New coins added to my Roman Republican collection

5 Luglio, 2015

This week I finally caught up with photographing my own coin collection, overcoming a backlog dating to mid 2013. The general updates can be seen by looking back through my Flickr pages: new coins extend back for 15 pages and include some 250 coins:

https://www.flickr.com/photos_user.gne?path=ahala_rome&nsid=&page=&details=1

and the complete collection, including inserts from other wonderful sources, can be seen in the 20 albums here, set up according to Crawford arrangement:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/ahala_rome/collections/72157651148771015/

I wanted to highlight some specific coins, types rarely seen, or rarely seen nice:

Cr.26/2 Apollo Horse drachm, the rarest of all the drachm or didrachm types in early Roman coinage, with none auctioned between the 1977 Nicolas sale and the 2011 RBW sale of the same Nicolas coin:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/ahala_rome/19175283908/in/album-72157650806889449/

Cr.28/3 an exceptional late-style quadrigatus; this style just about never comes nice and is often debased:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/ahala_rome/19362685545/in/album-72157651230969165/

Cr.36/1 aes grave as with prow left, much rarer than the usual prow right as

https://www.flickr.com/photos/ahala_rome/19175087208/in/album-72157651230969165/

Cr.41/3a aes grave tressis or three asses (part of), the largest genuine aes grave denomination apart from the decussis, this type missing from RBW

https://www.flickr.com/photos/ahala_rome/19242649658/in/album-72157651230969165/

Cr.45/1 rare, unpublished and so far unique example of what looks to be a variety of the very first incuse denarius issue. Amazing obverse

https://www.flickr.com/photos/ahala_rome/17123960100/in/album-72157650765178127/

Cr.45/2 an FDC example of the quinarius of the same series

https://www.flickr.com/photos/ahala_rome/19174794368/in/album-72157650765178127/

Cr.95/1 VB victoriatus, wonderful style with perfect surfaces, as struck, with some evidence of over or double strike

https://www.flickr.com/photos/ahala_rome/19175686079/in/album-72157648900192733/

Cr.95/2 VB half victoriatus, one of the rarest silver denominations in Roman coinage

https://www.flickr.com/photos/ahala_rome/19361852165/in/album-72157648900192733/

Cr.97/11 quincunx from Luceria with Apollo and Dioscuri type, an extremely rare bronze denomination, this type missing from RBW

https://www.flickr.com/photos/ahala_rome/19169677400/in/album-72157651187562782/

Cr.98A/5 L-T triens, Mercury-head [sic] quadrans with the extremely rare LT mintmark, very few known, this type missing from RBW

https://www.flickr.com/photos/ahala_rome/12889657934/in/album-72157651187562782/

Cr.133/2b Baebia denarius ex-Haeberlin collection Cahn-Hess July 1933 plate coin

https://www.flickr.com/photos/ahala_rome/19164121198/in/album-72157651187967061/

Cr.149/1a Ulysses walking on an as of L.Mamilius, a reasonable example of an extremely rare type:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/ahala_rome/18728651284/in/album-72157651120580216/

Cr.187/1 an unusually clear murex shell on a lovely denarius of Furius Purpureo, a punning name

https://www.flickr.com/photos/ahala_rome/18728295874/in/album-72157650768052529/

Cr.205/2 female head prowstem ornament on an as of Publius Cornelius Sulla

https://www.flickr.com/photos/ahala_rome/18809017373/in/album-72157651171298581/

Cr.250/1 denarius of Marcus Aburius Geminus, an exceptional example of a type commonly found hoard-fresh and sharp but rarely found as well struck

https://www.flickr.com/photos/ahala_rome/18741085258/in/album-72157651170943391/

Cr.282/4 Lucius Pomponius Narbo type denarius, serrated on an unusually large and well-centred flan

https://www.flickr.com/photos/ahala_rome/18796787430/in/album-72157651129266002/

Cr.285/5a Hercules and his attributes: club, bow and arrow on a very rare non-prow bronze of Quintus Curtius, Cnaeus Domitius and Marcus Junius Sila, this type missing from RBW

https://www.flickr.com/photos/ahala_rome/18361895794/in/album-72157651129266002/

Cr.294/1 Titus Didia denarius with gladiatorial scene, rarely as nice:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/ahala_rome/18979059132/in/album-72157651129266002/

Cr.310/1 Anguipede giant, the sun, the moon and Jupiter in quadriga on a rare and complex type of Cnaeus Cornelius Sisena

https://www.flickr.com/photos/ahala_rome/18796750950/in/album-72157651129266002/

Cr.321/1 fine style denarius of Lucius Cassius Caeican

https://www.flickr.com/photos/ahala_rome/18987496631/in/album-72157651129266002/

Cr.333/1 quinarius of Caius Egnatuleia with types as large as a denarius on wide (20mm) very thin flan rather like a Mediaeval penny. Clearly an experiment that didn’t work as they reverted to the usual thick Roman flans in the same issue

https://www.flickr.com/photos/ahala_rome/18979083482/in/album-72157651129266002/

Cr.342/1 and Cr.342/2 pair of Pan-Silenus Caius Vibius Pansa denarii with Pan as obverse on one and Silenus on the other, rarely found as nice:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/ahala_rome/18805754058/in/album-72157650725641730/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/ahala_rome/18372735133/in/album-72157650725641730/

Cr.344/1a abduction of the Sabine ladies, unusually fine style and detailed, one can see their surprised facial expressions

https://www.flickr.com/photos/ahala_rome/18807198009/in/album-72157650725641730/

This is part A. Part B to follow …

Andrew

5 Luglio, 2015

More new additions to my collection here:

Cr.350A/3a Vergilia, Gargilia and Ogulnia as with a tiny central Italian Hercules eagle small bronze stamped on top. Very unusual. Is this a counterstamp or an overstrike?

https://www.flickr.com/photos/ahala_rome/17190861829/in/album-72157650725641730/

Cr.390/2 Lucius Lucertius Trio denarius, as-struck with a detailed and charming boy dolphin rider. This coin from NFA27 which was Roberto Russo’s collection

https://www.flickr.com/photos/ahala_rome/18390647093/in/album-72157651108966152/

Cr.398/1 Quintus Pomponius Rufus, centered and perfectly struck on a very broad flan, and from a tiny eight-die issue this being reverse III with prawn

https://www.flickr.com/photos/ahala_rome/18825109679/in/album-72157651108966152/

Cr.388/1 Satrieunus, possibly the second best wolf in the Republican series

https://www.flickr.com/photos/ahala_rome/19005858892/in/album-72157651108966152/

Cr.20/1 didrachm, the best wolf in the Republican series, and probably the first coin type struck in the city of Rome itself, best displayed beside Satrienus

https://www.flickr.com/photos/ahala_rome/18740337194/

Cr.235/1c Sextus Pompeius Fostulus. Just another wolf (and twins) but with shepherd, fig tree and birds. I searched many years for a coin with a complete SEX.POM.FOSTVLVS reverse legend

https://www.flickr.com/photos/ahala_rome/18740553948/

Cr.405/2 Plaetoria denarius with Sors, the young boy who is a god of luck determined by drawing lots. Note the kid’s face is fully defined, which you don’t often get.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/ahala_rome/12196985236/in/album-72157651053895556/

Cr.405/5 Plaetoria denarius with Mercury, another from the same beautifully engraved series, this one pretty minty

https://www.flickr.com/photos/ahala_rome/11288958244/in/album-72157651053895556/

Cr.410/7 Terpsichore with tortoise. I added several lovely Muses in the last year or two including Erato (the less-rare variety), Euterpe and Polhymnia, but I especially like the centering and strike on this

https://www.flickr.com/photos/ahala_rome/18393414403/in/album-72157651053895556/

437/2 Coelius Caldus denarius, a type that always comes with a beautiful obverse but on this the many details of the reverse altar type are unusually clear too

https://www.flickr.com/photos/ahala_rome/11291453444/in/album-72157651053895556/

440/1 Sicinia denarius on a large flan and perfectly centered, so that the reverse details are all clear, very unusual for this type

https://www.flickr.com/photos/ahala_rome/11291758494/in/album-72157643690852433/

447/1a Pompey the Great and Varro, struck on a huge flan and provenance to an early 1960s de Falco sale. Of beautiful style. Note that many of this supposed type being currently offered by sale across the internet are, at best Dacian imitations in poor style and many actually look cast. This is the real thing and rarely found as nice.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/ahala_rome/19019592871/in/album-72157643690852433/

448/2 Hostilia denarius supposedly showing Vercingetorix. Perfect portrait, beautiful reverse, a little flatness but not anywhere important, I was delighted to get this for a relatively modest outlay

https://www.flickr.com/photos/ahala_rome/18990258086/in/album-72157643690852433/

Cr.455/2 and 455/4, a denarius and a sestertius from Caius Antius Restio. The denarius is the sole Banti plate coin for this variety where the trophy splits the legend. The sestertius with bucranium is a famously popular but difficult to get type.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/ahala_rome/18828770640/in/album-72157643690852433/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/ahala_rome/17123743008/in/album-72157643690852433/

462/1b Cato denarius, another on a huge flan (you’ll guess by now that’s something I like) and unusually complete for a type that comes terribly offstruck as standard

https://www.flickr.com/photos/ahala_rome/18834597810/in/album-72157643690852433/

464/1 and 464/2 Carisia denarii. For me the rounded item with wreath is a dioscurus cap and not an upper die as it would be infernally tough to hit the rounded surface straight one. Or perhaps that explains the paradox that the only coin type displaying a minting scene always comes terribly struck, as do all Carisia denarii. This pair are really exceptionally well-made

https://www.flickr.com/photos/ahala_rome/18835148978/in/album-72157643690264934/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/ahala_rome/18835097860/in/album-72157643690264934/

468/1 and 468/2 a pair of Caesarian issues from Spain. The first usually comes in a much cruder style, these two are untypically nice examples of a usually ugly series

https://www.flickr.com/photos/ahala_rome/19017288172/in/album-72157643690264934/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/ahala_rome/18836586089/in/album-72157643690264934/

472/2 Papia denarius with Triumphus. Very unusually with a complete reverse that includes the wing of the eagle straddling the border dots, and with the rare obverse type and legend TRIVMPVS.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/ahala_rome/18401618883/in/album-72157643690264934/

This is Part B, the final part showing my recent acquisitions in the Imperatorial era, will follow shortly

Andrew

5 Luglio, 2015

Very very interesting. Thank you!

5 Luglio, 2015

Some more new acquisitions, this time Imperatorial coins

Cr.479/1 Sextus Pompeius as. A common type, but rarely found in good condition and not tooled.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/ahala_rome/18834596518/in/album-72157643690264934/

Cr.480/1 Buca’s Dream of Sulla denarius, or much more likely, Selene and Endymion, the moon-goddess who medicates and then seduces a handsome shepherd night after night. As with the common Erato denarius type, this is likely another instance of Victorian prudishness blotting out any numismatic story with erotic overtones. Struck on a very broad flan (did I mention that I like?)

https://www.flickr.com/photos/ahala_rome/18835140068/in/album-72157643690264934/

Cr.480/2 Julius Caesar DICT QVART denarius struck by Marcus Mettius. The title indicates a date before 15th February 44 BC and therefore this as the first lifetime portrait of any living Roman on any Roman coin (as distinct from Provincial), and also the first portrait of a Roman Emperor for those who consider this the start of Imperial coinage. A good portrait too.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/ahala_rome/19025903711/in/album-72157643690264934/

Cr. 480/7b, Cr.480/19 and Cr.480/21, three more non-standard Julius Caesar 44 BC types. We’ve all seen enough Standing Venus’. The seated-Venus Buca shares an obverse die with a Sepullia Cr.480/10 in my own collection: https://www.flickr.com/photos/ahala_rome/4636129591/Cossutia’s A.A.A.F.F. type commemorates the moneyers duty: Auro, Argento, Aere, Flando, Feriundo. The desultor type – two horses with one rider – was evidently struck by Antony. Ted Buttrey is convinced that all Cr.480 types from 480/1 to 480/19 precede the Ides of March, 480/21 and 480/22 were a separate issue by Antony later in the year, and the rare 480/20 (combing a Caesar portrait with an Antony desultor reverse) is merely an accidental hybrid whereby an old obverse die was mistakenly used during the Antonine issue.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/ahala_rome/18402165403/in/album-72157643690264934/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/ahala_rome/19022814645/in/album-72157643690264934/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/ahala_rome/18996589576/in/album-72157643690264934/

Cr.483/2 Sextus Pompeius denarius by Nasidius. Deserves a better photo as one doesn’t notice the crustiness in hand, provenance 1952 Santamaria sale of the Signorelli collection. I wonder might this be cleanable

https://www.flickr.com/photos/ahala_rome/18427208983/in/album-72157643043166345/

Cr.486/1 Accoleia with Acca Larentina and the Nymphs of Querquetulanae bearing beam with oak trees. Another coin struck on an extraordinary flan, and unworn

https://www.flickr.com/photos/ahala_rome/19021618416/in/album-72157643043166345/

Cr.494/17 Mark Antony and Publius Clodius, these Clodia types for Antony and Caesar being excessively rare. I really never thought I’d own one, let alone as nice as this

https://www.flickr.com/photos/ahala_rome/18861666759/in/album-72157643043166345/

494/38 Caius Vibius Varus with Minerva and Hercules. Just a very difficult type to find not flat struck. I also got its twin type – Hercules obverse and Minerva reverse – last year

https://www.flickr.com/photos/ahala_rome/18860122260/in/album-72157643043166345/

496/3 Mark Antony with Sol. Good if ugly portrait on a rare type

https://www.flickr.com/photos/ahala_rome/17104080867/in/album-72157643043166345/

Cr.513/2 Marcus Arrius Secundus with portrait of Octavian. Provenance 1953 sale of the J. Rashleigh collection by Glendinings. A nice example.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/ahala_rome/18961573199/in/album-72157641830929345/

Cr.505/4 Quintus Caepio Brutus and Marcus Servilius preceding his reversion to his birth-name Marcus Junius Brutus. The denarius of this type is actually rarer, so I got the gold aureus instead.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/ahala_rome/19151152531/in/album-72157641830929345/

Cr.506/3 Brutus quinarius with unusually lovely surfaces.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/ahala_rome/18525184904/in/album-72157641830929345/

Cr.507/2 Casca Longus and Brutus. Once again, a rarity that is best displayed on a very large flan

https://www.flickr.com/photos/ahala_rome/18961579339/in/album-72157641830929345/

Cr.517/8 Antony and Octavian denarius, the rarer type with symbols behind the Imperators’ heads, engraved in very fine style. Struck at a different mint and to different technical standards to the common Cr.517/2

https://www.flickr.com/photos/ahala_rome/18526538934/in/album-72157641828893123/

Cr.522/4 Lucius Plancus and Mark Antony denarius. Exceptionally complete and well preserved albeit a little ragged.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/ahala_rome/18961481278/in/album-72157641828893123/

536/3 Mark Antony denarius with trophy

https://www.flickr.com/photos/ahala_rome/18961399610/in/album-72157641828893123/

Cr.538/1 Apostolo Zeno collection denarius of Octavian. Zeno was a late 1600s Venetian polymath who collected Republican coins; this was one of the better pieces, and now it’s mine. My second oldest provenance – the oldest being a d’Este coin (so-called, but incorrectly, Gonzaga)

https://www.flickr.com/photos/ahala_rome/19122931566/in/album-72157641828893123/

Cr.546/4 Scarpus denarius for Octavian. I got several new Scarpus types in recent years; this is rarer than the open hand types.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/ahala_rome/19083021982/in/album-72157638758905754/

Sear Imperators 421 Octavian denarius with Senate House - Curia Julia. This type was much discussed on Forum recently actually in relation to my old example of this type that I upgraded from http://www.forumancientcoins.com/board/index.php?topic=102150.0

https://www.flickr.com/photos/ahala_rome/18467955043/in/album-72157638758905754/

That’s it for now, perhaps for another couple of years. As mentioned in the initial post, general updates can be seen by looking back through my Flickr pages:

https://www.flickr.com/photos_user.gne?path=ahala_rome&nsid=&page=&details=1

and the complete collection, including inserts from other wonderful sources, can be seen in the 20 albums here, set up according to Crawford arrangement:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/ahala_rome/collections/72157651148771015/

Andrew