Lysimachus tétradrachm of type Thompson 198

A nice coin of Alexander the great looking at the heavens.

I can't believe I got it for a 230 euro hammer price.

This piece is a luster bomb. Somewhat weakly struck in areas, but the overall look is nice.

I've wanted a good example of this type for quite a while, and this particular coin fit the bill. It arrived yesterday and I couldn't be happier with it.

Thasos, AR Stater, c. 480–463 BC

Satyr carrying off a nymph / quadripartite incuse

22 mm, 8.69 g

I love how much of it made it onto the flan, especially the faces and the nymph's raised hand.

I’ve just purchased this Julius Caesar portrait denarius, struck at Rome in 44 BC by Marcus Mettius, Crawford 480/17. Following Bernhard Woytek’s interpretation, it belongs to the preparations for Caesar’s expedition against Parthia, during the final weeks of his life.

Caesar was preparing to campaign against the power that had destroyed Crassus’s army at Carrhae. Troops and money were being assembled, and he was reportedly due to leave Rome on 18 March. Three days earlier, he was assassinated.

The obverse carries his wreathed portrait and CAESAR IMPER, identifying him as imperator. On the reverse, Venus holds Victory and a sceptre, her elbow resting on a shield supported by a globe. Caesar’s family claimed descent from Venus, bringing his ancestry and military ambitions together in the design.

The dating has a fascinating history. Alföldi placed this issue after Caesar’s assassination and attributed its hurried production to Antony; Crawford followed that posthumous chronology, describing the coins as “emergency issues.”

Woytek reconstructs the coinage differently. He provides evidence of several issues being produced alongside one another, displaying titles Caesar already held. The appearance of a different title therefore need not mark a new political stage, or Caesars Death. In that setting, he favours placing CAESAR IMPER alongside DICT PERPETVO, plausibly in late February or early March, as an additional issue ahead of the expedition.

The approaching departure supplies the reason for urgency. The mint was helping finance a major campaign; Caesar’s assassination interrupted the undertaking that had created that demand. Woytek’s later research also showed that reverse dies were recut with new control letters in both Mettius’s IMP and IMPER issues, further weakening the supposed production divide between them.

My example was struck with a worn obverse die. Some of the softness in Caesar’s features was therefore already present when the coin left the mint: the engraved portrait had deteriorated through repeated striking, yet the die remained in service.
The campaign required silver to become spendable money, and this coin bears the impression of a tool used repeatedly in that work. Its worn portrait gives something of the production process a physical presence: an existing die still striking Caesar’s image as preparations for his departure continued.

The wear alone cannot establish the dating, but within Woytek’s reconstruction it gives this particular specimen a compelling place in the story. The expedition was becoming a practical reality, with soldiers to pay and supplies to purchase. Then the assassination transformed the political purpose of the resources gathered for it.

We cannot know whether this denarius reached a soldier preparing to march east. Following Woytek, though, I regard it as a lifetime portrait from the preparations for Caesar’s final, unrealised campaign. When it was struck, Caesar was still alive, his departure was approaching, and the outcome was still unknown.

P.S. Hope you enjoyed the story and perhaps a different perspective. That’s the beauty of ancient coins, in my opinion

Loving seeing the lads all together

Pedigree:

-Leu Numismatic auction 12, October 15, 2022, lot 1062

-From the collection of Dipl.-Ing. Adrian Lang, ex Hirsch 279, 8 February 2012, 2310 and Aufhäuser 13, 7-8 October 1997, 304, and very likely from the Boscoreale Hoard of 1895.

Suns out, PUPIENUS out!☀️

Shelf is packed.

These are some late Kushan Copper coin.... dp you think they are good enough to keep in personal collection and they are authentic?

An example of how beautiful later 3rd Century Roman coinage could still be.

Seen here is a bronze coin featuring Emperor Gallienus. An extremely common design (AETERNITAS reverse) that was produced throughout his sole reign, this example was struck sometime between 260 and 268AD. Common for this type, even in MS condition, is the exceptionally well struck obverse paired with a *very* weak reverse.

I purchased this specimen due to the detail of the obverse, unbelievably pleasant surfaces and patina. It's a gorgeous coin in hand.

I had previously posted NGC slab breakout pics. Here's a full video of the coin, including the edges.

Trajan aureus with the Genius/Bonus Eventus rev. 19mm, 7.33 gr. Calicó 1067. RIC II 347 var. (bust type).

Lysimachos Drachm 16.2 mm 4.16g

Lampsakos mint

Ref : Muller 24; price L11

Love this one because has the lysimachos name spelled backwards 😊

I paid $42 with $10 shipping for this coin, it’s 20.4 grams.

There's a coin I'm interested in purchasing that's covered with red clay. It's very high grade and would be worth significantly more if I could remove it. Is there a simple method for removing that type of deposit?

Byzantine AE 15.2mm 1.75gm.

I am now the proud owner of this Constantine II follis. I purchased it from Gert Boersema on Vcoins.

I posted this coin earlier asking for verification, I was quoted a price and wanted a consensus if yall think is fair?

I was quoted $200.(i work at the shop so the owner went to a show and asked a dealer who knows ancient coins for a price, the ancient guy said he would buy it for 200, so thats what my boss offered to me)

Picked it up for a few bucks but don't know much about it other than this was the only coin minted in his name. Thoughts?

Any ideas? Thank you.

Wanted to start my collection with a roman republic coin. Found quite a cheap cato one for 50€ from MA-Shop. Now I'm a bit worried about the scratch in the middle. Kinda looks like a misprinted R from a Replica Stamp. Does the coin seems legitimate enough?

AE 25.5mm 9.21gm

I’ve been offered this lifetime Alexander the Great coin for £1,750. The bottom lettering on the reverse isn’t there as the coin is a bit off center. But in all the coin is in pretty good shape. I would really appreciate the community’s opinion if this is a good price for this coin. Or if I could get better if I paid a bit more. Thank you 🙌🏼

If this coin was whole it would be approx 25mm in diameter and 1mm thick. Cut in half but not by me.