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 Replies: 17 / Views: 3,450 |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3229 Posts |
I has been a long while since I have made an ancients purchase  But I went to a show today  ...and made a few purchases!  Here is my first Postumus  ... Postumus AR Antoninianus. IMP C POSTVMVS P F AVG, radiate, draped & cuirassed bust right / HERC PACIFERO, Hercules standing right, holding olive branch & club. RIC 67, RSC 101, Sear5 10946.   |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1549 Posts |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2044 Posts |
That is a nice Postumus coin. Even decently manufactured for the time.
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Pillar of the Community
3352 Posts |
Nice, that's a beauty ... => apparently you hd a great day at the Big Show!!?  |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1316 Posts |
Wow, another great looking coin, did you get a good price...very nice..  |
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Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
2838 Posts |
Looks like a nice one, excellent pictures too |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4973 Posts |
i like that! |
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
3229 Posts |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3229 Posts |
Quote:
"(M. Cassianius Latinius Postumus). A man of humble origin, Postumus was a soldier of great merit and was appointed commander of the Rhine legions by Valerian. In AD 259, actuated either by personal ambition or at the desire of his troops, he rebelled against Gallienus, and ruled Gaul, Spain, and Britain firmly and wisely for almost a decade. He was completely thwarting the repeated attempts of Gallienus to recover the lost provinces. In AD 268, however, Ulpius Cornelius Laelianus rebelled against Postumus, and although the usurper was quickly attacked and destroyed, the refusal of Postumus to allow his troops to sack Moguntiacum (Mainz), which had supported the rebel, led to his assassination."
Roman Coins and their values, by Davis Sear 1981
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1549 Posts |
Quote:
I believe the silvering on this Ant deserves some dancing fruit Silvering? The photo makes this look like one of the early issues when flans were debased but not so much that they required silvering. Do you see signs of plating on top of a core? I have seen better grade Postumus but this is exceptional in that it is one of the Hercules reverses AND high grade. Like Gallienus who was emperor in Rome at the time, Postumus started with reasonably good metal in his coins but we see more of the later base metal issues that were silvered to make them look gray. I'll show a different Hercules type (but not as nice a specimen). It shows HERC DEVSONIENSI or the Hercules of Deuso but there is dispute on exactly where this was and whether it might be the birthplace of Postumus.  The same reverse is available in an AE double sestertius which is usually pretty crudely struck on faulty flans but are large enough to be attractive anyway. Mine is 20.5g and 32mm - rather thin so it is larger diameter than many early sestertii.  |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3229 Posts |
The obverse on this coin is as silver as my silver quarter.  (I can see how then original pics do not show this:) The reverse has some wear on the high points of Hercules where you can just barely see debased metal showing through, but the fields are silver. This is the first thing that led me to believe that this one is silvered. Secondly, the rough edges in the cracks of the coin look silvered to me...but I could be wrong. Thanks for the help Doug!     BTW Doug, thanks for sharing your coins! 32mm -  If anyone else wants to post their Postumus it would be great to see them! |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1549 Posts |
I'll show two more items that might be of interest to some. First is a silver Postumus I bought from CNG in 1998 specifically because it weighs 4.69g which is the heaviest I have. There is a lot of variability in the weights of Postumus coins.  Second is not a coin but an item from another of my collections. This is a French stereoscopic view card dated by the mount to 1852 to 1855. The subject is a still life including a bracelet make of coins. I believe the portrait I see most clearly is Postumus. I claim that this is the earliest photograph of an ancient coin but I would love for someone to show me an earlier one. Please prove me wrong! For that matter, I would love to see any photographs from the 19th century with ancient coin subjects. I have never seen a close up coin photo from anything approaching that period. Books of the day used line drawings. I figure they must exist but I have no explanation why I have not seen them.  |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4253 Posts |
Interesting Doug, but I cannot prove you wrong. I haven't seen any images older than yours.
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Valued Member
United States
209 Posts |
Wow, what a strange picture. Very interesting. The portraits are less obvious to me, are you thinking the one on the left is Postumus? As much as I dislike what they did to those coins, it is a fascinating item. Thanks for posting!
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Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
2100 Posts |
I had a small collection of these a few years back. I had some nice ones that looked silver but others where the debased metal was more obvious. The following coin showed patches on the silver surface where the copper from the alloy leached to the surface causing a coppery stain to the coin.  It isn't easy to find these with a good strike on both sides. The reverse dies seemed as though they were used when they were quite well worn. Martin |
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Valued Member
Spain
319 Posts |
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Replies: 17 / Views: 3,450 |
Posted 10/28/2012 7:59 pm
