ISLAMIC/Dubaysid; ‘Izz ad-Din Abu Bakr al-Dubaysi AH 541-551/CE 1146-1156 EX MARDIN HOARD et al

 AE Follis 25 x 27 mm, 8.10 g, al-Jazirah mint ND

Album 1955 (S)

Lowick MH 13

Host coin is Sear Byzantine Anonymous Class A3 SB 1818 attributed to Constantine VIII CE 1025-1028

O: one countermark in a circle reading عز

From the dealer’s write up:

This counterstamp is attributed to Izz al-Din, governor of al-Jazirah appointed by Sayf al-Din Ghazi I of al-Mawsil (Mosul). Izz al-Din revolted upon Ghazi's death and took al-Jazirah as independent ruler, a period during which he presumably countermarked circulating coins in his name. This example is struck on a Byzantine anonymous follis attributed to the reign of Constantine VIII, 1025-1028 A.D. This countermark was present on 473 coins in the Mardin Hoard.

The Mardin Hoard was a large group of copper coins found before 1972 in the vicinity of Mardin in modern-day southeastern Turkey. The hoard consisted of at least 13,500 pieces, including around 2,200 Byzantine folles countermarked by local Islamic rulers, as reported by N. M. Lowick, author of 'The Mardin Hoard,' a 1977 book published to document the countermarks found on the coins. The hoard was important in further understanding patterns of circulation and countermarking of Byzantine coins still being used in lands recently claimed by Islamic rulers. Most examples are heavily worn from circulation and many are countermarked several times, some on top of each other.

Ex: Mardin Hoard 1972

Ex: A. H. Baldwin & Sons original purchaser of the hoard 

 Ex: William F. Spengler (1923-2005) Collection

ROMAN/Philip II as Caesar, CE 244-247

 AR Antoninianus, 22 mm, 3.6 g, 7h, Roma mint c. CE 245-246

RIC 219

RCV 9240 v

O: rad and draped bust r, M IVL PHILIPPVS CAES

R: Philip II stg l in military attire holding globe and resting on spear, PRINCIPI IVVENT

Ex: Davisson's Ltd, (Cold Spring MN) Auction Seven lot 142 (21 August 1996)

This altar was erected by the citizens of Girona, Spain in honor of Philip II. The altar was preserved due to its reuse as the foot of the high altar in Sant Marti Sacosta.

The inscription reads:

M IVLIO

PHILIPPO
NOBILIS
SIMO CAE
SARI
R P GER

When translated should read: "To M. Julius Philippus, most noble Caesar, the people of Girona (Gerunda)"

This altar is now located in the Archaeology Museum of Girona and was photographed by us in 2018. The Archaeology Museum is housed in a beautiful Romanesque Abbey whose cloisters should not be missed. 

ROMAN/Procopius CE 365-366

 AE 3, 20 mm, 2.76 g, 12h, Nicomedia mint, 28 September CE 365 to 27 May CE 366

RIC 10

RCV 19884

O: diad bust left, DN PROCO-PIVS PF AVG

R: Procopius in military attire stg facing hd r, holding labarum and resting on shield, XP monogram in upper field r, REPARATI-O FEL TEMP in ex. SMNA

from Ammianus Marcellinus XXVI:9:11

Procopius departed this life at the age of forty years and ten months. Personally he was a tall man and not bad looking; he was somewhat dark complexioned, and walked with his gaze always fixed on the ground. In his secretive and gloomy nature he was like that Crassus who, as Lucilius and Cicero declare, laughed only once in  his life; but the surprising thing is, that throughout all his life he was not stained with bloodshed.