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MACEDON.Philip II 359-336 BC.AR.Fifth Tetradrachm, posthumus issue circa 323-316 BC.Mint of AMPHIPOLIS.
( 2.65g, 14.3mm, 1h)

Head of Apollo right wearing tainia.
Reverse.ΦIΛIΠΠ(OY), rider left, below grain ear.
Ref:SNG ANS 696-705paul1888

INDONESIA, Sultanate of Palembang. Circa AD 1790's-1821
Tin Cash (20mm, 0.61 g)
Palembang mint
Shi Dan Li Bao in Hànzì
Blank
T.D. Yih, "Tiny Pitis Inscribed 'Shi-Dan' (Sultan) from Palembang," in ONS Newsletter 204 (Summer 2010), type I-1

Found in Palembang

Hang Li Po first appears in the Malay Annals as a Chinese princess sent to be the fifth bride of sultan Mansur Shah of Malacca. However, there is no reference to this event in official Ming documents. Li Po may merely be a beautiful concubine given to the Sultan. Alternatively, she may be the daughter of an otherwise unknown Chinese ruler in the area, to whom this coin may perhaps be attributed.1 commentsArdatirion

00095 Facing Head of Larissa - AI SignedThessaly Greece, the City of Larissa

Obv: Head of the nymph Larissa facing ¾ l., wearing ampyx with ΓΕΥ inscription (not visible)1, hair floating freely above head, tiny IA above top locks of hair (off of flan), prominent raised right shoulder2 (garment clasp visible?), spherical earring with bead pendant. Border of dots.
Rev: Horse crouching r., bucranium brand on haunch, forelegs spread, raised tail (off of flan), tiny AI under belly3, reign trails into exergue with exergue line sloping downward under horse's muzzle, ΛΑΡΙΣΑΙ directly below exergue line with ΣΑΙ breaking into that line.
Denomination: silver drachm; Mint: Larissa; Date: c. 405/400 BC - c. 370 BC4; Weight: 6.11g; Diameter: 19mm; Die axis: 90º; References, for example: SNG Cop vol. 11, 126; Herrmann Group VII, Series I, Reverse II, pl. VI, 16 and 19; HGC 4, 434; Lorber - Shahar Group 3 Head Type 14 (O35/R2 - Sp. b, this very coin) = Florilegium Numismaticum Group One Head Type 11 with Reverse 21.2 - Sp. b (this very coin).

Notes:
1Lorber presumes that these letters are "...an abbreviated epithet of the nymph Larissa." (Lorber Early in FlorNum, p. 261).
2Lorber invites us to interpret this "distinctive gesture" as the nymph "...tossing her ball, an action regularly depicted on trihemiobols and obols of the fifth century." (Lorber Early in FlorNum, p. 262).
3Lorber understands these letters to be the signature of the mint's chief engraver, who replaced ΣΙΜΟ. See Lorber Early in FlorNum, p. 261.
4This is the date range provided in Lorber 2008, p. 126.

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 Shanna Schmidt Numismatics October 30, 2019; Ex Numismatica Ars Classica Auction 29, May 11, 2005, lot 176; Ex Numismatic Fine Arts Auction XXXIII, May 3, 1994, lot 929.

Photo credits: Shanna Schmidt Numismatics

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5 commentsTracy Aiello

044 - Hadrian Denarius - RIC -Obv:- HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS, laureate head right with slight drapery on far shoulder (Legend reversed as AVGVSTVS HADRIANVS)
Rev:- COS III, Victory standing right holding wreath and palm (Legend reversed as III COS)
Minted in Eastern Mint. A.D. 129-131
Reference:- BMCRE -. Strack -. RIC -. RSC -. Apparently unpublished.

Strack knew just three Eastern denarii with this transposed obv. legend, including one with a Minerva standing rev. type in the Trau coll., Strack's pl. XVIII, *18. Curtis Clay has another example with this obverse with the Minerva type. This would appear to be a fifth specimen from this obverse die but with a new reverse type.

Additional information on this coin from Curtis Clay:-
"Interesting. Apparently a new rev. type on the Eastern denarii, of uncertain origin.

That's admittedly a fairly standard Victory advancing right rev. type, but I find no such type on any denarius of Hadrian from the mint of Rome, nor on his Asian cistophori.

A similar type does occur on Hadrian's silver quinarii, and on a rather scarce denarius of Trajan struck in 112 but these seem unlikely sources for a type on Hadrian's Eastern denarii.

Moreover on the Roman coins Victory grasps the stem of the palm over her shoulder in her left fist, thumb upwards, whereas on the Eastern denarius she palms the stem, holding it with her downwards pointing thumb while apparently keeping her fingers extended. I imagine that this detail may go back to the source copied, since it seems unlikely that the engraver changed it on his own whim."maridvnvm

044 - NERONero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus was the fifth Roman emperor, ruling from 54 to 68.

for obverse, reverse and coin details click hereshanxi

0527-0565 AD - Justinian I - Sear 159 - FollisEmperor: Justinian I (r. 527-565 AD)
Date: 527-565 AD
Condition: Fair
Denomination: Follis

Obverse: DN IVSTINIANVS PP AVG
Bust right; diademed, draped and cuirassed

Reverse: no legend
Large "M"; cross above, crosses to left and right; "E" below.
Exergue: CON (Constantinople mint, fifth officina)

Sear 159
15.64g; 33.26mm; 180°Pep

064 - Septimius Severus denarius - RIC -Obv:– IMP CE L . SEP SE-V PERT AVG . CO, laureate head right
Rev:– FOTVNA-E (sic) R-EDVCI, Fortuna standing left, holding rudder in right hand, cornucopia in left
Minted in Emesa. A.D. 194
Reference:– BMCRE -. RIC IV -. RSC -

Possibly only fifth example known. Other examples - BM ex Bickford-Smith and Curtis Clay coll., Vienna, formerly Barry Murphy coll., Triton VI lot (M. Melcher coll.), Doug Smith, all same die pairmaridvnvm

087 - Gordian III Antoninianus - RIC 143Obv:– IMP GORDIANVS PIVS FEL AVG, Radiate, draped and cuirassed bust right
Rev:– FORT REDVX, Fortuna seated left with rudder & cornucopiae, wheel beneath
Minted in Rome. Fifth Issue
Reference:– Van Meter 14, RIC 143, RSC 97
Weight 4.46 gms
Dimensions 23.73mm maridvnvm

087 - Gordian III Antoninianus - RIC 145Obv:– IMP GORDIANVS PIVS FEL AVG, Radiate, draped and cuirassed bust right
Rev:– MARS PROPVG, Mars hastening right, holding transverse spear and shield
Minted in Rome. Fifth Issue. A.D. 243 – 244
Reference:– RIC 145, RSC 155
Weight 3.87 gms
Dimensions 21.84mm maridvnvm

087 - Gordian III Ã† Sestertius - RIC 335aObv:– IMP GORDIANVS PIVS P F AVG, Laureate, draped and cuirassed bust right, seen from behind
Rev:– SECVRIT PERPET / S C, Securitas standing left, legs crossed, with sceptre, resting arm on column
Minted in Rome, Fifth issue
Reference:– Van Meter 105, RIC 335a, Cohen 329
Weight 17.20 gms
Dimensions 29.96mm maridvnvm

0aa Caius MariusC. Fundanius, moneyer
101-91 BC

Denarius

Helmeted head of Roma right, control-mark C behind

"Triumphator" (Marius) in quadriga right, holding laurel-branch and staff; a rider sits on near horse, holding laurel-branch, Q above, C FVNDAN in exergue

The reverse shows Marius as triumphator in the quadriga. He holds sceptre and laurel branch. On one of the horses rides his son. The children of the triumphator were - according to tradition - allowed to share the triumph of their father. The Q above refers to the office as quaestor the mintmaster held while minting these coins. FORVM Ancient Coins says of a similar piece, "The reverse refers to Marius triumph after victories over the Cimbri and Teutones. The rider on the near horse is Marius's son, at that time eight years old." Andrew McCabe comments, "The Triumphator on the Fundania denarius is usually taken to be Marius, with his young son on horseback. This would make it the first Roman coin to explicitly portray a living Roman politician. "

Seaby Fundania 1

Marius rose from common origins to become the First Man in Rome. Plutarch in his Life writes: There is a likeness of Marius in stone at Ravenna, in Gaul, which I myself saw quite corresponding with that roughness of character that is ascribed to him. Being naturally valiant and warlike, and more acquainted also with the discipline of the camp than of the city, he could not moderate his passion when in authority. . . . He was born of parents altogether obscure and indigent, who supported themselves by their daily labour; his father of the same name with himself, his mother called Fulcinia. He had spent a considerable part of his life before he saw and tasted the pleasures of the city; having passed previously in Cirrhaeaton, a village of the territory of Arpinum, a life, compared with city delicacies, rude and unrefined, yet temperate, and conformable to the ancient Roman severity. He first served as a soldier in the war against the Celtiberians, when Scipio Africanus besieged Numantia; where he signalized himself to his general by courage far above his comrades, and particularly by his cheerfully complying with Scipio's reformation of his army, being almost ruined by pleasures and luxury. It is stated, too, that he encountered and vanquished an enemy in single combat, in his general's sight. In consequence of all this he had several honours conferred upon him; and once when at an entertainment a question arose about commanders, and one of the company (whether really desirous to know, or only in complaisance) asked Scipio where the Romans, after him, should obtain such another general, Scipio, gently clapping Marius on the shoulder as he sat next him, replied, "Here, perhaps. . . ."

The consul Caecilius Metellus, being declared general in the war against Jugurtha in Africa took with him Marius for lieutenant; where, eager himself to do great deeds and services that would get him distinction, he did not, like others, consult Metellus's glory and the serving his interest, and attributing his honour of lieutenancy not to Metellus, but to fortune, which had presented him with a proper opportunity and theatre of great actions, he exerted his utmost courage. . . . Marius thus employed, and thus winning the affections of the soldiers, before long filled both Africa and Rome with his fame, and some, too, wrote home from the army that the war with Africa would never be brought to a conclusion unless they chose Caius Marius consul. . . .He was elected triumphantly, and at once proceeded to levy soldiers contrary both to law and custom, enlisting slaves and poor people; whereas former commanders never accepted of such, but bestowed arms, like other favours, as a matter of distinction, on persons who had the proper qualification, a man's property being thus a sort of security for his good behavior. . . .

[In Marius' fourth consulship,] The enemy dividing themselves into two parts, the Cimbri arranged to go against Catulus higher up through the country of the Norici, and to force that passage; the Teutones and Ambrones to march against Marius by the seaside through Liguria. . . . The Romans, pursuing them, slew and took prisoners above one hundred thousand, and possessing themselves of their spoil, tents, and carriages, voted all that was not purloined to Marius's share, which, though so magnificent a present, yet was generally thought less than his conduct deserved in so great a danger. . . . After the battle, Marius chose out from amongst the barbarians' spoils and arms those that were whole and handsome, and that would make the greatest show in his triumph; the rest he heaped upon a large pile, and offered a very splendid sacrifice. Whilst the army stood round about with their arms and garlands, himself attired (as the fashion is on such occasions) in the purple-bordered robe, and taking a lighted torch, and with both hands lifting it up towards heaven, he was then going to put it to the pile, when some friends were espied with all haste coming towards him on horseback. Upon which every one remained in silence and expectation. They, upon their coming up, leapt off and saluted Marius, bringing him the news of his fifth consulship, and delivered him letters to that effect. This gave the addition of no small joy to the solemnity; and while the soldiers clashed their arms and shouted, the officers again crowned Marius with a laurel wreath, and he thus set fire to the pile, and finished his sacrifice. Blindado

1409a, Julian II "the Philosopher," February 360 - 26 June 363 A.D.Julian II, A.D. 360-363; RIC 167; VF; 2.7g, 20mm; Constantinople mint; Obverse: DN FL CL IVLIANVS P F AVG, helmeted & cuirassed bust right, holding spear & shield; Reverse: VOT X MVLT XX in four lines within wreath; CONSPB in exergue; Attractive green patina. Ex Nemesis.

De Imperatoribus Romanis,
An Online Encyclopedia of Roman Emperors

Julian the Apostate (360-363 A.D.)

Walter E. Roberts, Emory University
Michael DiMaio, Jr., Salve Regina University

Introduction

The emperor Flavius Claudius Julianus reigned from 360 to 26 June 363, when he was killed fighting against the Persians. Despite his short rule, his emperorship was pivotal in the development of the history of the later Roman empire. This essay is not meant to be a comprehensive look at the various issues central to the reign of Julian and the history of the later empire. Rather, this short work is meant to be a brief history and introduction for the general reader. Julian was the last direct descendent of the Constantinian line to ascend to the purple, and it is one of history's great ironies that he was the last non-Christian emperor. As such, he has been vilified by most Christian sources, beginning with John Chrysostom and Gregory Nazianzus in the later fourth century. This tradition was picked up by the fifth century Eusebian continuators Sozomen, Socrates Scholasticus, and Theodoret and passed on to scholars down through the 20th century. Most contemporary sources, however, paint a much more balanced picture of Julian and his reign. The adoption of Christianity by emperors and society, while still a vital concern, was but one of several issues that concerned Julian.

It is fortunate that extensive writings from Julian himself exist, which help interpret his reign in the light of contemporary evidence. Still extant are some letters, several panegyrics, and a few satires. Other contemporary sources include the soldier Ammianus Marcellinus' history, correspondence between Julian and Libanius of Antioch, several panegyrics, laws from the Theodosian Code, inscriptions, and coinage. These sources show Julian's emphasis on restoration. He saw himself as the restorer of the traditional values of Roman society. Of course much of this was rhetoric, meant to defend Julian against charges that he was a usurper. At the same time this theme of restoration was central to all emperors of the fourth century. Julian thought that he was the one emperor who could regain what was viewed as the lost glory of the Roman empire. To achieve this goal he courted select groups of social elites to get across his message of restoration. This was the way that emperors functioned in the fourth century. By choosing whom to include in the sharing of power, they sought to shape society.

Early Life

Julian was born at Constantinople in 331. His father was Julius Constantius, half-brother of the emperor Constantine through Constantius Chlorus, and his mother was Basilina, Julius' second wife. Julian had two half-brothers via Julius' first marriage. One of these was Gallus, who played a major role in Julian's life. Julian appeared destined for a bright future via his father's connection to the Constantinian house. After many years of tense relations with his three half-brothers, Constantine seemed to have welcomed them into the fold of the imperial family. From 333 to 335, Constantine conferred a series of honors upon his three half-siblings, including appointing Julius Constantius as one of the consuls for 335. Julian's mother was equally distinguished. Ammianus related that she was from a noble family. This is supported by Libanius, who claimed that she was the daughter of Julius Julianus, a Praetorian Prefect under Licinius, who was such a model of administrative virtue that he was pardoned and honored by Constantine.

Despite the fact that his mother died shortly after giving birth to him, Julian experienced an idyllic early childhood. This ended when Constantius II conducted a purge of many of his relatives shortly after Constantine's death in 337, particularly targeting the families of Constantine's half-brothers. ulian and Gallus were spared, probably due to their young age. Julian was put under the care of Mardonius, a Scythian eunuch who had tutored his mother, in 339, and was raised in the Greek philosophical tradition, and probably lived in Nicomedia. Ammianus also supplied the fact that while in Nicomedia, Julian was cared for by the local bishop Eusebius, of whom the future emperor was a distant relation. Julian was educated by some of the most famous names in grammar and rhetoric in the Greek world at that time, including Nicocles and Hecebolius. In 344 Constantius II sent Julian and Gallus to Macellum in Cappadocia, where they remained for six years. In 351, Gallus was made Caesar by Constantius II and Julian was allowed to return to Nicomedia, where he studied under Aedesius, Eusebius, and Chrysanthius, all famed philosophers, and was exposed to the Neo-Platonism that would become such a prominent part of his life. But Julian was most proud of the time he spent studying under Maximus of Ephesus, a noted Neo-Platonic philospher and theurgist. It was Maximus who completed Julian's full-scale conversion to Neo-Platonism. Later, when he was Caesar, Julian told of how he put letters from this philosopher under his pillows so that he would continue to absorb wisdom while he slept, and while campaigning on the Rhine, he sent his speeches to Maximus for approval before letting others hear them. When Gallus was executed in 354 for treason by Constantius II, Julian was summoned to Italy and essentially kept under house arrest at Comum, near Milan, for seven months before Constantius' wife Eusebia convinced the emperor that Julian posed no threat. This allowed Julian to return to Greece and continue his life as a scholar where he studied under the Neo-Platonist Priscus. Julian's life of scholarly pursuit, however, ended abruptly when he was summoned to the imperial court and made Caesar by Constantius II on 6 November 355.

Julian as Caesar

Constantius II realized an essential truth of the empire that had been evident since the time of the Tetrarchy--the empire was too big to be ruled effectively by one man. Julian was pressed into service as Caesar, or subordinate emperor, because an imperial presence was needed in the west, in particular in the Gallic provinces. Julian, due to the emperor's earlier purges, was the only viable candidate of the imperial family left who could act as Caesar. Constantius enjoined Julian with the task of restoring order along the Rhine frontier. A few days after he was made Caesar, Julian was married to Constantius' sister Helena in order to cement the alliance between the two men. On 1 December 355, Julian journeyed north, and in Augusta Taurinorum he learned that Alamannic raiders had destroyed Colonia Agrippina. He then proceeded to Vienne where he spent the winter. At Vienne, he learned that Augustudunum was also under siege, but was being held by a veteran garrison. He made this his first priority, and arrived there on 24 June 356. When he had assured himself that the city was in no immediate danger, he journeyed to Augusta Treverorum via Autessioduram, and from there to Durocortorum where he rendezvoused with his army. Julian had the army stage a series of punitive strikes around the Dieuse region, and then he moved them towards the Argentoratum/Mongontiacum region when word of barbarian incursions reached him.

From there, Julian moved on to Colonia Agrippina, and negotiated a peace with the local barbarian leaders who had assaulted the city. He then wintered at Senonae. He spent the early part of the campaigning season of 357 fighting off besiegers at Senonae, and then conducting operations around Lugdunum and Tres Tabernae. Later that summer, he encountered his watershed moment as a military general. Ammianus went into great detail about Julian's victory over seven rogue Alamannic chieftains near Argentoratum, and Julian himself bragged about it in his later writing. After this battle, the soldiers acclaimed Julian Augustus, but he rejected this title. After mounting a series of follow-up raids into Alamannic territory, he retired to winter quarters at Lutetia, and on the way defeated some Frankish raiders in the Mosa region. Julian considered this campaign one of the major events of his time as Caesar.

Julian began his 358 military campaigns early, hoping to catch the barbarians by surprise. His first target was the Franks in the northern Rhine region. He then proceeded to restore some forts in the Mosa region, but his soldiers threatened to mutiny because they were on short rations and had not been paid their donative since Julian had become Caesar. After he soothed his soldiers, Julian spent the rest of the summer negotiating a peace with various Alamannic leaders in the mid and lower Rhine areas, and retired to winter quarters at Lutetia. In 359, he prepared once again to carry out a series of punitive expeditions against the Alamanni in the Rhine region who were still hostile to the Roman presence. In preparation, the Caesar repopulated seven previously destroyed cities and set them up as supply bases and staging areas. This was done with the help of the people with whom Julian had negotiated a peace the year before. Julian then had a detachment of lightly armed soldiers cross the Rhine near Mogontiacum and conduct a guerilla strike against several chieftains. As a result of these campaigns, Julian was able to negotiate a peace with all but a handful of the Alamannic leaders, and he retired to winter quarters at Lutetia.

Of course, Julian did more than act as a general during his time as Caesar. According to Ammianus, Julian was an able administrator who took steps to correct the injustices of Constantius' appointees. Ammianus related the story of how Julian prevented Florentius, the Praetorian Prefect of Gaul, from raising taxes, and also how Julian actually took over as governor for the province of Belgica Secunda. Hilary, bishop of Poitiers, supported Ammianus' basic assessment of Julian in this regard when he reported that Julian was an able representative of the emperor to the Gallic provincials. There is also epigraphic evidence to support Julian's popularity amongst the provincial elites. An inscription found near Beneventum in Apulia reads:
"To Flavius Claudius Julianus, most noble and sanctified Caesar, from the caring Tocius Maximus, vir clarissimus, for the care of the res publica from Beneventum".

Tocius Maximus, as a vir clarissimus, was at the highest point in the social spectrum and was a leader in his local community. This inscription shows that Julian was successful in establishing a positive image amongst provincial elites while he was Caesar.

Julian Augustus

In early 360, Constantius, driven by jealousy of Julian's success, stripped Julian of many troops and officers, ostensibly because the emperor needed them for his upcoming campaign against the Persians. One of the legions ordered east, the Petulantes, did not want to leave Gaul because the majority of the soldiers in the unit were from this region. As a result they mutinied and hailed Julian as Augustus at Lutetia. Julian refused this acclamation as he had done at Argentoratum earlier, but the soldiers would have none of his denial. They raised him on a shield and adorned him with a neck chain, which had formerly been the possession of the standard-bearer of the Petulantes and symbolized a royal diadem. Julian appeared reluctantly to acquiesce to their wishes, and promised a generous donative. The exact date of his acclamation is unknown, but most scholars put it in February or March. Julian himself supported Ammianus' picture of a jealous Constantius. In his Letter to the Athenians, a document constructed to answer charges that he was a usurper, Julian stated that from the start he, as Caesar, had been meant as a figurehead to the soldiers and provincials. The real power he claimed lay with the generals and officials already present in Gaul. In fact, according to Julian, the generals were charged with watching him as much as the enemy. His account of the actual acclamation closely followed what Ammianus told us, but he stressed even more his reluctance to take power. Julian claimed that he did so only after praying to Zeus for guidance.

Fearing the reaction of Constantius, Julian sent a letter to his fellow emperor justifying the events at Lutetia and trying to arrange a peaceful solution. This letter berated Constantius for forcing the troops in Gaul into an untenable situation. Ammianus stated that Julian's letter blamed Constantius' decision to transfer Gallic legions east as the reason for the soldiers' rebellion. Julian once again asserted that he was an unwilling participant who was only following the desire of the soldiers. In both of these basic accounts Ammianus and Julian are playing upon the theme of restoration. Implicit in their version of Julian's acclamation is the argument that Constantius was unfit to rule. The soldiers were the vehicle of the gods' will. The Letter to the Athenians is full of references to the fact that Julian was assuming the mantle of Augustus at the instigation of the gods. Ammianus summed up this position nicely when he related the story of how, when Julian was agonizing over whether to accept the soldiers' acclamation, he had a dream in which he was visited by the Genius (guardian spirit) of the Roman state. The Genius told Julian that it had often tried to bestow high honors upon Julian but had been rebuffed. Now, the Genius went on to say, was Julian's final chance to take the power that was rightfully his. If the Caesar refused this chance, the Genius would depart forever, and both Julian and the state would rue Julian's rejection. Julian himself wrote a letter to his friend Maximus of Ephesus in November of 361 detailing his thoughts on his proclamation. In this letter, Julian stated that the soldiers proclaimed him Augustus against his will. Julian, however, defended his accession, saying that the gods willed it and that he had treated his enemies with clemency and justice. He went on to say that he led the troops in propitiating the traditional deities, because the gods commanded him to return to the traditional rites, and would reward him if he fulfilled this duty.

During 360 an uneasy peace simmered between the two emperors. Julian spent the 360 campaigning season continuing his efforts to restore order along the Rhine, while Constantius continued operations against the Persians. Julian wintered in Vienne, and celebrated his Quinquennalia. It was at this time that his wife Helena died, and he sent her remains to Rome for a proper burial at his family villa on the Via Nomentana where the body of her sister was entombed. The uneasy peace held through the summer of 361, but Julian concentrated his military operations around harassing the Alamannic chieftain Vadomarius and his allies, who had concluded a peace treaty with Constantius some years earlier. By the end of the summer, Julian decided to put an end to the waiting and gathered his army to march east against Constantius. The empire teetered on the brink of another civil war. Constantius had spent the summer negotiating with the Persians and making preparations for possible military action against his cousin. When he was assured that the Persians would not attack, he summoned his army and sallied forth to meet Julian. As the armies drew inexorably closer to one another, the empire was saved from another bloody civil war when Constantius died unexpectedly of natural causes on 3 November near the town of Mopsucrenae in Cilicia, naming Julian -- the sources say-- as his legitimate successor.

Julian was in Dacia when he learned of his cousin's death. He made his way through Thrace and came to Constantinople on 11 December 361 where Julian honored the emperor with the funeral rites appropriate for a man of his station. Julian immediately set about putting his supporters in positions of power and trimming the imperial bureaucracy, which had become extremely overstaffed during Constantius' reign. Cooks and barbers had increased during the late emperor's reign and Julian expelled them from his court. Ammianus gave a mixed assessment of how the new emperor handled the followers of Constantius. Traditionally, emperors were supposed to show clemency to the supporters of a defeated enemy. Julian, however, gave some men over to death to appease the army. Ammianus used the case of Ursulus, Constantius' comes sacrum largitionum, to illustrate his point. Ursulus had actually tried to acquire money for the Gallic troops when Julian had first been appointed Caesar, but he had also made a disparaging remark about the ineffectiveness of the army after the battle of Amida. The soldiers remembered this, and when Julian became sole Augustus, they demanded Ursulus' head. Julian obliged, much to the disapproval of Ammianus. This seems to be a case of Julian courting the favor of the military leadership, and is indicative of a pattern in which Julian courted the goodwill of various societal elites to legitimize his position as emperor.

Another case in point is the officials who made up the imperial bureaucracy. Many of them were subjected to trial and punishment. To achieve this goal, during the last weeks of December 361 Julian assembled a military tribunal at Chalcedon, empanelling six judges to try the cases. The president of the tribunal was Salutius, just promoted to the rank of Praetorian Prefect; the five other members were Mamertinus, the orator, and four general officers: Jovinus, Agilo, Nevitta, and Arbetio. Relative to the proceedings of the tribunal, Ammianus noted that the judges, " . . . oversaw the cases more vehemently than was right or fair, with the exception of a few . . .." Ammianus' account of Julian's attempt at reform of the imperial bureaucracy is supported by legal evidence from the Theodosian Code. A series of laws sent to Mamertinus, Julian's appointee as Praetorian Prefect in Italy, Illyricum, and Africa, illustrate this point nicely. On 6 June 362, Mamertinus received a law that prohibited provincial governors from bypassing the Vicars when giving their reports to the Prefect. Traditionally, Vicars were given civil authority over a group of provinces, and were in theory meant to serve as a middle step between governors and Prefects. This law suggests that the Vicars were being left out, at least in Illyricum. Julian issued another edict to Mamertinus on 22 February 362 to stop abuse of the public post by governors. According to this law, only Mamertinus could issue post warrants, but the Vicars were given twelve blank warrants to be used as they saw fit, and each governor was given two. Continuing the trend of bureaucratic reform, Julian also imposed penalties on governors who purposefully delayed appeals in court cases they had heard. The emperor also established a new official to weigh solidi used in official government transactions to combat coin clipping.

For Julian, reigning in the abuses of imperial bureaucrats was one step in restoring the prestige of the office of emperor. Because he could not affect all elements of society personally, Julian, like other Neo-Flavian emperors, decided to concentrate on select groups of societal elites as intercessors between himself and the general populace. One of these groups was the imperial bureaucracy. Julian made it very clear that imperial officials were intercessors in a very real sense in a letter to Alypius, Vicar of Britain. In this letter, sent from Gaul sometime before 361, the emperor praises Alypius for his use of "mildness and moderation with courage and force" in his rule of the provincials. Such virtues were characteristic of the emperors, and it was good that Alypius is representing Julian in this way. Julian courted the army because it put him in power. Another group he sought to include in his rule was the traditional Senatorial aristocracy. One of his first appointments as consul was Claudius Mamertinus, a Gallic Senator and rhetorician. Mamertinus' speech in praise of Julian delivered at Constantinople in January of 362 is preserved. In this speech, Claudius presented his consular selection as inaugurating a new golden age and Julian as the restorer of the empire founded by Augustus. The image Mamertinus gave of his own consulate inaugurating a new golden age is not merely formulaic. The comparison of Julian to Augustus has very real, if implicit, relevance to Claudius' situation. Claudius emphasized the imperial period as the true age of renewal. Augustus ushered in a new era with his formation of a partnership between the emperor and the Senate based upon a series of honors and offices bestowed upon the Senate in return for their role as intercessor between emperor and populace. It was this system that Julian was restoring, and the consulate was one concrete example of this bond. To be chosen as a consul by the emperor, who himself had been divinely mandated, was a divine honor. In addition to being named consul, Mamertinus went on to hold several offices under Julian, including the Prefecture of Italy, Illyricum, and Africa. Similarly, inscriptional evidence illustrates a link between municipal elites and Julian during his time as Caesar, something which continued after he became emperor. One concrete example comes from the municipal senate of Aceruntia in Apulia, which established a monument on which Julian is styled as "Repairer of the World."

Julian seems to have given up actual Christian belief before his acclamation as emperor and was a practitioner of more traditional Greco-Roman religious beliefs, in particular, a follower of certain late antique Platonist philosophers who were especially adept at theurgy as was noted earlier. In fact Julian himself spoke of his conversion to Neo-Platonism in a letter to the Alexandrians written in 363. He stated that he had abandoned Christianity when he was twenty years old and been an adherent of the traditional Greco-Roman deities for the twelve years prior to writing this letter.

(For the complete text of this article see: http://www.roman-emperors.org/julian.htm)

Julian’s Persian Campaign

The exact goals Julian had for his ill-fated Persian campaign were never clear. The Sassanid Persians, and before them the Parthians, had been a traditional enemy from the time of the Late Republic, and indeed Constantius had been conducting a war against them before Julian's accession forced the former to forge an uneasy peace. Julian, however, had no concrete reason to reopen hostilities in the east. Socrates Scholasticus attributed Julian's motives to imitation of Alexander the Great, but perhaps the real reason lay in his need to gather the support of the army. Despite his acclamation by the Gallic legions, relations between Julian and the top military officers was uneasy at best. A war against the Persians would have brought prestige and power both to Julian and the army.

Julian set out on his fateful campaign on 5 March 363. Using his trademark strategy of striking quickly and where least expected, he moved his army through Heirapolis and from there speedily across the Euphrates and into the province of Mesopotamia, where he stopped at the town of Batnae. His plan was to eventually return through Armenia and winter in Tarsus. Once in Mesopotamia, Julian was faced with the decision of whether to travel south through the province of Babylonia or cross the Tigris into Assyria, and he eventually decided to move south through Babylonia and turn west into Assyria at a later date. By 27 March, he had the bulk of his army across the Euphrates, and had also arranged a flotilla to guard his supply line along the mighty river. He then left his generals Procopius and Sebastianus to help Arsacius, the king of Armenia and a Roman client, to guard the northern Tigris line. It was also during this time that he received the surrender of many prominent local leaders who had nominally supported the Persians. These men supplied Julian with money and troops for further military action against their former masters. Julian decided to turn south into Babylonia and proceeded along the Euphrates, coming to the fortress of Cercusium at the junction of the Abora and Euphrates Rivers around the first of April, and from there he took his army west to a region called Zaitha near the abandoned town of Dura where they visited the tomb of the emperor Gordian which was in the area. On April 7 he set out from there into the heart of Babylonia and towards Assyria.

Ammianus then stated that Julian and his army crossed into Assyria, which on the face of things appears very confusing. Julian still seems to be operating within the province of Babylonia between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. The confusion is alleviated when one realizes that,for Ammianus, the region of Assyria encompassed the provinces of Babylonia and Assyria. On their march, Julian's forces took the fortress of Anatha, received the surrender and support of several more local princes, and ravaged the countryside of Assyria between the rivers. As the army continued south, they came across the fortresses Thilutha and Achaiachala, but these places were too well defended and Julian decided to leave them alone. Further south were the cities Diacira and Ozogardana, which the Roman forces sacked and burned. Soon, Julian came to Pirisabora and a brief siege ensued, but the city fell and was also looted and destroyed. It was also at this time that the Roman army met its first systematic resistance from the Persians. As the Romans penetrated further south and west, the local inhabitants began to flood their route. Nevertheless, the Roman forces pressed on and came to Maiozamalcha, a sizable city not far from Ctesiphon. After a short siege, this city too fell to Julian. Inexorably, Julian's forces zeroed in on Ctesiphon, but as they drew closer, the Persian resistance grew fiercer, with guerilla raids whittling at Julian's men and supplies. A sizable force of the army was lost and the emperor himself was almost killed taking a fort a few miles from the target city.
Finally, the army approached Ctesiphon following a canal that linked the Tigris and Euphrates. It soon became apparent after a few preliminary skirmishes that a protracted siege would be necessary to take this important city. Many of his generals, however, thought that pursuing this course of action would be foolish. Julian reluctantly agreed, but became enraged by this failure and ordered his fleet to be burned as he decided to march through the province of Assyria. Julian had planned for his army to live off the land, but the Persians employed a scorched-earth policy. When it became apparent that his army would perish (because his supplies were beginning to dwindle) from starvation and the heat if he continued his campaign, and also in the face of superior numbers of the enemy, Julian ordered a retreat on 16 June. As the Roman army retreated, they were constantly harassed by guerilla strikes. It was during one of these raids that Julian got caught up in the fighting and took a spear to his abdomen. Mortally wounded he was carried to his tent, where, after conferring with some of his officers, he died. The date was 26 June 363.

Conclusion

Thus an ignominious end for a man came about who had hoped to restore the glory of the Roman empire during his reign as emperor. Due to his intense hatred of Christianity, the opinion of posterity has not been kind to Julian. The contemporary opinion, however, was overall positive. The evidence shows that Julian was a complex ruler with a definite agenda to use traditional social institutions in order to revive what he saw as a collapsing empire. In the final assessment, he was not so different from any of the other emperors of the fourth century. He was a man grasping desperately to hang on to a Greco-Roman conception of leadership that was undergoing a subtle yet profound change.
Copyright (C) 2002, Walter E. Roberts and Michael DiMaio, Jr. Used by permission.

In reality, Julian worked to promote culture and philosophy in any manifestation. He tried to reduce taxes and the public debts of municipalities; he augmented administrative decentralisation; he promoted a campaign of austerity to reduce public expenditure (setting himself as the example). He reformed the postal service and eliminated the powerful secret police.
by Federico Morando; JULIAN II, The Apostate, See the Julian II Page on NumisWiki

Flavius Claudius Iulianus was born in 331 or maybe 332 A.D. in Constantinople. He ruled the Western Empire as Caesar from 355 to 360 and was hailed Augustus by his legions in Lutetia (Paris) in 360. Julian was a gifted administrator and military strategist. Famed as the last pagan emperor, his reinstatement of the pagan religion earned him the moniker "the Apostate." As evidenced by his brilliant writing, some of which has survived to the present day, the title "the Philosopher" may have been more appropriate. He died from wounds suffered during the Persian campaign of 363 A.D. Joseph Sermarini, FORVM.

Edited by J. P. Fitzgerald, Jr.

2 commentsCleisthenes

1603 - 1625, JAMES I (JAMES VI of Scotland), AR Sixpence struck in 1605 at LondonObverse: IACOBVS•D:G:MAG:BRIT:FRA:ET•HIB:REX. Crowned and armoured bust of James I of England facing right, VI in field behind bust and mintmark (Rose) in legend above.
Reverse: •QUAE•DEVS•CONIVNXIT•NEMO•SEPARET• Square topped shield bearing the arms of England, Scotland and Ireland; 1605 above. Mintmark (rose) in legend.
Second coinage (1604 - 1619) and fourth bust with long square cut beard.
Diameter: 26mm | Weight: 2.8gms | Die Axis: 10h
SPINK: 2658

The sixpence was first introduced during the reign of Edward VI in 1551, it had a facing portrait of the king with a rose to the left and the denomination VI to the right.
With the accession of James VI of Scotland to the throne of England, reigning there as James I, the royal titles and the coat of arms were altered on the coinage. The Scottish lion rampant and the Irish harp now made their appearance in the second and third quarters of the royal coat of arms of the newly formed United Kingdom and, from 1604, MAG BRIT replaced ANG SCO in the King's titles.
The infamous "Gunpowder Plot" took place on November the fifth 1605, the year this coin was struck.

CLICK ON IMAGE BELOW FOR INFO ON THE GUNPOWDER PLOT

*Alex

1997.161.5 Rome, RIC 335aSestertius, 18.36 g

Obverse: IMP GORVIANVS PIVS FEL AVG; Laureate, draped and cuirassed bust right.
Reverse: SECVRIT PERPET S C; Securitas standing left, legs crossed, holding scepter and resting left arm on column.
Ref: RIC 335a [Fifth Issue]; C 329, 80 fr;gordian_guy

1dy Maximinus II309-313

Quarter Follis

Laureate head, right, MAXIMINVS NOB C
Genius standing left, naked except for modius on head & chlamys over shoulder, holding patera & cornucopiae, SIS in ex, GENIO POPVLI ROMANI.

RIC 170b

According to Eutropius: Galerius, a man of excellent moral character, and skilful in military affairs, finding that Italy, by Constantius's permission, was put under his government, created two Caesars, MAXIMIN, whom he appointed over the east, and SEVERUS, to whom he committed Italy. He himself resided in Illyricum. . . . LICINIUS, a native of Dacia, was made emperor by Galerius, to whom he was known by old companionship, and recommended by his vigorous efforts and services in the war which he had conducted against Narseus. The death of Galerius followed immediately afterwards. The empire was then held by the four new emperors, Constantine and Maxentius, sons of emperors, Licinius and Maximian, sons of undistinguished men. Constantine, however, in the fifth year of his reign, commenced a civil war with Maxentius, routed his forces in several battles, and at last overthrew Maxentius himself (when he was spreading death among the nobility by every possible kind of cruelty,4) at the Milvian bridge, and made himself master of Italy. Not long after, too, Maximin, after commencing hostilities against Licinius in the east, anticipated the destruction that was falling upon him by an accidental death at Tarsus. Blindado

1dz Maxentius306-312

Follis

Laureate head, right, MAXENTIVS P F AVG
Roma in temple, CONSERVATORES VRB SVAE

RIC 194a

Eutropius reports: But after the death of Constantius, CONSTANTINE, his son by a wife of obscure birth, was made emperor in Britain, and succeeded his father as a most desirable ruler. In the meantime the praetorian guards at Rome, having risen in insurrection, declared MAXENTIUS, the son of Maximian Herculius, who lived in the Villa Publica not far from the city, emperor. At the news of this proceeding, Maximian, filled with hopes of regaining the imperial dignity, which he had not willingly resigned, hurried to Rome from Lucania. . . , and stimulated Diocletian by letters to resume the authority that he had laid down, letters which Diocletian utterly disregarded. Severus Caesar, being despatched to Rome by Galerius to suppress the rising of the guards and Maxentius, arrived there with his army, but, as he was laying siege to the city, was deserted through the treachery of his soldiers.

The power of Maxentius was thus increased, and his government established. Severus, taking to flight, was killed at Ravenna. Maximian Herculius, attempting afterwards, in an assembly of the army, to divest his son Maxentius of his power, met with nothing but mutiny and reproaches from the soldiery. . . .

At this time LICINIUS, a native of Dacia, was made emperor by Galerius, to whom he was known by old companionship, and recommended by his vigorous efforts and services in the war which he had conducted against Narseus. The death of Galerius followed immediately afterwards. The empire was then held by the four new emperors, Constantine and Maxentius, sons of emperors, Licinius and Maximian, sons of undistinguished men. Constantine, however, in the fifth year of his reign, commenced a civil war with Maxentius, routed his forces in several battles, and at last overthrew Maxentius himself (when he was spreading death among the nobility by every possible kind of cruelty,) at the Milvian bridge, and made himself master of Italy. Blindado

2015 ELIZABETH II DECIMAL Bimetallic TWO POUNDSObverse: ELIZABETH II DEI.GRA.REG.FID.DEF.2015. Diademed head of Elizabeth II facing right.
Reverse: TWO POUNDS. Three quarter helmeted bust of Britannia facing right, shield at her side, right hand holding trident over her shoulder.
Edge: QUATUOR MARIA VINDICO.
Diameter 28.4mm | Weight 15.97gms
SPINK: 4736

This is the fifth portrait of Queen Elizabeth II to be used on circulating UK coinage since she was crowned in 1953. It was designed by (Mr) Jody Clark and was introduced in March 2015 to replace the previous portrait on all circulating UK coins. The Royal diadem which the Queen is shown wearing on this coin is the one she wears on her way to and from the State Opening of Parliament.

This 2015 two pound coin welcomed Britannia back onto circulating UK coinage, Britannia having not featured on any UK circulating coin after she was removed from the reverse of 50p coins in 2008. The new portrait of Britannia was designed by sculptor Antony Dofort and is meant to present Britannia in a modern era.
The edge legend of "QUATUOR MARIA VINDICO" meaning "I claim the four seas" first appeared as a reverse legend on coins bearing a Britannia design during the reign of Charles II, but those coins were patterns or prototypes which were never issued for general circulation.
*Alex

2015 Elizabeth II Longest Reigning Monarch Silver 20 PoundsGreat Britain, Elizabeth II (1952-2022), Silver 20 Pounds, 2015, Queen Elizabeth II Longest Reigning Monarch commemorative, SCWC KM 1304, SCBC NE4, BU, rim toning on obverse, edge milled, weight 15.71g (ASW 0.5oz), composition 0.999 Ag, diameter 27.0mm, thickness 2.6mm, die axis 0°, Royal mint, 2015; obverse ELIZABETH II · D · G · REG · F · D · 20 POUNDS · 2015 · (Elizabeth II, by the Grace of God, Queen, Defender of the Faith, 20 Pounds, 2015), fifth crowned head right, J.C raised below truncation for engraver Jody Clark, raised border surrounding; reverse all five heads right in semicircular timeline arcing above, EIIR/ST (Elizabeth II, Queen/Stephen Taylor) monograms in two lines lower centre, surmounted by St. Edward's Crown, THE LONGEST REIGN arcing below, raised border surrounding; from the Roger Belmar Collection; ex Scotmint (23 Jan 2023); £28.00.Serendipity

2016 Elizabeth II Queen's Beasts 1oz Gold Lion of EnglandGreat Britain, Elizabeth II (1952-2022), Queen's Beasts 1oz Gold Lion of England, 100 Pounds, 2016, SCBC QBE1, UNC, edge milled, weight 31.21g (AGW 1oz), composition 0.9999 Au, diameter 32.69mm, thickness 2.7mm, die axis 0°, Royal mint, 2016; obverse ELIZABETH II · D · G · REG · F · D · 100 POUNDS · (Elizabeth II, by the Grace of God, Queen, Defender of the Faith, 100 Pounds), fifth crowned head right, J.C raised below truncation for engraver Jody Clark, grainy background, raised border surrounding; reverse LION OF ENGLAND · 1 oz-FINE GOLD · 999.9 · 2016 around inner linear circle, crowned lion standing half-left, head right, on hind legs, holding quartered shield of Arms of the United Kingdom in left forepaw, JC (Jody Clark) monogram at bottom right of shield, chain mail background, raised border surrounding; from the Roger Belmar Collection; ex RM (2019); £1,572.80.Serendipity

2017 Elizabeth II Gold Proof Sovereign NGC PF70 UCAMGreat Britain, Elizabeth II (1952-2022), Gold Proof Sovereign, 2017, 200th Anniversary of the Modern Sovereign commemorative, Marsh 347, SCBC SC11, one-year type, NGC PF-70 ULTRA CAMEO (6318716-008), edge milled, weight 7.9881g (AGW 0.2355oz), composition 0.917 Au, 0.083 Cu, diameter 22.05mm, thickness 1.52mm, die axis 0°, Royal mint, 2017; obverse ELIZABETH II · DEI · GRA · REG · FID · DEF · 2017 · (Elizabeth II, by the Grace of God, Queen, Defender of the Faith, 2017), fifth crowned head right, J.C raised below truncation for engraver Jody Clark, toothed border surrounding; reverse HONI · SOIT · QUI · MAL · Y · PENSE · (Shame on him who thinks evil of it) French motto around horizontally ruled Order of the Garter circlet with buckle, St. George, nude but for crested Attic helmet with three-strand streamer, paludamentum fastened in front by fibula billowing behind and high-topped boots (calcei equestri), on horse rearing right, with long tail, ending in three strands, with one spur higher up at curve, holding bridle in left hand and broken lance in right, looking down, trampling and slaying prostrate dragon to lower right, with broken lance in its side, looking back and up at St. George, broken lance on ground-line to left, BP incuse under lance for engraver Benedetto Pistrucci, raised border surrounding; from the Roger Belmar Collection; ex UK Gold Coins (25 Feb 2022); £1,089.00.Serendipity

2019 Elizabeth II 1oz Gold BritanniaGreat Britain, Elizabeth II (1952-2022), 1oz Gold Britannia, 100 Pounds, 2019, SCBC BGF18D, UNC, edge milled, weight 31.21g (APW 1oz), composition 0.9999 Au, diameter 32.69mm, thickness 2.7mm, die axis 0°, Royal mint, 2019; obverse ELIZABETH II · D · G · REG · F · D · 100 POUNDS · (Elizabeth II, by the Grace of God, Queen, Defender of the Faith, 100 Pounds), fifth crowned head right, J.C raised below truncation for engraver Jody Clark, guilloche background, crenellated border surrounding; reverse ' BRITANNIA ' 2019 '-1 oz-' 999.9 ' FINE ' GOLD ' around inner linear circle, Britannia standing facing, head left, wearing crested Corinthian helmet, long hair, chiton and peplos billowing behind left, trident in outstretched right hand, olive branch in left on grounded shield ornamented with Union Jack, left foot on rock with two waves beyond left, NATHAN (Philip Nathan) raised on rock in exergue, speckled radial sunburst background, crenellated border surrounding; from the Roger Belmar Collection; ex RM (2019); £1,578.00.Serendipity

2019 Elizabeth II Queen's Beasts 1oz Platinum Unicorn of ScotlandGreat Britain, Elizabeth II (1952-2022), Elizabeth II Queen's Beasts 1oz Platinum Unicorn of Scotland, 100 Pounds, 2019, SCBC QBBPA4, UNC, edge milled, weight 31.21g (APW 1oz), composition 0.9995 Pt, diameter 32.69mm, thickness 2.7mm, die axis 0°, Royal mint, 2019; obverse ELIZABETH II · D · G · REG · F · D · 100 POUNDS · (Elizabeth II, by the Grace of God, Queen, Defender of the Faith, 100 Pounds), fifth crowned head right, J.C raised below truncation for engraver Jody Clark, guilloche background, raised border surrounding; reverse UNICORN OF SCOTLAND-1 oz · FINE PLATINUM · 999.5 · 2019 around inner linear circle, collared unicorn standing half-left on hind legs, holding shield of Arms of Scotland with lion rampant in left forehoof, chained with coronet around neck like collar, JC (Jody Clark) monogram at bottom left of shield, chain mail background, raised border surrounding; from the Roger Belmar Collection; ex BullionByPost (13 Jun 2021); £1,184.04.Serendipity

2022 Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Gold Proof Sovereign NGC PF70 UCAM FDIGreat Britain, Elizabeth II (1952-2022), Platinum Jubilee Gold Proof Sovereign, 2022, 70th Anniversary of the Accession of Queen Elizabeth II commemorative, one-year type, NGC PF-70 ULTRA CAMEO FIRST DAY OF ISSUE (6319075-025), edge milled, weight 7.9881g (AGW 0.2355oz), composition 0.917 Au, 0.083 Cu, diameter 22.05mm, thickness 1.52mm, die axis 0°, Royal mint, 2022; obverse ELIZABETH II · DEI · GRA · REGINA · FID · DEF · (Elizabeth II, by the Grace of God, Queen, Defender of the Faith), fifth crowned head right, J.C raised below truncation for engraver Jody Clark, toothed border surrounding; reverse crowned helmet surmounted by crowned lion statant over quartered shield of Arms of the United Kingdom bearing three lions passant guardant for England, lion rampant for Scotland and eight-stringed harp for Ireland, within Order of the Garter inscribed with French motto HON[I SOIT QUI MAL] Y PENSE (Shame on him who thinks evil of it), supported by crowned lion to left and collared unicorn to right, both standing on banner inscribed DIEU ET-MON DROIT (God and My Right), 2022 in exergue, TN (Timothy Noad) monogram to lower inner right of Garter, toothed border surrounding; from the Roger Belmar Collection; ex Sovereign Rarities (4 Feb 2022); £990.00.Serendipity

2023 South African 1oz Silver BuffaloSouth Africa, 1oz Silver Buffalo, 5 Rand, 2023, The Big Five Series II: Buffalo commemorative, SCWC KM 771, fifth coin in series, BU, edge milled, weight 31.21g (ASW 1oz), composition 0.999 Ag, diameter 38.725mm, thickness 2.84mm, die axis 0°, South African mint, 2023; obverse head of buffalo facing half-right, SOUTH AFRICA-BIG FIVE 2023 arcing below, divided by small shield of Arms of South Africa inscribed with tiny Khoisan motto !KE E: /XARRA //KE (Diverse People Unite) on ribbon in circle, engraved by Paul Botes and designed by JA Geldenhuys/RC Stone, raised border surrounding; reverse 1OZ across centre, FIVE RAND arcing above and Ag 999 arcing below around inner annulus, two halves of buffalo's head facing, PB (Paul Botes) monogram at bottom right, raised border surrounding; from the Roger Belmar Collection; ex EMK Coins & Precious Metals (19 Feb 2024); £49.91.1 commentsSerendipity

253-268 AD - Gallienus - RIC V (sole reign) 287 var - VBERITAS AVGEmperor: Gallienus (r. 253-268 AD)
Date: 260-268 AD
Condition: Fair
Denomination: Antoninianus

Obverse: GALLIENVS AVG
Emperor Gallienus
Head right; radiate

Reverse: VBERITAS AVG
The Emperor is fruitful.
Uberitas standing left holding purse and cornucopiae.
"E" in right field

Rome mint, fifth officina
RIC V Gallienus (sole reign) 287 var.; VM 278
2.50g; 18.1mm; 15°Pep

282-283 AD - Numerian as Caesar - RIC V 366 - PRINCIPI IVVENTVTCaesar: Numerian (Caes. 282-283 AD)
Date: 282-283 AD
Condition: EF
Denomination: Antoninianus

Obverse: M AVR NVMERIANVS NOB C
Marcus Aurelius Numerian Noble Caesar
Bust right; radiate, draped and cuirassed

Reverse: PRINCIPI IVVENTVT
First among the Young Men.
Numerian standing left, holding baton and scepter.
Exergue: VXXI (Ticinum mint, fifth officina)

RIC V Carus And His Family 366; VM 15
3.31g; 24.2mm; 180°Pep

286-305 AD, 306-308 AD - Maximianus - RIC VI Cyzicus 15b - CONCORDIA MILITVMEmperor: Maximianus (r. 286-305, 306-308 AD)
Date: ca. 295-299 AD
Condition: VF
Denomination: Light Radiate Fraction

Obverse: IMP C M A MAXIMIANVS P F AVG
Imperator Consul Marcus Aurelius Maximianus Dutiful and Wise Emperor
Bust right; radiate and cuirassed

Reverse: CONCORDIA MI-LITVM
Unity of the Army.
Prince standing right in military dress receiving small Victory on globe from Jupiter standing left, left leaning on sceptre.
"KE" in center field (Cyzicus mint, fifth officina)

RIC VI Cyzicus 15b; VM 45
2.31g; 21.6mm; 195°Pep

3012 Hadrian Denarius 129-31 AD Victory Eastern mintReference.
RIC III, 3012; BMCRE --; Strack --; RIC --; C. --

Bust A2

Obv. AVGVSTVS HADRIANVS
Laureate head with drapery

Rev. III COS
Victory standing right holding wreath and palm

3.13 gr
19 mm
6h

Note.

Strack knew just three Eastern denarii with this transposed obv. legend, including one with a Minerva standing rev. type in the Trau coll., Strack's pl. XVIII, *18. Curtis Clay has another example with this obverse with the Minerva type. This would appear to be a fifth specimen from this obverse die but with a new reverse type.

Additional information on this coin from Curtis Clay:-
"Interesting. Apparently a new rev. type on the Eastern denarii, of uncertain origin.

That's admittedly a fairly standard Victory advancing right rev. type, but I find no such type on any denarius of Hadrian from the mint of Rome, nor on his Asian cistophori.

A similar type does occur on Hadrian's silver quinarii, and on a rather scarce denarius of Trajan struck in 112 but these seem unlikely sources for a type on Hadrian's Eastern denarii.

Moreover on the Roman coins Victory grasps the stem of the palm over her shoulder in her left fist, thumb upwards, whereas on the Eastern denarius she palms the stem, holding it with her downwards pointing thumb while apparently keeping her fingers extended. I imagine that this detail may go back to the source copied, since it seems unlikely that the engraver changed it on his own whim."
Ex maridvnvmokidoki

307-337 AD - Constantine I - RIC VII Cyzicus 109 var - GLORIA EXERCITVSEmperor: Constantine I (r. 307-337 AD)
Date: 335-336 AD
Condition: Fine
Size: AE3

Obverse: CONSTANTI-NVS MAX AVG
Bust right; plain-diadem (likely), draped and cuirassed

Reverse: GLOR-IA EXERC-ITVS
Glory of the Army.
Two soldiers helmeted, standing facing one another, spear in outer hand, inner hand on shield set on ground; between them, two standards.
Exergue: *SMKE (Cyzicus mint, fifth officina)

RIC VII Cyzicus 109 var; VM 93
2.66g; 17.5mm; 180°Pep

307-337 AD - Constantine I - RIC VII Nicomedia 090 - PROVIDENTIAE AVGGEmperor: Constantine I (r. 307-337 AD)
Date: 324-325 AD
Condition: Very Fine
Size: AE3

Obverse: CONSTAN-TINVS AVG
Emperor Constantine
Bust right; laureate

Reverse: PROVIDEN-TIAE AVGG
The Emperors have foresight.
Camp gate, two turrets, no doors, star above, six stone layers.
Exergue: SMNE (Nicomedia mint, fifth officina)

RIC VII Nicomedia 90; VM 85
2.41g; 19.3mm; 330°Pep

307-337 AD - Constantine I Posthumous - RIC VIII Heraclea 014 - Quadriga ReverseEmperor: Constantine I (r. 307-337 AD)
Date: 337-340 AD
Condition: aFine
Size: AE4

Obverse: DV CONSTANTI-NVS PT AVGG
Posthumous issue
Bust right; veiled

Reverse: (no legend)
Emperor, veiled, to left in quadriga; the hand of God reaches down to him.
Exergue: SMHE (Heraclea mint, fifth officina)

RIC VIII Heraclea 14; VM 95
1.17g; 14.9mm; 315°Pep

307-337 AD - Constantine I Posthumous - RIC VIII Heraclea 014 - Quadriga Reverse - 2nd ExampleEmperor: Constantine I (r. 307-337 AD)
Date: 337-340 AD
Condition: Fair
Size: AE4

Obverse: DV CONSTANTI-NVS PT AVGG
Posthumous issue
Bust right; draped, cuirassed and veiled

Reverse: (no legend)
Emperor, veiled, to left in quadriga; the hand of God reaches down to him.
Exergue: SMHE (Heraclea mint, fifth officina)

RIC VIII Heraclea 14; VM 95
1.48g; 15.9mm; 315°Pep

307-337 AD - Constantine I Posthumous - RIC VIII Heraclea 014 - Quadriga Reverse - 3rd ExampleEmperor: Constantine I (r. 307-337 AD)
Date: 337-340 AD
Condition: Fine
Size: AE4

Obverse: DV CONSTANTI-NVS PT AVGG
Posthumous issue
Bust right; draped, cuirassed and veiled

Reverse: no legend
Emperor, veiled, to right in quadriga; the hand of God reaches down to him.
Exergue: SMHE (Heraclea mint, fifth officina)

RIC VIII Heraclea 14; VM 95
1.08g; 15.2mm; 135°Pep

316-337 AD - Constantine II as Caesar - RIC VII Siscia 220 - GLORIA EXERCITVS - 2nd ExampleCaesar: Constantine II (Caes. 316-337 AD)
Date: 330-333 AD
Condition: Fine
Size: AE3

Obverse: CONSTANTINVS IVN NOB C
Constantine Junior Noble Caesar
Bust right; laureate and cuirassed

Reverse: GLOR-IA EXERC-ITVS
Glory of the Army.
Two soldiers standing and facing one another, spear in outer hand, inner hand on shield resting on ground, two standards between them.
Exergue: ESIS (Siscia mint, fifth officina)

RIC VII Siscia 220; VM 45
1.77g; 18.6mm; 195°Pep

324-337 AD - Constantius II as Caesar - RIC VII Nicomedia 191 - GLORIA EXERCITVSCaesar: Constantius II (Caes. 324-337 AD)
Date: 330-335 AD
Condition: VF
Size: AE3

Obverse: FL IVL CONSTANTIVS NOB C
Flavius Julius Constantius Noble Caesar
Bust right; laureate, draped and cuirassed

Reverse: GLOR-IA EXERC-ITVS
Glory of the Army.
Two soldiers, helmeted, standing looking at one another, reversed spear in outer hands, inner hands on shield resting on ground; between them, two standards.
Exergue: SMNE (Nicomedia mint, fifth officina)

RIC VII Nicomedia 191; VM 72
2.42g; 17.9mm; 0°Pep

330-333 AD - Urbs Roma Issue - RIC VII Thessalonica 187 - She-Wolf and Twins ReverseUrbs Roma Issue
Date: 330-333 AD
Condition: Very Fine
Size: AE3

Obverse: VRBS ROMA
City of Rome
Bust left; helmeted, wearing imperial cloak

Reverse: no legend
She-wolf standing left, suckling twins, two stars above.
Exergue: SMTSE (Thessalonica mint, fifth officina)

RIC VII Thessalonica 187; VM 2
2.46g; 18.7mm; 180°Pep

330-337 AD - Constantinopolis Issue - RIC VII Thessalonica 188 or 230 - Victory on Prow ReverseConstantinopolis Issue
Date: 330-337 AD
Condition: Fair
Size: AE4

Obverse: CONSTAN-TINOPOLIS
Constantinople
Bust left; laureated helmet, wearing imperial cloak, reversed spear

Reverse: no legend
Victory standing left on prow with spear, shield.
Exergue: SMTSE (Thessalonica mint, fifth officina)

RIC VII Thessalonica 188 or 230; VM 3
1.44g; 16.0mm; 330°Pep

330-337 AD - Urbs Roma Issue - RIC VII Thessalonica 187 or 229 - She-Wolf and Twins ReverseUrbs Roma Issue
Date: 330-333 AD or 336-337 AD
Condition: Very Fine
Size: AE4

Obverse: VRBS ROMA
City of Rome
Bust left; helmeted, wearing imperial cloak

Reverse: no legend
She-wolf standing left, suckling twins, two stars above.
Exergue: SMTSE (Thessalonica mint, fifth officina)

RIC VII Thessalonica 187 or 229; VM 2 or 6a
1.76g; 16.4mm; 180°Pep

336-337 AD - Urbs Roma Issue - RIC VII Thessalonica 229 - She-Wolf and Twins ReverseUrbs Roma Issue
Date: 336-337 AD
Condition: Fair
Size: AE4

Obverse: VRBS ROMA
City of Rome
Bust left; helmeted, wearing imperial cloak

Reverse: no legend
She-wolf standing left, suckling twins, two stars above.
Exergue: SMTSE (Thessalonica mint, fifth officina)

RIC VII Thessalonica 229; VM 6a
1.59g; 16.3mm; 0°Pep

336-337 AD - Urbs Roma Issue - RIC VII Thessalonica 229 - She-Wolf and Twins Reverse - 2nd ExampleUrbs Roma Issue
Date: 336-337 AD
Condition: Fine
Size: AE4

Obverse: VRBS ROMA
City of Rome
Bust left; helmeted, wearing imperial cloak

Reverse: no legend
She-wolf standing left, suckling twins, two stars above.
Exergue: SMTSE (Thessalonica mint, fifth officina)

RIC VII Thessalonica 229; VM 6a
1.47g; 16.1mm; 195°Pep

337-361 AD - Constantius II - RIC VIII Heraclea 090 - FEL TEMP REPARATIOEmperor: Constantius II (r. 337-361 AD)
Date: 351-355 AD
Condition: VF
Size: AE3

Obverse: D N CONSTAN-TIVS P F AVG
Our Lord Constantius Dutiful and Wise Emperor
Bust right; pearl-diademed, draped and cuirassed

Reverse: FEL TEMP - REPARATIO
The restoration of happy times.
Helmeted soldier to left, shield on left arm, spearing falling horseman; shield on ground at right; Horseman wears pointed cap, turns to face soldier, and extends left arm.
Exergue: SMHE (Heraclea mint, fifth officina)

RIC VIII Heraclea 90; VM 100
2.57g; 17.7mm; 0°Pep

337-361 AD - Constantius II - RIC VIII Nicomedia 006 - GLORIA EXERCITVSEmperor: Constantius II (r. 337-361 AD)
Date: 337-340 AD
Condition: VF
Size: AE4

Obverse: D N CONSTAN-TIVS P F AVG
Our Lord Constantius Dutiful and Wise Emperor
Head right; rosette-diademed

Reverse: GLOR-IA EXERC-ITVS
Glory of the Army.
Two helmeted soldiers facing, heads turned towards each other; each holds an inverted spear and rests on a shield; between them, a standard.
Exergue: SMNE (Nicomedia mint, fifth officina)

RIC VIII Nicomedia 6
1.71g; 16.4mm; 330°Pep

337-361 AD - Constantius II - RIC VIII Nicomedia 089 - FEL TEMP REPARATIOEmperor: Constantius II (r. 337-361 AD)
Date: 351-355 AD
Condition: Very Fine
Size: AE3

Obverse: D N CONSTAN-TIVS P F AVG
Our Lord Constantius Dutiful and Wise Emperor
Bust right; laureate, draped and cuirassed
"Î”" behind bust

Reverse: FEL TEMP RE-PARATIO
The restoration of happy times.
Helmeted soldier to left, shield on left arm, spearing falling horseman; shield on ground at right; horseman is beardless and wears cap; he turns to face soldier and extends right arm.
Exergue: SMNE (Nicomedia mint, fifth officina)

RIC VIII Nicomedia 89; VM 90
3.95g; 18.2mm; 345°Pep

47-46 BC Q. Caecilius Metellus Pius ScipioQ METEL SCIPIO IMP
head of Africa right, laur. and clad in elephant's skin, corn-ear before, plough below

EPPIVS LEG F C

Naked Hercules standing facing right, hand on hip resting on club set on rock

North Africa
47-46 BC

Sear 1380/1

Born Publius Cornelius Scipio Nasica. He was adopted by his uncle by marriage and father's second cousin Quintus Caecilius Metellus Pius. He married Aemilia Lepida, daughter of Mamercus Aemilius Lepidus Livianus (son of the Censor Marcus Livius Drusus and wife Cornelia Scipio and adopted by Mamercus Aemilius Lepidus) and wife Claudia (sister of Appius Claudius Pulcher (Senior)), and was the father in law of Pompey the Great, married to his daughter Cornelia Metella, called Quinta Pompeia for being his fifth wife.

He was Tribune in 59 BC and became Consul with Pompey the Great in 52 BC. During Caesar's civil war, he served the party of Pompey and fought against Caesar and Marcus Antonius. In 49 BC he was sent as Proconsul to Syria and the following year he took part in the Battle of Pharsalus, where he commanded the center of the Republican battleline. After Pharsalus he fled to Africa were he commanded an army with Cato the Younger, losing in the Battle of Thapsus. After the defeat he tried to escape but was cornered by the fleet of Publius Sittius when he wrecked the ship as he tried to escape to the Iberian Peninsula, to continue to fight from there. He committed suicide by stabbing himself so he would not fall at the hands of his enemies.

SOLD to Calgary Coin June 20171 commentsJay GT4

66. Elizabeth I.Shilling, 1592-1595; London mint.
Obverse: ELIZAB D G ANG FR ET HIB REGI / Crowned bust, left.
Reverse: POSVI DEV ADIVTOREM MEV / Royal shield over cross.
Mint mark: tun (small barrel) on both sides.
5.95 gm., 29 mm.
North #2014; Seaby #2577.

Dating: Fifth issue = 1582-1600; tun mint mark = 1592-1595.2 commentsCallimachus

AE Pentanummium Justinian I SB 172Obverse: Bust Rt., D.N. IVSTINIANVSPP AV
Reverse: Large E, Officina "cross" to Rt.
Date 543-565 AD
Mint: Constantinople
Sear 172 D.O. 97e.10
13mm 1.27 gm

The cross may have been used to mark the fifth officina instead of repeating the large E. wileyc

AE Pentanummium Justinian I SB 172Obverse: Bust Rt., D.N. IVSTINIANVSPP AV
Reverse: Large E, Officina "cross" to Rt.
Date 543-565 AD
Mint: Constantinople
Sear 172 D.O. 97e.10
13mm 1.83 gm

The cross may have been used to mark the fifth officina instead of repeating the large E. wileyc

AE Pentanummium Justinian I SB 172Obverse: Bust Rt., D.N. IVSTINIANVSPP AV
Reverse: Large E, Officina "cross" to Rt.
Date 543-565 CE
Mint: Constantinople
Sear 172 D.O. 97e.10
12/19mm 2.40 gm

The cross may have been used to mark the fifth officina instead of repeating the large E. wileyc

AE Pentanummium Justinian I SB 172Obverse: Bust Rt., D.N. IVSTINIANVSPP AV
Reverse: Large E, Officina "cross" to Rt.
Date 543-565 CE
Mint: Constantinople
Sear 172 D.O. 97e.10
12mm 2.04 gm

The cross may have been used to mark the fifth officina instead of repeating the large E. wileyc

AE Pentanummium Justinian I SB 172Obverse: Bust Rt., D.N. IVSTINIANVSPP AV
Reverse: Large E, Officina "cross" to Rt.
Date 543-565 AD
Mint: Constantinople
Sear 172 D.O. 97e.10
11mm 2.05 gm

The cross may have been used to mark the fifth officina instead of repeating the large E. wileyc

Ancient Greek Coin Collection From Sixth to First Centuries B.C.Here are the coins I started collecting from 2012 to present. As Aristotle wrote two millennia ago that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts, there is no better way to present a collection of Greeks than to put them all together in a single shot. (Please click on picture for bigger resolution and to show greater details on coins).

Top row from left to right: AEOLIS, MYRINA. AR "Stephanophoric" Tetradrachm. Circa 150 BC**ILLYRIA, DYRRHACHION. AR Stater. Circa 340-280 BC**IONIA, SMYRNA. AR “Stephanophoric” Tetradrachm. Circa 150-145 BC** PELOPONNESOS, SIKYON. AR Stater. Circa 335-330 BC**ATTICA, ATHENS. “New style” Tetradrachm. Circa 169 BC.

Fifth row: BACTRIA, Antialkidas. AR Drachm. Circa 145-135 BC**CAPPADOCIA. Ariobarzanes I AR Drachm. Circa 96-63 BC**THRACE, ABDERA. AR Tetrobol. Circa 360-350 BC**THRACE, CHERSONESSOS. AR Hemidrachm. Circa 386-338 BC.

Fourth row: LUCANIA, METAPONTION. AR Stater. Circa 510-480 BC**THESSALIAN LEAGUE. AR Stater. Circa 196-146 BC**MACEDONIA. Kassander AR Tetradrachm. Circa 317-315 BC**AKARNANIA, LEUKAS. AR Stater. Circa 320-280 BC**PAMPHYLIA, ASPENDOS. AR Stater. Circa 330-300 BC.

Third row: SELEUKID SYRIA. Antiochos VI AR Drachm. Circa 144-143 BC**LUCANIA, METAPONTION. AR Stater. Circa 340-330 BC**LUCANIA, VELIA. AR Stater. Circa 280 BC**PARTHIA. Mithradates II AR Drachm. Circa 121-91 BC.

Second row: MYSIA, PERGAMMON. Eumenes I AR Tetradrachm. Circa 263-241 BC**CILICIA, TARSOS. Mazaios AR Stater. Circa 361-334 BC**THRACE. Lysimachos AR Tetradrachm. Circa 297-281 BC**CILICIA, TARSOS. Pharnabazos AR Stater. Circa 380-374 BC**THRACE, MARONEIA. AR Tetradrachm. Mid 2nd cent. BC.

Bottom row: SELEUKID SYRIA. Antiochos Euergetes VII AR Tetradrachm. Circa 138-129 BC**MACEDON. Alexander III AR Tetradrachm. Circa 325-315 BC**CILICIA, AIGEAI. AR Tetradrachm. Circa 30 BC**PAIONIA. Patraos AR Tetradrachm. Circa 335-315 BC**PAMPHYLIA, SIDE. AR Tetradrachm. Circa 155-36 BC.
10 commentsJason T

Antiochos XII 87-84 BCAntiochus XII 87–86/5 BC, Damascus mint Ae 22mm, Weight 7.1g. Obv: Beardless diademed bust of Antiochus XII right. Rev: ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΑΝΤΙΟΧΟΥ ΕΠΙΦΑΝΟΥΣ ΦΙΛΟΠΑΤΟΡΟΣ ΚΑΛΛΙΝΙΚΟΥ – Tyche standing left with palm branch in right hand and cornucopia in left, dotted border. Reference: SC 2, 2476; SNG Israel I, Nos. 2900–2902. SPAER 2897

Antiochus XII Dionysus (Epiphanes/Philopator/Callinicus), a ruler of the Greek Seleucid kingdom who reigned 87–84 BC, was the fifth son of Antiochus VIII Grypus and Tryphaena to take up the diadem. He succeeded his brother Demetrius III Eucaerus as separatist ruler of the southern parts of the last remaining Seleucid realms, basically Damascus and its surroundings.

Antiochus initially gained support from Ptolemaic forces and was the last Seleucid ruler of any military reputation, even if it was on a local scale. He made several raids into the territories of the Jewish Hasmonean kings, and tried to check the rise of the Nabataean Arabs. A battle against the latter turned out to be initially successful, until the young king was caught in a melee and killed by an Arab soldier. Upon his death the Syrian army fled and mostly perished in the desert. Soon after, the Nabateans conquered Damascus.

Antiochus' titles - apart from Dionysos - mean respectively (God) Manifest, Father-loving and Beautiful Victor. The last Seleucid kings often used several epithets on their coins.ddwau

Antoninus Pius, RIC 775, Sestertius of AD 147 (Fifth Donative)Æ Sestertius (22.9g, Ø33mm, 12h). Rome mint. Struck AD 147.
Obv.: ANTONINVS AVG PIVS P P TR P COS IIII, laureate head of Antoninus Pius facing right.
Rev.: LIBERALITAS (around) S C (in ex.), Antoninus Pius seated left, on platform; in front Liberalitas standing, holding account board and cornucopiae; below citizen standing right, holding out fold of toga.
RIC 775(R); Cohen 511 (20Fr.); BMC 1693; Strack 995; Banti 214 (6 spec.); RHC 128:54a.
Charles S

Antonius - Legionary Coinage, Legio V AlaudaeObv. [ANT AVG] IIIVIR RPC, galley right, mast with banners at prow;
Rev. LEG V, legionary eagle between two standards;
18mm, 3,40 gr.
Patrae, military mint of Antony, 31 B.C.
References: RRC544, RSC 32, Sear 1479

Legio V Alaudae was the first legion to be raised from non-Romans. These men were transalpine Gauls, enrolled by Caesar in 52 B.C, and took to wearing lark's feathers on their helmets - hence their epithet, Alaudae, "the Larks". The Fifth was long believed to have been destroyed in, or dissolved after the Batavian Revolt of 69/70 AD, where they participated with the rest of the Rhine legions and the Treveri and Lingones in the uprising. However, epigraphic material now indicates the presence of the Fifth on the Danube in Flavian times. Records disappear again soon afterward, and it may have been lost in the Dacian Wars under Domitian. Syltorian

Apollonia Pontica Topalov 45i - Silver Drachm450-424 or 410/404 B.C.
2.77 gm, 14.5 mm
Obv: Gorgon head facing, snaky ringlets circle face.
Rev.: Anchor; A to left, crayfish to right
Topalov Apollonia p. 588, 45; p.348, 9
Sear 1655var; BMC Mysia p.9, 11

Topalov Type: "Full-Face Gorgon's Head – Upright Anchor, a crab on the right, the letter A on the left or the letter A on the right and a crab on the left" Main Issue (450-424 or 410/404 B.C.)
Obv.: Full-face Gorgon's head in the classical Attic style. Gorgon's features are noble in conformity with the Attic manner of portraying her and Gorgon has more human hair in addition to the snakes.
Rev.: Upright anchor with large flukes, the letter A on one side, a crab as an additional symbol viewed from above on the other side. The image in a concave circle.

My fifth coin of this reverse die - appears to be an earlier strike when compared to the others as the crack is not as severe. Jaimelai

Archaic Gorgon Drachm, Olbia or Parion (?)Greek (Archaic). Black Sea Region, Olbia (or Mysia, Parion?) AR Drachm (3.80g, 14mm), c. 500-450 BCE.
Obv: Facing head of Gorgoneion, high forehead with bumps atop, open cavernous mouth with protruding tongue, large ears, and bulging eyes.
Rev: Irregular incuse pattern within square.
Ref: SNG BNF (Paris) 1352; see also 1351, 1343 (obv). Cf. SNG Cop 256; Asyut 612; Rosen 525
Prov: Ex-Savoca 28th Blue (26 Jan 2020), 2006 (part).
Coin-in-hand video (25s): [LINK].
Notes: Recently the traditional attribution to Parion has been challenged, Olbia increasingly gaining adherents.

Most references fail to distinguish between this variety (SNG BN 1351–52), which is rarer and considerably more artistic and desirable than the cruder, flatter style (SNG BN 1344–50). This type is also appreciably heavier, usually 3.75-4.0g, as opposed to 3.2-3.4g or less for the other. Sear (1979, GCV2: 3917, 3918) identified the heavier (c. 4gm) as a 3/4 Drachm and the smaller (c. 2.6gm) as a Hemidrachm. Both are dated similarly (late sixth or early fifth cent.) but should be viewed as separate types. The description above includes mention of larger mouth, eyes, and ears, along with high forehead and what appear to be bumps or horns in place of hair. The smaller, cruder style has long nose, narrower mouth, closer ears, and/or lower hairline with curly hair.
[ALT: Parium]Curtis JJ

Artaxerxes II - Darius IIIPersian Empire, Lydia, Anatolia, Artaxerxes II - Darius III, c. 375 - 340 B.C., Silver siglos, 5.490 g, maximum diameter 15.1 mm, die axis 0, Carradice Type IV (late) C, 46 ff.; BMC Arabia 172 ff.; SNG Kayhan 1031; SGCV II 4683; Rosen 674; Klein 763; Carradice Price p. 77 and pl. 20, 387 ff.

Following Darius II came Artaxerxes II (called Mnemon), during whose reign Egypt revolted and relations with Greece deteriorated. His reign (dated as from 404 to 359 B.C.E.) was followed by that of his son Artaxerxes III (also called Ochus), who is credited with some 21 years of rule (358-338 B.C.E.) and is said to have been the most bloodthirsty of all the Persian rulers. His major feat was the reconquest of Egypt.
This was followed by a two-year rule for Arses and a five-year rule for Darius III (Codomannus), during whose reign Philip of Macedonia was murdered (336 B.C.E.) and was succeeded by his son Alexander. In 334 B.C.E. Alexander began his attack on the Persian Empire.

Siglos was the Greek transliteration of the Semitic denomination ""shekel"" which became a standard weight unit for silver in the Achaemenid Persian Empire after the conquest of Babylonia by Cyrus the Great in 539 B.C. Ironically, silver sigloi seem to have been struck primarily in the western part of the empire and the standard went on to influence several Greek civic and royal coinages in the fifth and fourth centuries B.C. There is endless debate about whether the figure on the obverse represents the Persian Great King or an anonymous royal hero, but since the Greeks regularly referred to the parallel gold denomination as the ""daric"" it seems clear that at least some contemporaries considered it a depiction of the king. Of course, whether this is what the Persian authorities intended or an example of interpretatio Graeca must remain an open question.4 commentsNemonater

Athena and her owl In Greek mythology, a Little Owl baby (Athene noctua) traditionally represents or accompanies Athena, the virgin goddess of wisdom, or Minerva, her syncretic incarnation in Roman mythology. Because of such association, the bird often referred to as the "owl of Athena" or the "owl of Minerva" has been used as a symbol of knowledge, wisdom, perspicacity and erudition throughout the Western world.
The reasons behind the association of Athena and the owl are lost in time. Some mythographers, such as David Kinsley and Martin P. Nilsson suggest that she may descend from a Minoan palace goddess associated with birds and Marija Gimbutas claim to trace Athena's origins as an Old European bird and snake goddess.
On the other hand, Cynthia Berger theorizes about the appeal of some characteristics of owls such as their ability to see in the dark to be used as symbol of wisdom while others, such as William Geoffrey Arnott, propose a simple association between founding myths of Athens and the significant number of Little Owls in the region (a fact noted since antiquity by Aristophanes in The Birds and Lysistrata).
In any case, the city of Athens seems to have adopted the owl as proof of allegiance to its patron virgin goddess, which according to a popular etiological myth reproduced on the West pediment of the Parthenon, secured the favor of its citizens by providing them with a more enticing gift than Poséidon.
Owls were commonly reproduced by Athenians in vases, weights and prize amphoras for the Panathenaic Games. The owl of Athena even became the common obverse of the Athenian tetradrachms after 510 BC and according to Philochorus, the Athenian tetradrachm was known as glaux throughout the ancient world and "owl" in present day numismatics. They were not, however, used exclusively by them to represent Athena and were even used for motivation during battles by other Greek cities, such as in the victory of Agathocles of Syracuse over the Carthaginians in 310 B.C. in which owls flying through the ranks were interpreted as Athena’s blessing or in the Battle of Salamis, chronicled in Plutarch's biography of Themistocles.
(Source: Wikipédia)
1 comments

Athena ParthenosAttica, Athens, ca. 264-267 AD, Æ 21
Helmeted head of Athena right. / AÎ˜HN-AIÎ©N Athena Parthenos standing left holding Nike, shield and spear.
Kroll, Agora, 284; Sv-pl 82, 5ff; SNG Copenhagen 384.
(21 mm, 4.98 g, 6h)

The statue of Athena depicted on the reverse of this coin is a representation of Phidias cult statue of Athena in the Parthenon on the acropolis of Athens. The statue is stood in the Parthenon until the Fifth century AD, when it was destroyed by fire.

This is amongst the last of the “Roman series” of coins issued from the mint in Athens. In 267 AD Germanic raiders sacked the city bringing to an end the operations of the Athenian mint.

Athena. Classical Beauty Fifth century BCc 431/ 415 BC
"Archaic style" head of Athena, wearing crested helmet ornamented with olive leaves and floral scroll, on Athen tetradrachm

I consider this coin as historical to the extent that athenian owl tetradrachm was the first widely used international coinage.

Here, all the coin :
http://www.forumancientcoins.com/gallery/displayimage.php?album=lastup&cat=21343&pos=03 comments

Augustus. 27 BC-AD 14. AR Quinarius (12mm, 1.81 g, 10h). Emerita mint. P. Carisius, legatus pro praetore. Struck circa 25-23 BC. Augustus. 27 BC-AD 14. AR Quinarius (12mm, 1.81 g, 10h). Emerita mint. P. Carisius, legatus pro praetore. Struck circa 25-23 BC. Bare head right / Victory standing right, crowning trophy; dagger and curved sword at base. RIC I 1a; RSC 386. Joe Geranio Collection

In 23 BC, Carisius completed the construction of the city of Augusta Emerita in Lusitania, begun by Augustus for the veterans (emeriti) of the fifth and seventh legions.Joe Geranio

Bardas Parsakoutenos, magistros and doux of Anatolikon. Lead seal c. AD 970-990 10291|Bardas Parsakoutenos, magistros and doux of Anatolikon. Lead seal c. AD 970-990
Star with six rays ending in something resembling arrows; circular invocational legend + KE ROHÎ˜EI TW CW Î”UÎ›W
+RAPÎ”|MAÎ“ICTP,|S Î”UÎž TWN| ANATOÎ›’K|TWN OÎ AT|O Î APCK’ in six lines
30mm; 16.24gram.

Before turning to the identification of the seal’s owner, there are a number of issues to be addressed about the reverse legend. Up to the fourth line, all is clear. A nominative legend listing Bardas’ dignity of magistros and his office of doux ton Anatolikon. The last line has his family name Pars(a)k(outenos). The fifth line, however, does not make sense. It might be an engraver’s error, repeating TWN of the third line and O Î AP of the last line. This explanation, even though unelegant, has to do for now, unless an otherwise unknown office or command is meant.
The seal’s owner is probably the person named in Leon Diakonos (VII.1) as one of three brothers Parsakoutenos, who backed Bardas Phokas the younger during his rebellion of AD 970 against John I Tzimiskes. These brothers, Theodore, Bardas and Nikephoros took their name, according to Leon, “after the city of their birth, Parsakouta”, which is a village on the road between Nymphaion and Sardis in the Thrakesian theme (p. 162, n.4 of the English edition). Leon adds that the Parsakoutenoi were cousins of Bardas Phokas and that they held the rank of patrikios and adds that they ‘mustered troops with great zeal’. Skylitzes (291.13-14) adds that Theodore and Nikephoros were the sons of the patrikios Theodoulos Parsakoutenos, and were exarchs in Cappadocia (p. 162, n.3). The rebellion, however, was extinguished by the skilled general Bardas Skleros, and Bardas Phokas was temporarily imprisoned.
Leon Diakonos once again mentions Bardas Parsakoutenos in book X, chapter 7, during the revolt of Bardas Skleros. He is now called magistros, a higher rank than patrikios, which implies that his earlier allegience to a usurper had not frustrated his political career. In the late 970’s, Skleros conquered large parts of Asia and was threatening to blockade the Dardanelles, hindering merchants and grain transports to the capital. In the end, he was defeated by Bardas Phokas on 24th of March 979 and fled to Muslim territory. But before his final defeat on the battleground, according to Leon Diakonos, his fortress at Abydos was seized, his army destroyed, and fire was set to his fleet of triremes by an imperial fleet of fireships dispatched from the capital under the command of Bardas Parsakoutenos. The seal, listing Bardas’ dignity as magistros, not patrikios as attested in AD 970, might well be from this period.
1 commentsGert

BCC B40 Justinian I FollisByzantine Period
Justinian I 527-565 CE
AE Follis, Constantinople
Obv: DN IVSTINIANVS PP AVC
Bust facing, in helmet with plume
and diadem, cuirassed, holding
globus cruciger and shield; cross
to right. Rev: Large M, with cross
above, ANNO to left, and date,
X/U/III? to rt. (RY 18=544/5)
Below, E? In exergue: CON?
36.5mm. 14.45gm. (broken) Axis:180
SB 163 fifth officina; DOC I 43f?
Surface find Caesarea Maritima, 1970's
J. Berlin Caesarea Collectionv-drome

BCC LR72 Constantius II Unlisted in RICLate Roman
Constantius II 337-361CE
Obv: DN CONSTAN-TIVS P F AVG
Rosette-diademed, draped, and
cuirassed bust right.
Rev: FEL TEMP REPARATIO
Helmeted soldier standing left
spearing falling horseman.
In exergue: ALE Δ
AE 18mm 2.74gm. Axis:330
From the fifth series, issued 353-356CE.
Unlisted in RIC. Similar to RIC VIII 80
and 82 Alexandria, but with bust type D5,
rosette diadem. Surface find, Caesarea
Maritima, 1975.v-drome

BCC LT89 Lead Tessera Three GracesLead Tessera
Obv:Three Graces standing.
Rev: Blank
Clipped. The Three Graces is a
well-known motif from gems and tesserae.
This is the fifth example from the current
assemblage, all from Caesarea Maritima.
12.5 x 8.0 x 1.25mm. 0.71gm.
cf. BCC LT19, LT20, LT37, and LT87
also Hamburger #64
Surface find Caesarea Maritima, 1977
J. Berlin Caesarea Collectionv-drome

BCC MED3 John of BrienneCrusader - Medieval
John of Brienne 1210-1225CE
Damietta-Jerusalem-Acre?
Obv: +IOHES(three vertical dots)REX(three vertical dots)
Cross with two annulets.
Rev: +DAMI[.]ATA
Facing portait, crown with
three pellets, hair curls out.
AR (or Billon) 17x16mm 0.65g Axis: 60
(Metcalf 203? or 204?)
Damietta, in Egypt, was captured by John of Brienne in 1219 during the
Fifth Crusade. v-drome

Belt terminal, Silver, called "heart shaped" belt terminals, AR #001Belt terminal, Silver, called "heart shaped" belt terminals, AR #001
type: Silver belt terminal, called "heart shaped" belt terminals; of the Zagreb Museum believes that they represent bollocks (testicles).
size: 26x31mm,
weight: 8,27g,
date: 4th. century ( cc. 330 - 380 but into fifth century too.) A.D.,
ref: ???,
distribution: ???,
Q-001quadrans

Burnt Hoard Coin 1 reverseAPOL( )AVG. Fifth letter could be L or I. Appears to have Apollo standing right, cloak waving behind. Not a type I can find for either Trebonianus Gallus or Gallienus.SC

CALABRIA, Taras. Circa 450-440 BC. AR Nomos7.96g (9h).
Obv: Youth on dolphin left, raising right hand; octopus below, Π in right field.
Rx: Naked man on horseback riding left, holding reins and whip. Fischer-Bossert 194a (this coin, illustrated on pl. 11).
Vlasto 272 (same dies). Obverse a bit weakly struck. Nicely toned. VF

Ex NAC-CNG 40, 4 December 1996, lot 581. Ex Athos Moretti Collection 102. Ex Hesperia Art Bulletin 34 (1970s, but undated), lot 7

The horseman type made its first appearance on the coins of Tarentum in the mid-fifth century BC. Before then there had been only one figural type on Tarentine coins, usually the mythical dolphin rider. At first, the horseman was confined to the reverse and just supplemented the dolphin rider on the obverse. At the end of the fifth century, however, the two types switched sides, the horseman taking over the obverse and the dolphin rider retreating to the reverse. Since the horseman was never equipped with any of the attributes of a mythical figure, it seems likely that the type merely reflected the city's pride in its cavalry and its devotion to equestrian contestsLeo

CALABRIA, Taras. Circa 510-500 BC. AR Incuse Nomos8,03 g; 24 mm; 11 h
Phalanthos riding dolphin right, extending left arm, holding dolphin with right hand; crowning Nike to left; shell below
Rv. Incuse of obverse, but ethnic in relief.
HNItaly 826; Vlasto 68. The first issue of Tarentine coinage. Very rare. Lightly toned and in fine archaic style, extremely fine.

I got this great piece from an auction last fall and it was the most important acquisition for me.
Taras incuse stater is more compact and thicker than Kaulonia and Sybaris incuse stater. It was dibble (or triple) striked and the details were hard to detect. We can found slight trace on the Taras’s head and his left hand. I believe this is the reason that the pattern looks very sharp while the high points (such as dolphin’s eyes and tail ) are flat.

Dating from the late sixth century, this nomos shows Phalantus naked, riding a dolphin, expressing a motif destined for popular success in the coins of Taras: the dolphin brings Phalantus safe and sound across the sea (also evidenced by the presence of a pecten in the lower field of the coin), and conveys him to Italy, according to the dictate of the Delphic oracle. We learn from the Periegesis of Greece of Pausania (II cent. A.D.) that statues of Taras, Phalantus, and Phalantus’ dolphin (cf. Paus. X 13) were among the votive offerings (anathemata) presented to Delphi by the Tarantines with a fifth of the spoils taken from the Peucetii and the Iapygians. The reverse has the same representation as the obverse, in incuse, using a well-known technique of early coinage that was deployed at many other Southern Italian cities besides Taras1 commentsLeo

Campania, Hyrianoi. (Circa 405-400 BC)Fourrée Nomos (20.5mm, 6.33 g)

Obverse: Head of Athena wearing crested helmet decorated with olive-wreath and owl.

Reverse: Man-faced bull standing r. on exergual line, YDINA (retrograde) above. YDINA is in Oscan script and means "Urina", another name for Hyria.

For prototype, cf. HN Italy 539.

The city, named both Nola (new city) and Hyria (which Nola likely arose from), was situated in the midst of the plain lying to the east of Mount Vesuvius, 21 miles south of Capua. While Neapolis was the focus of minting in this general area, Neapolitan designs were adopted by several new series of coins, some of them bearing legends in Oscan script referring to communities that are otherwise unknown (such as the Hyrianoi). Complex die linking between these different series indicate, at the very least, close cooperation in minting. Didrachms sharing motives (Athena/man headed bull), but with legends referring to different issuing communities on the reverse, testify to the integration into a common material culture in Campania in the late fifth to early fourth century. The die sharing and use of legends in Oscan script allow for an interpretation of these issues as indigenous coinages struck in the Campanian mileu.

The influence of Athens on Hyria can be seen not only in the great number of Greek vases and other articles discovered at the old city but by the adoption of the head of Pallas with the Athenian owl as their obverse type.

This particular coin is an ancient forgery, which were quite common in Magna Graecia and typically of much higher quality than fourrees produced elsewhere. In ON THE FORGERIES OF PUBLIC MONEY [J. Y. Akerman
The Numismatic Chronicle and Journal of the Numismatic Society, Vol. 6 (APRIL, 1843–JANUARY, 1844), pp. 57-82] it is noted that ancient forgeries tend "to be most abundantly found to belong to the most luxurious, populous, and wealthy cities of Magna Graecia...Nor is it surprising that the luxury and vice of those celebrated cities should have led to crime; and among crimes, to the forging of money, as furnishing the means for the more easy gratification of those sensual indulgences, which were universally enjoyed by the rich in those dissipated and wealthy cities. Many of the coins of the places in question having been originally very thickly coated, or cased with silver (called by the French, fourrees), pass even now among collectors without suspicion."1 commentsNathan P

CAMPGATE, Constantine I, Nicomedia RIC 90Emperor: Constantine I (r. 307-337 AD)
Date: 324-325 AD
Condition: Very Fine
Size: AE3

Obverse: CONSTAN-TINVS AVG
Emperor Constantine
Bust right; laureate

Reverse: PROVIDEN-TIAE AVGG
The Emperors have foresight.
Camp gate, two turrets, no doors, star above, six stone layers.
Exergue: SMNE (Nicomedia mint, fifth officina)

RIC VII Nicomedia 90; VM 85
2.41g; 19.3mm; 330°Pep

Campgate: Valentiniano II, zecca di Tessalonica I officina, Beasley collectionValentinian II, AE4 (383-388, Fifth Period), Thessalonica mint, I Officina
AE, 12mm, 1.75 gr, S
D/ D N VALENTINIANVS [P F AVG], pearl-diademed, draped, cuirassed bust right
R/ [GLORIA REI_]PVBLICE, Campgate with four rows, two turrets, no doors, no star above, top and bottom rows empty blocks
A in left field, TES in ex
RIC IX, 62(a)2
Provenienza: collezione Berardengo, Roma Italia (26 agosto 2010, numero archivio 2), ex Bill Puetz & Barry Murphy collection - Vcoins (Gainesville, Missouri Usa, 2010), ex Zachary Beasley collection of camp gates (prima del 2010) paolo

Caracalla 198-217 denariusOb. ANTONINVS PIVS AVG BRIT, laureate head right
Rev. PM TR P XV COS III PP, Serapis standing left holding right hand high & transverse scepter.
Ref. RSC 195, RIC 193
Mint Rome

ANTONIUS PIUS AUGUSTUS BRITANNUS - Antonius Pius is your Emperor and Augustus and has conquered the Britains
PONTIFEX MAXIMUS TRIBUNICIA POTESTAS XV CONSUL III PATER PATRIAE - High priest, Tribune of the People for the fiftheenth time, Consul for the third time and father of the country

-:Bacchus:- Bacchus

Caracalla, 198–217 CEAR denarius, Rome, 202 CE; 19.4mm, 3.13g. BMCRE 396, RIC 68, RSC 686. Obv: ANTONINVS PIVS AVG; draped, laureate bust right. Rx: VOT SVSC DEC PON TR P V COS; Caracalla standing left, sacrificing out of a patera over tripod, and holding a book.

Notes: Special Issue (Decennatia) of the joint reign of Septimius Severus and Caracalla on its fifth anniversary; refers to vows made for ten years of prosperous rule. Rare; fewer than twenty specimens in the hoards studied by Philip V. Hill (nine in Reka Devnia).1 commentsBritannicus

Caracalla, AE 25 Diassaria. A C . M . AVR . ANTONINVS
Bust laureate, draped, cuirassed, right, seen from behind
MVNICI STO/BEN
Nike-Nemesis advancing left with wreath and palm, wheel at her feet.
V6, R unlisted
This is the fifth known reverse die paired with this obverse.whitetd49

China Wang Mang AE Cash.CHINA. Xin Dynasty.
Emperor Wang Mang AD 9-23.
AE Cash, 23mm, 2.8g.
Fifth reform, with inner rim; struck AD 14-23.
Obv.:(wealth coin).
Rev.: blank, as made.
Reference: Hartill #9.32.
Ex-Alex FishmanPaul R3

Cilicia, Tarsos, Syennesis III, ca. 425-400 BC, AR Stater Syennesis on horseback right, wearing Persian headdress and cloak.
Nude hoplite kneeling left, wearing crested Corinthian helmet, holding spear and shield.

SNG Paris-226, SNG Levante-61.

(20 mm, 8.3 g, 1h).
Harlan J. Berk 181, November 2012, 393.

The depiction of the hoplite in a defensive posture on the reverse of this coin is most evocative of its time, notwithstanding the miserable corroded state of the coin itself, which is a type of some rarity. The initial reaction to the typology of this coin might be one of surprise at the apparently incongruous pairing of the image of a Persian dynast on horseback on the obverse with that of a Greek hoplite on the reverse. The explanation is to be found in the written historical record. The coin dates to the period of Xenophon's anabasis. Xenophon refers to the role of Syennesis (III) and his wife Epyaxa in the revolt of Cyrus the Younger, in whose employ as a mercenary Xenophon found himself. In view of the historical record left by Xenophon, the pairing of the motifs of a Persian dynast, or tributary king, on one side of this coin with a Greek hoplite on the other now seems particularly poignant, rather than incongruous. During the fifth and fourth centuries BC, the Persian dynasts routinely employed Greek hoplite mercenaries in their armies, so that the reverse typology may simply be a reflection of this reality on coinage destined perhaps for mercenary pay.

All the hereditary kings of Cilicia were termed Syennesis, a royal title more than an actual name. As described in Xenophon’s Anabasis, Syennesis (III) under the influence of his wife and queen, Epyaxa, supported the unsuccessful revolt of Cyrus the Younger against his brother Artaxerxes II in 401 BC. As much as anything this action appears to have been motivated by the desire to prevent Cryrus’ army pillaging and looting during its passage through Cilicia. Syennesis’ support included a body of troops commanded by one of his sons. However, he sent another son, accompanied by a report on Cyrus plans and army to Artaxerxes, so that whatever the outcome he might be aligned with the winning side. Syennesis' actions, however, did little to save Cilicia's autonomy. After 400 BC it became an ordinary satrapy of the Persian Empire, rather than an independent tributary or vassal state, and the role of the hereditary king of Cilicia ceased, replaced by a satrap who was appointed by the Persian king, most frequently a relative of the latter.
n.igma

Claudius II Gothicus Potin Tetradrachm of Alexandria & George V FarthingClaudius II Gothicus Potin Tetradrachm of Alexandria

Claudius II Gothicus. 268–270 AD.

Alexandria. 269 AD.

21mm., 11.31g.

VT K KLAVDIOC CEB, laureate, draped, cuirassed bust right.

L-B (Year 2 = 269 AD) to right and left of eagle standing right, wreath in beak, palm branch over shoulder.

References:

Holed and linked to 1 Farthing - George V

1916

Uncrowned bust of King George V facing left, legend around

GEORGIUS V DEI GRA:BRITT:OMN:REX FID:DEF:IND:IMP (George the Fifth by the Grace of God King of all the Britons Defender of the Faith Emperor of India)

Engraver: Edgar Bertram MacKennal

Seated figure of Britannia facing right, trident in left hand, shield with Union flag in right hand, denomination above, sea behind, date in exergue. FARTHING. 1916.

Engraver: Leonard Charles Wyon

AAJDRL

Constantine II (Caesar, 317-337 A.D.; Augustus 337-340 A.D.) (Flavius Claudius Constantinus)RIC VII Siscia 220

Siscia mint, fifth officina, struck 330-335 A.D.

AE3, 118-19 mm.

Obv: CONSTANTINVS IVN NOB C, laureate, cuirassed bust right.

Rev: GLOR-IA EXERC-ITVS, Two soldiers standing beside two standards (o on banners), epsilon SIS in exergue.

RIC rarity c3
Stkp

CONSTANTINOPLE 1 E 1 CONSEThe standard fifth workshop for this issue, the 11th workshop also produced the type.
Ex-Mattingley collection. Adrianus

Egypt, BabylonThis elegant red and white banded brickwork is about all that remains on the surface to mark the Roman fortress of ‘Babylon in Egypt’. The Roman structure was started during the reign of Trajan on the site of an earlier Egyptian stronghold which marked the border between Lower and Middle Egypt. The fortress remained an important strategic outpost down through Byzantine times. In the fifth century the Legio XIII Gemina was stationed here. During the Arab conquest of Egypt in 640/1, Babylon endured a seven month siege before its capture.

These days most of the extensive Babylon complex lies buried under the streets of the Christian quarter of Old Cairo. The nearby medieval Coptic Orthodox Church of the Virgin Mary is popularly known as the ‘Hanging Church’ because its nave was built suspended over two towers of the Roman fort.
1 commentsAbu Galyon

Euboia, Histiaia, AG One-fifth Teradrachm or Tetrobol, ΙΣΤΙΑΕΩΝ, 3rd. centuries B.C., #1Euboia, Histiaia, AG One-fifth Teradrachm or Tetrobol, ΙΣΤΙΑΕΩΝ, 3rd. centuries B.C., #1
avers:- Head of nymph Histiaia right, wreathed with vine, hair rolled.
revers:- ΙΣΤΙΑΕΩΝ , Nymph Histiaia seated right on galley, stern ornamented with shield.
exe: -/-//--, diameter: 13-14 mm, weight: 1,40g, axis: 1h,
mint: Euboia, Histiaia, date: 3rd. centuries B.C., ref: Sear-2498,
Q-001quadrans

Euboia, Histiaia, AG One-fifth Teradrachm or Tetrobol, ΙΣΤΙΑΕΩΝ, 3rd. centuries B.C., #2Euboia, Histiaia, AG One-fifth Teradrachm or Tetrobol, ΙΣΤΙΑΕΩΝ, 3rd. centuries B.C., #2
avers:- Head of nymph Histiaia right, wreathed with vine, hair rolled.
revers:- ΙΣΤΙΑΕΩΝ , Nymph Histiaia seated right on galley, stern ornamented with shield.
exe: -/-//--, diameter: 13mm, weight: 1,14g, axis: 0h,
mint: Euboia, Histiaia, date: 3rd. centuries B.C., ref: Sear-2498,
Q-002quadrans

Euboia, Histiaia, AG One-fifth Teradrachm or Tetrobol, ΙΣΤΙΑΕΩΝ, 3rd. centuries B.C., #3Euboia, Histiaia, AG One-fifth Teradrachm or Tetrobol, ΙΣΤΙΑΕΩΝ, 3rd. centuries B.C., #3
avers:- Head of nymph Histiaia right, wreathed with vine, hair rolled.
revers:- ΙΣΤΙΑΕΩΝ , Nymph Histiaia seated right on galley, stern ornamented with shield.
exe: -/-//--, diameter: 12,5-13,5mm, weight: 1,17g, axis: 0h,
mint: Euboia, Histiaia, date: 3rd. centuries B.C., ref: Sear-2498,
Q-003quadrans

Euboia, Histiaia, AG One-fifth Teradrachm or Tetrobol, ΙΣΤΙΑΕΩΝ, 3rd. centuries B.C., #4Euboia, Histiaia, AG One-fifth Teradrachm or Tetrobol, ΙΣΤΙΑΕΩΝ, 3rd. centuries B.C., #4
avers:- Head of nymph Histiaia right, wreathed with vine, hair rolled.
revers:- ΙΣΤΙΑΕΩΝ , Nymph Histiaia seated right on galley, stern ornamented with shield.
exe: -/-//--, diameter: 12-13mm, weight: 0,75g, axis: 2h,
mint: Euboia, Histiaia, date: 3rd. centuries B.C., ref: Sear-2498,
Q-004quadrans

Euboia, Histiaia, AG One-fifth Teradrachm or Tetrobol, ΙΣΤΙΑΕΩΝ, 3rd. centuries B.C., #5Euboia, Histiaia, AG One-fifth Teradrachm or Tetrobol, ΙΣΤΙΑΕΩΝ, 3rd. centuries B.C., #5
avers:- Head of nymph Histiaia right, wreathed with vine, hair rolled.
revers:- ΙΣΤΙΑΕΩΝ , Nymph Histiaia seated right on galley, stern ornamented with shield.
exe: -/-//--, diameter: 13,5mm, weight: 0,74g, axis: 2h,
mint: Euboia, Histiaia, date: 3rd. centuries B.C., ref: Sear-2498,
Q-005quadrans

Gallienus (Publius Licinius Egnatius Gallienus) (253-268 A.D.)SRCV 10199, RIC V S-177, Göbl 728b, CT 1361, Van Meter 49/1

BI Antoninianus, 2.51 g., 20.75 mm. max., 0°

Rome mint, fifth officina, tenth emission, struck during solo reign (260-268 A.D.), in 267-268 A.D.

Obv: GALLIENVS AVG, radiate head right.

Rev: DIANAE CONS AVG, doe walking right, looking left. E in exergue.

Issued in 267-268 A.D. to commemorate vows to Diana invoking her protection against the revolt of Aureolus. As goddess of the hunt, Diana is often portrayed as a huntress accompanied by a deer.

RIC rarity C, Van Meter VB1.Stkp

Gallienus (Publius Licinius Egnatius Gallienus) (253-268 A.D.)SRCV 10368, RIC V-S 585 var. (grape-bunch and without E) or 287 var. (different obverse legend, same reverse), Göbl 583a, Van Meter 278.

BI Antoninianus, 2.77 g., 18.62 mm. max., 270°

Siscia mint (per RIC), Rome mint (per Göbl and Sear), fifth officina, ninth emission, struck during solo reign (260-268 A.D.), in 265-267 A.D.

Obv: GALLIENVS AVG, radiate head right.

Rev: VBERITAS [AVG], Uberitas standing facing, head left, holding purse in right hand and cornucopia in left, E to right.

Uberitas was the personification of fruitfulness, primarily agricultural fertility.

Although this obverse legend is not listed in RIC for the type, there were over 400 examples in the Cunetio hoard.

RIC rarity C, Van Meter VB1.Stkp

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