Friday, May 05, 2006
Æ29, Hierapolis-Castabala in Cilicia, Valerian, SNG v Aulock 8681
[AVT] K OVΛAEPIANOC CE, Radiate draped bust right | [IEPOΠ KA_]CTABAΛE, Hero, nude but for cloak, walking right, right hand raised behind him. S in left field.
The two coins I have of this city both have odd flan flaws and have very similar reverse designs (with Hero facing in different directions). Two isn't a large enough sample to know if weird flans are characteristic for this city.
Thursday, May 04, 2006
Æ As, Valerian, Rome, Göbl 72k
IMP C P LIC VALERIANVS P F AVG, Laureate cuirassed bust right | APOLINI CONSERVA, Apollo standing left, holding branch in right hand, resting left on lyre at feet. S_C across fields.
After a couple of weeks without obtaining any coins (seeing few that weren't duplicates of what I already had and being outbid on the few I wanted), this arrive just in time to be blogged for today, an As, probably tariffed at 1/32nd of the face value of an antonininus, the most commonly-seen coin of Valerian (a recently-posted example. As the quantity of silver of an antoninianus decreased further and further the cost of making an As more nearly matched that of an antoninianus, and their production nearly ended by the end of the reign of Gallienus, Valerian's son and successor.
Wednesday, May 03, 2006
For collectors of Byzantines
AR denarius, L. Furius Cn. f. Brocchus, Roman Republic, 63 BCE, Crawford 414/1
III VIR [B]ROCCH[I], Head of Ceres, wearing grain wreath, right. Grain ear behind, kernel in front | L·FVRI / CN·F, Curule chair between two fasces with axes.
L. Furius Cn. f. Brocchus, the moneyor, isn't recorded in history except as the triumvir responsible for issuing this coin. The reverse apparently remembers some ancestor who was ædile, but we don't know of him either. The year this was minted was the year of the Catiline conspiracy, which was more exciting than either side of this confusing coin.
Tuesday, May 02, 2006
Æ32, Sardes in Lydia, Salonina, SNG Copenhagen 544var
CAΛΩN.XRVCOΓONH.C, Draped bust right, wearing stephane | EΠ POVΦOV ACIAP CAPΔIANΩN Γ NE_ ΩKOP, Cultus statue of Kore.
While this coin is dated, it's not dated in a way that's any use: knowing that it was made while Rufus was magistrate may have been significant then, but I've seen no list of magistrates of Sardes.
XRVCOΓONH (Chrysogone), Salonina's middle name, is never used on Imperial coins, but does show up on a number of Provincials. It means, as I understand it, "born of gold".
Monday, May 01, 2006
Æ antoninianus, Gallienus, Rome, Göbl 738b
GALLIENVS AVG, Radiate head right | APOLLINI CONS AVG, Centaur walking left, one forefoot raised, globe in right hand, rudder over shoulder. H in exergue.
Near the end of Gallienus's reign, the "zoo series" was issued, each naming one of nine protective gods or goddesses and showing an animal, real or mythical, associated with them. The series is extensively covered at this site.
Examples of a number of coins in the zoo series can be found readily, for very affordable prices.
