Wuntbedruv's top five coins of 2024

[wuntbedruv]

Well, here we are. Another year gone, another inexorable revolution of our tiny green-and-blue ball around the sun. To paraphrase Pratchett, we are as ants on the back of a giant turtle wending its lonely way through the vast cosmos. Who knows where we shall end up next?

Anyway, that's quite enough rambling. Some coins now. Specifically, five selected coins of 2024 which I think sum up my collecting experience. My buying this year was somewhat constrained by needing to save for a holiday in October and my impending trip to NYINC 2025.

1) 2024 began with a bang for me at the Noonans auction of the Braintree Hoard in February. The Braintree hoard comprised 142 coins of Edward the Confessor and Harold II Godwinson plus two late Byzantine silver coins (144 total), which were buried in late 1066 near Braintree, Essex. The hoard was discovered in 2019 by two metal detectorists and subject to the 1996 Treasure Act. However, only 16 coins were eventually purchased by museums - 15 by Colchester Museum and 1 by the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge. The remainder were disclaimed and returned to the finders/landowner. These accordingly went up for sale. With 80+ on offer (albeit in variable condition), I figured this was a good opportunity to acquire a Harold II penny. So, piggybanks were smashed. I was privileged to be in the room, with bidding euphoric and lightning fast. I found myself blown out of the water again and again on coins which I had earmarked. My disappointment I duly channelled into playing the class clown, quipping with a loud 'wahey' when the auctioneer (a good friend) announced lot 1066 - which raised a good laugh from the packed room. Despite initial setbacks, towards the end of the sale bidding cooled slightly and I saw an opening on one of the rarer mints. The hoard contained three Harold pennies from the very rare Essex mint of Maldon - all by the moneyer Godwine, all die-duplicates. I was fortunate to acquire the last of these for a decent price. An iconic coin of an iconic English king, from an iconic period in history and a great mint to boot!

 

 

 

2) Another Noonans win was in their September auction, where I bagged this national series Merovingian gold tremissis of the moneyer Maroaldus. Like the Braintree piece above, this piece has golden provenance - being found in Cosgrove, Northamptonshire, in 2016. The piece was recorded by the Early Medieval Corpus of coin finds (ref no. 2017.0130) and also published in the British Numismatic Journal (BNJ) coin register round-up of significant pieces for that year. 

 

 

3) A strand of collecting I've got into since 2023 is Roman Provincial, and I have a specific fondness for the coins of Alexandria. I am always keen to push the boundaries of my knowledge and this strand certainly does that. The iconography, cross-cultural associations and chunkiness of Alexandrian drachms and tetradrachms makes them extremely appealing to me - which is why I went in for this really nice Maximinus Thrax tetradrachm from the Beniak collection at a CNG e-auction in November. The metal is fantastic, a beautiful greyish black in hand, and the obverse has a great portrait of Maximinus himself. I had no idea until I attended the British Museum's 'Legion' exhibition in March 2024 that he was huge - probably over 7 feet tall!

 

 

 

4) Another Roman Provincial piece I am particularly pleased to have picked up for this year is a bronze issue struck in the city of Emesa (modern Homs, Syria) - regrettably in the 21st century news for all the wrong reasons. Emesa was an old city by the time the Romans came along, though it was considerably rebuilt and renovated by Antoninus Pius - which is why the first issue of Provincial coinage from Emesa dates to his reign. This coin is the second known and currently the RPC online plate coin (IV.3 - 10126), depicting Tyche seated left holding three corn-ears with a river deity swimming below. Hopefully it makes it into the printed volume.

 

 

5) Last in my short list is another coin loosely associated with Emesa. This denarius of Elagabalus was previously part of the Tenby collection, which has been sold over the course of this year by Naville. I purchased this coin both for its fantastic portrait and after reading Harry Sidebottom's fantastic book 'the mad emperor' (read it, it's brilliant), which is all about Elagabalus' rise to power as a young teenager, reign and downfall. Much of the oft trotted-out 'facts' about Elagablus are lurid inventions from the Historia Augusta, though what is indisputable is that he tried to introduce the Emesene sun deity El Gabal into the Roman pantheon without success. This coin's reverse on first sight follows a standard formula of Roman coins in depicting the emperor sacrificing over an altar, but is unique in that it shows Elagabalus dressed in Phoenician style (i.e. in his role as the high priest of El Gabal) rather than the traditional toga. His belted, long-sleeved garb (which seems to leave the thighs bare) and carrying of a branch/club appear to be associated with the eastern cult of El Gabal, as does the presence of the 'horn' on the obverse, sticking forward from his wreath. What precisely the 'horn' is is uncertain, though it mostly appears on denarii depicting Elagablus sacrificing to El Gabal - suggesting it was connected with worship in some fashion. Some people have suggested it is actually a bull's penis, which seems an oddly specific theory - but sure, why not.

 

 

With that all said and done, it is time for dinner. I wish all the members of Numisforums a most happy of New Years and blessings for 2025. May your celebrations be fulfilling and fun, your hangovers (if you imbibe) as mild as possible. 

I am attending NYINC 2025 (already febrile with excitement, first solo trip abroad) and will be at the show from the professional preview day until the Sunday. I will put my forum name on my badge, please do come and say hello. The following features should assist in identifying me from a distance - flat cap, green coat, obscenely English (think to the actor Terry Thomas, and you'll be about there).

[seth77]

Here are the other two types struck for Antoninus Pius at Emesa:

- with the radiate Heliogabal

 

- with the sacred stone of Heliogabal surmounted by Imperial eagle

[Rand]

Congratulations with lovely coins.
I particularly like the top two coins, with the story of their period complemented by the stories of the circulation of these individual coins.

[John Conduitt]

Great coins. Well done getting a Harold II penny, you needed a war chest for that auction!

[Qcumbor]

Fabulous Elagabal portrait. The Harold II penny is really something special !

Q

[panzerman]

I like the Harald Penny best/ then Merovingian AV Triens!

 

John