Legionary coins

[Bill Perry]

I found the sheer number of legionary coins available on this site (coins printed with some representation of a specific legion in the Roman army) to be fascinating. So I was wondering if any of the members here actually have any to share with us? I could not find another post on this subject but I may have been using the wrong substring searches when I looked. In any case, if you got em - post em - I'd like a gander at em


Here is the web site

http://www.romancoins.info/Legions.html

[Potator II]

Hi silentruin

Here is my legionnary denarius, minted by Marc Antony in honour of the Legion IV, Scythica
ANT AVG III VIR R P C, galley going right
LEG IV, Legionnary eagle and two standards
3,67 gr
Ref HCRI #352, Cohen #30

Regards
Potator

[mauseus]

Hi,

I have quite a few legionary coins; the ones I have photographed are:

PRAETORIANS
Gallienus

I MINERVA
Gallienus

Gallienus

Carausius

II PARTHICA
Carausius

Carausius

IIII FLAVIA
Carausius

VII CLAVDIA
Gallienus

Carausius

VIII AVGVSTA
Carausius

XIIII GEMINA MARTIA VICTRIX
Septimius Severus

XXII PRIMIGENIA
Carausius

XXX VLPIA VICTRIX
Carausius

Some of them ain't pretty...

I've also got: I Italia (Sept. Sev.), XI (M. Antony), II Avgvsta (Carausius) and I might have a Praetorian (Carausius) on the way.

Regards,

Mauseus

[Bill Perry]

Those are just too cool guys - thanks!

Potator that one is amazing quality.

[Varangian]

I've been strongly considering acquiring these types as a sub-interest of my military-theme collection.

Very interesting, I think.

[Corduba]

I remembered an old topic about Marc Antony Legions.

You can find it here:

https://www.forumancientcoins.com/board/index.php?topic=8078.0

Ignacio.

[Nico Creces]

Legio IIII Flavia Felix
http://www.livius.org/le-lh/legio/iiii_flavia_felix.html

From my collection. I'm trying to collect as many legionary coins as possible, but due to the high prices that these coins have, it is for the moment the only one in my collection.
But I love it

Nico

[maridvnvm]

I don't have much to add but I will add what I have. Please excuse the varability of the images of the coins here. I am working on re-imaging them all.

Septimius Severus denarius - Legio XI Claudia Pia Fidelis. Capricorns were the symbols of the XIIII the legion though Capricorns have been noted on several other legions in error such as this one.



Septimius Severus denarius - Legion XIII Gemina. It is important for collectors to distinguish carefully issues of this scarce legion from the common Legion XIIII Gemina Marti Victrix. Legion XIII coins never have 'MV' following 'LEG XIII GEM' while Legion XIIII coins always have 'MV' following 'LEG XIIII GEM'.



Clodius Albinus denarius - FIDES LEGION COS II



Regards,
Martin

[b70]

I haven't been collecting long but I have two in my gallery. Marc Antony Legiones V and VI.

[Corduba]

I have a scarce Marc Antony denarius. Legio VIIII. It´s not very fine but...

Ignacio

[mauseus]

Hi,

I know I posted most of these individually but I got the (dreadfully preserved) Praetorian Cohort through the post this morning so thought I'd post my nearly complete run of Carausian legions. The only ones I am missing are XX Valeria Victrix and the recently discovered coin of the VI Victrix legion.

VI Victrix was the only British legion not known on Carausius' coins and this had caused some speculation that they had initially opposed his rule.

Many of the coins are not well preserved but on a limited budget they are the best I can afford.

Regards,

Mauseus

[Bill Perry]

"I Min" is very well preserved on that side of the coin I think.

[mauseus]

Hi,

Most Carausius are found in Britain where the soil is damp and has many chemicals added. Preservation of coins in such conditions can be problematic. The legioary Carausius are scarce and seldom turn up in any condition (although H J Berk's do have a nice XXX Ulpia Victrix for sale at present, well out of my price range and only the second example that I have ever seen for sale at any price).

The I Minerva coin is from an old hoard, the 1893 Croydon hoard, so may have escaped the modern chemical onslaught.

Regards,

Mauseus

[dougsmit]

My Septimius Legionary pages:
http://dougsmith.ancients.info/legions.html   and 5 following pages at bottom
http://dougsmith.ancients.info/feac44leg.html

[Varangian]

I decided to take a small plunge when I saw this Legio VI Ferrata for sale here on Forum:

[Corduba]

I decided to take a small plunge when I saw this Legio VI Ferrata for sale here on Forum:

This nice coin was sold some time ago, and i didn´t be the buyer.

Ignacio.

[HoloWolf]

That has got to be one of the best Marc Antony Actium coins I have ever seen.
It's a common legion, but in that condition who cares!

[Cleisthenes]

As I look for coins, descriptions rarely include "legionary coin."  When identifying legionary coins what should I look for?  I know that the obverse device is often the first clue (such as in the Antony legionary denarius)--but then the reverse legend comes into play to make distinctions between, say, Antony's legions IV & VI.  Is there a "rule of thumb?"

[Bill Perry]

I do not believe there is a one hit search you can use for IDing coins which represent legions. Though I'm sure there are websites - some listed in this thread - that can help narrow the search on specific legionary coins. But no one search hits all I'm afraid.

[ajensen]

Please excuse the newbie question here, but I have found this entire site to be extremely interesting, so please bear with me. Almost 20 years ago I found what appeared to be an old coin, on the side of the road, in California no less. I had no clue what exactly it was at that time, only that it appeared to have Viking-like ship on the face and Roman lettering and symbols on the reverse. I pulled it out of the proverbial shoebox yesterday and did a search, stumbling here (and a couple other places) only to learn it "might" be a 2000year old  Marc Antony Legionary Denarius. Stunned is an understatement...

After reading through all the fake reports, the 'Case of Counterfeits", and knowing the suspicous circumstance in which I found it... Short of having it professionally examined, is there way to have confidence that it might actually be real? Is it worth the trouble, as a single piece without history, to take that route? Was counterfeiting of Legionary Denarii common 20 years ago?

After reading the counterfeit notes, the shadows seem to have a grainy appearance that I would associate with sand casting (I know a little about lead/pewter casting, nothing about coins), but the reliefs seem sharp, unlike the notes. Is that just pitting? The rim has multiple pit marks and hairline cracks running around the circumference, which would seem to correspond to a striking. But the oars of the galleon seem to have irregullarities. Unfortunately, it does have multiple scratches and scars. Is it worth my time or should it go back into the shoebox? Is the 8th legion a common coin?

[Rupert]

The style of your coin is absolutely correct. And I see no giveaway signs for casting. So, strange as it seems, it might be real. What I don't like so much is the blackish colouring. Does the edge show any signs of a casting seam?

Rupert

[ajensen]

Does the edge show any signs of a casting seam?

If you mean a seam like flashing (again, I know a little about lead/pewter and plastic), were the material has leaked/been forced outward between two halves of a mold, then no. There are a number of what appear to be hairline cracks that run around the rim, nothing I noticed that went more than about 1/3 around of the circumference, at different heights. Nothing I remember seeing that went all the way around or that sticks out from the coin. As you said, I also wondered about the color (black is not inconsistant, but is does not have much of a gradiant from wear to non-wear areas right?). The "blobiness" of the oars and differences in the ?railing? on the deck and bow structure, as compared to other 8th Legion images on the site, had also given me pause.

I would have to get a picture on end to examine it closer. Here are the original pics I took of it before rescaling for posting:

http://dakotacom.net/~adjensen/coin_front.jpg
http://dakotacom.net/~adjensen/coin_back.jpg

[Robert_Brenchley]

What I can see of the edge does look a bit suspicious, but as Rupert has said, the style is OK. I think it could do with closer examination by an expert.

[HoloWolf]

I'd take it to a dealer and ask him to appraise it for you.
A legion VIII is a fairly common Actium coin, but is definitely worth having.
It's never going to be a massively valuable coin even if genuine.
However a genuine coin in that high grade could still be worth a respectable sum.

Personally, I wouldn't want to sell it, but that's a coin collector for you... 

[Rupert]

Unfortunately, the edge shows a casting seam, so it's a cast replica or forgery, which is probably why somebody threw it away. This is also why the style is correct: the mould was, of course, made from a genuine coin.

Rupert