Fractional bronzes of the Roman Empire (Quadrantes, Semisses & Tesserae)

[Severus Alexander]

Thanks, @SimonW!  I didn't realize that Roma type was one of those minted for Syria, that makes sense.  If I decide to pursue an analysis on the other ones I'll let you know. 🙂 (Also, I've emailed you those papers.)

23 hours ago, SimonW said:

If there were both copper and orichalcum versions of certain Quadrantes/Semisses types, how did the average roman citizen distinguish them? There must be a certain criteria that's easy to spot.

Good question.  I'm guessing they must have been pretty attuned to both the relative values of copper and orichalcum, and (given the metal, which would have been obvious) it does sound like they could go by size to a certain extent, at least within a restricted time range.  It seems they didn't tend to circulate far outside the city they were meant for, too, so people could learn quickly which types had which values.  I wonder if Nero's reform involved a massive recoinage?

[SimonW]

Thank you very much for sending me the two papers, @Severus Alexander! 🙂 

On 8/13/2022 at 8:56 AM, Severus Alexander said:

I'm guessing they must have been pretty attuned to both the relative values of copper and orichalcum, and (given the metal, which would have been obvious) it does sound like they could go by size to a certain extent, at least within a restricted time range.  It seems they didn't tend to circulate far outside the city they were meant for, too, so people could learn quickly which types had which values.

Since the fractions were in circulation for several decades - if not centuries sometimes -, and the size of Quadrantes and Semisses partly overlap and also change over time, I highly doubt that the average roman citizen was able to tell the difference based on a specific type (there must have been dozens of different types in circulation at the same time) or a combination of metal, size and/or weight (in some cases, the differences are too small to tell without exact measuring). If they were, why bother to use a crown on Dupondii or Antoniniani?

It must have been something obvious. Thus, for fractions circulating in Rome, I am a big supporter of the rule of thumb: with emperor's head = Semis, without emperor's head = Quadrans. Of course there are exceptions, as are with Dupondii.

On 8/13/2022 at 8:56 AM, Severus Alexander said:

I wonder if Nero's reform involved a massive recoinage?

Good question.

Edited August 15, 2022 by SimonW

[SimonW]

For Hadrian there is a particularly high number of exceptionally intriguing and rare coins. Here is RIC 626, the only one I have seen on the market for decades:

Hadrianus, Semis (3.31 g), Rome, 119-123 AD.
Obv. IMP CAESAR TRAIAN HADRIANVS AVG, bust of Hadrianus, laureate, r., draped, cuirassed. Rev. P M TR P COS III, bust of Minerva, helmeted, r., draped, wearing aegis. RIC 626 (R).
Ex Heritage, Auction 231926, Lot 64103

 

[DonnaML]

These two Trajan fractional bronzes arrived today, both from London Ancient Coins. The first is unquestionably a quadrans; the second could possibly be a semis.

I know that it's sometimes difficult to tell the boar from the she-wolf on these coins (as @Valentinian notes on his website), but I don't have any doubt that the first coin depicts a boar on the reverse (the bristles along its back are quite clear and the tail is short and curled), while the second depicts a she-wolf -- despite the fact that the dealer identified it as also being a boar!  Her tail is long and straight, held downwards, and, even more obviously, one can see portions of her anatomy beneath her stomach that (as the old saying goes) tend to be rather useless on a boar.

Trajan, AE Quadrans, ca. AD 101 (Sear), Rome Mint. Obv. Diademed bust of bearded Hercules right, lion’s skin knotted at neck, IMP CAES TRAIAN AVG GERM / Rev. Boar walking right, SC in exergue. 14.5 mm., 2.30 g., 6 h. RIC II 702, BMCRE II Trajan 1062 (ill. Pl. 43 no. 10); Sear RCV II 3248, Cohen 341. Purchased from London Ancient Coins, Aug. 2022; ex Bertolami Fine Arts, London, E-Auction 92, 02.10.2020, Lot 1235.

 

Trajan, AE Quadrans (or Semis), ca. AD 107 (Sear), Rome Mint. Obv. Laureate bust right with slight drapery on far shoulder; IMP CAES NERVA TRAIAN AVG / Rev. She-wolf crouching left, SC in exergue. 16 mm., 2.70 g., 7 h. RIC II 694, BMCRE II Trajan 1061, Sear RCV II 3246 (obv. bust var.) (ill. p. 117), Cohen 340.  Purchased from London Ancient Coins, Aug. 2022.

As far as I know, all of the cited reference works identify this type as a quadrans. And even though its 16 mm. diameter is 1.5 mm. greater than the first coin and it weighs a bit more, it seems rather small to be a semis, which I believe tend to be somewhat larger and heavier.  However, the majority of the more recent examples of the type found on ACSearch are identified as semisses. If anyone has an opinion on which this is, I would appreciate your letting me know.

[Valentinian]

51 minutes ago, DonnaML said:

If anyone has an opinion on which this is, I would appreciate your letting me know.

I spent quite a bit of time studying the quadrans and semis denominations. I have an opinion, expressed on my "quadrans" page:
http://augustuscoins.com/ed/quadrans/
that any coin thought to be a quadrans or a semis is a semis if it has an imperial portrait. Your first coin with the Hercules portrait does not have an imperial portrait, but has a similar corresponding type with the same reverse and Trajan's name and portrait. Many call it a quadrans, but I'm not so sure.  That is the default choice and they are hard to tell apart.  I think it is a (small) semis. 

We know that some earlier emperors (Augustus, Claudius, etc.) issued the quadrans denomination. It is about that size. It is easier to just call it a quadrans than come up with criteria that distinguish quadrantes from semisses. But we know that in the second century the smaller denominations were used less and less and then stopped being issued at all. That might suggest the quadrans denomination was the first to go out of production (making these more likely to be semisses), or maybe both the semis and quadrans denominations went out of production at the same time, apparently by mid second century. 

I would like to see some actual evidence (as opposed to a modern assertion based on only the fact that someone earlier called them quadrantes) that these small coins with imperial portraits from the second century are quadrantes, if they are. I think they are semisses. 

 

 

[Severus Alexander]

21 minutes ago, Valentinian said:

I have an opinion, expressed on my "quadrans" page:
http://augustuscoins.com/ed/quadrans/
that any coin thought to be a quadrans or a semis is a semis if it has an imperial portrait.

It’s good to see both @Valentinian and @SimonW converging on this view. Good enough for me! 🙂

[DonnaML]

2 hours ago, Valentinian said:

I spent quite a bit of time studying the quadrans and semis denominations. I have an opinion, expressed on my "quadrans" page:
http://augustuscoins.com/ed/quadrans/
that any coin thought to be a quadrans or a semis is a semis if it has an imperial portrait. Your first coin with the Hercules portrait does not have an imperial portrait, but has a similar corresponding type with the same reverse and Trajan's name and portrait. Many call it a quadrans, but I'm not so sure.  That is the default choice and they are hard to tell apart.  I think it is a (small) semis. 

We know that some earlier emperors (Augustus, Claudius, etc.) issued the quadrans denomination. It is about that size. It is easier to just call it a quadrans than come up with criteria that distinguish quadrantes from semisses. But we know that in the second century the smaller denominations were used less and less and then stopped being issued at all. That might suggest the quadrans denomination was the first to go out of production (making these more likely to be semisses), or maybe both the semis and quadrans denominations went out of production at the same time, apparently by mid second century. 

I would like to see some actual evidence (as opposed to a modern assertion based on only the fact that someone earlier called them quadrantes) that these small coins with imperial portraits from the second century are quadrantes, if they are. I think they are semisses. 

 

 

It's certainly logical to conclude -- especially in light of the theory that the quadrans was considered too minuscule in value to be worthy of an emperor's portrait -- that if two coins exist with the same reverse, one with the emperor's portrait and one (perhaps slightly smaller) with a deity like Hercules on the obverse instead, the former is a semis and the latter is a quadrans. Why issue two coins that differed only in that respect if the difference had no significance?  

You mention that my coin with Hercules and a boar has a corresponding type with Trajan's portrait and a boar. Conversely, does my coin with Trajan's portrait and a she-wolf have a corresponding type with Hercules and a she-wolf? If so, that would also support your theory.

In any event, I will change my description of my coin with Trajan's portrait & she-wolf to make its primary identification a semis, rather than having a semis as merely an alternative identification. Obviously you're not alone in your thinking, given that, as I mentioned, the majority of examples of the type listed on ACSearch as sold in the last few years have "semis" as the identification.

 

[Severus Alexander]

3 hours ago, DonnaML said:

Conversely, does my coin with Trajan's portrait and a she-wolf have a corresponding type with Hercules and a she-wolf? If so, that would also support your theory.

Indeed it does; @SimonW posted one earlier in this thread, in fact:

 

[SimonW]

12 hours ago, Severus Alexander said:

Indeed it does; @SimonW posted one earlier in this thread, in fact:

 

 

Although, and that's missing on my earlier post, this rare type may be a mule. All four examples that I know are from the same dies:

https://www.forumancientcoins.com/catalog/roman-and-greek-coins.asp?param=13602q00.jpg&vpar=409&zpg=11715&fld=
https://www.forumancientcoins.com/catalog/roman-and-greek-coins.asp?zpg=108417
https://www.collection.ly/9QjWzTLtrW/53GdaZGGBh
https://www.collection.ly/9QjWzTLtrW/7Pciu5J2yx

Edit:

Just found a fifth example of the type on @Valentinian's very informative website:
http://augustuscoins.com/ed/quadrans/TrajanQuadransHercWolfLeft.jpg (same dies as well, I believe)

Edited September 2, 2022 by SimonW

[Aleph]

On 8/15/2022 at 10:03 AM, SimonW said:

For Hadrian there is a particularly high number of exceptionally intriguing and rare coins. Here is RIC 626, the only one I have seen on the market for decades:

Hadrianus, Semis (3.31 g), Rome, 119-123 AD.
Obv. IMP CAESAR TRAIAN HADRIANVS AVG, bust of Hadrianus, laureate, r., draped, cuirassed. Rev. P M TR P COS III, bust of Minerva, helmeted, r., draped, wearing aegis. RIC 626 (R).
Ex Heritage, Auction 231926, Lot 64103

 

This is an exceptionally rare coin!  You would have had strong competition if the Hrritage sale was better publicized.😇

[SimonW]

3 hours ago, Aleph said:

This is an exceptionally rare coin!  You would have had strong competition if the Hrritage sale was better publicized.😇

I'm happy you didn't notice then 🙂 Heritage has some hidden treasures in their weekly auctions from time to time. I was surprised about the low hammer, especially since Hadrian is a particularly sought after emperor.

Here's another one I bought from them recently:
 

Antoninus Pius, Semis [or Denarius offstrike] (20 mm, 5.36 g), Rome, 139 AD.
Obv. ANTONINVS AVG PIVS P P, bare head of Antoninus Pius r. Rev. TR POT COS II, modius with two corn ears and poppy. RIC -, cf. 58 (denarius).
Ex Heritage Auctions, Auction 232226 (29.06.2022), Lot 65244

Edited September 2, 2022 by SimonW

[Aleph]

This pius is another super rare coin!  The only one I have seen I bought on eBay from a dealer that had no idea how unusual it is- I’ll try and find a photo and post.  I also specialize in quadrantes, semises, and tesserae.  I am guessing I have been up against you in a lot of bidding competitions !😀. Collecting these is an exercise in patience as so many appear no more than every 5-10 years.

Here is a recent pickup up from CNG.  The first example I have seen in the trade.

 

[SimonW]

1 hour ago, Aleph said:

I am guessing I have been up against you in a lot of bidding competitions !😀

It looks like it 😄

1 hour ago, Aleph said:

Here is a recent pickup up from CNG.  The first example I have seen in the trade.

 

I was bidding on this one, too 😅 Congratulations on your win! Glad to see another fractions collector got it. I bought some of the fractions lots they offered instead. Here is one I got with another rare Tessera (top row, second from right):

Looking forward to see more of your coins.

Edited September 3, 2022 by SimonW

[Aleph]

Congratulations, Simon.  That is a great and rare tessera that was in the group lot!  I focused on the tessera so avoided the other fractions.  One of the top coins among my white whales is the quadrans below.

And I spoke too soon on the pius quadrans!  My example has the COSIII reverse so RIC713- yours I have never seen?!  I am glad you are snagging these from Heritage.  These should go to a dedicated collector for sure.  And I am kicking myself that I haven’t followed the weekly Heritage auctions.

For the question of semis vs quadrans, I think much of the debate misses a key point.  The major distinction is portrait vs non portrait, not semis vs quadrans.  There are clearly ‘larger’ denomination non-portrait quadrantes, ie semises, in the post Vespasian period.  Metal is also important, that is orichalum vs bronze.  This feature is often obscured as patina can make it difficult to tell what the metal is.  Portrait minor denominations all seem to have been distributed outside of Italy.  It seems clear that sub-As denominations were not strictly part of the monetary system after Vespasian but rather must have been special distributions with a token like purpose, so something like redeemable for entrance to the baths or perhaps a meal at a street cafe.  As evidence, of the many price listings found at Pompeii, not indicate a cost less than an as or fractions above an as- so no 1 1/2 As.  The dearth of minor coins would also suggest that the minor fractions were not part of general circulation.  Circumstantially, even in the earlier JulioClaudian period which saw the issue of quadrantes, no semises were issued at Rome for nearly a century from the death of Julius Caesar, until the time of Nero which was very experimental in the minor fractions.  Why is this significant?  Well the sestertius, dupondius, and as were multiples of two so it is conspicuous that semises were not produced while quadrantes were if the minor fractions were part of the denomination system.  Maybe the smaller denomination were covered by imitative and token issues.  I am not up on the scholarship here though so I don’t know the current academic consensus…

Edited September 6, 2022 by Aleph
Delete bad image

[SimonW]

6 hours ago, Aleph said:

One of the top coins among my white whales is the quadrans below.

Unfortunately, your picture doesn't show (seems to be a permission issue as the link shows an "Access Denied" warning from the cloud storage where it's hosted).

 

6 hours ago, Aleph said:

And I spoke too soon on the pius quadrans!  My example has the COSIII reverse so RIC713- yours I have never seen?!  I am glad you are snagging these from Heritage.  These should go to a dedicated collector for sure.

Thank you, Aleph. Yes, it has a different reverse legend and the S C is missing. Although the missing S C is not completely uncommon for fractions, the fact that the type exists as a Denarius and the oversized flan make this rather an offstrike than a Semis in my opinion. Heritage "estimated" the weight at 3.5-4.5 gramms because it was in an NGC slab, which was kind of funny. Turned out to be more than 5 gramms 🙂

 

6 hours ago, Aleph said:

For the question of semis vs quadrans, I think much of the debate misses a key point.  The major distinction is portrait vs non portrait, not semis vs quadrans.  There are clearly ‘larger’ denomination non-portrait quadrantes, ie semises, in the post Vespasian period.  Metal is also important, that is orichalum vs bronze.  This feature is often obscured as patina can make it difficult to tell what the metal is.  Portrait minor denominations all seem to have been distributed outside of Italy.  It seems clear that sub-As denominations were not strictly part of the monetary system after Vespasian but rather must have been special distributions with a token like purpose, so something like redeemable for entrance to the baths or perhaps a meal at a street cafe.  As evidence, of the many price listings found at Pompeii, not indicate a cost less than an as or fractions above an as- so no 1 1/2 As.  The dearth of minor coins would also suggest that the minor fractions were not part of general circulation.  Circumstantially, even in the earlier JulioClaudian period which saw the issue of quadrantes, no semises were issued at Rome for nearly a century from the death of Julius Caesar, until the time of Nero which was very experimental in the minor fractions.  Why is this significant?  Well the sestertius, dupondius, and as were multiples of two so it is conspicuous that semises were not produced while quadrantes were if the minor fractions were part of the denomination system.  Maybe the smaller denomination were covered by imitative and token issues.  I am not up on the scholarship here though so I don’t know the current academic consensus…

That's a very insteresting theory. If it were only for the less common fractions after Vespasian, I could probably reconcile with that idea. The huge number of certain fractions (e.g. some anonymous types, Trajan & wolf, etc.), however, rather speak against it, in my opinion.

Edited September 6, 2022 by SimonW

[Aleph]

8 hours ago, SimonW said:

Unfortunately, your picture doesn't show (seems to be a permission issue as the link shows an "Access Denied" warning from the cloud storage where it's hosted).

 

Thank you, Aleph. Yes, it has a different reverse legend and the S C is missing. Although the missing S C is not completely uncommon for fractions, the fact that the type exists as a Denarius and the oversized flan make this rather an offstrike than a Semis in my opinion. Heritage "estimated" the weight at 3.5-4.5 gramms because it was in an NGC slab, which was kind of funny. Turned out to be more than 5 gramms 🙂

 

That's a very insteresting theory. If it were only for the less common fractions after Vespasian, I could probably reconcile with that idea. The huge number of certain fractions (e.g. some anonymous types, Trajan & wolf, etc.), however, rather speak against it, in my opinion.

Sorry about the image.  I didn’t realize it was a link and not the actual image.  Anyway here is take 2.  

I think you are correct about the Hadrian modius semis!  Some of the issues, such as the star and crescent type in RIC, feel much more like off metal strikes of denarii.  I have an example of one of these with Victory on the reverse that previously was only known in Aurei (see below).

The Trajan wolf and twins type is deceptive.  Cathy king reports either 1 or none (I don’t have the article handy) found in the Tiber, while the contemporaneous Hercules issue is more common.  This at first seems odd considering how common the wolf and twins type is today.  However, this is misleading.  Long ago, Curtis Clay mentioned on Forvm that before the fall of the iron curtain, the wolf and twins type was actually rare.  This strongly suggests that this type was distributed in the east and not Rome (or the west).  This is consistent with an aversion to minor issues with portraits at Rome.  The anonymous types is a different situation.  There are many fore runners of the anonymous types under Domitian, Nerva, and Trajan.  It certainly looks like the transition to the fully anonymous quadrans/semis was more just an evolution of the series (loss of the emperor’s name) as opposed to something special.  As to why the anonymous issues are so common, it is hard to say without better dating of the series.  My own guess is a resurgence of the distribution of the minor fraction during the time of Trajan, Hadrian, and Pius but a better dating is needed to understand what was happening.  I would love to see find locations for all the imperial minor fractions, especially the vast but scarce issues of Hadrian.  Another interesting phenomenon is the specialized distribution of many issues, e.g., the eastern issues, the mines issues.  Sometimes these are not so obvious.  I recall one issue of Domitian that was rarely found in Italy but appeared to be a common find in the camps on the rhine.  There are likely more examples which again suggest very a specific purpose for these issues, perhaps an imperial visit.  Clearly, much more evidence is needed and may indeed be out there already.  Unfortunately for me, i spend most of my time in the medical literature, rather than the archeological literature these days.😏

 

Edited September 6, 2022 by Aleph
Additional comments

[SimonW]

2 hours ago, Aleph said:

The Trajan wolf and twins type is deceptive.  Cathy king reports either 1 or none (I don’t have the article handy) found in the Tiber, while the contemporaneous Hercules issue is more common.  This at first seems odd considering how common the wolf and twins type is today.  However, this is misleading.  Long ago, Curtis Clay mentioned on Forvm that before the fall of the iron curtain, the wolf and twins type was actually rare.

That's a very interesting observation I wasn't aware of. Same thing is currently happening with coins minted for circulation in Syria as well as the Hadrian Semis (or Quadrans?) with eagle/thunderbolt.

Congratulations on both your Domitian Quadrans (I remember this one, but wasn't bidding on it for once 🙂) and your Hadrian Semis/offstrike, which I have never seen before. One of my white whales is this one:

 

 

Anonymous, Quadrans (15-16 mm, 2.85 g), Rome, 81-161 AD.
Obv. Bust of Mercury, draped, wearing winged petasus, l., caduceus behind. Rev. S – C, rooster r. RIC 30 (C). Göbl, Antike Numismatik, Taffel 10, 148D (this coin).
Ex Dr. Jacob Hirsch, Auctions 18 (27.05.1907), Lot 1802.

Funnily, RIC rates this as "common".

Edited September 6, 2022 by SimonW

[Aleph]

Very nice, and a spectacular pedigree!  Definitely not common and the Mercury right version is none too easy either.  The anonymous series is littered with great rarities once you get past the Venus, Minerva, Mars, and Jupiter types.  The Bacchus and Neptune types are particularly challenging.  Funny enough that the seasons types are not actually that hard too find and seem to be over-valued presumably because of the older hypothesized Annius Verus link (now shown to be unlikely).

 

[SimonW]

7 hours ago, Aleph said:

The anonymous series is littered with great rarities once you get past the Venus, Minerva, Mars, and Jupiter types.

Absolutely. And even the more common groups/types have lots of exceedingly rare sub-types and smaller variations. Many of them completely unrecorded. Here's one of the Jupiter group. I must have been bidding against you or another fractions collector as the price went way beyond what I would have imagined.

 

 

Anonymous, Quadrans (17-18 mm, 3.31 g), Rome, 81-161 AD.
Obv. Head of Jupiter, laureate, bearded, r. Rev. S – C, eagle stg. left on thunderbolt, wings closed, head r., wreath in beak. RIC 1 var. (eagle with wings spread, no wreath in beak); van Heesch 12 var. (no wreath in beak); Mlasowsky 15.

Or the following special type of the Minerva group, which looks like a combination of two reverse types, but is not a mule in my opinion as there is no S C on the owl-side.

 

 

Anonymous, Quadrans (2.37 g), Rome, 81-161 AD.
Obv. Owl standing l. Rev. S – C, olive tree. RIC -; van Heesch -.

[Aleph]

Seems little doubt I was bidding against you on many of these!  Congratulations on the eagle with wreath Jupiter semis.  I wouldn’t have bid it up if I knew it was you.😀. The Jacquier sale was fantastic but I got blown out of the water on most of the lots I bid on.  The competition was immense.  My major prize from that sale was this very rare Mars type which I let go of a lot of other lots so that I could focus on.  I totally agree on the Minerva type that it is not a mule.  Now that I have seen yours, I know there are at least two.  My example is below.  It is amazing that this type is not in the van Heesch thesis.

When I begin collecting the minor fractions in the mid 2000s, I was a student and couldn’t afford many of the better coins.  Now I look back at all the rarities that I couldn’t bid on and am depressed!  So many that went for a couple hundred dollars then are now selling in the couple thousand range.  The early days of CNG e-sales in particular had some great pieces.  I wish it were easier to see sales catalogs from the 70s-90s as many of these pieces must have passed through the market at this time.  A number of my coins come from the James Lamb collection.  His Picus article identifies a good portion of his collection which was sold via CNG in the late 1990s (but not credited to him in the sale).

Between us, we must have dozens of unpublished types!  Nero’s reign especially continues to turn up unpublished varieties.  Did you get the second Hercules anonymous semis sold at Roma?  

Edited September 7, 2022 by Aleph

[SimonW]

Thank you, Aleph! And congratulations on your great Mars type, which is still missing in my collection. This reminds me of when I wasn't able to bid on the same type in a Naville auction in 2016 because of a technical glitch. Hurts to this day.

 

1 hour ago, Aleph said:

I wouldn’t have bid it up if I knew it was you.😀. The Jacquier sale was fantastic but I got blown out of the water on most of the lots I bid on.  The competition was immense.

No problem at all. Although I would gladly have taken the coin at a lower price, I don't mind a good bidding battle 😀 Luckily I managed to snag a few more, although no less embattled. Did you notice the Mercury Quadrans in this sale that looked a lot like Hadrian? There are other cases I've noticed, such as a Jupiter eagle type on which Jupiter looks just like Antoninus Pius. Maybe just a coincidence, maybe some lead as to when those coins were actually minted.

 

1 hour ago, Aleph said:

When I begin collecting the minor fractions in the mid 2000s, I was a student and couldn’t afford many of the better coins.  Now I look back at all the rarities that I couldn’t bid on and am depressed!  So many that went for a couple hundred dollars then are now selling in the couple thousand range.  The early days of CNG e-sales in particular had some great pieces.

I can completely relate to that. I started collecting ancient coins around the same time (but started focusing on fractions a few years later). There have been lots of great coins and lost chances since then. All we can hope for is that they will come back to market in some years at a price that we can afford.

 

1 hour ago, Aleph said:

A number of my coins come from the James Lamb collection.  His Picus article identifies a good portion of his collection which was sold via CNG in the late 1990s (but not credited to him in the sale).

Do you recall which auction number it was? CNG has sold two larg fractions collection around that time (Sale 49 and 53). I only got one coin that was sold in CNG 49, but purchased it many years later, also from CNG.

 

 

Domitianus, Quadrans (2.31 g), Rome, 84-85 AD.
Obv. IMP DOMIT AVG GERM, trophy. Rev. S – C, olive branch. RIC 247 (R).
Ex Classical Numismatic Group, Auction 49 (17.03.1999), Lot 1359

 

1 hour ago, Aleph said:

Between us, we must have dozens of unpublished types!  Nero’s reign especially continues to turn up unpublished varieties.

For Nero I only have 7 varieties that are not listed in RIC, but bought 1 or 2 more in a recent Artemide auction. I believe Nero produced the highest number of different imperial fraction types/varieties (at least according to RIC numbers), although not the most intersting ones.

 

1 hour ago, Aleph said:

Did you get the second Hercules anonymous semis sold at Roma?

Do you mean this one? If so, then no. I've bought mine in an Aureo & Calico auction in 2018.

 

 

Anonymous, Quadrans (2.97 g), Rome, 81-161 AD.
Obv. Bust of Hercules, l., wearing lion-skin. Rev. S – C, club. RIC -.
Ex Aureo & Calicó, Auction 311 (31.05.2018), Lot 40

Edited September 7, 2022 by SimonW

[Octavius]

 Quadrans of Caligula struck in the last couple of weeks of his reign with cap of liberty.

 

[Aleph]

Nice Caligula, Octavius!  The phantom issue that was left out of the volume I revision, presumably just a dumb error.

Hey Simon, yes it was CNG 49, a North American collection of fractions.  Multiple of James Lamb’s coins from the Picus article appeared here so very likely this was his collection.  The plates are not great, but your example looks like ‘Photo 19’ in the article.  I am very interested to go through the article and the sale systematically to if I can find more matches, but haven’t yet done so.  Some of the best coins in the article were not in the sale; I would love to know their fate.  And I think you are correct on the Hercules semis- the first one that I got was from Roma.  I remember being astonished that a second one came up so soon after the first.  For unpublished Nero fractions, I think I am at 5- so you got me there!😀  The recent Artemide auction was rough for me for the Nero listings.  It sounds like we may have been fighting for some of the same lots.

I’ll post a few more photos when I get some time.  The Trajan quadrans you posted at the start of this thread would be one of my favorites too!  You set a high bar with that one.

Edited September 8, 2022 by Aleph

[SimonW]

That's a very nice Quadrans, @Octavius!

 

On 9/8/2022 at 2:45 AM, Aleph said:

I am very interested to go through the article and the sale systematically to if I can find more matches, but haven’t yet done so.

You definitely should, @Aleph. I just went through a few older catalogues this morning and found five pretty cool pedigrees. If you have some time, also look at the following three catalogues. All of them have lots of fractions:

• Dr. Jacob Hirsch, Auction 18 (27.05.1907): 35 fractions (Tafel XXII-XXIII)
• Naville & Cie, Auction 2 (12.06.1922): 29 fractions
• Münzhandlung Basel, Auction 1 (28.06.1934): 46 fractions

 

Here are two of the ones I found today:

 

 

Anonymous, Quadrans (3.50 g), Rome, 81-161 AD.
Obv. Bust of Mars, helmeted, r., cuirassed. Rev. S – C, cuirass. RIC 19.
Ex Dr. Jacob Hirsch, Auctions 18 (27.05.1907), Lot 1804

 

 

Domitianus, Quadrans (2.66 g), Rome, 84-85 AD.
Obv. IMP DOMIT AVG GERM, bust of Ceres l., draped. Rev. S – C, bundle of three poppies and four corn ears. RIC 243 (R).
Ex Münzhandlung Basel, Auction 1 (28.06.1934), Lot 557

 

On 9/8/2022 at 2:45 AM, Aleph said:

The recent Artemide auction was rough for me for the Nero listings.  It sounds like we may have been fighting for some of the same lots.

I am sure we have been fighting for the same few rare ones 🙂

 

On 9/8/2022 at 2:45 AM, Aleph said:

I’ll post a few more photos when I get some time.  The Trajan quadrans you posted at the start of this thread would be one of my favorites too!  You set a high bar with that one.

I thought I'd start this thread with something very unusual 😋 Looking forward to seeing more of your coins. Did you get my PM?

Edited September 11, 2022 by SimonW

[Severus Alexander]

Thanks to this lovely thread by @SimonW, I realized I shouldn't entirely neglect tesserae.  As noted above several times, it seems that at least some of the AE ones overlapped in their function with small AE fractions like semisses and quadrantes.  (Am I right in thinking that AE tesserae are much scarcer than Pb tesserae, and likely served a different function?)

Anyway, today I pounced on a couple of neglected tesserae in an auction I was following:

^ This one, with a ligate VL on the obverse and an N on the reverse, is catalogued in Cohen as #62.  It allegedly dates from the early to mid first century, I suppose based on style?  It's 2.61g and 16mm.

The other (also 16mm, but 2.94g) was just listed as an unknown tessera, and I haven't been able to find another example:

It's clearly orichalcum, with an omega above MA.

I'm pleased with both, which cost very little.  If you have any further info on these, @SimonW or @Aleph, I'm all ears!