A Survey of Ancient Coins

20210601

ROMAN; Severus Alexander CE 222-235

AE Sestertius, 29-30 mm, 21.44 g, 12h, Rome mint, CE 231

RCV 7999

RIC 513

O: laur. draped bust r, IMP ALEXANDER PIVS AVG

R: Sol stg left right hand raised whip in left, PM TRP X COS III PP/SC

EX: W. Esty

20210502

ROMAN; Gratian CE 367-383

AE half centenionalis; 14 mm, 1.39 g, 5h, Antioch mint c. CE 383

RIC Antioch 56a1

RCV 20146

O: DN GRATIA—NVS PF AVG, diad, draped bust right.

R: VOT/X/MVLT/XX in four lines within wreath mint mark ANT in ex followed by illegible officina mark.

Ex: London Coin Galleries, (CA) at ANA 1985

Ex: Warren Esty Collection, Esty Type 26

ROMAN; Gratian CE 367-383

AE half centenionalis; 14 mm, 1.87 g, 12h, Lugdunum mint c. CE 381-383

RIC Lugdunum 30a

RCV 20149

O: DN GRATIA—NVS PF AVG, diad, draped bust right.

R: VOT/XV/MVLT/XX in four lines within wreath mint mark LVGP in ex

Ex: PMV 16 May 1984, lot 254 $15 (Daytona Beach, FL)

Ex: Warren Esty Collection, Esty Type 25

20210430

ISLAMIC/Ayyubid; Principality of the Jazirah; Mayafariqin, Sinjar & Harran; Al-Ashraf Musa AH 607-617/ CE 1210-1220

AE Dirham; 12.91 g, 28 mm, 9h, Mayafariqin mint AH 612/CE 1215

Album 859.1

Balog 852

O: Turbaned prince seated facing, rt leg drawn up, orb in right hand with left hand on hip.

Inner inscription to left and right of head سنة ثنا عشر / و ستمائة

Margin inscription: الملك الاشراف مظفرالدين ابو الفتح موسى ضرب بما

R: Triangular shield with convex side-centres, composed of a plain line in a line of dots, the shield touching the border. Marginal legend in the segments between border and shield.

Inscription in the shield: منين / الامام الناصر / لدين الله / امير المؤ

Margin inscriptions: Right ابو بكر بن ايوب

Top الملك العاد

Left ل سيف الدين

20210424

ISLAMIC; Two Artuqid Figurative Bronzes of the 12th century CE

Najm ad-Din Alpi CE 1152-1176/AH 547-572

AE Dirham; 14.01 g, 30 mm. c. CE 1160-1170, Mardin mint

SS 30.2

Album 1827.5

O: Two diademed facing male heads, turned slightly away

لا اله الا الله

محمد رسول الله

المستنجد بالله

امير الؤمنين

R: Youthful female head facing within a beaded circle

نجم الدين

مللك ديابكر

البي بن ايل غازي

ابن ارتق

Qutb ad-Din Il Ghazi II CE 1176-1184/AH 572-580

AE Dirham; 9.66g, 29 mm, Mardin mint

SS 31.1

Album 1828.1

O: Diademed head right within square of pellets

ايل غازي

ابن البي بن

تمرتاش بن

بن ارتق

R: legend within square

ايل غازي

مولانا الملك العالم

العادل قطب الدين

ملك الاقرا شاه

ديابكر

Likely exemplar for the Artuqid design from eight centuries earlier

20210403

ISLAMIC/Palembang; Muhammad Bahudin CE 1776-1804

Tin Piti, 15 mm, 0.44 g, Palembang, AH 1193/CE 1779

Robinson 5.15 (R9)

O: Portion of legend are retrograde such as the ط in As-Sultan. The transliteration of the Arabic inscription is As-Sultan/fi balad Palembang/Sanah 1193, though the 1193 is also retrograde having been written as what appears to be "3P11".

R: is blank as is normally encountered in this pieces.

Photograph from Robinson's "Palembang Coins" (2015)

20210402

ISLAMIC/Palembang; Mahmud Badruddin II CE 1804-1821

Tin Piti, 17.5 mm 1.01 g, Palembang mint AH 1219/CE 1804

Robinson 10.2 (R6)

O: ١٢١٩ مصروف في بلد فلمبنغ

R: blank

20210322

ISLAMIC/Umayyad; Arab-Byzantine Syria, c. CE 670-690

AE Fals, 20 mm, 3.89g, Homs (Emesa) mint

Album 3516 var.

O: Standing imperial figure holding long cross and globus cruciger, 'bismillah' in Arabic on left, KALON on right.

R: M surmounted by cross with delta below, and Arabic "Tayyib" in ex. on left of M, EMI on right CIC

20210316

ISLAMIC/Mughal India; Akbar CE 1556-1605

AR Rupee 26 mm, 11.35 g, Ahmedabad (Gujarat) mint AH 983 or

CE 1575-1576

Mitchener 3033

K 80.2

O: Shahada in center square. Areas outside square not fully legible.

R: جلال الدين محمد اكبر بادشاه غازي in center square, areas outside square

not fully legible.

Ex: W. Esty

Ex: James B. Lovette Collection 2007

Coins Weekly article about Akbar

Coins Weekly article about Akbar part 2

ISLAMIC; Umayyad; Jund Filastin c. CE 717-737

Album 185

AE Fals, 15 mm, 2.71 g, ar-Ramla mint

O: tree in center, around shahada

R: denomination and mint around center crescent.

Ex: W. Esty, purchased in Jerusalem in 1972

13th Century Minaret ("White Tower or Tower of the Forty Martyrs")

of the Masjid al-Abyad in Ramla, taken in 1995. It is said that Napoleon observed the Siege of Jaffa from atop this vantage point in 1799, since it stands six stories it is possible that there was a clear and unobstructed view of Jaffa which is about 20 km to the northwest from Ramla.

ISLAMIC/Umayyad; Arab-Byzantine Syria, c. CE 670-690

AE Fals; 21 mm, 3.67 g, Hims (Emesa) mint.

Album 3524

Wilkes 133

O: facing bust. To right بحمص to left KAΛON

R: Cursive M dividing EMI on left and CHC on right and طيب in exergue.

20210216

FRANCE; Bourbon; Louis XIV CE 1643-1715

AR half-Ecu (10 sols), 20 mm, 2.21 g, 6h, Lyon mint 1661-D

KM 199.3

O: LVD XIIII DG--FR ET NAV REX, laur., draped bust right.

R: SIT NOMEN DOMINI--BENEDICTVM 1661 D, coat of arms crowned

20210116

ROMAN/Philip I CE 244-249

AE Sestertius, 29mm, 22.09 grams, Roma CE 244-245

RIC 184a

RSC 9002

Obverse: IMP M IVL PHILIPPVS AVG, Laureate, draped and

cuirassed bust of Philip right.

Reverse: PAX AETERNA S C, Pax standing left holding olive

branch and scepter.

Ex "Summer Haven Collection of Sestertii"

Ex: CNG 462 Lot 477 (26-02-2020)

Ex: Dorney Auction 10 (08 July 2020)

Ex: Dorney Auction 11 (30 Nov 2020)

Ex: Ken Dorney

This altar was erected by the citizens of Girona, Spain in honor of Philip (jr). 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)"

20210102

Congress Poised to apply banking regulations to Antiquities Market, NYT 01/01/2021

"Far too little attention has hitherto been bestowed upon the provenance of ancient coins. The intervention of the coin dealer between the finder and the purchaser is often quite sufficient to obscure or obliterate entirely all evidence of provenance. Coin collectors have also been too often oblivious of the scientific importance of placing on record the sources of their acquisitions."

Numismatic Chronicle 1906, page 3

Congress Poised to Apply Banking Regulations to Antiquities Market - The New York Times (nytimes.com)

20201210

ARABIA; Himyarite Kingdom; Thāran Ya’ub Yuhan’im ثارن يعب يهنعم c. CE 200-225

AR Silver unit, 1.62 g, 17 mm. Raydan mint

Huth 449-450 var.

O: head r with long curls, dotted border and monogram on left behind head

R: head r also with long curls, monogram to right and South Arabian inscription above from right to left

THARN Y’UB ثارن يعب (in modern Arabic)

and below RYDN ريدن (in modern Arabic)

Ex: CNG 447 (07/03/2019) portion of lot 738