Saturday, December 04, 2004
Silvered Æ antoninianus, Gallienus, Cyzikus, Göbl 1537Ac
GALLIENVS AVG, Radiate draped cuirassed bust right, no pellets beneath | VENER VICTRIX, Venus standing left, leaning on sheld right, holding long scepter diagonally and helmet left, SPQR in exergue.
Venus the conqueror is an odd-seeming reverse for an era often called The Military Anarchy, but this reign produced many variations of this legend and type.
Friday, December 03, 2004
Æ31, Magydos in Pamphylia, Gallienus, SNG von Aulock 4645
ΑVΤ ΚΑΙ ΠΟ ΛΙ ΓΑΛΛΙΗΝΟ CΕΒ, Laureate draped cuirassed bust right, globe beneath | ΜΑΓ_V_[Δ]_ΕΩΝ, Athena standing left, holding spear right and patera left. Shield at feet right, owl at feet left. Μ_Α across fields.
Not a lot of information on the web about the present-day location of Magydos, but for a reference that associates it with Laara in Konia, which also seems an obscure location.
It's a reminder that this reign was seventeen and a half centuries ago, and that while metal pieces like this have survived that interval well, some information is far more fragile, and has been lost, perhaps forever.
Thursday, December 02, 2004
Not unexpected, but unsettling all the same
The fakes posted in October have been condemned by David R. Sear as "modern high quality pressure-casts."
silvered Æ antoninianus, Gallienus, Samosata, Göbl 1705b
IMP C P LIC GALLIENVS P F AVG, Radiate draped cuirassed bust right | VIRTVS AVG, Gallienus right, holding transverse spear, erecting trophy left.
Reverses of coins issued at Samosata nearly always feature two figures. Some seem a bit contrived.
Wednesday, December 01, 2004
Billon tetradrachm, Nero, Alexandria, 63/64 CE, Emmett 128(10)
[ΝΕΡΩ] ΚΑΙΣ ΣΕΒΓΕΡ ΑV, Radiate head right | ΠΟΠΠ[ΑΙΑΣΕΒΑΣΤΗ], Draped bust of Poppaea Sabina right, LΙ in right field.
BLOOM
You're going to jump on me. I know you're going to jump on me -- like Nero jumped on Poppea.
BIALYSTOCK
(nonplussed)
What???
BLOOM
(by now he is shrieking)
Poppea. She was his wife. And she was unfaithful to him. So he got mad and he jumped on her. Up and down, up and down, until he squashed her like a bug. Please don't jump on me.
BIALYSTOCK
(shouting and jumping up and down next to Bloom)
I'm not going to jump on you!
BLOOM
(rolling away in terror)
Aaaaaaaaaa!
Blogger's letting me post again, yay!
Tuesday, November 30, 2004
Æ26, Dacia, Valerian, Sear GIC 4417var
IMP VALERIANVS P F AVG, Laureate draped bust right | PROVIN_[CIA DACIA],Dacia standing facing, head left, holding curved sword right and standard inscribed XIII left, with eagle holding wreath at her feet left and bull at her feet right. AN VIII in exergue.
The provincial coins of the province of Dacia are quite like those of the nearby city of Viminacium, such as I posted here. Both were host to Roman legions and display their emblems on the coins, which use Latin legends.
It's not clear if the same mint produced both coins, but I think it very possible.
Monday, November 29, 2004
barbarous Æ antoninianus, Gallienus, ?, like Göbl 743b
[.]ALLIENVS [...], Radiate head right | [.]EPTVN COCS A[..], Hippocamp swimming right, exergue off flan.
Like Saturday's post, an ancient imitation, rather than a government-issued coin. This is a bit more correctly-executed than the earlier example, as it mirrors the authentic item well enough to be easily recognizable, with only a few letters wrong.
This one, I think, was meant to deceive people in places where imperial coins regularly circulated.
Sunday, November 28, 2004
Æ30, Side in Pamphylia, Gallienus, ...
Winsemann Falghera 2690/SNG Pfaelzer Privatsammlungen 882
ΑΥΤ ΚΑΙ ΠΟ ΛΙ ΓΑΛΛΙΗΝΟC CΕΒ, Laureate draped cuirassed bust right, over eagle facing with wings spread, Ε countermark before | CΙΔΗΤΩΝ ΝΕΩΚΟΡΩΝ, Athena standing facing, head left, holding palm right, dropping pebble into amphora left. Pomegranate on stem behind.
Back in June I posted a similar coin without the countermark. It's since been suggested that the Athena isn't dropping a pebble into an amphora to vote, but dipping her hand into an amphora of oil, as an athlete might prior to competition.
I don't think so.
ΑΥΤ ΚΑΙ ΠΟ ΛΙ ΓΑΛΛΙΗΝΟC CΕΒ, Laureate draped cuirassed bust right, over eagle facing with wings spread, Ε countermark before | CΙΔΗΤΩΝ ΝΕΩΚΟΡΩΝ, Athena standing facing, head left, holding palm right, dropping pebble into amphora left. Pomegranate on stem behind.
Back in June I posted a similar coin without the countermark. It's since been suggested that the Athena isn't dropping a pebble into an amphora to vote, but dipping her hand into an amphora of oil, as an athlete might prior to competition.
I don't think so.
