cuirassed bust of Vabalathus r. IMP C AVRELIANVS AVG - Radiate, draped, cuirassed bust of Aurelian r. I already have several of these, but none with this much silvering! An unusually well struck example of this type. 5. Gallienus - Not a Normal Zoo Coin... GALLIENVS AVG - Radiate head r. APOLLINI CONS AVG - Centaur standing holding branch, facing left, SI in exergue. An extremely rare zoo series antoninianus of Gallienus from Siscia (not Rome) mint. I think I've found an obverse die match, but the reverse is apparently unique. 4. Julia Domna IVLIA PIA FELIX AVG - Diademed, draped bust r. on crescent. VENVS GENETRIX - Venus seated left, extending right hand and holding sceptre. A relatively common coin, but in good shape for the issue. I keep meaning to get coins of the earlier empresses. 3. Claudius II Gothicus - A Silvered Smyrna Issue IMP C M AVR CLAVDIVS AVG - Radiate, draped, cuirassed bust r. SALVS AVG - Salus standing right, holding serpent, SPQR in exergue. An unusually well struck example of a Smyrna mint coin, with some nice obverse silvering. I keep trying to get more Smyrna coins, but they're pretty hard to come by. 2. Claudius II Gothicus - a Smyrna Issue with Even More Silvering IMP C M AVR CLAVDIVS AVG - Radiate, draped, cuirassed bust r. AEQVITAS AVG - Aequitas standing left, holding scales and caduceus, SPQR in exergue. An fully silvered example of a Smyrna mint coin, also with a slightly scarcer reverse. 1. Laelianus - my Final Gallic Emperor IMP C LAELIANVS P F AVG - Radiate, draped, cuirassed bust r. VICTORIA AVG - Victory advancing right holding wreath. A nicely detailed example of this very rare usurper, which completes my set of Gallic emperors (apart from Domitianus of course). Still my biggest single-coin purchase so far! Bonus: The Festival of Isis and Anubis DEO SERAPIDI - Draped bust of Serapis r., left arm outstretched. VOTA PVBLICA - Anubis standing l. with sistrum and caduceus. A very charismatic coin, struck during the reign of Julian II to commemorate the Festival of Isis, which heralded the arrival of the "Ship of Isis" at Alexandria. This coin has Anubis - an Egyptian God - on the reverse, and is possibly unpublished (or maybe unique) with this obverse. This isn't a coin I would normally collect, but I think it's an incredibly cool piece, so I'm going to keep it. Edited February 29 by Harry G 22 1 1 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
expat Posted February 29 · Supporter Share Posted February 29 Always better late than never. A wonderful selection of acquisitions, thanks for sharing with us. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Qcumbor Posted February 29 · Supporter Share Posted February 29 Great selection. What makes you think the Gallienus zoo (#5) is from Siscia rather than Rome (I honestly don't see the exergue) ? Q 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry G Posted February 29 · Member Author Share Posted February 29 1 hour ago, Qcumbor said: Great selection. What makes you think the Gallienus zoo (#5) is from Siscia rather than Rome (I honestly don't see the exergue) ? Q The busts of Gallienus from Siscia are generally quite distinctive (with a long neck and big nose), and I believe there was an obverse die match to a specimen from the Reihardt collection, which also has similar silvering (but with a doe on the reverse instead): I can't say for certain what is in the exergue, but it looks like something definitely was there at some point, and as almost all other Siscia zoo series coins have "SI", so I think it's probably that. Here's the MIR coin, which has a centaur facing right. 2 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benefactor robinjojo Posted February 29 · Benefactor Benefactor Share Posted February 29 A wonderful group for 2023! The quality of the portraits for some of the coins is excellent, and the reverse of the bonus coin reminds me of Bottom in A Midsummer Night's Dream. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CPK Posted February 29 · Supporter Share Posted February 29 Nice coins. I like the Divus Commodus, and the depiction of Anubis on the last coin. The photos are great too - do you take them yourself? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry G Posted February 29 · Member Author Share Posted February 29 8 minutes ago, CPK said: Nice coins. I like the Divus Commodus, and the depiction of Anubis on the last coin. The photos are great too - do you take them yourself? I do! I use a Canon EOS 250D with 105mm Sigma macro lens with the coins on a plain white background. I then remove that background using Adobe Express (which doesn't compress the image like most online background removal tools). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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