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dougsmit
Pillar Of The Community
United States
1541 Posts
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Honoring stevex6's great post with the flattery of imitation, this post intends to show 25 coins from my collection that I consider to be special to me. They vary in many ways. Some were a bit expensive by my standards but most would be beneath the notice of big time dealers; very few were products of junk boxes but one coin being bought for $6. Two of the coins were in my collection in 1963 when I took my first photo (I have no record of when I bought them but I started slowly and had very few coins before 1963 so I assign that date to all the coins in that first photo). One of the 25 was bought this year. Some have been shown on CCF before and I apologize for that. In addition to brief descriptions of the coins, I will try to explain why the coin is special to me. I will not give catalog numbers unless there is something I feel to be gained from that. Perhaps you know I am not impressed by catalog numbers. Those who enjoy looking up coins are welcome to post attributions but there will be a few here you probably won't find. I will be most happy to see you post examples of matching coins for items I state are rare and joyous to see others of coins I believe to be unique.
The 25 may have missed coins I should have included and the order may not be exact since my order of favor can change hourly. I apologize for forgetting coins I have that some will like better than these and doubly apologize for the number of coins of Septimius Severus and Julia Domna (my specialties).
Comments and questions will be appreciated. Lack of them will be taken to suggest that I should not have started this thread. Some seemed to enjoy seeing what stevex6 got in a month so we'll see if you like seeing what I accumulated in the last 49 years. Perhaps I can grow this thread into my top 50 for my 50th anniversary in the hobby? Here goes my least favorite of the 25 as decided by the whim of the moment: I do not take PayPal but I like to trade coins. e-mail me if interested.
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Formerly jwharper
4253 Posts |
Speaking for myself and many others on this forum, I am looking forward to this thread. It should prove most interesting.
Regards,
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Pillar Of The Community
United States
1541 Posts |
#25 Julia Domna, Alexandria billon tetradrachm #25 may have achieved last place partly because it is one of the most expensive coins I have in this list. I must have paid too much since it came from a 1997 CNG catalog auction and CNG has no reputation for bargains. For some reason provincials of Alexandria are rare for the Severans and I have seen only a handful of coins for Julia Domna. This is one of the nicer ones. It is dated year 2 (LB on the reverse) making it the earliest I have seen since Alexandria did not fall to Septimius until most of the first year was done. The portrait style is a good match for the Alexandria mint denarii which are rare but not nearly as rare as the tetradrachms. Topping all this is the fact that I really liked the chariot reverse so I bought it. Commodus issued vast numbers of coins from Alexandria so I wonder if part of the reason for the Severans being rare was that the need for circulating coins was well filled by the rulers of the earlier period. Who has a Severan Alexandrian to share? While Julia is rare the really rare coin is the tetradrachm showing Titania (Mrs. Pertinax)currently residing in the British Museum. I'd love to see photos of other examples of that one, too. I have 24 coins I like better than this one but not all will agree.  I do not take PayPal but I like to trade coins. e-mail me if interested.
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Moderator
United States
9855 Posts |
Beautiful coin with excellent detail. Looking for to seeing the next 24 coins.
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Pillar Of The Community
United States
612 Posts |
Nice! Looking toward to the next coins.
View my collection: http://omnicoin.com/collection/tzarmarko Current Projects: MAIN: Silver and Gold coins from 1900-1920. SUB: German Marks from 1891-1916 |
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Pillar Of The Community
United States
1026 Posts |
I also look forward to this thread. If this is your least favorite coin I can only imagine what will be coming.
No Julia Domna's in my collection and more than likely won't be many of the others either.
I know little about ancient coins but will try to post a comment now and then. You might get more questions from me than comments.
Her eyes appear to be closed on this coin. Any reason behind this?
Edited by Doucet
05/09/2012 11:56 pm
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Pillar Of The Community
7693 Posts |
I always enjoy seeing coins with interesting historical details--I'll keep coming back!  |
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Valued Member
United States
303 Posts |
Yep, looking forward to this.  |
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Formerly jwharper
4253 Posts |
I own six denarii of Julia Domna. She has always fascinated me, and in my imagination, she must have been a very beautiful woman. I too like the reverse on your coin and probably would have been drawn to it because of the reverse.
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Pillar Of The Community
3352 Posts |
"man, that's the ugliest coin that I've ever seen!"... hahaha, good one, eh? (yah, I've got a million of 'em) ... Wow dougsmit => awesome effort => I'm so glad to be on the other side of the fence, looking in!! Great coin! 
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Pillar Of The Community
United States
2078 Posts |
Nice Julia Domna. I like the portrait on this coin and it's got a nice reverse too.
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Pillar Of The Community
United States
1541 Posts |
When learning to separate the Alexandria mint denarii by style from the same types from Rome one hint is often the eyes. The die cutters at Alexandria seemed to have trouble with eyes. I had not thought of them as 'closed' as mentioned by Doucet but they are often a bit swollen or clumsy. The other Eastern denarii mints can have odd eyes as well but Alexandria seems to have been worse. This coin is attributed to Alexandria because it matches the long series with reverse dated L + the year numeral. The matching style of denarii were recognized in the 1920's and the resemblence is strong enough that no one has put out a serious challenge to that observation. Alexandria mint denarii were all rare before the normalization of trade with Eastern Europe and the appearance on the market of recent hoards. I suspect the coins were made in Alexandria and shipped in quantity to areas where Septimius had troops to pay so more of them will be found in the Eastern Mediterranean than in Egypt.
I do not take PayPal but I like to trade coins. e-mail me if interested.
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Pillar Of The Community
3352 Posts |
Quote:
Julia Domna (170--217) was a member of the Severan dynasty of the Roman Empire. Empress and wife of Roman Emperor Lucius Septimius Severus and mother of Emperors Geta and Caracalla, Julia was among the most important women ever to exercise power behind the throne in the Roman Empire. Quote:
Her ancestors were Priest Kings of the famous temple of Baʿal. The family had enormous wealth and was promoted to Roman senatorial aristocracy. Quote:
The marriage proved to be a happy one and Severus cherished his wife and her political opinions, since she was very well read and keen on philosophy. Quote:
When Severus became emperor in 193 he had a civil war waiting for him, against rivals such as Pescennius Niger and Clodius Albinus. Julia accompanied him in his campaigns in the East, an uncommon event in a time when women were expected to wait in Rome for their husbands. Nevertheless, she remained with the emperor and among the several proofs of affection and favour are the minting of coins with her portrait and the title mater castrorum (mother of the camp).  Ooops ... sorry dougsmit, but I had to get that out of my system! (it's been a while => old habits are hard to break) ... I'll try to refrain myself from adding-in too much "history" ...
Edited by stevex6
05/10/2012 07:12 am
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Pillar Of The Community
United States
1541 Posts |
I appreciate stevex6 or anyone adding comments or background information that they find interesting and think others might also!
I do not take PayPal but I like to trade coins. e-mail me if interested.
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Pillar Of The Community
United States
1374 Posts |
This is going to be good! |
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Valued Member
United States
422 Posts |
I'm with you chrsmat71! This is going to be another great thread!  I knew absolutely nothing about Julia Domna .... until now. Please add as much history to these coins as possilbe. I love history! Glad your undertaking this Doug! Very good stuff and a beautiful first coin! |
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Posted 05/09/2012 10:53 pm
