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
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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.
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Categories: Provincial Roman Coins
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* Note: Rasiel Suarez’s photo, digitally published on Tantalus, Coryssa/Coinvac, used with acknowledgement.
Return to “Provenance Coins, Part VI: Byzantine (to this coin)”
Cover coin for ERIC II by Rasiel Suarez (2010).
Constantine IV Pogonatus (668-685 CE) AV Solidus (4.37g, 19mm, 6h). Struck at the Constantinople mint, 10th officina, circa 674-681.
Obverse: D N CO(●TN)-A-NЧS PP [or similarly devolved]. Pearly-diademed, cuirassed bust facing three-quarters right, with short beard, wearing helmet with frontal plume only, holding a spear over shoulder and shield decorated with horseman motif.
Reverse: (VICTOA) AVGЧ I / CONOB. Cross potent set on three steps between facing, standing figures of Heraclius and Tiberius, each crowned, draped in chlamys, and holding globus cruciger.
References: DOC 8e; MIB 7a; SB 1154; ERIC II 64 p. 1319, 5 (obv) and 8 (rev), and front cover (this coin illustrated).
Provenance: Ex-CNG Auction e-484 (Lancaster, PA USA; 27 January 2021), Lot 978; Rasiel Suarez Collection (Dirty Old Coins LLC); acquired 28 March, 2005 (Coryssa / COINVAC ID #1044946 = Tantalus Coin Registry 179).
Numis. Notes: This coin published in Rasiel Suarez’s (2010) Encyclopedia of Roman Imperial Coins, 2nd ed. (ERIC II). An XRF Analysis performed by Suarez/Dirty Old Coins, LLC measured the alloy at 98.52% gold.
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Categories: Byzantine Roman Coins
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PHOTO OF COIN IN ANACS HOLDER AVAILABLE HERE
Thracian Dynasts / Geto-Dacians. Koson, with Marcus Junius Brutus, AR Drachm.
Unknown mint (Skythia, Olbia?), circa 44 – 42 BC.
Obv: Roman consul accompanied by two lictors; BR monogram to left; KOΣΩΝ in exergue.
Rev: Eagle standing left on scepter, holding wreath in talon.
Ref: Fischer-Bossert (2016) Type B. cf. RPC I 1701 (AV Stater). For Drachm, see W. Fischer-Bossert (2016) “ΚΟΣΩΝ ΔΡΟΥΕΙΣ” in Festschrift Salzmann.
Pedigree: Ex-Silver City Auctions (Findlay, OH USA), 17 Dec 2019, Lot 228 (same coin previously unsold or unpaid at prior Silver City auctions). ANACS Certification # 6001074 (click for ANACS lookup)
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Categories: Greek Coins Provincial Roman Coins
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From The “BCE” Collection (“Barbarians, Captives & Enemies” on Roman Coins) — see the introductory page here, including selected examples, from Julius Caesar to Justinian.
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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).
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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).
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Roman Republic. Gaius Marcius Censorinus AR Denarius (3.80g, 18mm). Rome mint, 88 BC.
Obverse: Laureate head of Apollo right.
Reverse: CX (above), C•CENSORI (below). Horse galloping right. Serpent entwined staff in exergue.
References: Crawford 346/2b; RSC Marcia 19.
Pedigree: JJF Collection. Uncertain, purchased by CSJ ca. 2010 (+/- a few years).
Numis. Notes:These were struck with a variety of controls; this one, with the serpent-entwined-staff is a bit rare, and desirable because it’s rather bold & dramatic for a control symbol.
Hist. Notes: Once Sulla was done with his First Civil War (by about 87 BC), and his Mithradatic War, he marched his way back to Rome so he could team up with future Triumvirs Pompey and Crassus to wage another (Sulla’s Second Civil War). His opponents were the Marius-Cinna faction, led by Gaius Marius (dead in the first), his son (killed in 82), and Cinna (killed 84).
Gaius Marcius Censorinus was among the “last men standing,” captured after being defeated at the decisive Battle of the Colline Gate (Kalends of Nov, 82). Sulla ordered him executed and had his severed head sent to the remaining Marian army, which promptly deserted their leader Marius the Younger, who then promptly committed suicide.
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Roman Republic. Q. Titius AR Denarius (3.98g, 19.5mm). Rome mint, 90 BC.
Obverse: Head of Bacchus or Liber right, wreathed with ivy.
Reverse: Pegaus right. Q•TITI inscribed on tablet below.
References: Crawford 341/2; SRCV 239; Sydenham 692; Titia 2.
Pedigree: Jackson & Jacobs Family Collection. Purchased by CSJ from Forum Ancient Coins (#RR43729) between c. 2005 & 2013.
Notes:Ex-jewelry, bezel removed. Toned.
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Purchased from Colosseum Coin Exchange Mail Bid Sale No. 59, 22 Nov 1991. This coin was my first-ever auction purchase. (More: “Catalog Collection Favorites” page.)
Attica, Aegina (Saronic Gulf Islands) AR Drachm (5.0g, 19.5mm). Circa 404-375 BCE.
Obverse: Testudo Graeca, tortoise (or “land turtle”) with segmented shell containing 13 plates.
Reverse: Large incuse square with two pellets in one of five-compartment skew pattern.
References: SNG Cop 520; Millbank Pl II, 16 (Period V; 404 – 375 BC)
Provenance: Ex-Colosseum Coin Exchange (Ira Teitelbaum, Hazlet NJ), MBS 59 (22 Nov 1991), Lot 2.
Notes: See also earlier archaic style Sea Turle stater.
Located in the Saronic Gulf between Attica and the Peloponnese, Aegina held a strong commercial position in maritime trade, making it a site of competition with neighbors (most famously Athens).
Aegina is thought to have been the first European mint to introduce coinage to “the West,” c. early 6th cent. BCE. According to Ephorus of Kyme it was established by Pheidon of Argos c. 650, though modern historians have claimed the date was probably no earlier than 550 (Milbank 1924; see also Numiswiki, Turtles).
Aegina’s ~12.2g stater was widely adopted as monetary standard (~6.1g for the drachm, 1g obol). The sea turtle style stater was struck until either the end of the Peloponnesian War in 404 (Milbank 1924) or Athens’ military victory over Aegina around 457 (Kraay 1976), after which the design switched to the land tortoise. (The tortoise had also appeared on an earlier electrum stater).
The exact reason is a matter of some speculation. Milbank’s 1924 conclusion still holds: “No plausible explanation has as yet been put forward for this change from the sea-tortoise to a land turtle.” Maybe it was a show of gratitude and honorary tribute to a military ally to whom the land tortoise was sacred (perhaps Sparta or Thyreatis [Milbank 1924]). Perhaps the design was switched after being conquered by Athens, reflecting Aegina’s loss of their proud navy and maritime privileges (Kraay 1976). Neither theory has achieved a decisive level of evidence.
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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.
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