7 Out Of 12 Ain't Bad...

[JAZ Numismatics]

A few days ago, as is my wont, I placed a dozen opening bids at CNG and waited to see if I won any lots using my patented technique of being cheap and lazy. When I checked in at the end of the auction, to my astonishment, I had won seven lots! That’s never happened in all the years I’ve been bidding, at any auction house. Maybe people had spent up their money on Christmas gifts, or maybe they were saving it for Triton? At any rate, I’ll post my winnings here instead of flooding the “Latest Ancient Coin Thread.” Pardon the length - I’ll try to keep it succinct.

 

1. Polemon I Pythodoros was a Roman Client King  of wide swaths of eastern territory: Cilicia, Pontus, Colchis, and the Bosporan Kingdom. He was appointed by Marc Anthony and took part in Anthony’s campaign against Parthia and supported him in the Battle of Actium. This coin interested me because of its rather minimalist nature - one animal, one monogram. MacDonald suggests that the lion and star point to Regulus, the royal star, which governed the fate of kings.

KINGS of BOSPORUS. Polemo I. Circa 14/3-10/9 BC. Æ (20mm, 9.19 g, 12h). Struck circa 10 BC. Lion leaping right; star above / Monogram of Polemo. Frolova & Ireland Series 1, Type I, dies A/a; RPC I –; Anokhin 1348; MacDonald 230. Earthen green-brown surfaces. VF.

 

2. I’m frequently attracted to provincial coins that evince a primitive yet artistic style. Here is a “sketch” of Valerian I on a bronze of Anemurium. Many of Valerian’s coins from this city have similar busts, suggesting the work of one engraver. The bust is complemented by the large, sans-serif lettering and the plain leaves.

CILICIA. Anemurium. Valerian I, 253-260. (Bronze, 26 mm, 10.74 g, 6 h), year Β = 2 = 254/5. ΑΥ Κ ΠΟ ΛΙ ΟΥΑΛЄΡΙΑΝΟΝ Laureate, draped and cuirassed bust of Valerian I to right, seen from behind. Rev. ΑΝЄ/ΜΟΥΡΙ/ЄWΝ / ЄΤ B in four lines within laurel wreath with two-handled vase at top. RPC X Online 60277. SNG Paris 717. SNG von Aulock 5527. Ziegler 216. From the collection of Major Anthony F. Milavic, USMC (Ret.), ex Schulten, 15 October 1990, 1020.

 

3. This coin was issued by Emesa for Elagabalus, commemorating the Pythian Games. Even though the style of the coin looks official, the legends are blundered. On the obverse, AYT is blundered, then I can sort of make out K M A. After that, ANTONIN is correct. On the reverse I can read HΛIA above the crown, then ΠYΘIA/N is spelled backward in exergue (although none of the letters are retrograde) and the dot is above the Є. I can't decipher the letters from 12 to 3 o'clock unless I squint my eyes and image they're Κ ЄΜΙϹON.

SELEUCIS and PIERIA, Emesa. Elagabalus. AD 218-222. Æ Pentassarion (21mm, 7.80 g, 12h). Bilingual series. Pythian Games issue, honoring Helios. AYT K M A ANTONIN; Radiate head right / Agonistic prize crown between two palm fronds; [ΜΗΤPO Κ ЄΜΙϹON] HΛIA/ΠYΘIA/N; below, Є• (mark of value). cf. RPC VI Online 8360 for type. The blundered legends suggest an imitative issue.

 

4. As much as I liked the coin of Polemo for its minimalism, so I liked this coin for its busyness. Astarte was the the divine multi-tasker, as a goddess of love, fertility, war, and hunting. What a wonderfully intricate reverse...

PHOENICIA, Tyre. Elagabalus. AD 218-222. Æ (30mm, 16.13 g, 5h). IMP CAES M AV AN-TONINVS AVG; Laureate and cuirassed bust right, seen from behind / TV-RIO-R-VM; Astarte standing facing, turreted, placing hand on trophy and holding transverse scepter, being crowned by Nike on column to right; palm tree to left, murex shell to right. RPC VI Online 8606; Rouvier 2350-6.

 

5. I very much liike the Roman-themed medals of Cavino, but even the aftercasts get pricey, so I was happy to win this medal of Agrippa and Neptune. This is not a fantasy piece, but a copy of an as struck by Caligula, RIC 58. The same type would be struck as a restitution issue under Titus, RIC 470, with an added reverse inscription.

ANCIENT THEMES. Agrippa. Died 12 BC. Æ As (27mm, 11.08 g, 6h). Paduan type. After Giovanni da Cavino, 1500-1570. Later cast. Head left, wearing rostral crown / Neptune standing left, holding small dolphin and trident. Johnson & Martini 1638-9.

 

6. The Dorchester town minutes record the following entry in February of 1668. "It is ordered and desired yt Mr. Jasper Samwayes one of this Company doe speedily procuer Twenty pounds in copper Farthings for ye beniffet of ye pore of this Borough and that ye Towne armes be engraven on one side, and HD on ye other syde, and on ye side where ye Towne Armes are to be ingraven Round, ye armes of Dorchester and on ye other side where HD be, Dorchester Farthing, and under HD ye date of ye Lord." The explanation for HD initials is not given but the D is probably for Dorchester, the H could be for the Latin habitat.

17th CENTURY, Dorset. Dorchester. CU Farthing Token (21mm, 3006 g, 12h). Dated 1669. Town arms upon a five turret castle, corners of which break inner beaded circle, rose on front brickwork of three towers, pierced sexfoil at top both side, legend surrounding, THE. ARMES. OF. DORCHESTER / H*D at centre, cinquefoil between letters, three cinquefoils above, 1669 below, all within beaded circle, A. DORCHESTER. FARTHING. Boyne 38; BW 53-56.

 

7. Finally, I won a mixed lot of 10 Byzantine bronzes which are average, but undamaged. They worked out to $7 apiece so I'll put them in my pick bin at shows...

 

Not bad for a day's work, eh? Post whatever you want. 🙂

Edited December 21, 2024 by JAZ Numismatics

[CPK]

Wow, nice! That happened to me a couple times with Savoca's Blue auctions. Once you get over the sticker shock ($30-$50 per coin adds up quickly!) it's a lot of fun to get a package of a dozen or so coins all at once.

[seth77]

Maybe it has something to do with the period of the year and people being with families and/or away for holidays? Something familiar happened to me in August a few years ago, with an unusually complete legend and incredible condition trachy of Thessalonica c. late 1220s.

[mcwyler]

Nice haul! Living in Dorset, I like the Dorchester farthing, in unusually good shape. Here's what britishfarthings.com has to say about HD...

The initials H.D. may be intended, as Boyne says, for Alexander Haviland, who was Mayor of Dorchester in 1669, when the token was issued, as no one with such initials appears in the minutes contained in the municipal archives of the borough at that time; at the same time, I cannot accept such an unusual solution without considerable hesitation. He was elected Mayor on October 4, 1669, and together with J. Haviland, signed the Protestant Address to King Charles II. in 1681. He was also one of the bailiffs of the borough for the years 1665, 1673, and 1691.

[Croatian Coin Collector]

Nice, I had bid on only one coin (lot 849) at the last CNG auction, and lost it when somebody outbid me by 50 USD near the end of the auction.

Edited December 21, 2024 by Croatian Coin Collector

[Roman Collector]

What a haul! I like the Astarte in particular! 

[JAZ Numismatics]

23 minutes ago, Roman Collector said:

What a haul! I like the Astarte in particular! 

It's a good-sized coin too, at 30mm 16g. Very satisfying in hand.

[JAZ Numismatics]

I found at least one really nice nugget among the Byzantines, a very scarce Class K Anonymous Follis, overstruck on a Class J...

Alexius I Comnenus. 1081-1118. Æ Follis (24mm, 7.47 g, 11h). Class K Anonymous type. Constantinople mint. Struck circa 1085-1092. Facing bust of Christ Pantokrator / Facing bust of the Theotokos, orans. DOC Class K; SB 1901. Overstruck on Class J.

Edited December 21, 2024 by JAZ Numismatics

[-monolith-]

Great additions for your collection and shop. I scrolled thru CNG's online catalog for Triton XXVIII and it doesn't seem to have as many high quality, ultra rare, mega-expensive coins like years past. I tagged a few but CNG is kind of in the dog house for me right now due to bidding issues with their prior e-auction. But that's o.k. I'm still processing about 35-40 coins from recent auctions; a lot of mint errors and overstrikes. Here are a few:

 

 

 

 

[JAZ Numismatics]

6 hours ago, -monolith- said:

Great additions for your collection and shop. I scrolled thru CNG's online catalog for Triton XXVIII and it doesn't seem to have as many high quality, ultra rare, mega-expensive coins like years past. I tagged a few but CNG is kind of in the dog house for me right now due to bidding issues with their prior e-auction. But that's o.k. I'm still processing about 35-40 coins from recent auctions; a lot of mint errors and overstrikes. Here are a few:

 

 

 

 

Wow, cool stuff! Can't wait to see your posts on them all. As far as Triton goes, this is the first time they're not offering anything significant for my primary collection of pre-Islamic Arabian, so I probably won't be bidding. I never win anything at Triton anyway. My pockets just aren't deep enough.