CPK Posted April 2 · Supporter Share Posted April 2 You know how sometimes you see a deal that looks so good, you just buy it without doing your research? Yeah, most times that doesn't end well - but occasionally you get a happy ending. I was browsing MA-Shops and spotted a coin labeled as a "Trajan As" but was unlike any type I'd seen before. The coin was worn and rough, but the price was so low - after doing some lightning searches on OCRE and ACSearch without results - I decided that whatever it was it must be rare enough to excuse an impulse buy. After the coin was safely secured I started digging in for some serious attribution research. And I got nowhere - couldn't find anything even remotely similar. Then I realized that I'd been looking in the wrong spot - the coin was a provincial issue. It still took me a long time searching but then, I found an entry on RPC Online - a perfect match! And no wonder the coin's identity had eluded me for so long. The coin is apparently a just-identified type, with the first specimen sold by Rex Numismatics in September of 2023. The auction house listing suggested it might be the first known example and it was submitted to RPC online, who created a post-publication entry for it: Vol III No. 2906A. It would seem that RPC also could not find the type in any other reference; at least none were given in the RPC listing and I assume they would check available references. All RPC did was note that it was missing from "Dalaison & Delrieux, Néapolis-Néoclaudiopolis". Aside from the extreme rarity, it's an interesting type design, depicting a bound captive (which RPC identifies, logically enough, as the personification of Dacia.) This motif of a bound, seated captive is found on a few other provincial coins of Trajan but it is not common. (Imperial issues are another matter.) The portrait is also decent. Although the coin has seen better days, I am happy to have acquired such a rare piece for what was essentially the price of a McDonald's meal! Thanks for looking! Feel free to post your own "happy ending" impulse buys, lucky rarities, or any other comments you deem appropriate. 🙂 GALATIA-CAPPADOCIA, NEOCLAUDIOPOLIS Time of Trajan AE (26.02mm, 11.44g, 6h) Struck AD 109/10 Obverse: ΑΥΤ ΝΕΡ ΤΡΑΙΑΝΟϹ ΚΑΙϹΑΡ ϹΕΒ ΓΕΡΜ ΔΑΚΙΚΟϹ, laureate and cuirassed bust of Trajan right, seen from rear Reverse: ΝΕΟΚΛΑΥΔΙΟΠΟΛΕΙΤωΝ ΕΤΟΥϹ, Dacia, bound, seated on rocks right; ΡΙΕ in exergue References: RPC III 2906A.2 (this coin) An interesting and extremely rare type, apparently unknown except for this coin and one other specimen, both cited by RPC Online. 13 1 3 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JAZ Numismatics Posted April 2 · Member Share Posted April 2 When you've looked at thousands of coins, sometimes your instinct nudges you to get something you're not sure about. And sometimes you come away with a rarity. Congratulations! 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Atherton Posted April 2 · Member Share Posted April 2 Congrats on the new rarity! Sometimes it all just works out... 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ambr0zie Posted April 2 · Member Share Posted April 2 Great coin with intriguing reverse. Here is something similar (or at least I find the situation similar). I always wanted a Philippi provincial with statues of Octavian and Julius Caesar reverse. The types are not rare. I am a budget collector and generally I have no issues with worn coins, but I try not to lower the standards too much. So I wasn't 100% sure if I want to buy this one or wait a little for a more presentable specimen, but in the end I decided that 20 euros hammer price is a good deal. The surprise was when I attributed the coin and found it's an unlisted variety - RPC I 1654 var. (reverse legend COL IVL AVG instead of COL AVG IVL). The variety is not dramatically different but I still think it should have a separate RPC entry. I submitted it to RPC and they added under 1654 though. Another example where I did not perform a proper research, simply because time did not allow this as I saw the coin a few minutes before going live in auction. A modest Nero or an Otho? It was indeed Otho. 27,7 mm, 14,97 g. Syria, Seleucia Pieria, Antioch. Otho. 69 AD. Ӕ. IMP M OTHO CAE(S) AVG (clockwise), laureate head of Otho, r. / S C, inscription in a laurel wreath of eight leaves. Countermarked - Howgego 245 - Athena facing right with shield and spear. RPC I 4318; BMC 207; 209–11; McAlee 321c. There is a very big chance this will remain my only Otho as I don't want to pay the price for an Otho denarius, even in low condition and also the prices for presentable provincials with more interesting reverses are high. 8 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roman Collector Posted April 2 · Patron Share Posted April 2 (edited) What a great find, @CPK! I bought this little provincial on eBay for less than a McDonald's meal, too. It may not look like much, but it may be the only example of its type. Since it had been unattested in the numismatic literature, it took some help from fellow Coin Talk members and a bunch of online research in order to properly attribute it. Not only was it an interesting and entertaining project, but I submitted my findings to RPC, and it's now listed and still apparently the only specimen of its type. Faustina II, 147-175 CE. Roman provincial Æ 5.84 g, 22.0 mm, 7 h. Bithynia-Pontus, Apamea. Obv: FAUST[INAC AUG], draped bust of Faustina II, right. Rev: UЄNU[S ... C]ICA dd, Venus seated right, head left, on dolphin swimming left, resting right arm on dolphin, uncertain object in left hand. Refs: RPC IV.1, 11815 (temporary); Waddington RG --; BMC --; Sear --; Mionnet Suppl 5 --; Lindgren --; Wiczay --. Notes: Previously unpublished. Obverse die match to Waddington RG, pl. XXXIX.1, which has a Neptune reverse type. Edited April 2 by Roman Collector 8 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CPK Posted April 2 · Supporter Author Share Posted April 2 Thanks everyone! @ambr0zie, great score on that Otho AE - that's a great portrait! And I like your COL IVL AVG from Philippi - it's a type I'd like to get someday. @Roman Collector, congrats on that very respectable Faustina II AE! One of the fun things about ancient coins that you don't have with moderns is that there's so much unknown. There's always the possibility of discovering a new type! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nerosmyfavorite68 Posted April 2 · Member Share Posted April 2 It's always double the fun when an impulse buy turns out to be something more special! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amarmur Posted April 2 · Member Share Posted April 2 This indo Greek coin of Menander I was an impulse buy it was relatively inexpensive and really beautiful. I like the Bhuddist wheel on the reverse or it could just be dangling clothes. The heroic bust type is also neat. It was inspired by the Heroic bust of Eukradites. Bactria seems like a very interesting field to enter but my wallet doesn't agree lol. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CPK Posted April 2 · Supporter Author Share Posted April 2 6 hours ago, Amarmur said: This indo Greek coin of Menander I was an impulse buy it was relatively inexpensive and really beautiful. I like the Bhuddist wheel on the reverse or it could just be dangling clothes. The heroic bust type is also neat. It was inspired by the Heroic bust of Eukradites. Bactria seems like a very interesting field to enter but my wallet doesn't agree lol. Great coin! I've yet to add any Bactrian/Indo-Greek coins to my collection, but I would like to soon. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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