Ok, So What Did I Buy? - Coin Community Forum

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Author	Replies: 6 / Views: 1,173
Beefer518 Pillar of the Community United States 887 Posts	Posted 08/30/2017 9:52 pm Local auction house has these, and along with a sweet Rolleiflex, I picked these up. I just wanted to have a couple of ancients in my armory, and now I do. Both are graded VF by NGC. All I know about them is what's on the label. Can you educate me, as what's on the label means nothing to me. I did figure out what the AE & number means though. Edited by Beefer518 08/30/2017 9:54 pm Report this Post to the Staff

jskirwin Pillar of the Community United States 616 Posts	Posted 08/30/2017 10:25 pm I specialize in the Severan Dynasty so let me help you out with Julia Domna. Julia Domna was the wife of Roman emperor Septimius Severus who founded the dynasty and ruled from 193AD to 211AD. Julia Domna came from a well-connected and wealthy family in Emmaus Syria. It was Severus's second marriage, Domna's first. She bore him two sons: Geta and Caracalla (their official names were a lot longer, but these are how they are known today). The dynasty lasted until 235 AD when the last of Severus's relatives Alexander Severus was murdered by his own troops. The Severans have some interesting characters. Septimius was your usual bad-ass general. The women in his life including his sister-in-law would play important roles in the dynasty and maintain it through some difficult times including Caracalla's murder of his brother Geta, Caracalla's murder and replacement by Macrinus, the usurping of Macrinus and replacement of him by Domna's niece's son Elagabalus. When Elagabalus went off the deep end and threatened the dynasty, Domna's sister Maesa helped engineer her Mamaea's son Alexander to take over after she had Elagabalus killed. The coin you have is a provincial piece minted in Pisidia Antiochia, a site in modern day Turkey. Edited by jskirwin 08/30/2017 10:30 pm Report this Post to the Staff
Finn235 Pillar of the Community United States 6130 Posts	Posted 08/30/2017 10:32 pm Nice pick ups! I especially like the Soloi; never seen one before. AE is standard for "Aes" Latin for Bronze. Greek silver and gold denominations' names have mostly survived to the present, but bronzes are poorly understood. If the native name is not known, collectors call it by the metal and its diameter. Typical metals: AE: Aes, bronze or copper AR: Argentum, silver BI: Billon, silver of less than ~40% purity AV: Aurum, gold Less common: PB: Plumbum, lead Potin (no abbreviation) a special mix of copper and other metals to make pseudo-silver; popular among the Celts. You can find a little more info about the first coin here: http://www.wildwinds.com/coins/gree...soloi/i.html Your second coin is known as a Roman provincial, local currencies used in the historically Greek provinces of Rome. Roman Imperial coinage is mostly well understood, but many cities were allowed to make their own bronze coins, and again the specifics of those economies have been lost. Report this Post to the Staff
echizento Moderator United States 23731 Posts	Posted 08/30/2017 10:39 pm Two nice coins, though I'm don't know why they were slabbed. Report this Post to the Staff
moxking Rest in Peace United States 17900 Posts	Posted 08/31/2017 09:29 am Now you've done it. A taste of ancients can never be satisfied. Report this Post to the Staff
Spence Moderator United States 34427 Posts	Posted 08/31/2017 7:26 pm Quote: I just wanted to have a couple of ancients in my armory That is how it always starts. Great pick-ups by the way. "If you climb a good tree, you get a push." -----Ghanaian proverb "The danger we all now face is distinguishing between what is authentic and what is performed." -----King Adz Report this Post to the Staff
Beefer518 Pillar of the Community United States 887 Posts	Posted 09/01/2017 10:31 pm jskirwin - thanks for the interesting read! Ya know, we really only hear about the heavy hitters of the Greek and Romans, and forget their were countless others that shaped the way society developed over the years. I don't think I recognize a single name from that tree, but each one was important enough to have his/her own little place in world history. While I doubt I'll go very far with ancients, I did pick up another one, simply because it was cheap and raw. I', looking forward to getting it and holding a coin that was held and used by someone (that for all I know could've been a distant relative) hundred of years ago. I tend to be a bit scattered in my collections, and there are just so many ancients to even try to focus on on a series or empire or family for me. Report this Post to the Staff
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