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Denarius - 49 BC. - Mint in the East moving with Pompey.
Q. SICINIVS & C. COPONIVS - Gens Sicinia & gens Coponia
Obv.: Q. SICINIVS III. VIR, diademed head of Apollo right;
Rev.:C. COPONIVS. PR. S. C., club of Hercules with lion's skin, arrow & bow.
Gs. 3,6 mm. 17,8
Craw. 444/1b, Sear RCV 413.

Maxentius

Legionary Denarius - 32/31 BC. - Mint moving with Mark Anthony (Patrae?)
MARCVS ANTONIVS - Gens Antonia
Obv.: ANT AVG III VIR R P C, Praetorian galley right
Rev.: LEG III, eagle between standards.
Gs. 3,6 mm. 17,20x17,96
Craw. 544/15, Sear 1479, Grueber II (East) 193

2 commentsMaxentius

Denarius - 82 BC. - Mint moving with Sulla
L. MANLIVS TORQVATVS & L. CORNELIVS SVLLA - Gens Manlia & Cornelia
Obv.: Helmeted head of Roma right, PROQ behind; L MANLI T (T in horizontal position) before.
Rev.: Triumphator in quadriga right, crowned by flying Victory, L SVLLA IMP in ex.
Gs. 4,1 mm. 17,86x18,26
Crawf. 367/3, Sear RCV 287, Grueber II (East) 13

On the coins of this Sulla's issue, there is one of the best stylistic depictions of Rome's head2 commentsMaxentius

Exergue seems to be: (dot?) SM.... (this could possibly be cleaned a bit further to reveal more detail, but I am suspicious that the third letter in the exergue is H, so I am not sure that further cleaning would be worthwhile, at least not until my cleaning skills improve).4 commentsMatthew W2

Celtic, Bastarnae Tribe, Thrace, c. 220 - 160 B.C., Imitative of Macedonian Kingdom Type

The Bastarnae were an important ancient people of uncertain, but probably mixed Germanic-Celtic-Sarmatian, ethnic origin, who lived between the Danube and the Dnieper (Strabo, Geography, VII, 3,17) during the last centuries B.C. and early centuries A.D. The etymology of their name is uncertain, but may mean 'mixed-bloods' (compare 'bastard'), as opposed to their neighbours the East Germanic Scirii, the 'clean-' or 'pure-bloods.'

32899. Bronze AE 16, imitative of SNG Cop 1299 (Macedonian Kingdom, time of Philip V and Perseus, 221 - 168 B.C.), Fair/Fine, 2.168g, 16.3mm, obverse Celtic-style bust of river-god Strymon right; reverse TridentCastvlo

Caesarea, Paneas. AE23.
Obv : head of Claudius
Rev : His 3 children : Antonia, Britannicus and Octavia

Ref : RPC 4842
Hen-567
This coin type seems questionable to place under the coinage of Agrippa II since the legends do not mention Agrippa and the time of minting does not conform to the other Agrippa II coins. We will notice the absence of Agrippa's name in other issues as well. At the very least, though, it was struck at Caesarea-Paneas, so it is definitely part of the city coinage. It is catalogued in The Numismatic Legacy of the Jews in the city coinage section as #208.R. Smits

AE sestertius. Struck under Claudius, circa 50-54 AD, uncertain eastern provincial mint located in the modern-day Balkans.
Obv : TI CLAVDIVS CAESAR AVG F BRITANNICVS, draped bust left.
Rev : - No legend, Mars advancing left, holding spear and shield, SC in fields. 35mm, 19.4g. Extremely Rare.

Ref : BMCRE 226
Cohen 2
RCV 1908, valued at $32,000 in Fine, which is a few multiples greater than any other sestertius issued during the several centuries the denomination was in use.
A large number of the surviving examples of this series (one may even suggest a majority of them), due to their rarity, have been subjected to modern alteration techniques such as smoothing, tooling, and repatination. As such, it's actually pleasant to see a bit of field roughness and a 'plain brown' patina of old copper on this example, evidence that it is just as ugly as it was the day it was last used in circulation back in Ancient Rome.
Britannicus, originally known as Germanicus after Claudius' older brother, was the emperor's original intended heir and natural son. Machinations by Agrippina II eventually saw Britannicus supplanted by her own son Nero, (by Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus) who took the throne upon Claudius' suspicious death. Britannicus himself died a few years later, reportedly poisoned by his step-brother. The future emperor Titus and Britannicus were close friends, and Titus became quite ill and nearly died after eating from the same poisoned dish that killed Britannicus.R. Smits

Northeast Gaul, Bellovaci. Ca. 50-20 B.C. Æ (15 mm, 2.25 g, 9 h). Stylized head left / Horizontal line with three lines extending below it; above, chevron-S. Delestrée & Tache 535; Scheers 711Quant.Geek

EDWARD IV
Edward IV was King of England from March 1461 to October 1470, and again from April 1471 until his sudden death in 1483. He was the first Yorkist King of England. The first half of his rule was marred by the violence associated with the Wars of the Roses, but he overcame the Lancastrian challenge to the throne at Tewkesbury in 1471 and there were no further rebellions in England during the rest of his reign.
In 1475, Edward declared war on France, landing at Calais in June. However, his ally Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, failed to provide any significant military assistance leading Edward to undertake negotiations with the French, with whom he came to terms under the Treaty of Picquigny. France provided him with an immediate payment of 75,000 crowns and a yearly pension of 50,000 crowns, thus allowing him to "recoup his finances". Edward also backed an attempt by Alexander Stewart, 1st Duke of Albany and brother of King James III of Scotland, to take the Scottish throne in 1482. Edward's younger brother, the Duke of Gloucester (and future King Richard III) led an invasion of Scotland that resulted in the capture of Edinburgh and the Scottish king himself. Alexander Stewart, however, reneged on his agreement with Edward. The Duke of Gloucester then withdrew from his position in Edinburgh, though he did retain Berwick-upon-Tweed.
Edward became subject to an increasing number of ailments when his health began to fail and he fell fatally ill at Easter in 1483. He survived long enough though to add some codicils to his will, the most important being to name his brother Richard, Duke of Gloucester as Protector after his death. He died on 9th April 1483 and was buried in St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle. He was succeeded first by his twelve-year-old son Edward V of England, who was never crowned, and then by his brother who reigned as Richard III.
It is not known what actually caused Edward's death. Pneumonia, typhoid and poison have all been conjectured, but some have attributed his death to an unhealthy lifestyle because he had become stout and inactive in the years before his death.*Alex

Philip I AD 244-249 Æ Sestertius (27x31mm, 15.79 g.)
Secular Games issue.
Rome mint, struck AD 249.
Obv. Laureate, draped, and cuirassed bust right.
Rev. SAECVLARES AVGG, she-wolf standing left, head right, suckling the twins Romulus and Remus.
RIC IV 159

Continuing the tradition of Claudius and Antoninus Pius before him, the celebration of the Secular Games at the end of every century since the founding of Rome culminated during the reign of Philip I, as the city celebrated her 1,000th anniversary in AD 248. The legends on these issues almost exclusively read Saeculares Augg, and feature a similar iconography from previous games, such as the she-wolf suckling the twins, the various wild beasts paraded through the amphitheater, and a cippus inscribed for the preservation of the memory of these events.2 commentspaul1888

Elagabalus (218-222 AD) AR Denarius : uncertain eastern mint, struck 218-219 AD

Obv: ANTONINVS PIVS FEL AVG: Laureate, draped, and cuirassed bust right

Rev: FELICITAS TEMP; Galley under sail with seven oarsmen right, hortator and gubernator at stern

Size: 18.5mm

Ref: RIC IV 1882 commentspaul1888

Caracalla, RIC 311d, Date 213-217 AD, Silver Antoninianus Rome, VENVS VICTRIX (with Helmet)
Marcus Aurelius Severus Antoninus Caracalla
Antoninianus of the Roman Imperial Period 213/217 AD
Material: Silver
Diameter: 23mm
Weight: 5.19g
Mint: Rome
Reference: RIC IV Caracalla 311d var. (Rare, with Helmet)
Provenance: Ex Dr. Gernot Heinrich Collection

This ist the RIC 311d Version with Helmet under the shield. An fantastic Antoninianus with many details on obverse and reverse, fantastic Caracalla bust and a clear reverse Venus. Rare RIC, and more Rare in this condition.

Obverse:
You can see the right-facing bust of Caracalla with a radiant crown. The inscription reads: ANTONINVS PIVS AVG GERM for Antoninus Pius Augustus Germanicus.

Reverse:
The goddess Venus can be seen standing to the left, leaning on a shield. In her left hand she holds a Victoriola, in her right hand a spear. Standing, she leans on her shield and helmet. The inscription reads: VENVS VICTRIX for Venus Victrix (the victorious Venus).

Comments:
In ancient Rome, Venus Victrix is the form of the goddess Venus as victor or „as the one who brings victory“. Especially Pompeius Magnus celebrated his military successes in their honor. This was probably inspired by the armed Aphrodite (nikephoros carrying victory) who protected the Acropolis in certain eastern regions of ancient Greece. In Rome, the victorious Venus was mainly in the third century BC increasingly invoked in the wars against Carthage. Iulius Caesar traced the descent of his family and thus his own from Venus (Venus Genitrix). Pompey, as his adversary, identified his glorious destiny with Venus Victrix in order to claim Venus‘ protection in the secret rivalry. After his victory in the war against Mithridates in 55 BC Pompeius celebrated his triumph „de orbi universo“ (over the whole world) and had a temple built for the victorious Venus, which unfortunately has not been preserved. The sanctuary of Venus Victrix stood on the Capitol, which was probably built during the war against the Samnites. Her feast days were August 12 and October 9, with an annual sacrifice being made on the latter date. At the same time, homage was also paid to Victoria, who closely connected the Romans with Venus Victrix.

Associating this type of coin directly with a specific historical event in the reign of Caracalla is difficult. This Antoninianus is between 213 and 217 AD dated. He could therefore retrospectively refer to the victories in the Germania campaign in 213 AD relate to the battles in Dacia against the Carps in 214 AD refer to or anticipate „the-victorious“ Venus Victrix to refer to the coming eastern campaign against the Parthians.1 commentspaul1888

INDIA, Post-Gupta (Deccan). Uncertain. Circa 600-650. AE (Bronze, 19 mm, 4.34 g, 12 h), Vishnukundin style, struck somewhere in the Pallava-Visnukundin-Eastern Chalukya Region. SRI KU TA or SRI KRI TA (in Brahmi) Bull standing to right; above, legend in Brahmi; all within circle. Rev. Sankha flanked by lamp stands; all within rayed border. B.U. Abels: A Short Presentation on One West-Indian and One South-Indian Coin, in: Numismatic Digest 39 (2015), p. 128, ill. 2 (this coin). B.U. Abels: An Early Chalukya Coin, in: The Journal of the Numismatic Society of India, L, Part I & II (1988), p. 37-38 (this coin). Quant.Geek

Macedonian Kingdom. Perseus. 179-168 B.C. AR drachm. ca. 171/0 B.C. Aristokrates, magistrate.
Macedonian Kingdom. Perseus. 179-168 B.C. AR drachm (15 mm, 2.60 g, 12 h). ca. 171/0 B.C. Aristokrates, magistrate. Head of Helios facing slightly right / P-O, rose with bud to left; in left field, club; above, magistrate's name: [ΑΡΙ]ΣΤΟΚΡΑΤΗΣ. R. J. H. Ashton, ""Clubs, Thunderbolts, Torches, Stars and Caducei: more Pseudo-Rhodian Drachms from Mainland Greece and the Islands,"" NC 162 (2002), 17 (A6/P5; this coin). Toned. Very fine.
Ex: TRISKELES AUCTIONS 326 ON VAUCTIONS
LOT 48, 29 Sep 2017; Ex Naville V (18 June 1923), 2669. Ex: British Museum

The Pseudo-Rhodian drachms were struck, probably by the Macedonians under Perseus but possibly by the Romans, to pay for Mercenaries from Crete and Rhodes who would have been familiar with Rhodian coinage. The coins in the name of the magistrate Aristokrates with the club symbol in the field is the largest known individual issue of pseudo-Rhodian drachms from the Third Macedonian War, and used at least twenty-nine obverse dies.1 commentspaul1888

Roman Empire: Galerius as Augustus, Follis, 8.03 grams, Eastern half of Roman Empire, Praetorian Prefect of Diocletian. Obverse: Galerius facing right, IMP C GAL VAL MAXIMIANVS PF AVG; Reverse: Genius standing left, naked but for chlamys over left shoulder & modius on head, right holding patera, left cornucopiae; GENIO IMPERATORIS "To the genius of the emperor." ALE = Alexandria mint1 commentspaul1888

Time of Alexander I, AR Hemiobol, struck 470 - 460 BC at Argilos in MacedoniaObverse: No legend. Forepart of Pegasos facing left.
Reverse: No legend. Quadripartite granulated incuse square.
Diameter: 8.78mm | Weight: 0.20gms | Die Axis: Uncertain
Liampi 118 | SNG - | GCV -
Rare

Argilos was a city of ancient Macedonia founded by a colony of Greeks from Andros. Although little information is known about the city until about 480 BC, the literary tradition dates the foundation to around 655/654 BC which makes Argilos the earliest Greek colony on the Thracian coast. It appears from Herodotus to have been a little to the right of the route the army of Xerxes I took during its invasion of Greece in 480 BC in the Greco-Persian Wars. Its territory must have extended as far as the right bank of the Strymona, since the mountain of Kerdylion belonged to the city.
Argilos benefited from the trading activities along the Strymona and probably also from the gold mines of the Pangeion. Ancient authors rarely mention the site, but nevertheless shed some light on the important periods of its history. In the last quarter of the 6th century BC, Argilos founded two colonies, Tragilos, in the Thracian heartland, and Kerdilion, a few kilometers to the east of the city.
Alexander I was the ruler of the ancient kingdom of Macedonia from c.498 BC until his death in 454 BC. Alexander came to the throne during the era of the kingdom's vassalage to Persia, dating back to the time of his father, Amyntas I. Although Macedonia retained a broad scope of autonomy, in 492 BC it was made a fully subordinate part of the Persian Empire. Alexander I acted as a representative of the Persian governor Mardonius during peace negotiations after the Persian defeat at the Battle of Salamis in 480 BC. From the time of Mardonius' conquest of Macedonia, Herodotus disparagingly refers to Alexander I as “hyparchos”, meaning viceroy. However, despite his cooperation with Persia, Alexander frequently gave supplies and advice to the Greek city states, and warned them of the Persian plans before the Battle of Plataea in 479 BC. After their defeat at Plataea, when the Persian army under the command of Artabazus tried to retreat all the way back to Asia Minor, most of the 43,000 survivors of the battle were attacked and killed by the forces of Alexander at the estuary of the Strymona river.
Alexander regained Macedonian independence after the end of the Persian Wars and was given the title "philhellene" by the Athenians, a title used for Greek patriots.
After the Persian defeat, Argilos became a member of the first Athenian confederation but the foundation of Amphipolis in 437 BC, which took control of the trade along the Strymona, brought an end to this. Thucydides tells us that some Argilians took part in this foundation but that the relations between the two cities quickly deteriorated and, during the Peloponnesian war, the Argilians joined with the Spartan general Brasidas to attack Amphipolis. An inscription from the temple of Asklepios in Epidauros attests that Argilos was an independent city during the 4th century.
Like other colonies in the area, Argilos was conquered by the Macedonian king Philip II in 357 B.C. Historians believe that the city was then abandoned and, though excavations have brought to light an important agricultural settlement on the acropolis dated to the years 350-200 BC, no Roman or Byzantine ruins have been uncovered there.1 comments*Alex

2nd - 1st Century BC, IRON AGE BRITAIN, Tribe: Cantii, AE Potin, Minted between 100 and 30 BCObverse: No legend. Crude outline of head facing right; pellet within circle in centre.
Reverse: No legend. Crude lines representing a bull facing left, crescents above.
Flat Linear type, Class 1
Found, Thames Valley region, England
Diameter: 17mm | Weight: 1.9gms | Axis: 3h
BMC: 667-714 | SPINK: 63

The Cantii produced the first coins to be actually made in Britain.
These coins were cast in strips which were then cut into separate coins and as a result often retain characteristic cut edges from the runlets which joined them together.

THE CANTII (or Cantiaci)
The Cantii (after whom Kent and Canterbury are named) were the major tribal group in the South East region of England, bordered by the Atrebates, Regni and Catuvellauni.
This region was heavily influenced by continental cultures on the periphery of the early Roman world and this resulted in the Cantii producing the first coins actually made in Britain. These are known as “potins” and they were produced between the mid 2nd to the mid 1st century BC. The earliest versions are known as Kentish Primary, or Thurrock, types. Comparatively the later types, like those from the recently discovered Hillingdon Hoard, are of the “flat linear” type, which uses simplified and abstracted images. Similar coins from the late Iron Age have been found, but in much smaller quantities.
The word “potin” is of French origin and is used to describe these early coins which were cast in clay moulds from a copper alloy with a high tin content. They would have been shiny and silver-coloured when new, and though occasionally examples have turned up which retain this colouration, most coins by the time they get dug up have a characteristic black patina from tin oxidation. These were cast in strips which were then cut into separate coins and as a result often retain characteristic cut edges from the runlets which joined them together. The moulds themselves were made using “master” matrices of copper alloy which were cast with the design for one side of a coin in high relief and pressed into the clay. A rare example of a mould of this type was found a few miles west of the Surrey border in Hampshire.
The designs of the majority of potins found in England derive ultimately from coins produced in the Greek colonial Mediterranean city of Massalia (modern Marseilles) in southern Gaul in the late 4th century BC. These coins featured a head of Apollo on the obverse and a charging bull on the reverse. They were originally imported from the continent and later locally copied in the mid 2nd century BC, in the form of what are known as “Thurrock” types, which adhere closely to the original design. Later forms, known as “flat linear” types, greatly simplified this design into deep abstraction, ultimately reducing the head of Apollo to an outline and the bull to a trapezoidal arrangement of lines
We don’t know what these coins were called by the people who made them, or what they were worth in fiscal terms, but they are generally only found in south east England, which probably reflects the limits of the political and economic influence of the Cantii themselves. It isn't even clear what the role of these Iron Age coins actually was, though it is likely that they assisted in the maintenance of some kind of social power structure. Coins were not generally used as day to day currency by the people of Britain in the 1st and 2nd centuries BC, so apart from any monetary transactions, their range of uses probably included the storage of wealth, use as political tribute, and / or votive objects used as offerings to the gods.

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4 comments*Alex

2nd - 1st Century BC, IRON AGE BRITAIN, Tribe: Durotriges, Base AR Stater, Struck c.40 BCObverse: No legend. Abstract head of Apollo made up of pellets and lines.
Reverse: No legend. Crude disjointed horse with three tails standing facing left, large group of pellets and “coffee bean” symbol above, single pellet below.
One of a small group of coins found west of Cheriton, south east of Winchester.
Diameter: 19mm | Weight: 2.89gms | Axis: Unclear
Spink: 366

THE DUROTRIGES
The Durotriges were one of the Celtic tribes living in Britain prior to the Roman invasion. They were one of the groups that issued coinage before the Roman conquest. Their coins were abstract and simple and had no inscriptions, so no names of any issuers or rulers are known. Nevertheless, the Durotriges presented a settled society, based in the farming of lands surrounded by hill forts, the majority of which seem to have gone out of use by 100 BC, long before the arrival of the Romans in 43 or 44 AD. Constructed initially around 600 BC, the Durotriges ultimately occupied the largest hill fort in Britain, Maiden Castle, which encloses some 19 hectares (47 acres). Around 100 BC though, for some reason habitation at the hill fort went into decline and became concentrated at the eastern end of the site. Maiden Castle appears to have been abandoned after the Roman conquest of Britain although the Romans later built a small temple on the site.
The tribe lived in an area centred on Dorset, south Wiltshire, south Somerset and Devon east of the River Axe. Their territory was bordered to the west by the Dumnonii; and to the north east by the Belgae. The area controlled by the Durotriges is identified in part by coin finds, few Durotrigan coins are found in the south eastern tribal areas, so it would appear unlikely that they were acceptable there. A recent coin hoard found on the Isle of Wight, however, would seem to indicate that the Durotriges might have had some influence at least over the western half of the island.
The Durotriges' main outlet for trade across the Channel, strong in the first half of the 1st century BC before drying up in the decades prior to the arrival of the Romans, was at Hengistbury Head. The numismatic evidence indicates a progressive debasing of the coinage suggesting economic difficulties in conjunction with their declining trade.

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*Alex

Perdikkas II, 451 - 413 BC. AR Heavy Tetrobol, struck 437 - 431 BC at Aigai in MacedoniaObverse: No legend. Rider, wearing chlamys and kausia (an ancient Macedonian flat hat, also called a petasos), holding two spears on horse prancing right.
Reverse: No legend. Forepart of lion with straight lined truncation facing right, both paws visible; kerykeion (caduceus), placed horizontally, in left field above, all within incuse square.
Diameter: 15mm | Weight: 2.1gms | Die Axis: 6h
Sear GCV: 1491
Grainy surfaces | Rare (R2)

Perdikkas II features prominently in Thucydides' History of the Peloponnesian War, in which he is described as switching sides between the Peloponnesians and the Athenians several times.
The lion on the reverse of this coin alludes to the Nemean lion killed by Herakles who was claimed to be the ancestor of Perdikkas.

Perdikkas II was a member of the Argead dynasty which would rule Macedonia for almost 400 years.
The founder of the dynasty, Perdikkas I, had led the people who called themselves Macedonians eastward from their home on the Haliacmon River around 700 BC. Aegae (Edessa) became their capital, and by the reign of Amyntas I in the 6th century BC, Macedonian power dominated the neighbouring Thracian tribes and when Amyntas’ successor, Alexander I advanced the Macedonian frontiers eastward to the Strymon River their power was further increased.
After the death of Alexander I in 454, Macedonia began to fall apart, but around 450 BC Perdikkas II, who was Alexander I's son, came to the throne after having asserted his succession against his brothers. Perdikkas had four brothers, Alcetas II, Philip, Menelaus and Amyntas, he also had a sister, Stratonice. Alcetas II preceded him on the throne until he was murdered by Perdikkas' son Archelaus I resulting in Perdikkas' elevation to the throne. During his reign Perdikkas united the Greek cities of Chalcidice in a federation centred on the city of Olynthus.
Perdikkas II died in 413 BC leaving his son Archelaus as heir to the throne. Archelaus adopted a strongly philhellenic policy and introduced Greek artists to his new capital at Pella. He strengthened Macedonia by building roads and fortresses, improved army equipment, and encouraged city life. However, following his assassination in 399 BC, there was seven years of murder and anarchy until finally, around 393 BC, Amyntas III, a great-grandson of Alexander I, took the throne and, although his reign was filled with anarchy and intrigue, he successfully brought unity to Macedonia.

Aigai (also Aegae, Aegeae or Aigeai) was the original capital of the Macedonians and it was also the burial-place of the Macedonian kings. It was built on a site near the modern town of Vergina.1 comments*Alex

1st Century BC - 1st Century CE, IRON AGE BRITAIN, Tribe: Catuvellauni, AE Unit, Struck c.25BC – 10CE at Verlamion (St. Albans) under TasciovanusObverse: Bearded head facing right; VER anti-clockwise in front.
Reverse: Horse with sea horse tail facing left; pellet in ring, and trefoil motif above; VER below.
Diameter: 15.2mm | Weight: 1.97gms | Axis: 3h
SPINK: 243 | BMC 1714-21 | ABC 2658
RARE

CATUVELLAUNI
The Catuvellauni were an Iron Age Celtic tribe in Britain before the Roman conquest, attested by inscriptions into the 4th century. They are mentioned by Cassius Dio, who implies that they led the resistance against the conquest in 43CE. They appear as one of the “Civitates” of Roman Britain in Ptolemy's “Geography” in the 2nd century, occupying the town of Verlamion (Roman Verulamium, modern St.Albans) and the surrounding areas of Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire and southern Cambridgeshire. Their territory was bordered to the north by the Iceni and Corieltauvi, to the east by the Trinovantes, to the west by the Dobunni and to the south by the Atrebates, Regni and Cantii.

TASCIOVANUS
Tasciovanus appears to have become king of the Catuvellauni around 20 BC, before the Roman conquest of Britain. Ruling from Verlamion (St.Albans), for a brief period around 15–10 BC, he issued coins from Camulodunum (Colchester), apparently supplanting Addedomarus of the Trinovantes, but it appears that following the arrival of Augustus in Gaul he withdrew and again issued his coins from Verlamion.
Tasciovanus was the first Catuvellaunian king to issue inscribed coins, bearing “VER”, mint marks for Verlamion. He was also the first to renew hostilities towards the Trinovantes, flouting the long-standing agreement between Caesar and his own grandfather Cassivellaunus.
Tasciovanus died around AD 9 and was succeeded by his son Cunobelinus, who ruled primarily from Camulodunum.

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*Alex

1st Century BC - 1st Century CE, IRON AGE BRITAIN, Tribe: Dobunni, AR Unit, uninscribed seriesObverse: Degraded Celtic “Moon Head” facing right, pellets/symbols in front.
Reverse: Celticised triple tailed horse galloping left; cross above, pellets around.
Diameter: 13.0mm | Weight: 0.67gms | Axis: 3h
SPINK: 377 | ABC 2024
RARE

THE DOBUNNI
The Dobunni were one of the few Iron Age tribes which issued coins before the arrival of the Romans. Their territory covered an area that today broadly coincides with the English counties of Bristol, Gloucestershire and the north of Somerset, although at times their territory may have extended into parts of what are now Herefordshire, Oxfordshire, Wiltshire, Worcestershire, and Warwickshire.
Remnants of several hillforts thought to have been occupied by the Dobunni can be seen in the Bristol area at Maes Knoll, Clifton Down, Burwalls and Stokeleigh, all overlooking the Avon Gorge, as well as at Kingsweston Down and Blaise Castle.
Unlike their neighbours, such as the Silures in what later became south-east Wales, the Dobunni were not a warlike people, being primarily a large group of farmers and craftspeople living in small villages. They submitted to the Romans even before they reached their territory, and after the Roman conquest they readily adopted a Romano-British lifestyle. The Romans gave the Dobunni capital the name of Corinium Dobunnorum, which is known as Cirencester today.

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*Alex

1st Century CE, IRON AGE BRITAIN, Tribes: Catuvellauni and Trinovantes, AE Unit, Struck c.10 - 40 at Verlamion under CunobelinusObverse: CVNO - BELIN. Bare head facing left.
Reverse: TASCIO. Metal worker, wielding hammer, seated facing right.
Diameter: 15mm | Weight: 2.24gms | Axis: 3h
Spink: 342 | ABC: 2969 | Van Arsdell 2097

CUNOBELINUS
Cunobelinus was a king in Iron Age Britain from about 9 CE until about 40 CE. He is mentioned by the Roman historians Suetonius and Dio Cassius, and many coins bearing his inscription have been found. Cunobelinus controlled a substantial portion of south-eastern Britain, including the territories of the Catuvellauni and the Trinovantes, and is called “Britannorum rex" (King of the Britons) by Suetonius. He appears to have been recognized by the Roman emperor Augustus as a client king, shown by the use of the Latin title Rex on some of his coins.
Numismatic evidence appears to indicate that Cunobelinus took power around AD 9 after the death of his father Tasciovanus, minting coins from both Camulodunum, capital of the Trinovantes and Verlamion (Roman Verulamium), capital of the Catuvellauni. Some of the Verulamium coins name him as the son of Tasciovanus, a previous king of the Catuvellauni. Cunobelinus' earliest issues are, however, from Camulodunum, indicating that he took power there first, and some have a palm or laurel wreath design, a motif borrowed from the Romans indicating a military victory. It is possible that he was emboldened to act against the Trinovantes, whose independence was protected by a treaty they made with Julius Caesar in 54 BC, because problems in Germania severely affected Augustus' ability to defend allies in Britain.
Cunobelinus, however, appears to have maintained quite good relations with the Roman Empire, he used classical motifs on his coins and his reign also saw an increase in trade with the continent. Archaeological evidence shows an increase in imported luxury goods, including wine and drinking vessels from Italy, olive oil and “garum” (fish sauce) from Spain, as well as glassware, jewellery, and tableware from the wider continent, all of which, from their distribution, appear to have entered Britain via the port of Camulodunum. Rome's lucrative trade with Britain was also reported by Strabo, according to him the island's exports included grain, gold, silver, iron, hides, slaves and hunting dogs. It seems likely that Cunobelinus was one of the British kings, mentioned by Strabo, who sent embassies to Augustus.
Cunobelinus died about 40, probably within a year of that date, as he was certainly dead by 43.
Traditionally it has been suggested that the “Lexden Tumulus” on the outskirts of Colchester was Cunobelinus' tomb, but without evidence confirming that, it is also possible that the tomb was built for the earlier Trinovantian king, Addedomarus. Interestingly there is a second tumulus, though this one is not so well known, 665m to the northwest of the Lexden burial mound, on a grassy area in the middle of a modern housing estate. This tumulus, known as ‘The Mount’, probably dates from around the same time as the well-known one at Fitzwalter Road, Lexden.

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1 comments*Alex

JUSTINIAN I, AE Half-Follis (20 Nummi), struck 527 – 528 at AntiochObverse: D N IVSTINIANVS P P AVG. Diademed, draped and cuirassed bust of Justinian I facing right.
Reverse: Large K, Large latin cross to left dividing letters A–N / T–X; officina letter to right of K (Γ = third officina).
Diameter: 28mm | Weight: 5.8gms | Die Axis: 12
SBCV: 224a | Not in DOC
Rare

This coin was struck prior to Antioch being renamed Theoupolis following the great earthquake that virtually destroyed the city on 29th November 528.

527: One of Justinian's first acts as sole emperor was to reorganise the command structure of the Byzantine army. He appointed Belisarius to command the Eastern army in Armenia and on the Byzantine-Persian frontier.
528: In February of this year Justinian appointed a commission to codify all the laws of the Roman Empire that were still in force from Hadrian to the current date. This Code of Civil Laws came to be called the Codex Justinianus.
On November 29th a great earthquake struck Antioch, killing thousands and destroying much of the city including the Domus Aurea (Great Church) built by Constantine the Great.*Alex

1st Century CE, IRON AGE BRITAIN, Tribe: Atrebates, AR Unit, Struck c.25 -35 under EpaticcusObverse: EPATI. Head of Hercules, wearing lionskin headdress with paws tied before neck, facing right; pellet in ring behind.
Reverse: No legend. Eagle standing facing, head left, on serpent; dot in circle at upper right.
Diameter: 12mm | Weight: 1.1gms | Axis: 10 |
Spink: 356
Coin found in Hampshire, England. Old repair

EPATICCUS
Epaticcus was a son of Tasciovanus, and probably the younger brother of Cunobelin, he was also apparently a favoured uncle of Caratacus. It is from his coinage issues that we know his name and his family relationship.
The distribution of his coinage would indicate that Epaticcus expanded the territory of his tribe at the expense of the Atrebatean king Verica, and installed himself at the latter's capital, Calleva around 25 CE.
It is likely that Epaticcus was permitted to govern the area by his brother as part of the Catuvellaunian hegemony that was expanding across south eastern Britain at the time. Epaticcus continued to take Verica’s lands to west and south until his death, probably on campaign, around 35 CE. After this his expansionist policies were continued by his nephews, Caratacus and Togodumnus, into the late 30’s CE.

ATREBATES
The Atrebates were a Belgic Iron Age tribe originally dwelling in the Artois region of Northern France.
After the tribes of Gallia Belgic were defeated by Caesar in 57 BC, 4,000 Atrebates participated in the Battle of Alesia in 53, led by their chief Commius.
Before 54 BC, an offshoot of the Gallic tribe probably settled in Britain where it was successively ruled by kings Commius, Tincommius, Eppillus and Verica. Their territory comprised modern Hampshire, West Sussex and Berkshire, centred on the capital Calleva Atrebatum (modern Silchester). They were bordered to the north by the Dobunni and Catuvellauni; to the east by the Regni; and to the south by the Belgae.
The settlement of the Atrebates in Britain does not seem to have been a mass population movement and it is possible that the name "Atrebates", as with many "tribal" names in this period, referred only to the ruling house or dynasty and not to an ethnic group.
After the Roman conquest the Atrebates' lands were organized into the civitates of the Atrebates, Regni and possibly, the Belgae.

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1 comments*Alex

1st Century CE, IRON AGE BRITAIN, Tribe: Iceni, AR Unit, Struck c.60 - 61 under Boudica (Boadicea)Obverse: No legend. Abstract Celtic style head with slit for eye and no ear facing right. Three pellets below head, branch emblem behind neck.
Reverse: No legend. Celtic style horse facing right, lozenge-shaped box with pellets on outer corners below horse. Section of large elaborate wheel-like object above horse, pellet below horse's tail.
Class: Icenian O
Diameter: 14mm | Weight: 0.9gms | Axis: 10
Spink: 434

The first known recorded example of this coin was made by William Stukely, an English antiquarian whose ideas influenced various antiquaries throughout the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Stukeley published over twenty books on archaeology and other subjects during his lifetime and he is regarded as an important forerunner of archaeology for his emphasis on methodically measuring and documenting ancient sites. He died of a stroke in early 1765.
The theory that this coinage was connected with Boudica was originally reported in 1987 and this was endorsed by R D Van Arsdell, an authority on the Celtic coinage of Britain, as Boudican in the 1990's. At the time though this was disputed by many in the numismatic community, some of whom continued to rely on older studies that lumped all "Face-Horse" coins together in a group dating before 20 CE.
However, John Talbot of the University of Oxford carried out research on these issues and, as his die-link and hoard work gradually progressed through the 1990's into the early twenty-first century, these coins were confirmed to be the final coinage of the Iceni. As Talbot's findings were only gradually revealed over a period of time, the accepted dating used in some dealer catalogues did not always keep up with the latest information. During his studies, Talbot discovered that coins from several die sets are only found in the Boudican Rebellion hoards. He also confirmed that these coins were struck in abnormally great numbers for any Icenian issue. But, because he was not certain that this was enough evidence to date the coins to 61 CE. he suggested only that they could have been struck any time after the Claudian Invasion of 43 CE.
Considering though that some die sets are known only from the Boudican Rebellion hoards, that it is still the case that these coins appear in uncirculated condition in the hoards, and that to date none of these coins have been found from secure contexts earlier than the time of the Boudican rebellion, it would appear that the 1987 report was essentially correct and these coins must have been struck nearer to the date of the Boudican Rebellion than earlier, possibly in connection with the financing of that rebellion. The conclusion now is that these coins can, with some confidence, be attributed to Boudica.

THE ICENI
The Iceni were a tribe located in eastern Britain during the Iron Age and the early Roman era. Their territory was bordered by the Corieltauvi to the west, and the Catuvellauni and Trinovantes to the south. In the Roman period, their capital was Venta Icenorum at modern-day Caistor St Edmund.
Julius Caesar did not mention the Iceni in his account of his invasions of Britain in 55 and 54 BC, though they may have been related to the Cenimagni, whom Caesar notes as living north of the River Thames at that time. The Iceni were a significant power in eastern Britain during Claudius I's conquest of Britain in AD 43, in which they allied with Rome. Increasing Roman influence on their affairs led to a revolt in AD 47, though they remained nominally independent under king Prasutagus up until his death around AD 60. Roman encroachment after Prasutagus' death led his wife Boudica to launch a major revolt from 60–61. Boudica's uprising seriously endangered Roman rule in Britain and resulted in the burning of Londinium and other cities. The Romans finally crushed the rebellion, and the Iceni were eventually incorporated into the Roman province.
Archaeological evidence of the Iceni includes torcs, which are heavy rings of gold, silver or electrum worn around the neck and shoulders. The Iceni began producing coins around 10 BC. Their coins were a distinctive adaptation of the Gallo-Belgic "face/horse" design, and in some early issues, most numerous near Norwich, the horse was replaced with a boar. Some coins are inscribed ECENI, making them the only coin-producing group to use their tribal name on coins. The earliest personal name to appear on coins is Antedios (about 10 BC), and other abbreviated names like AESU and SAEMU followed. The name of Prasutagus also appears on some coins as PRASTO.

QUEEN BOUDICA
Queen Boudica was married to Prasutagus, ruler of the Iceni people of East Anglia. When the Romans conquered southern England in AD 43, they allowed Prasutagus to continue to rule. However, when Prasutagus died he left a will dividing his lands between the Roman emperor and his family. The Romans decided to rule the Iceni directly and confiscated all the king's property. When this was contested they are said to have stripped and flogged Boudica and raped her daughters. These actions exacerbated the widespread resentment at Roman rule.
In 60 or 61 AD, while the Roman governor Gaius Suetonius Paullinus was leading a campaign in North Wales, the Iceni rebelled, other tribes joined them, and Boudica led a major uprising against the occupying Roman forces.
Boudica's warriors defeated the Roman Ninth Legion and destroyed the then capital of Roman Britain, Camulodunum (Colchester). They then went on to destroy Londinium (London) and Verulamium (St Albans) killing thousands in the process. Finally, Boudica was defeated by a Roman army led by Paulinus. A great number of her army were killed and, though Boudica's fate is unknown, she is alleged to have either died in battle or poisoned herself to avoid capture. The site of the battle which brought an end to her uprising is also unknown.
The photograph below is of the Victorian statue of Boudica (Boadicea) situated on the Thames embankment in London.

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3 comments*Alex

Alexander the Great, 336 - 323 BC. AE Tetartemorion (Dichalkon / Quarter Obol). Lifetime issue struck 336 - 323 BC at Amphipolis, Macedonia Obverse: No legend. Head of Herakles, wearing lion skin headdress, facing right.
Reverse: AΛEΞANΔPOY. Eagle facing right, it's head turned to left, standing on a thunderbolt; mint-mark, A in right field before the eagle's breast.
Diameter: 15mm | Weight: 3.9gms | Die Axis: 6
Sear: 6743 | Weber: 2142 | Liampi: 6-8 | Price: 0159
RARE

This coin is a Type 3 (eagle type) bronze Quarter-Obol (two chalkoi). Alexander's Eagle bronzes are part of his Eagle coinage that also includes various silver denominations, including a stater, drachm, hemidrachm, diobol, and obol. Alexander's Eagle coins are much rarer than his issues of Herakles and Zeus imperial silver coins and his Herakles and weapons bronze coins.
*Alex

195 - 211, SEPTIMIUS SEVERUS, AR Denarius, Struck 210 at Rome, alluding to BritanniaObverse: SEVERVS PIVS AVG BRIT. Laureate head of Septimius Severus facing right.
Reverse: VICTORIAE BRIT. Victory standing right, holding palm branch in her right hand and placing uninscribed shield on palm tree with her left.
Diameter: 20mm | Weight: 2.83gms | Die Axis: 7h
RIC IV: 336 | RSC: 730 | SRCV: 6384 | SPINK: 651A
SCARCE

This coin commemorates the success of the Roman campaigns in Scotland during 209 and 210 culminating in the death of Severus at York, England, in February 211.

SEPTIMIUS SEVERUS
Lucius Septimius Severus was Roman emperor from 193 to 211. He was born in Leptis Magna in the Roman province of Africa.
Severus seized power after the death of the emperor Pertinax in 193 (the Year of the Five Emperors).
After consolidating his rule over the western provinces, Severus waged a brief, successful war in the east against the Parthian Empire, sacked their capital Ctesiphon, expanded the eastern frontier to the Tigris and enlarged and fortified the Limes Arabicus in Arabia Petraea. In 202, he campaigned in Africa and Mauretania against the Garamantes, captured their capital Garama and expanded the Limes Tripolitanus along the southern desert frontier of the empire. In 198 he raised his elder son Caracalla to Augustus and in 209 did the same to his younger son, Geta.
In AD 209 Severus invaded Caledonia (modern Scotland) with an army of 50,000 men, but he fell fatally ill of an infectious disease in late 210 and died at Eboracum (York, England) early in 211.

SEVERUS' CAMPAIGNS IN BRITAIN
In 208 Septimius Severus travelled to Britain with the intention of conquering Caledonia (Scotland). Modern archaeological discoveries have helped to throw some light on the scope and direction of this northern campaign.
Severus began by occupying the territory up to the Antonine Wall, this is evidenced by extensive Severan era fortifications and the likely reoccupation of some of the forts on that wall. Over the previous years Hadrian's Wall had fallen into disrepair and Severus strengthened and repaired much of it, he did this to such an extent that many early Antiquarians thought that he was the emperor who had actually built it. Severus constructed a 165-acre (67 ha) camp south of the Antonine Wall at Trimontium, probably assembling the main body of his forces there. Severus then thrust north across the Antonine Wall into Caledonian territory, supported and supplied by a strong naval force. He retraced the steps of Agricola of over a century before, rebuilding many abandoned Roman forts along the east coast, and he re-garrisoned the naval base at Carpow, likely built by Commodus in 185, and possibly the place named as "Horrea Classis" or "Poreo Classis" in the Ravenna Cosmography.
By 210 Severus' campaigning had made significant gains, despite Caledonian guerrilla tactics and purportedly heavy Roman casualties.
According to Cassius Dio: “Severus did not desist until he approached the extremity of the island. Here he observed most accurately the variation of the sun's motion and the length of the days and the nights in summer and winter respectively. Having thus been conveyed through practically the whole of the hostile country (for he actually was conveyed in a covered litter most of the way, on account of his infirmity), he returned to the friendly portion, after he had forced the Britons to come to terms, on the condition that they should abandon a large part of their territory.”
The Caledonians had sued for peace, which Severus had granted on the condition that they relinquished control of the Central Lowlands of Scotland, but later that year (210), they, along with the Maeatae, revolted. Severus prepared for another campaign, now intent on exterminating the Caledonians. However the campaign was cut short when Severus fell ill and withdrew south to Eboracum (York) where he died on 4 February 211. Severus was succeeded by his sons, Caracalla and Geta. Caracalla continued campaigning in Caledonia during 212 but soon settled for peace, and shortly after that the frontier was withdrawn south to Hadrian's Wall.
On his death, Severus was deified by the Senate and his remains were buried in the Mausoleum of Hadrian in Rome.

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*Alex

195 - 211, SEPTIMIUS SEVERUS, AR Denarius, Struck 210 at Rome, alluding to BritanniaObverse: SEVERVS PIVS AVG BRIT. Laureate head of Septimius Severus facing right.
Reverse: VICTORIAE BRIT. Victory seated on shield facing left, holding another shield resting on her knee in her right hand and palm branch in her left.
Diameter: 19mm | Weight: 2.35gms | Die Axis: 12h
RIC IV: 335 | RSC: 731 | SRCV: 6385 | SPINK: 651C
SCARCE

This coin commemorates the success of the Roman campaigns in Scotland during 209 and 210 culminating in the death of Severus at York, England, in February 211.

SEPTIMIUS SEVERUS
Lucius Septimius Severus was Roman emperor from 193 to 211. He was born in Leptis Magna in the Roman province of Africa.
Severus seized power after the death of the emperor Pertinax in 193 (the Year of the Five Emperors).
After consolidating his rule over the western provinces, Severus waged a brief, successful war in the east against the Parthian Empire, sacked their capital Ctesiphon, expanded the eastern frontier to the Tigris and enlarged and fortified the Limes Arabicus in Arabia Petraea. In 202, he campaigned in Africa and Mauretania against the Garamantes, captured their capital Garama and expanded the Limes Tripolitanus along the southern desert frontier of the empire. In 198 he raised his elder son Caracalla to Augustus and in 209 did the same to his younger son, Geta.
In AD 209 Severus invaded Caledonia (modern Scotland) with an army of 50,000 men, but he fell fatally ill of an infectious disease in late 210 and died at Eboracum (York, England) early in 211.

SEVERUS' CAMPAIGNS IN BRITAIN
In 208 Septimius Severus travelled to Britain with the intention of conquering Caledonia (Scotland). Modern archaeological discoveries have helped to throw some light on the scope and direction of this northern campaign.
Severus began by occupying the territory up to the Antonine Wall, this is evidenced by extensive Severan era fortifications and the likely reoccupation of some of the forts on that wall. Over the previous years Hadrian's Wall had fallen into disrepair and Severus strengthened and repaired much of it, he did this to such an extent that many early Antiquarians thought that he was the emperor who had actually built it. Severus constructed a 165-acre (67 ha) camp south of the Antonine Wall at Trimontium, probably assembling the main body of his forces there. Severus then thrust north across the Antonine Wall into Caledonian territory, supported and supplied by a strong naval force. He retraced the steps of Agricola of over a century before, rebuilding many abandoned Roman forts along the east coast, and he re-garrisoned the naval base at Carpow, likely built by Commodus in 185, and possibly the place named as "Horrea Classis" or "Poreo Classis" in the Ravenna Cosmography.
By 210 Severus' campaigning had made significant gains, despite Caledonian guerrilla tactics and purportedly heavy Roman casualties.
According to Cassius Dio: “Severus did not desist until he approached the extremity of the island. Here he observed most accurately the variation of the sun's motion and the length of the days and the nights in summer and winter respectively. Having thus been conveyed through practically the whole of the hostile country (for he actually was conveyed in a covered litter most of the way, on account of his infirmity), he returned to the friendly portion, after he had forced the Britons to come to terms, on the condition that they should abandon a large part of their territory.”
The Caledonians had sued for peace, which Severus had granted on the condition that they relinquished control of the Central Lowlands of Scotland, but later that year (210), they, along with the Maeatae, revolted. Severus prepared for another campaign, now intent on exterminating the Caledonians. However the campaign was cut short when Severus fell ill and withdrew south to Eboracum (York) where he died on 4 February 211. Severus was succeeded by his sons, Caracalla and Geta. Caracalla continued campaigning in Caledonia during 212 but soon settled for peace, and shortly after that the frontier was withdrawn south to Hadrian's Wall.
On his death, Severus was deified by the Senate and his remains were buried in the Mausoleum of Hadrian in Rome.

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5 comments*Alex

195 - 211, SEPTIMIUS SEVERUS, AR Denarius, Struck 210 at Rome, alluding to BritanniaObverse: SEVERVS PIVS AVG BRIT. Laureate head of Septimius Severus facing right.
Reverse: VICTORIAE BRIT. Victory advancing right, holding wreath in her outstretched right hand and palm branch in her left.
Diameter: 19mm | Weight: 3.5gms | Die Axis: 6h
RIC IV: 332 | RSC: 727 | SRCV: 6382 | SPINK: 650
SCARCE

This coin commemorates the success of the Roman campaigns in Scotland during 209 and 210 culminating in the death of Severus at York, England, in February 211.

SEPTIMIUS SEVERUS
Lucius Septimius Severus was Roman emperor from 193 to 211. He was born in Leptis Magna in the Roman province of Africa.
Severus seized power after the death of the emperor Pertinax in 193 (the Year of the Five Emperors).
After consolidating his rule over the western provinces, Severus waged a brief, successful war in the east against the Parthian Empire, sacked their capital Ctesiphon, expanded the eastern frontier to the Tigris and enlarged and fortified the Limes Arabicus in Arabia Petraea. In 202, he campaigned in Africa and Mauretania against the Garamantes, captured their capital Garama and expanded the Limes Tripolitanus along the southern desert frontier of the empire. In 198 he raised his elder son Caracalla to Augustus and in 209 did the same to his younger son, Geta.
In AD 209 Severus invaded Caledonia (modern Scotland) with an army of 50,000 men, but he fell fatally ill of an infectious disease in late 210 and died at Eboracum (York, England) early in 211.

SEVERUS' CAMPAIGNS IN BRITAIN
In 208 Septimius Severus travelled to Britain with the intention of conquering Caledonia (Scotland). Modern archaeological discoveries have helped to throw some light on the scope and direction of this northern campaign.
Severus began by occupying the territory up to the Antonine Wall, this is evidenced by extensive Severan era fortifications and the likely reoccupation of some of the forts on that wall. Over the previous years Hadrian's Wall had fallen into disrepair and Severus strengthened and repaired much of it, he did this to such an extent that many early Antiquarians thought that he was the emperor who had actually built it. Severus constructed a 165-acre (67 ha) camp south of the Antonine Wall at Trimontium, probably assembling the main body of his forces there. Severus then thrust north across the Antonine Wall into Caledonian territory, supported and supplied by a strong naval force. He retraced the steps of Agricola of over a century before, rebuilding many abandoned Roman forts along the east coast, and he re-garrisoned the naval base at Carpow, likely built by Commodus in 185, and possibly the place named as "Horrea Classis" or "Poreo Classis" in the Ravenna Cosmography.
By 210 Severus' campaigning had made significant gains, despite Caledonian guerrilla tactics and purportedly heavy Roman casualties.
According to Cassius Dio: “Severus did not desist until he approached the extremity of the island. Here he observed most accurately the variation of the sun's motion and the length of the days and the nights in summer and winter respectively. Having thus been conveyed through practically the whole of the hostile country (for he actually was conveyed in a covered litter most of the way, on account of his infirmity), he returned to the friendly portion, after he had forced the Britons to come to terms, on the condition that they should abandon a large part of their territory.”
The Caledonians had sued for peace, which Severus had granted on the condition that they relinquished control of the Central Lowlands of Scotland, but later that year (210), they, along with the Maeatae, revolted. Severus prepared for another campaign, now intent on exterminating the Caledonians. However the campaign was cut short when Severus fell ill and withdrew south to Eboracum (York) where he died on 4 February 211. Severus was succeeded by his sons, Caracalla and Geta. Caracalla continued campaigning in Caledonia during 212 but soon settled for peace, and shortly after that the frontier was withdrawn south to Hadrian's Wall.
On his death, Severus was deified by the Senate and his remains were buried in the Mausoleum of Hadrian in Rome.

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1 comments*Alex

29.1 Julia PaulaWhat happens when an eBay seller mails a crystallized coin in a plain white envelope?

At least I got my money refunded!1 commentsSosius

6 Valerian IVALERIAN I
AR Antoninianus, 3.9g
Eastern Mint. 255-256

O: IMP C P LIC VALERIANVS P F AVG, Radiate, draped, cuirassed bust right

R: PIETAS AVGG, Valerian and Gallienus standing facing, sacrificing over lit altar

RIC V-I, 285 (Asia-Antioch); Göbl 1684e (Samosata)
Sosius

60Pseudo-Autonomous
Rhodes
AE 35mm (drachm)
c.31BC - 60AD
Obverse: Head of Dionysus right, radiate and with ivy leaf wreath
Reverse: Nike, right, with palm and aphlastron, on prow
Magistrate: Hypsikles
RPC I 2761
As this coin is listed in RPC I there is enough justification, for me at least, to include it in my "Diverse Roman" gallery.mauseus

680 - 710, ANGLO-SAXON, AR Sceat, struck c.685 - 700 at Essex or East Anglia, EnglandObverse: Pearl diademed head facing right within ouroboros (serpent eating its tail), unintelligible pseudo legend around.
Reverse: Bird standing facing right upon cross, annulets on either side, all within ouroboros (serpent eating its tail), unintelligible pseudo legend around.
Primary Phase, Series BI
Diameter: 12mm | Weight: 1.05gms | Die Axis: 12h
SPINK: 777 | Metcalf: 100 - 106 | Abramson (Sceatta List): 16 - 40

This coin was struck at the time in which the Beowulf legend was set, though the coin predates the earliest manuscript of that saga by about three centuries. These coins constitute the earliest indigenous currency found on the British Isles and they are a fascinating glimpse into the so called "Dark Ages" during the post-Roman period.
The departure of the Romans sometime around 414 AD induced the inhabitants to create their own coinage. These primary phase sceattas are among the earliest of all Anglo-Saxon coinage and are generally thought to be modelled after coinages found in the surrounding areas and, of course, based on the earlier coinage from the Roman Empire. Most scholars now believe that the word "sceat" has been a misinterpretation of the word for "weight" and that the coin would probably have been classed as a denier or a penny. However, while archaeological finds and further research has provided more information on where these types may have been created, there is still little known about under whom they were struck.
This was a time of transition from paganism to Christianity, and these coins often show elements of both, featuring mysterious birds and beasts as well as crosses. This particular coin has not only a cross and a bird, but some wonderful ouroboros "snake circles" used as borders on both sides as well. The fantastical imagery and designs often found on these coins can be very attractive to many collectors.1 comments*Alex

796 – c.835, EANBALD II, Archbishop of York, Northumbria, AE Styca, struck c.830 - 835 at York, EnglandObverse: + EANBALD AR around small Greek cross. Greek cross in legend.
Reverse: + EDILVARD around cross pommée. Cross pommée in legend. Moneyer: Aethelweard
Phase 1b issue
Diameter: 13mm | Weight: 1.0gms | Die Axis: 6h
SPINK: 861 | British Numismatic Journal (1916) – (H A Parsons, The coins of Archbishop Eanbald II of York): 60

Initially a base silver coin, after the devastating Viking attack on Lindisfarne in 793, with its subsequent commercial impact on the kingdom of Northumberland, the second issue of stycas under King Eanred were debased by having their silver content replaced by zinc. There was a further debasement of the coinage in 829 after Eanred's submission to Ecgberht of Wessex, such that the styca became basically a copper alloy coin.

Eanbald II was, prior to his elevation to the archiepiscopate, a priest of the Church of York. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle records his consecration as Archbishop on 14th August, 796, immediately after the death of the first prelate of the same name.
In the year 797, Eanbald II is recorded as having assisted in the recovery of the rights of the see of Canterbury, which had been much impaired during the reign of King Offa of Mercia in order that his new primacy at Lichfield might be promoted. In this work of restitution, Eanbald collaborated with Æthelhard, Archbishop of Canterbury, who had appealed to Rome over the matter. The case was also presented to Coenwulf, the successor of Offa, and he was persuaded by the two prelates to refer the question to the Pope which resulted in Offa's new archiepiscopal see of Lichfield being abolished.
In 798 Eanbald convened a great synod at Finchale, near Durham. There, he enacted a number of regulations relating to the ecclesiastical courts and the observance of Easter.
Early on Eanbald became estranged from Eardwulf, King of Northumbria, after denouncing Eardwulf's adulteries and sheltering Eardwulf's enemies by giving them church sanctuary. But Eardwulf seems to have been deposed in around 806 and was eventually succeeded by Eanred around 810.
No record of Eanbald II's death survives and the time of his death has been variously estimated to range from as early as 808 to as late as 835, the latter date based on numismatic evidence.

The Kingdom of Northumbria was a medieval Anglian kingdom in what is now Northern England and South-east Scotland. The name derives from the Old English Norþan-hymbre meaning "the people or province north of the Humber", Northumbria started to consolidate into one kingdom in the early seventh century when the two earlier territories of Deira and Bernicia united. At its height, the kingdom extended from the Humber Estuary in the south to the Firth of Forth (now in Scotland) in the north.
Northumbria ceased to be an independent kingdom in the mid-tenth century.
*Alex

8.5 QuietusQuietus
Usurper in the East, 260-261 AD
BI Antoninianus, Antioch (3.47 gm)
IMP C FVL QVIETVS PF AVG, Radiate, draped, and cuirassed bust right / FORT REDVX, Fortuna seated left on wheel, holding tiller and cornucopia; star in left field.
RIC 4. EF / VF, worn reverse die
Ex Heritage Auctions, 9/20131 commentsSosius

810 - 841, EANRED, Anglo-Saxon king of Northumbria, AE Styca, Struck c.830 - 835 at York, EnglandObverse: + EANRED REX around small cross pattée. Cross pattée in legend.
Reverse: + FORDRED around small cross patoncé. Cross pattée in legend. Moneyer: Fordred.
Phase 1b issue
Grey patina with slight silver sheen
Diameter: 12mm | Weight: 0.9gms | Die Axis: 12h
SPINK: 862

Initially a base silver coin, after the devastating Viking attack on Lindisfarne in 793, with its subsequent commercial impact on the kingdom of Northumberland, Eanred's second issue of stycas were debased by having their silver content replaced by zinc. There was a further debasement of the coinage in 829 after Eanred's submission to Ecgberht of Wessex, such that the styca became basically a copper alloy coin.

Eanred was king of Northumbria in the early ninth century.but very little is known for certain about him. Roger of Wendover, a 13th century English chronicler, states that Eanred reigned from 810 until 840, but the twelfth-century History of the Church of Durham records a reign of 33 years. Given the turbulence of Northumbrian history in this period, a reign of this length suggests a figure of some significance. Eanred was the son of King Eardwulf, who was deposed by an otherwise unknown Ælfwald in 806. According to the History of the Church of Durham, Ælfwald ruled for two years before Eanred succeeded. However Frankish sources claim that, after being expelled from England, Eardwulf was received by Charlemagne and then the pope, and that their envoys escorted him back to Northumbria and secured his restoration to power. The precise nature of the succession of Eanred is therefore unclear but all the sources agree that Eanred was eventually succeeded by his son, Æthelred.

The Kingdom of Northumbria was a medieval Anglian kingdom in what is now Northern England and South-east Scotland. The name derives from the Old English Norþan-hymbre meaning "the people or province north of the Humber", Northumbria started to consolidate into one kingdom in the early seventh century when the two earlier territories of Deira and Bernicia united. At its height, the kingdom extended from the Humber Estuary in the south to the Firth of Forth (now in Scotland) in the north.
Northumbria ceased to be an independent kingdom in the mid-tenth century.
1 comments*Alex

837 - 854, WIGMUND, Anglo-Saxon Archbishop of York, Northumbria, AE Styca, Struck at York, EnglandObverse: + VIGMVND I R around group of seven pellets. Cross pattée in legend.
Reverse: + HVNLAF around cross pommée. Cross pattée in legend. Moneyer: Hunlaf.
Issue: Phase II, Group Ci
Diameter: 13mm | Weight: 0.9gms | Die Axis: Uncertain
SPINK: 870

The first appearance of the styca, a new style of small coin which replaced the earlier sceat, was at the beginning of the ninth century. The first stycas were of low silver content but later coins became effectively brass. Produced in York, several moneyers are named on the surviving coins, suggesting that they were minted in significant quantities. Stycas were minted under the kings, Aethelred I, Eardwulf, Aelfwald II, Eanred, Aethelred II, Redwulf, and Osberht, as well as for the Archbishops of York, Eanbald I, Eanbald II, Wigmund, and Wulfhere.

Wigmund was consecrated as Archbishop of York in 837 and died in 854.

The Kingdom of Northumbria was a medieval Anglian kingdom in what is now Northern England and South-east Scotland. The name derives from the Old English Norþan-hymbre meaning "the people or province north of the Humber", Northumbria started to consolidate into one kingdom in the early seventh century when the two earlier territories of Deira and Bernicia united. At its height, the kingdom extended from the Humber Estuary in the south to the Firth of Forth (now in Scotland) in the north.
Northumbria ceased to be an independent kingdom in the mid-tenth century.
*Alex

841 - 849, ÆTHELRED II, Anglo-Saxon king of Northumbria, AE Styca, Struck 841 - 844 at York, EnglandObverse: + EDILRED REX around large Greek cross, small Greek cross in legend.
Reverse: + EANRED around small Greek cross. Small Greek cross in legend. Moneyer: Eanred.
Issue: First Reign, Phase II, Group Cii
Diameter: 13mm | Weight: 0.9gms | Die Axis: 12
SPINK: 865 | Pirie: 1374 (same dies)

The new styca coinage, small brass coins containing very little silver and much zinc introduced at the beginning of the century, continued to be minted in large quantities by a number of different moneyers at York during Æthelred's reign.

Æthelred II was king of Northumbria in the middle of the ninth century, but, as with his father, his dates are uncertain. Relatively little is known of Æthelred's reign from the surviving documentary record. He appears to have been expelled in favour of Rædwulf, whose reign is confirmed by the evidence of coinage. However, Rædwulf was killed that same year fighting against the Vikings and Æthelred was restored to power. Æthelred was assassinated a few years later, but no further details are known of his murder. Æthelred II was succeeded by Osberht.
N. J. Higham, reader of history at Manchester University and author of several books on the Anglo-Saxons dates Æthelred II's reign as from 840 until his death in 848, with an interruption in 844 when Rædwulf briefly usurped the throne. Barbara Yorke, Emeritus professor of Medieval history at the University of Winchester agrees, but dates his death slightly later to 848 or 849.

The Kingdom of Northumbria was a medieval Anglian kingdom in what is now Northern England and South-east Scotland. The name derives from the Old English Norþan-hymbre meaning "the people or province north of the Humber", Northumbria started to consolidate into one kingdom in the early seventh century when the two earlier territories of Deira and Bernicia united. At its height, the kingdom extended from the Humber Estuary in the south to the Firth of Forth (now in Scotland) in the north.
Northumbria ceased to be an independent kingdom in the mid-tenth century.
*Alex

843 - 855, IRREGULAR ISSUE, AE Styca, struck at York, EnglandObverse: + FGMVND (Wigmund) retrograde around group of five pellets in the form found on a dice. Cross pattée in legend.
Reverse: + EARDVVL retrograde around small cross with pellet in each of it's four angles. Cross pommée in legend. Moneyer: Eardwulf.
Diameter: 13mm | Weight: 1.16gms | Die Axis: Uncertain
SPINK: 872

This coin is an irregular issue which imitates an issue of Wigmund, who was Archbishop of York from around 837 to c.850, and the moneyer Eardwulf. Eardwulf was not a moneyer of regular coins for Wigmund so this coin is a bit of a concoction, something that is not uncommon with these irregular issues. Irregular stycas appear in a wide variety of types and a wide variety of imitative legends which are often blundered and sometimes completely unintelligible. The first appearance of the styca, a new style of small coin which replaced the earlier sceat, was at the beginning of the ninth century. Minted in York, several moneyers are named on the surviving coins, suggesting that they were struck in significant quantities. The written sources for late Northumbria are few, however the archaeological evidence from coinage is independent of the surviving annals and the evidence of Northumbrian coinage is particularly valuable when, in the ninth century, contemporary written evidence all but disappears.
These irregular issue coins were struck at a period of great instability in Northumbria. The last king to mint official stycas in any great quantity was Æthelred II who came to the throne around 841. Æthelred was assassinated around 848 and was succeeded by Osberht who was apparently killed in a battle with the Vikings around 867. The "Great Heathen Army" of Danish Vikings had marched on Northumbria in 866, they captured and sacked York towards the end of that year. Osberht was reputedly replaced as king by Ælla who is described in most sources as a tyrant, and not a rightful king, though one source states that he was Osberht's brother and fought and died alongside him. Evidence about Northumbrian royal chronology is unreliable prior to 867 and, though the beginning of Ælla's reign is traditionally dated to 862 or 863, his reign may not have begun until as late as 866. Ælla was apparently captured and killed by the Vikings, and after that the Vikings appointed one Ecgberht to rule Northumbria.
Official styca production ceased at some time during Osberht's reign although stycas remained in circulation until the Viking conquest of Northumbria in 867.

The Kingdom of Northumbria was a medieval Anglian kingdom in what is now Northern England and South-east Scotland. The name derives from the Old English Norþan-hymbre meaning "the people or province north of the Humber", Northumbria started to consolidate into one kingdom in the early seventh century when the two earlier territories of Deira and Bernicia united. At its height, the kingdom extended from the Humber Estuary in the south to the Firth of Forth (now in Scotland) in the north.
Northumbria ceased to be an independent kingdom in the mid-tenth century.*Alex

C POBLICIUS Q F. 80 BCHelmeted bust of Roma right / Hercules strangling the Nemean lion; bow and quiver at left; club below. Cr. 380/1.

POBLICIA, a plebian family, but of consular rank. Its cognomen on coins is Malleolus. There are fifteen varieties, all of silver, on some of which a small hammer or mallett is engraved, evidently alluding to the surname Malleolus.

The first of Heracles' twelve labours, set by King Eurystheus (his cousin) was to slay the Nemean lion.

According to one version of the myth, the Nemean lion took women as hostages to its lair in a cave near Nemea, luring warriors from nearby towns to save the damsel in distress. After entering the cave, the warrior would see the woman (usually feigning injury) and rush to her side. Once he was close, the woman would turn into a lion and kill the warrior, devouring his remains and giving the bones to Hades.

Heracles wandered the area until he came to the town of Cleonae. There he met a boy who said that if Heracles slew the Nemean lion and returned alive within 30 days, the town would sacrifice a lion to Zeus; but if he did not return within 30 days or he died, the boy would sacrifice himself to Zeus.[3] Another version claims that he met Molorchos, a shepherd who had lost his son to the lion, saying that if he came back within 30 days, a ram would be sacrificed to Zeus. If he did not return within 30 days, it would be sacrificed to the dead Heracles as a mourning offering.

While searching for the lion, Heracles fetched some arrows to use against it, not knowing that its golden fur was impenetrable; when he found and shot the lion and firing at it with his bow, he discovered the fur's protective property when the arrow bounced harmlessly off the creature's thigh. After some time, Heracles made the lion return to his cave. The cave had two entrances, one of which Heracles blocked; he then entered the other. In those dark and close quarters, Heracles stunned the beast with his club and, using his immense strength, strangled it to death. During the fight the lion bit off one of his fingers. Others say that he shot arrows at it, eventually shooting it in the unarmoured mouth.

After slaying the lion, he tried to skin it with a knife from his belt, but failed. He then tried sharpening the knife with a stone and even tried with the stone itself. Finally, Athena, noticing the hero's plight, told Heracles to use one of the lion's own claws to skin the pelt.

When he returned on the thirtieth day carrying the carcass of the lion on his shoulders, King Eurystheus was amazed and terrified. Eurystheus forbade him ever again to enter the city; in future he was to display the fruits of his labours outside the city gates. Eurystheus warned him that the tasks set for him would become increasingly difficult. He then sent Heracles off to complete his next quest, which was to destroy the Lernaean hydra.

The Nemean lion's coat was impervious to the elements and all but the most powerful weapons. Others say that Heracles' armour was, in fact, the hide of the lion of Cithaeron.ecoli

Celtic CoinageContinental Celts & Tribes of Britannia
Gaul: Northwest Gaul: Aulerci Eburovices, Carnutes, Coriosolites, Redones, Senones, Veneti. Northeast Gaul: Ambiani, Remi, Suessiones (Cricironus), Treveri.
Central Gaul: Aediu, Arverni. Sequani (Turonos & Cantorix). Southern Gaul: Massalia (Marseilles), Tolostates, Volcae-Arecomici. Uncertain: Volcae Tectosages, Leuci, Senones.
Britain: Atrebates & Regni (Verica), Cantii (Amminus), CantuvellauniCorieltauvi (Volisios Dumnocoveros), Cunobelin, Dobunni, Durotriges, Epaticcus, Iceni, Trinovantes, Cantuvellauni & Trinovantes (Addedomaros, Caratacus).
Lower Danube: Geto-Dacians. Middle Danube: Hercuniates. Central Europe: Boii. Danubian Celts are also referred to as being from the Carpathian Region, in which there were various tribes, many unknown. 1 commentsAnaximander

China - State of Yan, 400-220 BCCHINA, Eastern Zhou Dynasty. State of Yan. Circa 400-220 BC .
Æ Knife. Ming type.
Hartill 4.4aArdatirion

Eastern CulturesHephthalites (White Huns), Indo-Sassanian, Indo-Skythians. Parthia, Persis, Sasanian.1 commentsAnaximander

Gordian III / RIC 177 over 187, 1'st series.Antoninianus, 238-239 AD, Antioch mint.
Obverse: IMP CAES M ANT GORDIANVS AVG / Radiate bust of Gordian.
Reverse: AEQVIT LIBER / Body and feet of Aequitas holding scales; Body and feet of Libertas holding pileus (Liberty cap) .
5.00 gm, 22 mm.
RIC #177 over #187. Bland 18/21.

This coin has two different reverses: the Aequitas type (RIC #177) is overstruck at 180 degree rotation on top of the Libertas type (RIC #187). Or, perhaps it is the other way around: The Libertas type (RIC #187) is overstruck on top of the Aequitas type (RIC #177).

The T of AEQVITAS AVG is almost flattened out and is just barely visible. At Antioch, Libertas with the pileus always has the legend LIBERALITAS AVG rather than LIBERTAS AVG.

There is a footnote to RIC #231 (vol. IV, part III, p. 39) which is quite intriguing:

"231. A strange Antoninianus (G. B. Pears Coll.) shows rev. type of AEQVIT[AS] apparently overstruck with type of LIBER[TAS] -- obv. of Gordian III, rev. of Philip overstruck with rev. of Trebonianus Gallus (?)."

I posted this coin on Forvmancientcoins.com and got this reply from Curtis Clay:

"A neat example of this error, and one I hadn't been aware of before, despite its mention in the RIC footnote!
As you expected, you now own the coin formerly in the Pears collection: we know because there is a plaster cast of it so labeled in the BM, which is illustrated in Roger Bland's dissertation, pl. 10, 18/21 !
One of the reverse types is Libertas with cap, but its legend must have been LIBERALITAS not LIBERTAS AVG: the Eastern mint always mislabeled its Libertas type as Liberalitas. RIC made the same mistake regarding the reverse legend; corrected by Bland, who lists the coin under the type LIBERALITAS AVG.
I had never heard of G. B. Pears or his collection before, so can supply no information in that regard."1 commentsCallimachus

Kassander, 317 - 297 BC. AE18. Struck 319 - 305 BC at an uncertain mint in MacedoniaObverse: No legend. Head of Herakles, wearing lion's skin, facing right.
Reverse: KAΣΣAN - ΔPOY, above and below crouching lion facing right, Λ in right field, before lion.
Diameter: 17.77mm | Weight: 3.76gms | Die Axis: 6
SNG Cop 1138 | Sear GCV 6753 | Forrer/Weber 2161

This type was issued before Kassander's assumption of the royal title in 305 BC

Kassander (Cassander) was one of the Diadochoi, a group of Macedonian generals, and the self proclaimed ruler of Macedonia during the political turmoil following the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC. He was the son of Antipater, who had been appointed as regent in Macedonia while Alexander was in the East.
In 319 BC and close to death, Antipater transferred the regency of Macedonia to Polyperchon. Kassander refused to acknowledge the new regent and, with the aid of Antigonus I Monopthalmus the ruler of Phrygia, he seized Macedonia and most of Greece, including Athens. In 317 BC, he declared himself regent and had Alexander's widow, Roxanna and son, Alexander IV confined in Amphipolis. Later, in 310 or 309 BC, he had them put to death by poisoning. But, even though he had murdered Alexander's heirs and had been the de facto ruler of Macedonia from 317 BC, Kassander did not take the royal titles and declare himself king until 305 BC.
Meanwhile, Antigonus was intent on reuniting Alexander's empire under his own sovereignty and so Kassander joined forces with Ptolemy I of Egypt, Seleucus in Babylon and Lysimachus ruler of Thrace to oppose him. The two sides fought several battles between 319 and 303 BC resulting in Kassander losing Athens in 307 BC and his possessions south of Thessaly between 303 and 302 BC. However, in 301 BC Antigonus was defeated and killed at the Battle of Ipsus in Phrygia which allowed Kassander to secure undisputed control over Macedonia.
During his rule Kassander restored peace and prosperity to the kingdom, founding or restoring numerous cities, including Thebes which had been levelled by Alexander as punishment for rebelling against him. He also founded Thessalonica, naming the city after his wife, and Cassandreia, founded upon the ruins of Potidaea, which was named after himself.
Kassander died of dropsy in 297 BC and may have been buried in a royal tomb recently discovered at Vergina, identified as Aigai, the first Macedonian capital.
*Alex

Kings of Macedon, Alexander III the Great, 336-323 BC, AR Tetradrachm - Amphipolis Mint under AntipaterHead of Herakles right, wearing lion skin headdress.
AÎ›EÎžANÎ”POY Zeus Aëtophoros seated left; janiform head vase in left field. Graffiti in upper left field - Aramaic kaph (k) and sadhe (s).

Price 6; Troxell, Studies, Issue A3; SNG Cop 660; Muller 853.
Struck at Amphipolis in the period 332-329 BC.

(29 mm, 17.15 g, 2h)

This is one of the first emissions of Alexander’s coinage struck in his homeland, albeit about three years after he departed for Asia Minor. Recent scholarship places the start of Alexander’s distinctive coinage in 333/2 BC at Tarsos, in eastern Asia Minor, shortly after which the design was transferred to Macedonia where Alexander’s coinage was struck under the authority of his regent in Greece, Antipater. Die studies indicate that this coin was from the fourth tetradrachm emission of a mint in Macedonia, most probably Amphipolis. It was most probably struck in the period 332-329 BC. The Aramaic graffiti on the reverse, plus the obverse reverse rim test cut are pointers to the likelihood that this coin travelled beyond its location of issue in Macedonia, into the eastern Mediterranean where Aramaic was the main spoken language.3 commentsn.igma

Latin trachy type C small module Sear 2046small module as SB 2023

Obverse:MP_OV barred in upper fields. Virgin nimbate, wearing tunic and maphorion, seated upon throne with back;holds beardless nimbate head of Christ on breast.
Reverse. Emperor seated on throne without back, collar-peice and paneled loros of simplified type; holds in r. hand labarum-headed scepter, and in l., anexikakia. Manus Dei in upper rt. field.
Mint:?Constantinople
Date 1204-
SB 2046, DOC LIII,32
15mm
wileyc

Plautilla, Denarius, Rome 204 C.E. Wife of CaracallaPlautilla ar denarius, Rome RIC IV 369. Struck 204 C.E.
Obverse - PLAVTILLA AVGVSTA. Draped bust right.
Reverse - VENVS VICTRIX. Venus standing left, breast exposed, holding apple and palm and resting left elbow on shield. Cupid standing left at her feet.
19.5 mm diam., 3.0 g. Scarce
sold 2-2018NORMAN K

SicilyGreek colonies dotted the island of Sicily from about the mid-8th C. BC onward, sometimes conflicting with the native tribes (Sikels to the east, Sikanians in central Sicily, and Elymians to the west) and several Phoenician colonies. The largest issuance of coinage by the city-states often came amidst conflict among themselves and later arrivals, the Carthaginians and Romans. While Greek coin types and denominations predominated, the local litra and its fractions of onkiai survived down to the Roman conquest in 212 BC, when local striking withered. Major mints include Akragas, Gela, Himera, Kamarina, Katane, Leontini, Messene, Naxos, Segesta, Selinos, Syracuse, and the siculo-punic mints of Entella and Lilybaion.
3 commentsAnaximander

Valens, Emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire, 364-378 AD. AE 18. Struck 364 AD. Sirmium mint. DN VALENS P F AVG, pearl-diademed, draped and cuirassed bust right / GLORIA RO MANORVM, Valens advancing right, dragging captive and holding labarum; ASIRM.
Sirmium RIC 4b Antonivs Protti

ROME
PB Tessera (16mm, 2.00 g)
Horse running left; palm below
Ð„VC (Eustolos)
Rostovtsev 819; Rostovtsev & Prou 517; Munich 177; BM 1612-3; Kircheriano 1573-6; Toynbee, “Beasts and Their Names in the Roman Empire,” pl. VI, fig 18

Ex Artcoins Roma 23 (17 February 2015), lot 583

The reverse appears to bear the name of the horse, Eustolos, “the Ready.” Toynbee records 417 horse names, far more than any other beast, noting only a few dozen names for dogs, mules, bears, and other animals. Ardatirion

ROME
PB Tessera (13mm, 2.55 g, 12 h)
Venus Pudica standing facing, head left, raising arms to cover breast
Victory advancing right, holding palm frond
Rostowzew 3132; Rostowzew & Prou 325Ardatirion

UNITED STATES TOKENS, Hard Times. New York, New York. Henry Law, baker.
CU Token (29mm, 8.60 g, 12 h)
Belleville (New Jersey) mint. Struck 1834-1835
ENGLISH BREAD/ TWIST & FANCY CAKES
Bushel of wheat
H. LAW BAKER/ 187 CANAL St NEW YORK
Eagle standing right, with wings spread and head left, shield on breast and olive branch in talons
Rulau HT 286; Low 261

Henry Law was married to Charlotte (née Stephens), the sister of William Stephens, a partner in one of the two firms that comprised the Belleville mint. Henry's bakery moved to Canal St. in 1834 and was closed in late 1834 or early 1835, when its proprietor died. Charlotte and her children later moved to Belleville. Ardatirion

UNCERTAIN EAST
Circa 300 BC - 100 AD?
PB Tessera (20mm, 3.79 g)
Two punches: bee, Î› A flanking; Nike advancing facing, head right
Blank
Gülbay & Kireç -; Lang & Crosby -; Howgego -

The first punch depicts a bee with a long, cylindrical body, triangular pointed wings, and globular eyes with the letters Î› and A flanking. A second, added later over the edge of the first, shows Nike striding boldly forward with her head slightly to the right. The elegant engraving of the punches, both unlisted as countermarks in Howgego, contrasts starkly with the rough, unfinished flan. Although the basic types of Nike and a bee are common at Ephesos, the fabric and style differ from the issues of that city. Neither does the piece fit with the tokens found in the Athenian Agora. All considered, this piece appears consistent with what one would expect from a temporary token or entry pass, possibly of the pre-Roman period.Ardatirion

EAST AFRICA, Kilwa Sultanate. 'Ali bin al-Hasan. Late 5th century AH / 11th century AD
Æ Fals (21mm, 2.68 g, 3 h). Kilwa Kisiwani mint.
Inscription in two lines; star at center
Inscription in three lines
Album 1180; Walker, Kilwa 12; SICA 10, 589-91; Zeno 87054 (this coin)

Acquired in the 1960's, likely through circulation in Dar-es-Salaam.

Chittick ("On the Chronology of the sultans of Kilwa" in NC 13, 1973), the excavator of Kilwa Kisiwani, notes that these issues were found in the earliest stratigraphic layers and accordingly reassigns them to the first sultan of Kilwa. Walker and Freeman-Grenville gave them to an otherwise unattested 13th century ruler of the same name. However, the picture is muddled by finds from the excavations at Songo Mnara, occupied only between the 14th and 16th centuries, where this type was among the most numerous to be found. The type is unlikely to have remained in circulation for such a long period and may been reissued by subsequent rulers.Ardatirion

EAST AFRICA, Kilwa Sultanate. Suleyman bin al-Hasan. AH 702-717 / AD 1302-1316
Æ Fals (23mm, 2.06 g, 11 h). Kilwa Kisiwani mint.
Inscription in two lines; star at center
Inscription in three lines
Album 1183; Walker, Kilwa 3; SICA 10, 602-11; Zeno 87052 (this coin)

Acquired in the 1960's, likely through circulation in Dar-es-Salaam.

The dating is adapted from Chittick ("On the Chronology of the sultans of Kilwa" in NC 13, 1973) - Bosworth (The New Islamic Dynasties) gives different dates. However, considering the uncertain nature of both the chronologies and how they relate to the coinage, particularly in light of the finds at Songo Mnara, all dates should be considered hypothetical.Ardatirion

EAST AFRICA, Kilwa Sultanate. al-Hasan bin Sulayman. Circa AH 715 / AD 1315
Æ Fals (20 mm, 1.92 g, 9h)
Kilwa Kisiwani mint
Inscription in five lines
Inscription in three lines
Album 1183; Walker, Kilwa VIII; SICA 10, 613-21Ardatirion

EGYPT, Aphroditopolis
PB Tessera (15mm, 3.02 g, 4 h)
Old man standing right, leaning on staff (Anchises?)
Aphrodite seated facing on rock, head right, raising arms to cover breast
Milne 5320-4; Dattari (Savio) 11851-2; Köln -

Assuming that the types of Aphroditopolis uniformly bear relation to the goddess, the elderly male figure on the obverse presents an enigma. Perhaps the man is Anchises, the father of Aeneas. While he was certainly younger during his dalliances with Aphrodite, the artist could presumably have been influenced by the Virgilian image of an elderly man.Ardatirion

Septimius Severus. AD 193-211.
Æ Denarius (15mm, 2.48 g, 1 h)
Eastern? Copying a Rome mint issue of AD 201-202.
Laureate head right
Septimius, veiled, standing left, holding branch and scroll
Cf. RIC IV 265Ardatirion

BRITISH TOKENS, Tudor. temp. Mary–Edward VI.1553-1558.
PB Token (27mm, 5.29 g). St. Nicholas (‘Boy Bishop’) type. Cast in East Anglia (Bury St. Edmund’s?)
Mitre, croizer to right; all within border
Long cross pattée with trefoils in angles; scrollwork border
Rigold, Tokens class X.B, 1; Mitchiner & Skinner group Ra, 1

Ex Classical Numismatic Review XXXIX.1 (Spring 2014), no. 973330

Britain in the late middle ages played host to a popular regional variant of the ‘Feast of Fools’ festival. Every year on the feast of St. Nicholas, a boy was elected from among the local choristers to serve as ‘bishop.’ Dressed in mitre and bearing the croizer of his office, the young boy paraded through the city accompanied by his equally youthful ‘priest’ attendants. The ‘bishop’ performed all the ceremonies and offices of the real bishop, save for the actual conducting of mass. Though this practice was extinguished with the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1539, it was briefly revived under Queen Mary, who took particular interest in the festival, when the lucky boy was referred to as ‘Queen Mary’s Child.’ The celebration of the boy bishop died out completely early in the reign of Elizabeth.

Evidence of this custom is particularly prevalent in East Anglia, specifically at Bury St. Edmunds. Beginning in the late 15th century, the region produced numerous lead tokens bearing the likeness of a bishop, often bearing legends relating to the festival of St. Nicholas. Issued in sizes roughly corresponding to groats, half groats, and pennies, these pieces were undoubtedly distributed by the boy bishop himself, and were likely redeemable at the local abbey or guild for treats and sweetmeats. Considering the endemic paucity of small change in Britain at the time, it is likely that, at least in parts of East Anglia, these tokens entered circulation along with the other private lead issues that were becoming common.Ardatirion

RIC.7(abs) Valens (AE3, Secvritas Rei Pvblicae)Valens, eastern roman emperor (364-378)
Nummus AE3 : Secvritas Rei Pvblicae (364-367, Siscia)

bronze, 18 mm diameter, 2.52 g, die axis: 6h

A/ D N VALEN-S P F AVG; pearl diademed, draped & cuirassed bust right
R/ SECVRITAS-REIPVBLICAE / ΓSISC in exergue ; Victory advancing left, holding wreath and palm

RIC.5b.vii Valens (AE3, Gloria Romanorvm)Valens, eastern roman emperor (364-378)
Nummus AE3 : Gloria Romanorvm (364-367, Siscia, 2ond officine)

bronze, 19 mm diameter, 1.84 g, die axis: 7h

A/ D N VALEN-S P F AVG; pearl diademed, draped & cuirassed bust right
R/ GLORIA RO-MANORVM / DBSISC in exergue / *A in the field on the right; emperor advancing right, dragging captive and holding labarum

RIC.6f4 Valens (siliqua, Restitvtor Reip)Valens, eastern roman emperor (364-378)
Siliqua : Restitvtor Reip (366, Lyon)

silver (900 ‰), 18 mm diameter, 1.80 g, die axis: 6h

A/ D N VALEN-S P F AVG; pearl diademed, draped & cuirassed bust right
R/ RESTITV-TOR REIP / SLVG• à l'exergue ; emperor standing facing, head right, holding labarum and Victory on globe

RIC.27e1 Valens (siliqua, Vrbs Roma)Valens, eastern roman emperor (364-378)
Siliqua : Vrbs Roma (367-375, Trèves)

silver (900 ‰), 17 mm diameter, 1.96 g, die axis: 7h

A/ D N VALEN-S P F AVG; pearl diademed, draped & cuirassed bust right
R/ VRBS - ROMA / TRPS• in exergue; Roma seated left on throne, holding Victory on globe and spear

D.abs Louis the Pious (obol, class 3)Louis the Pious, king of the Franks and Holy Roman emperor (813-840)
Obol (unknown mint in the south-east of France?, class 3, 822-840)

Silver, 0.77 g, 15 mm diameter, die axis 5 h

O/ +PISTIÎ›NÎ› PI; cross pattée with 4 pellets
R/ +OPISTIÎ›NÎ› PE; cross pattée

This obol may be due to a double reverse error because of the absence of the sovereign's name and the legend repetition on both sides. However several dies were used to strike this type (I could find 3 obverse and 3 reverse dies), one side always bears 4 pellets as the other does not. One of the reverse dies is associated to the more typical obverse legend +HLVDOVVICVS I. Consequently an error does not seem to be likely. Because of hoard localizations, these obols seem to come from a single mint, in the south-east of France (Lyon, Arles?).
1 comments

"8 Zhu" Ban Liang of Qin Kingdom (Eastern Zhou Dynasty)Minted 300-220 BCE.

Two huge Chinese characters - Ban Liang ("Half an ounce"), no rims or other marks / Blank, no rims. Unfiled edges.

This very large thin coins of variable weight were made under the very late Zhou dynasty - they are local issues, and might belong either to the late "Warring States" period or the early Qin period.

31mm, 3.52 grams. Hartill #7.4.Belisarius

"As de Nîmes" or "crocodile" Ӕ dupondius of Nemausus (9 - 3 BC), honoring Augustus and AgrippaIMP DIVI F , Heads of Agrippa (left) and Augustus (right) back to back, Agrippa wearing rostral crown and Augustus the oak-wreath / COL NEM, crocodile right chained to palm-shoot with short dense fronds and tip right; two short palm offshoots left and right below, above on left a wreath with two long ties streaming right.

Ó”, 24.5 x 3+ mm, 13.23g, die axis 3h; on both sides there are remains of what appears to be gold plating, perhaps it was a votive offering? Rough edges and slight scrapes on flan typical for this kind of coin, due to primitive technology (filing) of flan preparation.

IMPerator DIVI Filius. Mint of COLonia NEMausus (currently Nîmes, France). Known as "As de Nîmes", it is actually a dupontius (lit. "two-pounder") = 2 ases (sometimes cut in halves to get change). Dupondii were often made out of a golden-colored copper alloy (type of brass) "orichalcum" and this appears to be such case.

Key ID points: oak-wreath (microphotography shows that at least one leaf has a complicated shape, although distinguishing oak from laurel is very difficult) – earlier versions have Augustus bareheaded, no PP on obverse as in later versions, no NE ligature, palm with short fronds with tip right (later versions have tip left and sometimes long fronds). Not typical: no clear laurel wreath together with the rostral crown, gold (?) plating (!), both features really baffling.

But still clearly a "middle" kind of the croc dupondius, known as "type III": RIC I 158, RPC I 524, Sear 1730. It is often conservatively dated to 10 BC - 10 AD, but these days it is usually narrowed to 9/8 - 3 BC.

It is a commemorative issue, honoring the victory over Mark Antony and conquest of Egypt in 30 BC. The heads of Augustus and Agrippa were probably positioned to remind familiar obverses of Roman republican coins with two-faced Janus. Palm branch was a common symbol of victory, in this case grown into a tree, like the victories of Augustus and Agrippa grown into the empire. The two offshoots at the bottom may mean two sons of Agrippa, Gaius and Lucius, who were supposed to be Augustus' heirs and were patrons of the colony. Palm may also be a symbol of the local Nemausian deity, which was probably worshiped in a sacred grove. When these coins were minted, the colony was mostly populated by the settled veterans of Augustus' campaigns, hence the reminiscence of the most famous victory, but some of the original Celtic culture probably survived and was assimilated by Romans. The crocodile is not only the symbol of Egypt, like in the famous Octavian's coins AEGYPTO CAPTA. It is also a representation of Mark Antony, powerful and scary both in water and on land, but a bit slow and stupid. The shape of the crocodile with tail up was specifically chosen to remind of the shape of ship on very common "legionary" denarius series, which Mark Antony minted to pay his armies just before Actium. It is probably also related to the popular contemporary caricature of Cleopatra, riding on and simultaneously copulating with a crocodile, holding a palm branch in her hand as if in triumph. There the crocodile also symbolized Mark Antony.

Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa was born c. 64-62 BC somewhere in rural Italy. His family was of humble and plebeian origins, but rich, of equestrian rank. Agrippa was about the same age as Octavian, and the two were educated together and became close friends. He probably first served in Caesar's Spanish campaign of 46–45 BC. Caesar regarded him highly enough to send him with Octavius in 45 BC to train in Illyria. When Octavian returned to Rome after Caesar's assassination, Agrippa became his close lieutenant, performing many tasks. He probably started his political career in 43 BC as a tribune of the people and then a member of the Senate. Then he was one of the leading Octavian's generals, finally becoming THE leading general and admiral in the civil wars of the subsequent years.

In 38 as a governor of Transalpine Gaul Agrippa undertook an expedition to Germania, thus becoming the first Roman general since Julius Caesar to cross the Rhine. During this foray he helped the Germanic tribe of Ubii (who previously allied themselves with Caesar in 55 BC) to resettle on the west bank of the Rhine. A shrine was dedicated there, possibly to Divus Caesar whom Ubii fondly remembered, and the village became known as Ara Ubiorum, "Altar of Ubians". This quickly would become an important Roman settlement. Agrippina the Younger, Agrippa's granddaughter, wife of Emperor Claudius and mother of Emperor Nero, would be born there in 15 AD. In 50 AD she would sponsor this village to be upgraded to a colonia, and it would be renamed Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium (colony of Claudius [at] the Altar of Agrippinians – Ubii renamed themselves as Agrippinians to honor the augusta!), abbreviated as CCAA, later to become the capital of new Roman province, Germania Inferior.

In 37 BC Octavian recalled Agrippa back to Rome and arranged for him to win the consular elections, he desperately needed help in naval warfare with Sextus Pompey, the youngest son of Pompey the Great, who styled himself as the last supporter of the republican cause, but in reality became a pirate king, an irony since his father was the one who virtually exterminated piracy in all the Roman waters. He forced humiliating armistice on the triumvirs in 39 BC and when Octavian renewed the hostilities a year later, defeated him in a decisive naval battle of Messina. New fleet had to be built and trained, and Agrippa was the man for the job. Agrippa's solution was creating a huge secret naval base he called Portus Iulius by connecting together lakes Avernus, Avernus and the natural inner and outer harbors behind Cape Misenum at the northern end of the Gulf of Naples. He also created a larger type of ship and developed a new naval weapon: harpax – a ballista-launched grapnel shot with mechanisms that allowed pulling enemy ships close for easy boarding. It replaced the previous boarding device that Romans used since the First Punic War, corvus – effective, but extremely cumbersome. A later defence against it were scythe blades on long poles for cutting ropes, but since this invention was developed in secret, the enemy had no chance to prepare anything like it. It all has proved extremely effective: in a series of naval engagements Agrippa annihilated the fleet of Sextus, forced him to abandon his bases and run away. For this Agrippa was awarded an unprecedented honour that no Roman before or after him received: a rostral crown, "corona rostrata", a wreath decorated in front by a prow and beak of a ship.

That's why Virgil (Aeneid VIII, 683-684), describing Agrippa at Actium, says: "…belli insigne superbum, tempora navali fulgent rostrata corona." "…the proud military decoration, gleams on his brow the naval rostral crown". Actium, the decisive battle between forces of Octavian and Mark Antony, may appear boring compared to the war with Sextus, but it probably turned out this way due to Agrippa's victories in preliminary naval engagements and taking over all the strategy from Octavian.

In between the wars Agrippa has shown an unusual talent in city planning, not only constructing many new public buildings etc., but also greatly improving Rome's sanitation by doing a complete overhaul of all the aqueducts and sewers. Typically, it was Augustus who later would boast that "he had found the city of brick but left it of marble", forgetting that, just like in his naval successes, it was Agrippa who did most of the work. Agrippa had building programs in other Roman cities as well, a magnificent temple (currently known as Maison Carrée) survives in Nîmes itself, which was probably built by Agrippa.

Later relationship between Augustus and Agrippa seemed colder for a while, Agrippa seemed to even go into "exile", but modern historians agree that it was just a ploy: Augustus wanted others to think that Agrippa was his "rival" while in truth he was keeping a significant army far away from Rome, ready to come to the rescue in case Augustus' political machinations fail. It is confirmed by the fact that later Agrippa was recalled and given authority almost equal to Augustus himself, not to mention that he married Augustus' only biological child. The last years of Agrippa's life were spent governing the eastern provinces, were he won respect even of the Jews. He also restored Crimea to Roman Empire. His last service was starting the conquest of the upper Danube, were later the province of Pannonia would be. He suddenly died of illness in 12 BC, aged ~51.

Agrippa had several children through his three marriages. Through some of his children, Agrippa would become ancestor to many subsequent members of the Julio-Claudian dynasty. He has numerous other legacies.Yurii P

"EVMENEÎ©N" and "Î¦IÎ›Î©NIÎ”OY" (monograms to be read as)PHRYGIA. Eumeneia. Fulvia. Æ 19. Ca. 41-40 B.C. Obv: Draped bust of Fulvia as winged Nike r.; 2 cm’s, (1) on head, (2) above head. Rev: (Î¦YÎ›OYIANÎ©N) to right, Î£MEPTOPIÎ“(OÎ£)/(Î¦IÎ›Î©NIÎ”OY) in 2 lines to l. Athena adv. l., hld. spear and shield. Ref: BMC 20-21 (?); RPC 3139 (7 pcs). Axis: 330°. Weight: 6.84 g. Magistrate: Zmertorigos Philopatris. Note: Eumeneia changed its name to Fulvia on the occasion of Mark Antony's journey to the east in 41 B.C., likely propmting the issue of coins. After Fulvia died the city took back its old name. On BMC 21 the ethnic "Î¦YÎ›OVIANÎ©N" may be purposefully erased, which also seems to be the case on this specimen! Both coins are countermarked, and the cm's may be read "EVMENEÎ©N" and "Î¦IÎ›Î©NIÎ”OY". The purpose of countermarking in combination with the erasure of the city name, thus, seems to have been to make note of second name change. CM(1): Monogram of EVMNO (?), in circ. punch, 4 mm. CM(2): Monogram of Î¦IÎ›NÎ” (?), in circ. punch, 3.5 mm. Collection Automan.1 commentsAutoman

(0098) TRAJAN98 - 117 AD
Struck 98 - 99 AD
AE As 27.5 mm 9.19 g
O: Laureate head right
R: Pietas standing left, raising right hand, left hand on breast, lighted altar left; S-C
RIC II 393, COHEN 612laney

(0193) SEPTIMIUS SEVERUS193 - 211 AD
AE 23 mm 5.05 g
O: Rad Bust right
R: The Eastern god MEN draped & wearing Phrygian hat, standing facing, head right, right foot on bucranium and crescent on shoulders; holding scepter in left hand, right arm holding globe surmounted by Nike walking right with trophy on shoulder; cock at foot left
ANTIOCH in PISIDIA
laney

(0251) VOLUSIAN251 - 253 AD
Billon Tetradrachm 26 mm 10.08 g
O: AVTOK K G AFIN GAL OVEND OVOLOVCCIANOC CEB, radiate, draped, cuirassed bust R
R: DHMAPX EXOVCIAC, eagle standing right with head turned left and wreasth in beak, S (officina) between legs, SC in ex.
Antioch, Syria
Prieur 699 (Rare officina)
3 commentslaney

(0293) THEODORA(2nd wife of Constantius I)
Posthumous, Struck 337- 340 AD
AE 13 mm 1.54 g
O: Mantled bust right
R: Pietas standing facing, head right, holding infant to breast; •TRP in exe.
Trier
RIC VIII 48
laney

*SOLD* Amisos, Pontos AE 20
Attribution: cf. SNG BM Black Sea 1177 ff.; BMC Pontos p. 19, 69 ff.; SGCV II 3642, (double struck)
Date: 85-65 BC
Obverse: Aegis with facing head of Gorgon in center
Reverse: AMI-SOU, Nike advancing r., holding palm frond across shoulders behind, monograms to l. and r.
Size: 23.1 mm
Weight: 7.77 grams
ex- Beast Coins, ex- Marcantica, ex-ForvmNoah

0001 Sasanian Empire Khusro II -- Year 2 -- BishapurObv: Pahlavi script legend: to the l. on two lines reading down leftward and outward is GDH/'pzwt (xwarrah abzūd) and to the r. on one line reading down is hwslwd (Husraw) = Khusro has increased the royal glory; frontal bust facing r. of bearded Khusro II with a hair globe drawn to the back of the neck, crown with three merlons and attached to the top of the crown cap are wings (group of pellets within the base) with an attached crescent and star, double pearl diadem with three ribbons behind, earring made up of three dots, neckline edged with a row of pearls, both shoulders decorated with a crescent and star, double row of pearls from shoulders to breast, two dots on the breast, star in upper l. field, star and crescent in upper r. field, two dotted rims with a star on a crescent at 3h, 6h, and 9h.
Rev: Pahlavi script legend: to the l. reading down is year tlyn of Khusro II's reign and to the r. reading down is the mint mark BYSh = year 2 of Khusro II's reign, Bishapur; fire altar with a base consisting of two slabs and a shaft with two ribbons pointing upwards to the r. and l. of the shaft with four altar slabs on top and flames consisting of four tiers rendered as four then three then two then one upward stroke, star to the l. and crescent to the r. of the top two tiers, to the l. and r. of the altar are two frontal facing attendants each holding a sword pointing downwards with the r. hand over the l. hand and wearing a rounded cap, three dotted rims with a star on a crescent at 3h, 6h, 9h, and 12h.
Denomination: silver drachm; Mint: Bishapur; Date: year 2, 591 - 592 AD; Weight: 4.12g; Diameter: 29mm; Die axis: 90º; References, for example: Göbl II/2; SNS Iran 580 and 581 (same mint and regnal year).

Regnal year 2 saw major changes to the coinage of Khusro II. First, the defeat of Wahrām Chōbēn (Wahrām VI) brought to an end the interruption of Khusro II's xwarrah and so wings representing Vərəθraγna/Verethragna (Avestan), Wahrām (Middle Persian), Bahrām (Persian), i.e. the god or personification of victory, were added to Khusro II's crown. Second, for the first time in Sasanian coinage the ideogram GDH (xwarrah) is added to the legend (obverse). Third, on the reverse six pointed stars are added to the crescent moons outside of the three dotted rims at 3h, 6h, 9h, and 12h. Six pointed stars can be considered representations of the sun (see Gariboldi 2010 pp. 36ff and the sources referenced in footnote 71, p. 37).

See Daryaee (1997) for an interesting study of the religious and political iconography on the coinage of Khusro II*. He argues that Khusro II implemented iconographic changes in regnal year 2 (591 - 592 AD) as a direct result of suppressing the rebellion (with the assistance of the Byzantine Emperor Maurice) of the brilliant general Wahrām Chōbēn (Wahrām VI) in 591 AD. Further iconographic changes were carried out in regnal year 11 (600 - 601 AD) in response to the final defeat in 600 AD of the 10 year rule/rebellion of Wistahm**, his uncle (as the brother-in-law of his father Ohrmazd IV) and former staunch supporter.

*The study cannot be intended to be complete. For example, there is no discussion of the legend 'pd that appeared, beginning in the 12th regnal year but not present for all subsequent years or at all mints, in the second quadrant outside of the rims on the obverse. Gariboldi 2010 (p.64) translates the legend as "good", "excellent", "wonderful" while Göbl 1983 (p. 331) translates it as "praise".

**There is some debate about when Wistahm was finally eliminated. Daryaee, following Paruck 1924, relies on (purported?) numismatic evidence that the last coin minted in his name was for year 10. Therefore Daryaee states that 600 AD was the year of elimination (Daryaee 1997, p. 53 n. 38. Also see Daryaee 2009, p. 33 n. 166 for a slightly more tepid assertion). Frye 1984 implies a 10 year rule for Wistahm, stating that "it was not until 601 that the rule of Chosroes [Khusro] was restored over all of the empire..." (p. 336). Göbl SN, however, states that 10 years of reign are said to be represented, although personally he had only seen coins of years 2 through 7 (p. 53). Thus Wistahm's years in SN's Table XI are listed as "591/2 - 597?" Malek 1993 also lists Wistahm's years as 591/2 - 97 (p. 237).

Provenance: Ex Stephen Album Rare Coins Auction 36, January 25, 2020

Photo Credit: Stephen Album Rare Coins

Sources

Daryaee, Touraj. 'The Use of Religio-Political Propaganda on Coins of Xusrō II." The Journal of the American Numismatics (1989-), vol. 9 (1997): 41-53.
Daryaee, Touraj. Sasanian Persia: The Rise And Fall Of An Empire. London: I. B. Tauris, 2009.
Frye, Richard. The History of Ancient Iran. Munich: C.H. Beck’sche Verlagsbuchhandlung, 1984.
Gariboldi, Andrea. Sasanian Coinage and History: The Civic Numismatic Collection of Milan. Costa Mesa: Mazda Publishers, 2010.
Göbl, Robert. Sasanian Numismatics. Braunschweig: Klinkhardt and Biermann, 1971.
Göbl 1983: Yarshater, Ehsan, ed. The Cambridge History of Iran, vol. 3 (1), The Seleucid, Parthian and Sasanian Periods. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1983: 322 - 336.
Malek, Hodge. "A Survey of Research on Sasanian Numismatics." The Numismatic Chronicle (1966-), vol. 153 (1993): 227 - 269.
Paruck, F.D.J. Sasanian Coins. Bombay: 1924.
SNS Iran: Akbarzadeh, Daryoosh and Nikolaus Schindel. Sylloge Nummorum Sasanidarum Iran A Late Sasanian Hoard from Orumiyeh. Wien: Österreichischen Akademie Der Wissenschaften, 2017.

2 commentsTracy Aiello

0002 Sasanian Empire Khusro II -- Year 5 -- CtesiphonObv: Pahlavi script legend: to the l. on two lines reading down leftward and outward is GDH/'pzwt (xwarrah abzūd) and to the r. on one line reading down is hwslwd (Husraw) = Khusro has increased the royal glory; frontal bust facing r. of bearded Khusro II with a hair globe drawn to the back of the neck, crown with three merlons and attached to the top of the crown cap are wings (lines within the base, wings open) with an attached crescent and star, double pearl diadem with three ribbons behind, earring made up of three dots, neckline edged with a row of pearls, both shoulders decorated with a crescent and star, double row of pearls from shoulders to breast, two dots on the breast, star in upper l. field, star and crescent in upper r. field, two dotted rims with a star on a crescent at 3h, 6h, and 9h.
Rev: Pahlavi script legend: to the l. reading down is year ḥwmŝ‵ of Khusro II's reign and to the r. reading down is the mint mark WYHC = year 5 of Khusro II's reign, Ctesiphon; fire altar with a base consisting of two slabs and a shaft with two ribbons pointing upwards to the r. and l. of the shaft with four altar slabs on top and flames consisting of four tiers rendered as four then three then two then one upward stroke, star to the l. and crescent to the r. of the top two tiers, to the l. and r. of the altar are two frontal facing attendants each holding a sword pointing downwards with the r. hand over the l. hand and wearing a rounded cap, three dotted rims with a star on a crescent at 3h, 6h, 9h, and 12h.

Denomination: silver drachm; Mint: Ctesiphon;1 Date: year 5, 594 - 595 AD; Weight: 4.10g; Diameter: 31.34mm; Die axis: 90º; References, for example: Göbl II/2.

Notes:

1See Schindel (2005) pp. 296 - 299 for an argument identifying the Pahlavi mint signature WYHC with Ctesipon.

See Daryaee (1997) for an interesting study of the religious and political iconography on the coinage of Khusro II*. He argues that Khusro II implemented iconographic changes in regnal year 2 (591 - 592 AD) as a direct result of suppressing the rebellion (with the assistance of the Byzantine Emperor Maurice) of the brilliant general Wahrām Chōbēn (Wahrām VI) in 591 AD. Further iconographic changes were carried out in regnal year 11 (600 - 601 AD) in response to the final defeat in 600 AD of the 10 year rule/rebellion of Wistahm**, his uncle (as the brother-in-law of his father Ohrmazd IV) and former staunch supporter.

*The study cannot be intended to be complete. For example, there is no discussion of the legend 'pd that appeared, beginning in the 12th regnal year but not present for all subsequent years or at all mints, in the second quadrant outside of the rims on the obverse. Gariboldi 2010 (p.64) translates the legend as "good", "excellent", "wonderful' while Göbl 1983 (p. 331) translates it as "praise".

**There is some debate about when Wistahm was finally eliminated. Daryaee, following Paruck 1924, relies on (purported?) numismatic evidence that the last coin minted in his name was for year 10. Therefore Daryaee states that 600 AD was the year of elimination (Daryaee 1997, p. 53 n. 38. Also see Daryaee 2009, p. 33 n. 166 for a slightly more tepid assertion). Frye 1984 implies a 10 year rule for Wistahm, stating that "it was not until 601 that the rule of Chosroes [Khusro] was restored over all of the empire..." (p. 336). Göbl SN, however, states that 10 years of reign are said to be represented, although personally he had only seen coins of years 2 through 7 (p. 53). Thus Wistahm's years in SN's Table XI are listed as "591/2 - 597?" Malek 1993 also lists Wistahm's years as 591/2 - 97 (p. 237).

Provenance: Ex Marc R. Breitsprecher, Classical Numismatist October 2, 2018.

Photo Credit: Marc R. Breitsprecher, Classical Numismatist

Sources

Daryaee, Touraj. "The Use of Religio-Political Propaganda on Coins of Xusrō II." The Journal of the American Numismatics (1989-), vol. 9 (1997): 41-53.
Daryaee, Touraj. Sasanian Persia: The Rise And Fall Of An Empire. London: I. B. Tauris, 2009.
Frye, Richard. The History of Ancient Iran. Munich: C.H. Beck'sche Verlagsbuchhandlung, 1984.
Gariboldi, Andrea. Sasanian Coinage and History: The Civic Numismatic Collection of Milan. Costa Mesa: Mazda Publishers, 2010.
Göbl, Robert. Sasanian Numismatics. Braunschweig: Klinkhardt and Biermann, 1971.
Göbl 1983: Yarshater, Ehsan, ed. The Cambridge History of Iran, vol. 3 (1), The Seleucid, Parthian and Sasanian Periods. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1983: 322 - 336.
Malek, Hodge. "A Survey of Research on Sasanian Numismatics." The Numismatic Chronicle (1966-), vol. 153 (1993): 227 - 269.
Paruck, F.D.J. Sasanian Coins. Bombay: 1924.
Schindel, Nickolaus. "Sasanian Mint Abbreviations: The Evidence of Style." The Numismatic Chronicle (1966-), vol. 165 (2005): 287 - 299.1 commentsTracy Aiello

0003 Sasanian Empire Khusro II -- Year 35 -- CtesiphonObv: Pahlavi script legend: to the l. on two lines reading down leftward and outward (with the first word extending through the inner rim) is GDH/'pzwt (xwarrah abzūd) and to the r. on one line reading down is hwslwd (Husraw) = Khusro has increased the royal glory; frontal bust facing r. of bearded Khusro II with a hair globe drawn to the back of the neck, crown with three merlons and attached to the top of the crown cap are wings (lines within the base, wings open) with an attached crescent and star, double pearl diadem with three ribbons behind, earring made up of three dots, neckline edged with a row of pearls, both shoulders decorated with a crescent and star, double row of pearls from shoulders to breast, two dots on the breast, star in upper l. field and star and crescent in upper r. field both extending through the inner rim, two dotted rims with a star on a crescent at 3h, 6h, and 9h.
Rev: Pahlavi script legend: to the l. reading down is year pncsyh of Khusro II's reign and to the r. reading down is the mint mark WYHC = year 35 of Khusro II's reign, Ctesiphon; fire altar with a base consisting of two slabs and a shaft with two ribbons pointing upwards to the r. and l. of the shaft with four altar slabs on top and flames consisting of four tiers rendered as four then three then two then one upward stroke, star to the l. and crescent to the r. of the top two tiers, to the l. and r. of the altar are two frontal facing attendants each holding a sword pointing downwards with the r. hand over the l. hand and wearing a crescent cap, three dotted rims with a star on a crescent at 3h, 6h, 9h, and 12h.
Denomination: silver drachm; Mint: Ctesiphon;1 Date: year 35, 624 - 625 AD; Weight: 4.11g; Diameter: 32.6mm; Die axis: 90º; References, for example: Göbl II/3.

Notes:

1See Schindel (2005) pp. 296 - 299 for an argument identifying the Pahlavi mint signature WYHC with Ctesipon.

See Daryaee (1997) for an interesting study of the religious and political iconography on the coinage of Khusro II*. He argues that Khusro II implemented iconographic changes in regnal year 2 (591 - 592 AD) as a direct result of suppressing the rebellion (with the assistance of the Byzantine Emperor Maurice) of the brilliant general Wahrām Chōbēn (Wahrām VI) in 591 AD. Further iconographic changes were carried out in regnal year 11 (600 - 601 AD) in response to the final defeat in 600 AD of the 10 year rule/rebellion of Wistahm**, his uncle (as the brother-in-law of his father Ohrmazd IV) and former staunch supporter.

*The study cannot be intended to be complete. For example, there is no discussion of the legend 'pd that appeared, beginning in the 12th regnal year but not present for all subsequent years or at all mints, in the second quadrant outside of the rims on the obverse. Gariboldi 2010 (p.64) translates the legend as "good", "excellent", "wonderful" while Göbl 1983 (p. 331) translates it as "praise".

**There is some debate about when Wistahm was finally eliminated. Daryaee, following Paruck 1924, relies on (purported?) numismatic evidence that the last coin minted in his name was for year 10. Therefore Daryaee states that 600 AD was the year of elimination (Daryaee 1997, p. 53 n. 38. Also see Daryaee 2009, p. 33 n. 166 for a slightly more tepid assertion). Frye 1984 implies a 10 year rule for Wistahm, stating that "it was not until 601 that the rule of Chosroes [Khusro] was restored over all of the empire..." (p. 336). Göbl SN, however, states that 10 years of reign are said to be represented, although personally he had only seen coins of years 2 through 7 (p. 53). Thus Wistahm's years in SN's Table XI are listed as "591/2 - 597?" Malek 1993 also lists Wistahm's years as 591/2 - 97 (p. 237).

Provenance: Ex Forum Ancient Coins June 8, 2018, from the Jyrki Muona Collection; Ex CNG e-auction 59 (26 Feb 2003), lot 77; Ex CNG e-auction 57 (4 Apr 2001), lot 47.

Photo Credit: Forum Ancient Coins

Sources

Daryaee, Touraj. "The Use of Religio-Political Propaganda on Coins of Xusrō II." The Journal of the American Numismatics (1989-), vol. 9 (1997): 41-53.
Daryaee, Touraj. Sasanian Persia: The Rise And Fall Of An Empire. London: I. B. Tauris, 2009.
Frye, Richard. The History of Ancient Iran. Munich: C.H. Beck'sche Verlagsbuchhandlung, 1984.
Gariboldi, Andrea. Sasanian Coinage and History: The Civic Numismatic Collection of Milan. Costa Mesa: Mazda Publishers, 2010.
Göbl, Robert. Sasanian Numismatics. Braunschweig: Klinkhardt and Biermann, 1971.
Göbl 1983: Yarshater, Ehsan, ed. The Cambridge History of Iran, vol. 3 (1), The Seleucid, Parthian and Sasanian Periods. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1983: 322 - 336.
Malek, Hodge. "A Survey of Research on Sasanian Numismatics." The Numismatic Chronicle (1966-), vol. 153 (1993): 227 - 269.
Paruck, F.D.J. Sasanian Coins. Bombay: 1924.
Schindel, Nickolaus. "Sasanian Mint Abbreviations: The Evidence of Style." The Numismatic Chronicle (1966-), vol. 165 (2005): 287 - 299.2 commentsTracy Aiello

0005 Hadrian Denarius Roma 117 AD Trajan and Hadrian vis-à-visReference
Strack 1; RIC 5; C. 1009; RIC II, 2

Bust B1 with Balteus strap

Obv. IMP CAES TRAIAN HADRIAN OPT AVG GER DAC
Laureate, cuirassed with exposed upper part of breastplate visible with balteus strap

Rev. PARTHIC DIVI TRAIAN AVG F P M TR P COS P P
Trajan standing, delivering globe to Hadrian standing, left facing him; both are laureate and togate.

2.97 gr
18 mm
6h2 commentsokidoki

000992 Facing Head of LarissaThessaly Greece, the City of Larissa
Obv: Head of the nymph Larissa facing slightly l., round curl to the l. of he head, wearing ampyx flanked by two hornlike locks, a pendant earring represented by three pellets in a vertical line, and a simple necklace.
Rev: Horse crouching r., l. foreleg raised and bent (almost parallel with belly/ground), preparing to roll, small plant (control mark) below. ΛAPIΣ above horse and AIΩN in the exergue.
Denomination: silver drachm; Mint: Larissa; Date: c. 356 - 342 BC1; Weight: 5.869g; Diameter: 18.3mm; Die axis: 0º; References, for example: BMC Thessaly p. 30, 61; BCD Thessaly I 1156; BCD Thessaly II 323 var. [same obv. die, but no trident (control mark) below the horse pointing to the left].

Notes:
1This is the date range stated in BCD Thessaly I. This coin appears to fall within Lorber's Phase Late II or Phase Late III. See Lorber Hoard and Lorber 2008.
The city of Larissa was named after the local water nymph, said to be the daughter of Pelasgos. He was said to be the ancestor of the pre-Greek Pelasgians. According to myth Larissa drowned while playing ball on the banks of the Peneios river. (HGC 4 p. 130).

Provenance: Ex Forum Ancient Coins September 6, 2018; from the David Cannon Collection, ex Beast Coins.

Photo credits: Forum Ancient Coins

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3 commentsTracy Aiello

000c. Sextus PompeySextus Pompeius Magnus Pius, in English Sextus Pompey, was a Roman general from the late Republic (1st century BC). He was the last focus of opposition to the second triumvirate.

Sextus Pompeius was the youngest son of Pompey the Great (Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus) by his third wife, Mucia Tertia. His older brother was Gnaeus Pompeius, from the same mother. Both boys grew up in the shadow of their father, one of Rome's best generals and originally non-conservative politician who drifted to the more traditional faction when Julius Caesar became a threat.

When Caesar crossed the Rubicon in 49 BC, thus starting a civil war, Sextus' older brother Gnaeus followed their father in his escape to the East, as did most of the conservative senators. Sextus stayed in Rome in the care of his stepmother, Cornelia Metella. Pompey's army lost the battle of Pharsalus in 48 BC and Pompey himself had to run for his life. Cornelia and Sextus met him in the island of Mytilene and together they fled to Egypt. On the arrival, Sextus watched his father being killed by treachery on September 29 of the same year. After the murder, Cornelia returned to Rome, but in the following years Sextus joined the resistance against Caesar in the African provinces. Together with Metellus Scipio, Cato the younger, his brother Gnaeus and other senators, they prepared to oppose Caesar and his army to the end.

Caesar won the first battle at Thapsus in 46 BC against Metellus Scipio and Cato, who committed suicide. In 45 BC, Caesar managed to defeat the Pompeius brothers in the battle of Munda. Gnaeus Pompeius was executed, but young Sextus escaped once more, this time to Sicily.

Back in Rome, Julius Caesar was murdered on the Ides of March (March 15) 44 BC by a group of senators led by Cassius and Brutus. This incident did not lead to a return to normality, but provoked yet another civil war between Caesar's political heirs and his assassins. The second triumvirate was formed by Octavian, Mark Antony and Lepidus, with the intention of avenging Caesar and subduing all opposition. Sextus Pompeius in Sicily was certainly a rebellious man, but the Cassius and Brutus faction was the second triumvirate's first priority. Thus, with the whole island as his base, Sextus had the time and resources to develop an army and, even more importantly, a strong navy operated by Sicilian marines.

Brutus and Cassius lost the twin battles of Philippi and committed suicide in 42 BC. After this, the triumvirs turned their attentions to Sicily and Sextus.

But by this time, Sextus was prepared for strong resistance. In the following years, military confrontations failed to return a conclusive victory for either side and in 39 BC, Sextus and the triumvirs signed for peace in the Pact of Misenum. The reason for this peace treaty was the anticipated campaign against the Parthian Empire. Antony, the leader, needed all the legions he could get so it was useful to secure an armistice in the Sicilian front. The peace did not last for long. Octavian and Antony's frequent quarrels were a strong political motivation for resuming the war against Sextus. Octavian tried again to conquer Sicily, but he was defeated in the naval battle of Messina (37 BC) and again in August 36 BC. But by then, Octavian had Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa, a very talented general, on his side. Only a month afterwards, Agrippa destroyed Sextus' navy off Naulochus cape. Sextus escaped to the East and, by abandoning Sicily, lost all his base of support.

Sextus Pompeius was caught in Miletus in 35 BC and executed without trial (an illegal act since Sextus was a Roman citizen) by order of Marcus Titius, Antony's minion. His violent death would be one of the weapons used by Octavian against Antony several years later, when the situation between the two became unbearable.

Sicilian Mint
Magn above laureate Janiform head
PIVS above, IMP below, prow of galley right
Sear RCV 348, RPC 671, Sydenham 1044a, Cohen 16
43-36 BC

Check ecoli

0015 Hadrian Denarius Roma 117 AD ConcordiaReference
Strack 3; RIC, 15; C.250; RIC II, 4

Bust B1 with Balteus strap

Obv. IMP CAES TRAIAN HADRIAN OPT AVG GER DAC.
Laureate, cuirassed with exposed upper part of breastplate visible with balteus strap

Rev. PARTHIC DIVI TRAIAN AVG F P M TR P COS P P in exergue CONCORD.
Concordia seated left on throne, holding out and resting on a figure of Spes; cornucopia under throne

3.0 gr.
18 mm
12hokidoki

001a Marc Antony ( 83-30 B.C.), Crawf 544-14, AR-denarius, LEG II, ANT AVG III VIR•R•P•C•, Praetorian galley right,001a Marc Antony ( 83-30 B.C.), Crawf 544-14, AR-denarius, LEG II, ANT AVG III VIR•R•P•C•, Praetorian galley right,
avers: LEG II, legionary eagle (Aquila) between two standards.
reverse: ANT AVG III VIR•R•P•C•, Praetorian galley sailing right, mast with banners at the prow.
exergue: -/-//--, diameter: 17,5mm, weight: 3,29g, axes: 5h,
mint: Legionary Denarius, date: 32-31 B.C., ref: Crawford-544/14, Sydenham-1216, RSC-27, BMCRR East 185-225; Babelon: Antonia 101; Sydenham 1212 ; Catalli 2001,886.
Q-0011 commentsquadrans

001a Marc Antony ( 83-30 B.C.), Crawf 544-30, AR-denarius, LEG XV, ANT AVG III VIR•R•P•C•, Praetorian galley right,001a Marc Antony ( 83-30 B.C.), Crawf 544-30, AR-denarius, LEG XV, ANT AVG III VIR•R•P•C•, Praetorian galley right,
avers: LEG XV, legionary eagle (Aquila) between two standards.
reverse: ANT AVG III VIR•R•P•C•, Praetorian galley sailing right, mast with banners at the prow.
exergue: -/-//--, diameter: 16,8-17mm, weight: 2,72g, axes: 5h,
mint: Legionary Denarius, date: 32-31 B.C., ref: Crawford-544/30, Sydenham-1235, RSC-47,
Q-001
"Legion XV Apollinaris was raised by Caesar in Gallia Cisalpina in 53 BC. In the time of Augustus-Tiberius, the legion was stationed in Ljubljana, then in Carnuntum, and later in Alexandria, and took part in the Jewish War and the capture of Jerusalem. In the 2nd and 3rd century the legion fought mainly in the East against the Parthians."1 commentsquadrans

001a. Cleopatra VII and Mark AntonySYRIA, Coele-Syria. Chalcis ad Libanum. Mark Antony, with Cleopatra VII. 36-31 BC. Æ 19mm (5.45 g, 12h). Dated RY 21 (Egyptian) and 6 (Phoenician) of Cleopatra (32/1 BC). Draped bust of Cleopatra right, wearing stephane / Bare head of Mark Antony right; dates in legend. RPC I 4771; Rouvier 440 (Berytus); SNG München 1006; SNG Copenhagen 383 (Phoenicia). Near Fine, green patina.

Chalcis was given by Antony to Cleopatra in 36 BC. At the culmination of his spectacular triumph at Alexandria two years later, further eastern territories - some belonging to Rome - were bestowed on the children of the newly hailed “Queen of Kings” (referred to as the “Donations of Alexandria”). Shortly after, Antony formally divorced Octavia, the sister of Octavian. These actions fueled Octavian’s propagandistic efforts to win the support of Rome’s political elite and ultimately led to the Senate’s declaration of war on Cleopatra in 32 BC.

Ex-CNGecoli

001b2. Pompey MagnusDenarius. 49 BC. 19mm, 3.6 g. Struck by Q. Sicinius and C. Coponius in East. Obv: Q SICINIVS III VIR, diademed head of Apollo right, star below. Rev: C CONONIVS PR S C, club of Hercules surmounted by a facing lion's scalp, arrow left, bow right. RRC 444/1, Sear 413.

NOTE: Sicinius is striking as a moneyer in exile in the East, having fled Italy with Pompey. The Praetor Coponius commanded the Pompeian fleet.lawrence c

001k4. Mark AntonyMark Antony. Autumn 32-spring 31 BC. AR Denarius (17mm, 3.55 g, 4h). Legionary type. Patrae(?) mint. Praetorian galley right; ANT AVG above, III VIR • R • P • C below / Three signa decorated with wreaths and rostra; CHORTIS • SPECVLATORVM above. Crawford 544/12; CRI 386; Sydenham 1214; RSC 6; BMCRR East 185; Kestner 3841; RBW 1837. Ex Tom McKenna FPL 1-10 (October 1981), no. 30. CNG Triton XXVII (9 January 2024), Lot 644. The cohortes speculatorum served as spies, scouts, and messengers, along with providing personal security for Mark Antony.
2 commentslawrence c

001r. AhenobarbusCn. Domitius L. f. Ahenobarbus was an opponent of Julius Caesar, but was pardoned by him. Successful naval commander for Brutus, and then he continued naval operations akin to piracy after Brutus fell. He then reconciled with Marc Antony. He was named consul in 32 BC. He broke with Antony over Cleopatra and defected to Octavian shortly before the battle of Actium in 31 BC. He died about the same time as the battle in which he did not participate. He was the nephew of Cato and the grandfather of Nero.

Coin: AR Denarius. Uncertain mint along the Adriatic or Ionian Sea, 41-40 BC. Bare head right, wearing short beard; AHENOBAR before / Prow right surmounted by a military trophy; CN•DOMITIVS•IMP below. Crawford 519/2; CRI 339; BMCRR East 94-97; RSC Domitia 21. 3.64g, 19mm, 6h. Flan flaw on obverse. The bust on obverse likely is an ancestor of Ahenobarbus. Roma Numismatics Auction 75 Lot 566.lawrence c

001x2. Tarcondimotus Bronze AE 22, Cilicia, Hierapolis-Castabala (Kirmitli, Turkey) mint. 8.591g, 21.5mm, die axis 90o,. as king in Eastern Cilicia, c. 39 - 31 B.C.; obverse diademed head right; reverse Zeus Nikephoros enthroned left, himation around hips and legs with end over shoulder, Nike offering wreath extended in right hand, long scepter vertical behind in left hand, BAΣIΛEΩΣ downward on right, TAPKON∆IMO/TOY in two downward lines on left, ΦIΛANTΩNIOY in exergue. RPC I 3871; SNG BnF 1913; SNG Levante 1258; BMC Lycaonia p. 237, 1 ff. A FORUM coin.

Tarcondimotus I (or Tarkondimotos) was a Roman client king of Cilicia. He supported Pompey in the civil war against Caesar, but when Pompey lost, he was pardoned by Caesar and remained in power. He might also have received Roman citizenship. After Caesar was assassinated, Tarcondimotus allied first with Cassius and then Mark Antony. He adopted the royal epithet Philantonios (Antony-lover) as an expression of his devotion to Antony. He was killed at the battle of Actium in 31 BC.
lawrence c

002.Nero 54-68 ADBillion Tetradrachm
Roman Egypt
Mint: Alexandria,Egypt; Date: 66/67 AD
Obv: ΝΕΡΩ ΚΛΑΥ Κ(ΑΙΣ ΣΕΒ ΓΕΡ Ας)-Radiate bust of Nero facing left,wearing aegis on shoulder,
LΙΓ in lower left field.(Year 13=66-67 AD).
Rev: ΘΕΟΣ(ΣΕΒΑΣΘΟΣ)-Radiate head of Divus Augustus facing right.
Size: 24mm,12.7gms
Ref: Milne-251; BMCGr-112; Emmett-113
Ex.Keith Emmett Collection; Ex.Wayne Phillips, Jan 1993; Ex.Beast Coins 5 commentsBrian L

002a, Aigina, Islands off Attica, Greece, c. 510 - 490 B.C.Silver stater, S 1849, SNG Cop 503, F, 12.231g, 22.3mm, Aigina (Aegina) mint, c. 510 - 490 B.C.; Obverse: sea turtle (with row of dots down the middle); Reverse: incuse square of “Union Jack” pattern; banker's mark obverse. Ex FORVM.

Greek Turtles, by Gary T. Anderson

Turtles, the archaic currency of Aegina, are among the most sought after of all ancient coins. Their early history is somewhat of a mystery. At one time historians debated whether they or the issuances of Lydia were the world's earliest coins. The source of this idea comes indirectly from the writings of Heracleides of Pontus, a fourth century BC Greek scholar. In the treatise Etymologicum, Orion quotes Heracleides as claiming that King Pheidon of Argos, who died no later than 650 BC, was the first to strike coins at Aegina. However, archeological investigations date the earliest turtles to about 550 BC, and historians now believe that this is when the first of these intriguing coins were stamped.

Aegina is a small, mountainous island in the Saronikon Gulf, about midway between Attica and the Peloponnese. In the sixth century BC it was perhaps the foremost of the Greek maritime powers, with trade routes throughout the eastern half of the Mediterranean. It is through contacts with Greeks in Asia Minor that the idea of coinage was probably introduced to Aegina. Either the Lydians or Greeks along the coast of present day Turkey were most likely the first to produce coins, back in the late seventh century. These consisted of lumps of a metal called electrum (a mixture of gold and silver) stamped with an official impression to guarantee the coin was of a certain weight. Aegina picked up on this idea and improved upon it by stamping coins of (relatively) pure silver instead electrum, which contained varying proportions of gold and silver. The image stamped on the coin of the mighty sea power was that of a sea turtle, an animal that was plentiful in the Aegean Sea. While rival cities of Athens and Corinth would soon begin limited manufacture of coins, it is the turtle that became the dominant currency of southern Greece. The reason for this is the shear number of coins produced, estimated to be ten thousand yearly for nearly seventy years. The source for the metal came from the rich silver mines of Siphnos, an island in the Aegean. Although Aegina was a formidable trading nation, the coins seemed to have meant for local use, as few have been found outside the Cyclades and Crete. So powerful was their lure, however, that an old proverb states, "Courage and wisdom are overcome by Turtles."

The Aeginean turtle bore a close likeness to that of its live counterpart, with a series of dots running down the center of its shell. The reverse of the coin bore the imprint of the punch used to force the face of the coin into the obverse turtle die. Originally this consisted of an eight-pronged punch that produced a pattern of eight triangles. Later, other variations on this were tried. In 480 BC, the coin received its first major redesign. Two extra pellets were added to the shell near the head of the turtle, a design not seen in nature. Also, the reverse punch mark was given a lopsided design.

Although turtles were produced in great quantities from 550 - 480 BC, after this time production dramatically declines. This may be due to the exhaustion of the silver mines on Siphnos, or it may be related to another historical event. In 480 BC, Aegina's archrival Athens defeated Xerxes and his Persian armies at Marathon. After this, it was Athens that became the predominant power in the region. Aegina and Athens fought a series of wars until 457 BC, when Aegina was conquered by its foe and stripped of its maritime rights. At this time the coin of Aegina changed its image from that of the sea turtle to that of the land tortoise, symbolizing its change in fortunes.

The Turtle was an object of desire in ancient times and has become so once again. It was the first coin produced in Europe, and was produced in such great quantities that thousands of Turtles still exist today. Their historical importance and ready availability make them one of the most desirable items in any ancient coin enthusiast's collection.

(Greek Turtles, by Gary T. Anderson .1 commentsCleisthenes

002a. Agrippa Agrippa

A close friend of Octavian (later Emperor Augustus), he won a name in the wars in Gaul before becoming consul in 37 He organized Octavian's fleet and is generally given much credit for the defeat (36 ) of Sextus Pompeius in the naval battles at Mylae and Naulochus (N Sicily). Agrippa took part in the war against Antony, and his naval operations were the basis of Octavian's decisive victory at Actium in 31 He was perhaps the most trusted of all Augustus' lieutenants and rendered many services, notably in putting down disorders in both the East and West. His third wife was Augustus' daughter Julia.

AS. M AGRIPPA L F COS III Head left, wearing rostral crown. / Neptune standing, head left, S C at sides.

It seems like the quality and price of Agrippa coins run the whole spectrum...I think a decent example can be had for as little as $20. This is a bit more than that but I am happy with the quality of the metal and portrait.ecoli

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