Jim Phelps
James B. Phelps, 45, of Mesa passed away on March 27, 2013. He was born
in Hammond, Indiana on January 15th, 1968 to Roy and Carolyn Phelps. Jim
enjoyed ancient antiquities, Shao Lin Kung Fu, and genealogy and volunteered at Friends for Life. Jim had a strong commitment to organ donation, including the gift of a kidney for his father. Jim 's wishes were honored by providing further organ donation after his death. Jim is survived by his wife, Kimberly Phelps, parents Roy and Carolyn Phelps, sister Sherri Phelps, and many loving family members. Jim was preceded in death by his
brother David, grandparents Harold and Cecelia Boggs, and Orville Alva
and Gladys Beulah Johnson. Jim will be remembered with a Celebration of
Life gathering on Saturday, April 13, 2013 at 2:00 PM, at First
Methodist Church of Gilbert, 331 S Cooper, Gilbert, AZ.
Jim 's website, which was awarded the FORVM Award for Numismatic Excellence, has disappeared from the internet. We have copied parts of it archived by the Wayback Machine: http://web.archive.org/web/20131019200945/http://lunalucifera.com/index.html. We hope that Jim is happy to see an effort to preserve and share his work and memory.
Jim 's Virtual Coin Collection
Coins in my collection, and related research:
The Zoo of Gallienus - The center point of this site, and the primary focus of my collection.
The Jupiter Goat/Elk DebateThe Centaur 's Burden - Trophy or Rudder?
The Liber Pater Coins
Other Coins
Bronze Coins of Julian the Philosopher
Dated Coins of Septimius Severus
The Most Beautiful Coin Type (one man 's opinion!) - The coins of Venus Victrix
Dual-bust Coins of Vabalathus of PalmyraJuba II of Numidia and Cleopatra Selene of Mauretania
Reference material:
Caveat Emptor! - Modern Fakes Found in Uncleaned Lots!
Multiple examples of a Fake Hadrian Aegyptos Denarius
Some Descendants of Marc Antony -
A genealogy chart
A Brief Chronology of the Roman Tetrarchies
A bronze coin of Ptolemy IX Soter II (116-80 BCE), minted in Cyprus.
Found in a group of uncleaned coins.
|
Ancient Coin Collector 's Guild
Preserving our freedom to collect |
|
FORVM Award for
Numismatic Excellence |
I 've collected coins since I was very young having been started by my
grandmother giving me old coins, and a "penny book" of Jefferson
nickels. Staying with the popular US coins I eventually started
specializing in the Jefferson nickels, collecting proof and full-step
uncirculated coins. After a few years I examined my collection and
realized that, to the casual observer, the coins all looked the same. I
was paying high prices for miniscule differences, like date and
mintmark, yet the collection looked so insignificant as a whole.
About this time (10 or so years ago) the small local yearly coin show
opened, and I went to visit with no intention of purchasing anything.
One booth had a book of ancient coins in flips - I had no idea that
ancient coins were available, and certainly not that any would actually
be affordable! I came home with a small bronze coin of Constantine I in abysmal condition. A short time later I purchased a book (Van
Meter 's "Handbook of Roman Imperial Coins", which I highly recommend!)
and set out to learn all I could about these fascinating pieces.
Since they were hand struck, each coin is different from the next.
Even if you found two struck from the same dies, the fact that they were
done by hand assures that each will be at a different position on the
flan, struck at a slightly different angle, with different force, etc.
I think these coins were fascinating. Who was the ruler? What
attributes was he displaying? What is the significance of the reverse
design? Since the coins were so ubiquitous, they were an excellent
means of propaganda and were certainly used as such - exactly what was
the ruler trying to say with this particular coin? Of course, these
questions apply to modern coins too, but not to the same extent, or with
as much variety.
This website originally started as a private area so that I could see
my collection of Gallienus "Zoo" coins if I was away from home, to
better keep a look out for varieties I didn 't yet have. Finding that
this series was popular I decided to display this collection for others,
and the other articles eventually appeared as my interests have
expanded. This collection is a labor of love and a testament to the
history that can be seen through each coin.
The following catalogue references are used for the coins throughout this website:Van Meter - "The Handbook of Roman Imperial Coins" by David
Van Meter (1991) -
My favorite general reference.
Göbl MIR - "Moneta Imperii Romani 36, 43, 44 - Die Münzprägung der
Kaiser Valerianus I./Gallienus/Saloninus (253/268),
Regalianus (260) und
Macrianus/Quietus (260/262)" - by
Robert Göbl (2000) -
An excellent
survey of coins of this period, from collections in European museums.
Very complete with regards to representing each type, but probably not
an absolute indicator of how common each type was, since the museums
might have turned away multiple examples of common coins. Still, if you
are interested in coins of this period, it 's invaluable.RIC IV - "Roman Imperial Coinage" Volume IV - by
Mattingly and
Sydenham (1936)
RIC V - "Roman Imperial Coinage", Volume V,
part 1 - by PH
Webb, edited by H
Mattingly & EA
Sydenham (1927)
RSC III - "Roman Silver Coins"
Part III - by H.A.
Seaby and
David R. Sear (1982)
RSC IV - "Roman Silver Coins" - Volume 4 - by H.A.
Seaby (1982)
SRCV - "Roman Coins and Their Values" - by David
Sear (1988)
Jim 's Virtual Coin Collection
last modified: 7 Mar 2006
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