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Author Topic: Constantius II Fallen horseman head to head [Contest over, winner declared]  (Read 1651 times)

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Offline *Alex

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Happy New Year everyone. This, the first head to head of 2015, is between two Constantius II fallen horseman types.

XLi  https://www.forumancientcoins.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pos=-116276


*Alex https://www.forumancientcoins.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pos=-78689


I must point out that, due to the lack of detailed attribution, XLi's coin must win and be the highest rated Constantius II fallen horseman type in the gallery to remain.

I know that you are all itching to cast your votes so I will just say "Thanks" and ask you to vote now.

This contest ended on the 20th of January 2015.

*Alex.


Offline dougsmit

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Really?  These are not nearly the same coin.  The first ( :Greek_Gamma: in reverse field) is somewhat larger than the second ( :Greek_epsilon:).   These come in 2200 variations.  I suppose it might be excessive to ask for a best of each and these two are from the same mint but shouldn't they be matching at least to the series?  

Offline *Alex

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Really.

Because of the lack of attribution, XLi's coin has to be rated higher than these coins as well to remain in the gallery - and these coins aren't even from the same mint.
 


If I was being pedantic, with such a basic generic attribution, I could go as far as to say it is up against every Constantius II coin in the gallery not just the fallen horseman issues.
 
I only chose to put it up against my own coin in the head to head because both coins were from Antioch and my coin wouldn't be knocked out of the gallery irrespective of how the voting goes. ;D

*Alex

Offline *Alex

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This contest is over and XLi's coin is the winner so it gets to stay in the gallery. Congratulations XLi.

My coin also gets to stay in the gallery because it had a proper attribution and is still (for the moment) the best of the type RIC VIII : 144.

In this instance I have added an RIC attribution to XLi's coin, which is hopefully correct, but we have neither the time nor the inclination to do this on a regular basis. When adding coins to the BOT gallery members are urged to add some sort of attribution which would differentiate their coin from the broader pool of coins in the gallery.

Doug, I would be grateful if you could correct me if my attribution is wrong. Thanks.

Thank-you to everyone who took part in this contest.

*Alex

Offline dougsmit

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In this instance I have added an RIC attribution to XLi's coin, which is hopefully correct, but we have neither the time nor the inclination to do this on a regular basis. When adding coins to the BOT gallery members are urged to add some sort of attribution which would differentiate their coin from the broader pool of coins in the gallery.

Doug, I would be grateful if you could correct me if my attribution is wrong. Thanks.


I agree with your RIC numbers but, just judging from the photo, tend to read the RIC 144 as ANBI  rather than ANAI.   Both of these are common coins but you will have a much easier time finding a better 132 than a better 144.  In fact, I know of a regular poster here on Forvm who has an Antioch 132 to die for but it seems he does not play BOT.  I suspect that 9 of the 10 highest grade Falling Horsemen will be Antioch mints from the earlier period.  Below I show one 132' and one 144 which strike me as different because of their officinas (Antioch was using 15 workshops at this period and all of the coins considered here were FH3 style 'reaching' so we are completely ignoring the FH4 'grasping' coins (last one below).    I'm sorry you consider such matters 'pedantic' but the entire concept of a 'Best' coin depends on how you define what makes a coin the same or different.  These things are like potato chips in the famous commercial, you can't eat just one.

Offline *Alex

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Thank you very much Doug. I have had another look at my coin using a loupe and I agree that it is more likely a B than an A and I have changed my attribution accordingly.

I was only being "pedantic" because of the head to head contest rules. If I had strictly adhered to the rules XLi's coin would have been up against every Constantius II coin in the gallery because his only attribution was "Constantius II". However, I do have eyes  ;D and it is a nice coin that deserves to be in the gallery. That said, members have to add some sort of attribution (it doesn't have to be RIC) because I am personally ignorant of the cultures to which many of them belong and without it some coins would look very similar to me. For example, for the purposes of the "Head to head" contests a different officina letter in two late Roman bronzes would not be considered a difference if they both had the same attribution (RIC) number, however, a different monogram letter on a Greek Achaean League Hemidrachm would constitute differing coins.
In any case, the purpose of the BOT is not about the head to heads, they are only a fun way that was introduced to eliminate duplicates.

Thanks again for your reply.

*Alex.




 

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