Provenance: Ex CNG e-329, lot 564, “From the Fairfield Collection.”
Constans AE Silvered Maiorina (27mm, 6.24g, 6h). Thessalonica, 348-350 CE.
Scarce issue for Constans. Even more so at this size.
*If you happen to have bought this coin from us, we’d love to buy it back!
Album: Sold Coins
Categories: Roman Coins
Tags:
Roman Provincial. EGYPT, Alexandria. Maximinus I. AD 235-238. Potin Tetradrachm (22.5mm, 13.81 g, 12h). Dated RY 3 (AD 236/237).
Obverse: ΑΥΤΟ ΜΑΞΙΜΙΝΟϹ ƐΥ Ϲ ϹƐΒ. Laureate, draped, and cuirassed bust right.
Reverse: Trophy; at base to left and right, bound captive; L Γ (date) across field.
References: RPC Online VI Temp. 10711 (24 Ex., 9 ill.); Köln 2576 var. (obv. legend); Dattari (Savio) 4613; K&G 65.51; Emmett 3301.3 (R3).
Pedigree: From the Rocky Mountain Collection of Alexandrian; CNG Feature MBS 79 (17 Sep 2008), Lot 742 (Hammer, $242); CNG e-Auction 484 (27 January 2021), Lot 610.
Published (Online): Coin Project ID 79000742 = This Coin.
Album: All Coins
Categories: Provincial Roman Coins
Tags:
* Note: Victor Clark’s photo, 2020 (to be updated).
From The “BCE” Collection (Barbarians, Captives & Enemies on Roman Coins) and Ex Giovanni Dattari (1858-1923) Collection of Late Roman Bronze Coins. A captive, hands bound in back, depicted with usual “barbarian” features: wild beard, baggy trousers, shirtless, and pointed Eastern cap (of Phrygian or Parthian style).
Licinius II AE Reduced Follis or Nummus (3.6g, 20 mm, 6h). Antioch mint, 317 – 320 CE.
Obverse: D N VAL LICIN LICINIVS NOB C. Laureate and draped bust to left, holding mappa, globus and sceptre.
Reverse: IOVI CONSERVATORI CAESS / H (right) / SMANT (exergue). Jupiter standing left holding Victory on globe and sceptre, bound captive to left.
References: RIC (VII) 29; Sear RCV 15415.
Provenance: Ex-Giovanni Dattari (1858-1923) Collection of Late Roman Bronze Coins; CNG e-Auction 470 (17 June 2020), Lot 641 (part of); purchased from Victor’s Imperial Coins (Victor Clark, 6 February 2021).
Numis. Notes: Struck a bit weakly around the legends at 1-3h/4-6h. The captive is well rendered, with considerable care given to details of his appearance on this die.
Hist. Notes: Licinius II (b. 315) was no more than 4 years old when this coin was struck, so we must look to his father Licinius I to understand its context. Licinius spent much of his rule in conflict with Constantine, though they held a temporary truce at this moment. This coin probably celebrates Licinius’ triumphs in the East against the Sarmatians, sanctioned by Jupiter. He had successfully campaigned nearly a decade earlier against Sarmatia, and was attacking again at the time this series was struck.
Categories: Roman Coins
Tags:
From The “BCE” Collection (“Barbarians, Captives & Enemies” on Roman Coins) — see the introductory page here, including selected examples, from Julius Caesar to Justinian.
* Return to “Provenance Glossary” Page (to Private Collections)
Roman Imperial. Constantius Gallus (351-354) AE Maiorina (4.44g, 22mm, 6h). Antioch mint, circa 351-354 CE.
Obverse: DN CONSTANTIVS NOB CAES. Bareheaded, draped, and cuirassed bust right. To left: Δ.
Reverse:FEL TEMP REPARATIO / AN- (exergue). Roman soldier with crested helmet to spearing fallen horseman (Germanic), reaching upward (FH3), bareheaded (hair braided in rear?), wearing loose tunic and trousers.
References: RIC VIII 139 (FH3). (Incorrectly cited as 181 by Peus & de Vries.)
Provenance: Ex-Dr. Busso Peus Nachf. e-Auction, Lot #599 (Frankfurt, 28 Jan 2020), from the de Vries Collection; purchased from Frank Taylor (Taylor’s Coin Service, Brisbane, 1982).
Video available of this coin in hand (2nd coin shown, along with two others) & additional photographs.
Numis. Notes: A scarcer variant with field mark on obverse only. Transitional issue between the earliest, heaviest Maiorinae (usually with a Γ fieldmark on the Rev. & often the Obv. as well), and the AE3 types which began in the middle of Gallus’ reign. Consequently, Gallus’ Fallen Horseman coins come in all sizes, like Constantius II (and unlike Constans, who only has large ones, and Julian II, who only has small ones).
Categories: Roman Coins
Tags:
Superior example of a Numidian Obol, struck in lead (or highly leaded AE), with an unpublished and apparently unique control mark (pellet behind horse). Purchased from Specialty Coin (Champaign, IL), ex-Harlan J. Berk, Ltd. (Curtis Clay).
North Africa. Kings of Numidia, Massinissa or Micipsa AE or PB (Lead) Unit (26mm, 13.6g, 12h). Circa 203 – 138 BC.
Obverse: Laureate, bearded male head facing left. (King Massinissa?) Beaded border.
Reverse: Horse galloping left. Punic letters (“MN”) below AND pellet behind horse.
References: Unpublished variant (placement of control symbol on the reverse die), cf. Sear 6596-7; SNG Copenhagen 518.
Pedigree: Ex-Specialty Coin (Gary Dayton, Champaign), circa 2010-15; Ex-Harlan J Berk, Ltd. (Chicago), group lot purchased from Curtis Clay before 2010.
Numis. Notes: Typical flan irregularities illustrative of Numidia’s crude minting process. Casting flaw or “scoop,” rev. ~5h (scooping was a corrective used by mints to reduce weight when a batch of coins was above standards). On rev., red encrustations & minor pitting (9h); on obv., edge chip & crack (8h).
The pellet behind this horse is a seemingly unpublished and unique variant. The vast majority have a control mark below the horse, either a pellet (Sear 6597) or Punic letters (right to left) “MN” (Sear 6596).
Categories: Greek Coins
Tags:
From The “BCE” Collection (“Barbarians, Captives & Enemies” on Roman Coins).
Roman Imperial. Constantius II (337-361) AE Maiorina (5.70g). Antioch mint, circa 350 AD.
Obverse: DN CONSTANTIVS PF AVG. Pearl-diademed, draped, and cuirassed bust right.
Reverse:FEL TEMP REPARATIO / Г (left) / ANЄ (exergue). Roman soldier with crested helmet to spearing fallen horseman & holding shield (long oval-shaped with squared edges, bead border and central hub). Sassanid (?) light cavalryman, bearded and wearing head & neck armor, still astride his horse, turns back to face the soldier, extending his arm in a defensive posture, his shield (plain & circular) on the ground to right.
References: RIC (VIII) 132.
Pedigree: Ex-Dr. Busso Peus Nachf. e-Auction 10, Lot 593 (Frankfurt 18 Jan 2020).
Video available of this coin in hand (3rd coin shown, along with two others) & additional photographs.
Notes: Despite the flan flaws & absent patina, an example with valuable detail and good artistic merit, particularly regarding the combat scene. (Interesting Obv. portrait artistry, the eye depicted by a single spiral.)
On many Roman Imperial coins, the captive or soldier’s armament, clothing, and beard are key to recognizing his tribe/ethnicity. On balance, they would seem to indicate a Sassanid warrior here, probably light cavalry (or another Eastern/Persian warrior, such as Parthian).
The light armor consists of baggy trousers, a loose-fitting tunic, and cap with neck covering. The helmet/cap may have a central ridge and may or may not be of a single piece with the neck armor (perhaps scale armor or leather/goatskin), which covers only the back and has a slit (i.e., two tails). (Perhaps this is the leather/scale covering meant to be worn under a heavy steel helmet that has fallen off in battle?)
The shield – small and circular, perhaps wicker, perhaps wooden, without decoration – also appears consistent with Sassanid light infantry and (presumably) cavalry. The tunic and trousers, though, are portrayed in baggy, loose-fitting style that are also typical of Roman depictions of Germanic & Gothic clothing. The beard, likewise, fits portrayals of both European and Asian “barbarian” peoples on Roman coins (e.g., Persian, Parthian, Sassanian, Gothic, Gallic, Germanic). The style of neck armor may be determinative.
Categories: Roman Coins
Tags:
From The “BCE” Collection (Barbarians, Captives & Enemies on Roman Coins): A scene depicting Constantius, triumphant with a standard bearing Christian symbolism standing over two defeated and bound captives of distinctively Eastern/Persian appearance (Sassanid or Parthian).
Constantius II AE Maiorina (4.79g). Antioch mint, 348-350 AD.
Obverse: DN CONSTANTIVS PF AVG. Pearl-diademed, draped, and cuirassed bust left, holding globe in right hand.
Reverse: FEL TEMP REPARATIO / Star (left) / ANЄ (exergue). Constantius II in military garb standing left, spurning a captive with foot while holding standard, a cross decorating its banner, and resting hand on shield set on ground. To left, two bearded captives kneeling vis-à-vis, wearing Phrygian caps, hands bound behind their backs.
References: RIC (VIII) 125; LRBC 2614.
Pedigree: Ex-Dr. Busso Peus Nachf. e-Auction 10, Lot 592 (Frankfurt 18 Jan 2020)
Video available of this coin in hand (1st coin shown, along with two others) & additional photographs.
Numis. Notes: Alt. term: Labarum or Vexillum.
Hist. Notes: A remarkable scene, apparently portraying not only the conquest of the Empire over its Eastern enemies — typical of the FEL TEMP REPARATIO series as well as the previous century and a half of Roman Imperial coinage — but also the triumph of the newly-favored Christian religion over non-Roman, non-Christian Pagans. Constantine was famously the first Christian Roman Emperor, but the popularity and political supremacy of the new religion were not yet achieved. In the long history of European Imperial propaganda using Christianity to justify attacking foreigners and political enemies, this coin is surely among the first.
Categories: Roman Coins
Tags:
One of the earliest coins in the Jackson & Jacobs Family Collection, purchased in the 1980s (Florence, 1986; possibly Paris, 1988).
Hadrian (117-138 AD) AE Sestertius (25.28g; 30mm; 6h). Rome mint, 134-138 AD.
Obverse: HADRIANVS AVG COS III PP. Laureate head right, slight drapery on far shoulder.
Reverse: S – C. Diana Venatrix (“Huntress”), draped, standing left, holding arrow and bow.
Reference: RIC II 777; Banti CNR 713; BMCRE 1546; Cohen 1364.
Pedigree: Purchased by CSJ in the mid/late 1980s in Europe, probably Florence, 1986, possibly Paris, 1988.
Categories: Roman Coins
Tags:
The deity for which Priapism is named (the condition familiar to many as a side-effect mentioned in Viagra ads on TV).
Purchased: Chicago, April 2014, CICF Bourse
Septimius Severus AE Assarion.
Moesia Inferior, Nikopolis ad Istrum.
Obv: AVT CEΠT CEVHΡO. Laureate head right
Rev: NIKOΠOΛITΩN ΠΡOC IC. Ithyphallic Priapus standing left.
Ref: Moushmov 987; AMNG 1380; Sear GIC 2280
RARE
What I liked about this coin: If we imagine the obverse and reverse forming a single tableau, Septimius watches Priapus proudly pointing to his phallus and smiles with admiration.
Priapus: “Oi guvna! ‘S a right proper phallus here, innit?”
Septimius: “Why, yes. Yes it is, Priapo, old chap. Splendid phallus indeed. The Empire commends your accomplishment. And bids you bring continued fertility to Moesia.”
Priapus: “Won’t let you down, bruv. Cheerio!”
Septimius: “You forget yourself, Priapo. You shan’t speak to me in so familiar a tone.”
Priapo: “Are you taking the piss, mate? Don’t forget who’s the dee-ity and who’s the regular bloke with a fancy hat. Only one of us has superpowers, innit?”
Album: Sold Coins
Categories: Provincial Roman Coins
Tags:
* Return to “Provenance Glossary” Page (to Private Collections)
Commodus (177-192 CE) Billon Tetradrachm (10.7g, 24mm, 12h). Egypt, Alexandria, 189-190 CE.
Obverse: Μ Α ΚΟΜ ΑΝΤⲰ ϹƐΒ ƐVϹƐΒ. Laureate head of Commodus right.
Reverse: L-Λ. Radiate, draped bust of Helios right, seen from the rear.
Reference: Dattari 3865; Dattari-Savio Pl. 210, 9612 (this coin illustrated); Geissen 2247; Milne 2685; Emmett 2543.30; Kampmann & Ganschow 41.121; SRCV 5928; RPC (IV.4) Online Temp 14217.27 (this coin illustrated).
Provenance: Ex-Naville Numismatics Auction 60, Lot 296 (London, 27 September 2020), from the Giovanni Dattari Collection.
Numis. Notes: For more on the Giovanni Dattari (1858-1923) Collection, see here or click “Read More” button.
Album: All Coins
Categories: Provincial Roman Coins
Tags:
