Nice examples of usually worn coins

[Gumrum]

Hello all,

I've recently acquired two examples of coins that (in my experience) are rarely found in anything other than either heavily worn, or otherwise less than pretty condition.

First up, we have a antoninianus of a 3rd Century emperor we're all familiar with, Gallienus



Antoninianus of Emperor Gallienus, from the mint of Lugdunum, c. 258-259 CE, RIC V Gallienus (joint reign) 18f
Obv: Bust of Gallienus, radiate, cuirassed, right | GALLIENVS P F AVG Gallienus Pius Felix Augustus. [Gallienus, the pious and happy emperor]
Rev: Trophy between two captives | GERMANICVS MAX V Germanicus Maximus Quintum. [Great conqueror of the Germans for the fifth time]

Gallienus is a personal favourite emperor of mine and so, it was my mission to find an example of his coinage that featured as nice a portrait as possible. The reverse was always secondary, given that 3rd Century coings are infamous for poor reverses. However, I think this example is nice enough, all things considered!

Next up, is another coincidentally 'neck-bearded', Nero

Denarius of Emperor Nero, from the mint of Rome, c. 64-65 CE, RIC I (second edition) Nero 55
Obv: Head of Nero, laureate, right, with beard | NERO CAESAR AVGVSTVS Nero Caesar Augustus. [Nero, Caesar and emperor]
Rev: Roma, helmeted and draped, seated left on cuirass, holding Victory in right hand and parazonium in left| ROMA, Roma [Rome]

I often found denarius examples of Nero to be either pretty badly worn or with incomplete or hard to disern legends... So, when this piece came to my attention, I knew it was the example of Nero I was looking for!

As always, I'd love to hear your thoughts, or otherwise see your examples of nice examples of usually worn coins!

All the best,

- Gumrum

Edited September 1, 2024 by Gumrum

[MrZun]

They are not exactly heavily worn in my opinion.

[Gumrum]

4 minutes ago, MrZun said:

They are not exactly heavily worn in my opinion.

Sorry, I may have confused you! I meant these coins are nice, non-worn examples of coins I usually only find in a worn state…!

[expat]

Nice examples @Gumrum 

The only coin I have that is related to the subject is also a Gallienus. I got it just for the obverse

Gallienus AE Antoninianus. Rome. AD 260-268 (Sole Reign). 4.13 g. GALLIENVS AVG, radiate, cuirassed bust right. / AETERNITAS AVG, Sol, radiate, standing left, chlamys draped over shoulder and hanging down behind, holding globe and raising right hand. Γ in left field. RIC V-1 Rome 160; Goebl 0577w.

[Al Kowsky]

I sold this drachm at CNG 483, lot 357 ☺️.

https://auctions.cngcoins.com/lots/view/4-1IDDHQ/egypt-alexandria-antoninus-pius-ad-138-161-drachm-325mm-2383-g-12h-dated-ry-14-ad-150151

[Nerosmyfavorite68]

The two pieces of the OP are very nice!  I also really enjoy the Gallienic Antoninianii of Cologne.

 

S805 of the Byzantine line is one of the hardest to get in really great condition.   This one has facial features, which is almost unheard of.  It also wasn't very expensive.  I had to wait forever, but it was worth the wait.

HERACLIUS with HERACLIUS CONSTANTINE.(610-641).Constantinople.Follis.

 

Obv : Heraclius, bearded, on left, and Heraclius Constantine, on right, standing facing, both crowned and cuirassed, both holding cross on globe, cross between their heads.

 

Rev : Large M, ANNO to left, cross above, year IIII and later to right, Γ officina letter below; mintmark CON.

Sear 805.

 

Condition : Earthen deposits.Very nice green patina.Good very fine.

 

Weight : 13.6 gr

Diameter : 30 mm

 

23mm, 6.0g

A hoard of Heraclius Hexagrams came up for sale individually a couple of years back.  While most of them had much more detail than average the cleaning job was execrable, making them cheap.  Even I could have done better. Scratch city.  This was one of the better ones because they didn't clean it enough.

This Justin I 40 nummia is also in much better condition than average.  I usually don't collect the pre-facing bust folles, especially Justin, but this one was worth getting:

35.5mm, 17.5g

While it's not super-hard to find an Otho Antioch tet in nice shape, they're more often worn.  Being from an ancient shipwreck made the coin affordable in this state.  Other than losing a couple of grams in the water, the coin came out pretty well.

Otho - 69 - AR Tetradrachm - Antioch - 27mm, 10.0g (shipwreck coin) - RPC 4199-4200  VF

[Gumrum]

1 hour ago, Nerosmyfavorite68 said:

The two pieces of the OP are very nice!  I also really enjoy the Gallienic Antoninianii of Cologne.

 

S805 of the Byzantine line is one of the hardest to get in really great condition.   This one has facial features, which is almost unheard of.  It also wasn't very expensive.  I had to wait forever, but it was worth the wait.

HERACLIUS with HERACLIUS CONSTANTINE.(610-641).Constantinople.Follis.

 

Obv : Heraclius, bearded, on left, and Heraclius Constantine, on right, standing facing, both crowned and cuirassed, both holding cross on globe, cross between their heads.

 

Rev : Large M, ANNO to left, cross above, year IIII and later to right, Γ officina letter below; mintmark CON.

Sear 805.

 

Condition : Earthen deposits.Very nice green patina.Good very fine.

 

Weight : 13.6 gr

Diameter : 30 mm

 

23mm, 6.0g

A hoard of Heraclius Hexagrams came up for sale individually a couple of years back.  While most of them had much more detail than average the cleaning job was execrable, making them cheap.  Even I could have done better. Scratch city.  This was one of the better ones because they didn't clean it enough.

This Justin I 40 nummia is also in much better condition than average.  I usually don't collect the pre-facing bust folles, especially Justin, but this one was worth getting:

35.5mm, 17.5g

While it's not super-hard to find an Otho Antioch tet in nice shape, they're more often worn.  Being from an ancient shipwreck made the coin affordable in this state.  Other than losing a couple of grams in the water, the coin came out pretty well.

Otho - 69 - AR Tetradrachm - Antioch - 27mm, 10.0g (shipwreck coin) - RPC 4199-4200  VF

Some really nice coins, thanks for sharing! It never crossed my mind that Otho had coins from outside of Rome itself. Also, being from a shipwreck is a fascinating additional bit of back story for that piece!

[Ancient Coin Hunter]

I'll share this Gallienus' GERMANICVS MAX V coin from Cologne as well with a tidy martial portrait. Typical ragged flan, though.

ex-Marc Breitsprecher 2023

 

Edited September 1, 2024 by Ancient Coin Hunter

[Gumrum]

20 minutes ago, Ancient Coin Hunter said:

I'll share this Gallienus' GERMANICVS MAX V coin from Cologne as well with a tidy martial portrait. Typical ragged flan, though.

ex-Marc Breitsprecher 2023

 

Nice example! I really like the spear-wielding portrait, I’ll likely get one someday as he’s easily one of my favourite emperors. I know @Leo has a really nice example of a similar Gallienus, his example was what drove me to look for a Colonia mint example…! Thanks for sharing!

[Ryro]

Nice new acquisition! 

 

[-monolith-]

"Nice examples of usually worn coins", well I collect a lot of Provincials and honestly they are all pretty heavily worn. So with that I present:

Long long ago,

in China I'm told,

to England was traded some tea.

And so sealed the fate,

in pieces of eight,

all England and all of the world.

Yeah.....poppies

Baskets With Poppies:

 

These coins are always worn, yet often quite rare.