ROMAN/Gratian CE 367-383

 AE 4, 14 mm, 1.17 g, 12h, Cyzicus mint c. CE 383

RIC 22a

RCV 20161

O: DN GRATIANVS PF AVG diad draped cuir bust r.

R: VOT/XX/MVLT/XXX in ex SMKΔ

Ex; W. Esty

A visit to Ireland

 2016 €2 Commemorative of the 1916 Easter Rising obtained in change, and was the only commemorative, other than a 2007 Austrian €2 commemorating the Treaty of Rome that we were able to come across in our limited currency transactions. 

We really didn't utilize a lot of currency or coins during this visit, most transactions were via CC, so the opportunity to observe coin use was limited. Even a visit to a Dublin coin dealer in the South George St Arcade in Dublin found very expensive prices for all sorts of coins. Particularly coins that are available on the market (VCoins for example) for $30-$35 for a reasonably good and common mint Khushru II Sasanian drachm was selling for €150. 

Other coins were similarly priced. The only Irish Euro Commemoratives being sold consisted of the 2016 example. There were stamps being sold as well as pick out box coins, worldwide and local for €1 and €2 each.

The 1916 Easter Rising was made real by a visit to the GPO on O'Connell St, which was the HQ for the Rising. Unfortunately, we didn't have time to go in, but passed it several times in vehicles and walked by it once where we were able to see the remaining visible damages from the Rising. The columns at the front of the GPO still show dramatic damages from the bullets and ordinance fired between the British and Republican forces at that time. 

Facade of the GPO Dublin

Photos of two columns at the GPO revealing battle damages from the 1916 Easter Rising

GREEK/Seleucid; Alexander I Balas BCE 152-145

AR Drachm; 17.4mm, 4.08g, Ecbatana mint c. BCE 150-148/7

SC 1871 (R2)

O: diad portrait of Balas r.

R: Apollo seated on omphalos; [BAΣ]IΛEΩΣ [AΛ]EΞANΔPOY on rt, ΘEOΠATOPOΣ EYEPΓETOY

Control mark on far left.

Ex: Zuzim

Hephthalite c. 6th to 7th Century CE

 AR drachm, 27 mm, 2.86 g., North Tokharistan

Göbl 82a (countermark 82a)

Zeno type 28789

Type of Peroz CE 457/9-484

Countermark on obs at 10-9 o’clock , Sogdian word “TKYN”

Cf. Göbl Hunnen 283 ff

Mitchener 1450

GALLIC ROMAN EMPIRE/Three Antoniniani of Postumus CE 259-268

Bi Antoninianus; 22 x 24 mm, 4.53 g, 6h, Cologne mint CE 260-265

RSC 91

RCV 10944

O IMP C POSTVMVS PF AVG, rad cuir draped bust r.

R: HERC DEVSONIENSI, Hercules stg r with club and bow

 

Bi Antoninianus; 21mm, 3.3 g, 1h, Cologne mint CE 262-265

RSC 199

RCV 10962

O: corrosion present, rad cuir draped bust r. IMP C POSTVMVS PF AVG

R: MONETA AVG, Moneta stg l with scales and cornucopia

Bi Antoninianus; 21mm, 2.67 g, 1h, Cologne mint CE 265-268

RSC 295

RCV 10979

O: rad cuir draped bust r. IMP C POSTVMVS PF AVG

R: PROVIDENTIA AVG, Providentia stg l with orb and scepter. 

ROMAN/Geta, as Augustus CE 209-211

 AR Denarius; 2.96 g, 18 mm, 12h, Roma mint, CE 210

RSC 219

RCV 7254

O: laur bearded bust r  P SEPT GETA PIVS AVG BRIT

R: Victory stg l holding wreath VICTORI-AE BRIT

This issue commemorates the Severan incursions north of the Antonine Wall in Britain into what is now Scotland, by Septimius Severus, and his sons Caracalla and Geta. It was during these incursions that Severus took ill and died at Eboracum (York) in CE 211, thus bringing the conflict to a quick end courtesy of Caracalla, who brought his brother Geta to a quick end just prior to the end of CE 211. 

ROMAN/ Julian II CE 360-363

AE Maiorina (28 mm, 8.0 g, 12h) Aquileia mint c. CE 362-363

RIC 243

O: diad cuir draped bust r DN FL CL IVLI-ANVS PF AVG

R: Bull stg r two stars above. SECVRITAS REIPVB/*AQVILP 

USA Buffalo Nickel 1913-1938

1936; 21.2 mm, 5 g, Philadelphia mint. mintage 119m

KM 134

This example was found in change, and had likely been a coin that had been removed from circulation for some length of time. Thereafter being added by someone back into the circulation stream for a time before it was removed again, since the high points, particularly the date are visible and many details are still apparent, which is not often the case with well circulated pieces. 

In this condition, it is worth $3-$4 perhaps. It was prudent that it was removed from circulation and preserved as it now appears. Not a rare coin, but certainly one that captures the artistry that is mostly missing from circulating coinage in the USA, except for perhaps the new/old bust of Washington appearing on quarters minted since 2022. 

 

New York Prosecutor to Press Charges Against owner of Roma Numismatics - CoinsWeekly

 New York Prosecutor to Press Charges Against Richard Beale / Roma Numismatics - CoinsWeekly

One of the World’s Most Expensive Coins Was Sold Using Fake Provenance – ARTnews.com

There are a few coins posted on this blog, which originated via the aforementioned auction house and purchased by a third party dealer from whom the coins were acquired. 

Unfortunately, the provenances for a couple of these coins are "from a private British or European Collection" which begs the question, if we dug deeper would there actually be a private collection there or something else? These provenances have no documented basis, and without documentation, no provenance. The third party dealer did not include this information in their listing, it was only through our due diligence after acquisition that revealed the origin history such as it is. 

A questionable provenance is as bad as none at all, and an untraceable or ultimately false provenance should not add a premium to the item's value. All purchases must be governed by "caveat emptor". All provenances need to be researched and fully documented as far as the records support it. 

ROMAN/Licinius CE 308-324

 AE Follis; 29 mm, 3.13 g, 6h, Thessalonika mint, CE 312-313

RCV 15251

O: laur., cuir. draped bust r, IMP LIC LICINIVS PF AVG

R: Jupiter stg l, holding Nike and scepter with eagle stg on left IOVI CONSERVATORI AVGG NN/*TS*Δ*

ROMAN EGYPT/Constantius I, as Caesar CE 293-296

Potin Tetradrachm; 20 mm, 7.44 g, 1h, Alexandria mint, Regnal Year 2= CE 293-294

Dattari (Savio) 6044

Emmett 4184.2

O: laur draped cuir bust r  ΦΛΑ ΚωCTANTIOC K

R:  Eirene stg facing hd to left holding branch and scepter LB in outer left field

 

Ex: Ken Dorney (unsold at Auction 14: lot 267, 31-01-2023)

Ex: Leu Numismatik Web Auction 16: Lot 2613 (22-05-2021)

Ex: Rhakotis Collection (Germany)

ROMANIA; Mihai (1921-2017) CE 1927-1930 & 1940-1947

Nickel clad steel, 100 Lei, 28 mm, 8.46 g, mintage 21,289,000

KM 64

O: hd r, MIHAI REGELE ROMANILOR

R: crown divides wreath with date and value 100 LEI/1944

edge: NIHIL SINE DEO

I had once known a college professor by the name of Jacques Vergotti (1915-1999) who had been an aide de camp to King Michael and used to talk about his time with the King and encountering people like Averell Harriman and Soviet Foreign Minister Andrei Vishinsky among others. He was among those placed on a train to be exiled with the King in 1947 by the authorities in Bucharest. A biography of Vergotti appears in the Romanian version of Wikipedia:

 Jacques Vergotti - Wikipedia. 

His papers are at the Hoover Institution Library in CA and the bio found there reads: "Jacques M. Vergotti was born in 1915. A Major in the Romanian Army, he served as aide to Michael I, King of Romania, between 1941-1947. He witnessed the last year of the Romanian monarchy and the palace coup of December 30, 1947, when the King was overthrown and the Popular Republic of Romania was proclaimed. He was one of the few people allowed to leave the country together with the King, whose aide he was for one more year. He then emigrated to the US and has lived there since."

Mihai on l, Vergotti on r

ROMAN/ Issues of Constantine I in commemoration of the founding of Constantinople CE 330-337

Bi reduced Centenionalis; 16 mm, 2.32 g, 5h, Treveri mint CE 333-334

RCV 16446

O: helmeted bust of Constantinopolis l, [CONSTAN]TINOPOLIS (appears as struck)

R: Victory stg l, r foot on ship’s prow, holding a scepter and shield in ex. TRP and a branch.

 

Ex: K. Dorney

ROMAN/ Constantine II, as Caesar CE 317-337

Bi Reduced Centenionalis; 18 mm, 2.38 g, 12h, Constantinople mint CE 333-335

RIC 81

RCV 17339

O: laur dr cuir bust r. CONSTANTINVS IVN NOBC

R: two soldiers standing facing each other on opposite sides of two standards in the center field. GLOR-IAE EXERC-ITVS/.CONSΓ

Ex: Ken Dorney

Statue of Constantine II as Caesar in the Campodoglio in Roma

1000th Post!!! ROMAN/ Arcadius CE 383-408

AE Half Centenionalis; 12 mm, 1.25 g, 5h, Alexandria mint, CE 388-395

RCV 20854

O: diad dr cuir bust r, DN ARCADIVS PF AVG

R: Victory adv left holding trophy in rt and a captive in left SALVS REI-PVBLICAE/ALEΓ, + in left lower field.

 

Ex: Victor’s Imperial Coins

This is a milestone post, the 1,000th post since we started this blog in 2007. Perhaps there are as many or maybe more coins posted than there are posts. We also hope that the 238,384 visitors since 2007 to this afternoon, have found items here that assisted in classifying their coins, and found the site interesting and informative, though I wish I had the time to provide more information other than the data related to the individual coins most of the time. I am still doing my best to provide provenance information when available as that is an important goal in ethical collecting. 

Unfortunately, that information is often only as good as the source, sometimes we can locate the provenance from other sources independently, but if the dealer or prior collector (the most important primary sources) did not record the information, that information could possibly be lost to posterity by omission, but sometimes, I am sorry to say also by commission. 

On to the next thousand posts as time permits. 

ROMAN/ Arcadius CE 383-408

AE Maiorina; 21 mm, 4.77 g, 12h, TBD eastern mint, CE 393-395

RCV 20792-93, 20795-97

O: diad dr cuir bust r, DN ARCADI-VS PF AVG

R: Arcadius stg facing with hd r holding orb and standard GLORIA ROMANORVM/----

 

 

Ex: Numispechincha/Armando Veludo/Porto, Portugal

ROMAN/ Gratian CE 367-383

 AE Maiorina; 21 x 22 mm, 4.94 g, 6h, Antioch mint, CE 379-383

RCV 20012

O: diad dr cuir bust r, DN GRATIA-NVS PF AVG

R: Arcadius stg facing with hd r holding orb and standard REPARATIO REI PVB/ANTA

ROMAN/ Gratian CE 367-383

AE Maiorina; 22 mm, 5.49 g, 12h, Aquileia mint, CE 379-383

RCV 20007

O: diad dr cuir bust r, DN GRATIA-NVS PF AVG

R: Arcadius stg facing with hd r holding orb and standard REPARATIO REI PVB/SMAQS

 

Ex: Numispechincha/Armando Veludo/Porto, Portugal

cf. duplicate acquired in 2004