..

Vo/ 4, NO. 3 Numismatic Art of Antiquity MARCH 1990 $2.00

Deja Vu
Second century civil wars were history rerun
by Ron Kollgaard
The assassination of the Emperor
Commodus (180-192), the deranged son
of Marcus Aurelius (161-180). ignited a
series of civil wars in the Roman
Empire which mirrored in many ways
the civil wars that followed the death of
Nero (54-68). In the ilrst instance a
revolt against Nero led to the reign of
Galba (June 68 - January 69). a
respected, but elderly Senator whose
tightfisted policies lost him crucial
suppon. Otho (January 69 - April 69),
with the backing of the Praetorian
Guard, had Galba assassinated and seized
power for himself. Outside Rome,
however, Vitellius (April 69 - December
69) with the endorsement of the Rhine
legions, and Vespasian (69-79) with the
leg ions of the eas tern provinces,
contested Otho's arrangement. Not al-
together surprisingly, Vespasian, with
his superi or military force, was
victorious and began a new Imperial
dynasty. The events of 193 show a
strikingly similar pattern to those of 69,
and to some extent 193 can be
considered a second "Year of Four
Emperors". There are, however, crucial
differences. The Civil Wars following
the assassination of Com modu s
stretched for many years (193-197) and
lead to desttuction on a much wider
scale at both ends of the Empire, as well
as in purges of the Senate. And, worst
of all, while the Civil Wars of 69 had
been a mere interlude between the stable
Julio-Claudian and Flavian dynasties.
the Wars of 193-197 were but a prelude
to the instability that was going to
wrack the Empire for decades fOllowing
the death of the man who had emerg ed
victorious in mose Wars: Septimius COM M O OU S
Severus (193-211). A.D. 180-192
The last years of the reign of The excesses of this emperor, who thought of himself
Commodus were marked by the as Hercules, led to the period of upheaval and
increasingly bizarre behavior of the civil war following his assassination.
emperor. As Nero had fancied himself
an actor and perfonner, Commodus saw
himself as a gladiator. He fought beasts
in the arena and identified himself with COMMODIANVS", that he was twelve words, just enough for each of
Hercules. His coinage proclaimed that Hercules himself! He even took to the months which were now renamed
he was both the companion of Hercules, wearing a lion skin and carrying a heavy
and, with the inscription "HERCVLES club. Commodus expanded his name to
Please tum to page XXV

Coming to America
Ancient coins were part of conqui stador's chattel
by Marvin Tameanko the coast near San Diego, California. the Roman coins were the conclusive The story of this voyage reveals the
For a few exciting moments in the An oceanographer. searching for a wreck proof that the sunken wreck was buried greed and lreachery typical of the history
winter of 1960 it looked like the ancient with an underwater metal detector in the nearby and this began one of those of the Spanish conquistadors in South
Romans might have been the first water off Point La Jolla, found $ ancient bizzare and amazing stories about and Central America. It involves the
Europeans to discover America, and Roman coins. The sunken ship she was ancient Roman coins discovered by fable of the golden Aztec "Seven Cities
apparently they had come across the looking for was the 35 ton Spanish archaeologists in America. of Cibola" and the conquistador Heman
Pacific Ocean from China and landed on caravel named the "Trinidad". In fac t, In 1951. Dr. J. J. Markey, an Cortez. the famous explorer and
American historian and the curator of conqueror of Mexico. And as strange as
the San Luis Rey, California Historical it seems, it also involves thousands of
ancient Roman coins.
Miscellanea .
Society. announced the discovery of
several skeletons, bits of Spanish annor In 1539, Cortez, in political and
• • • and over 2,000 coins, mostly ancient
Roman in a cave near the San Luis Rey
financial trouble with his superiors.
decided to restore his reputation by
• Superior agrees to NFA merger river. The approximate location of this discovering the legendary Seven Cities
Although it has not been formally announced, an offer by Nwnismatic cave was given in a long forgotten of Cibola and then plulldering them for
Fine Arts International to acquire a major interest in Superior Stamp and manuscript from the archives of Seville, treasure in the name of the Spanish
Coin Company has been accepted Spain. It had been written by Pablo Crown. The Viceroy of Mexico. an
Details of the merger have not been released, but The CelaJor has been Salvador Hernandez, one of the three enemy of Cortez, lha:J. his own plan for
told that the two fums plan to continue operating under their present names men who survived this disastrous such an expeditionTut Cortez deceived
and structures. Commenting on the offer, Ira Goldberg of Superior said "I can Spani sh expedition in 1540 to
Please tum to page XVI
California.
reassure you and your readers that it will be business as usual with us." NFA
declined to comment on the offer pending Securities and Exchange
Commission filings and approval. INSIDE
• Vagi appointed to Coin World THE CELATOR: r . " ...
David L. Vagi has announced his appointment as a staff writer for Coin 8.'
_ P<D
:r
World newspaper. Vagi assumed this position on February 19th, after
receiving Bachelor's Degrees in Magazine Journalism and Ancient History at Point of View II ~g>~
-xm
the University of Missouri at Columbia in December of 1989. Vagi will be Book News 1111 fl-r. o
","'~
remembered by readers for his 1988 Celator article about Constantinian People VI
mules. 8:'"
Market XII
• Seaby reopens Foreign Department
B.A. Seaby is pleased to announce the reopening of their Foreign Coin
calendar
Coin File
XXIII
XX 1[
~

Department. Bobby Cox. Managing Director. said "It was always a matter of
regret when Seaby had to close ilS Foreign Department, but we are now
Trivia
Prof. Directory
XX
XXXII H
- "8
delighted that we shall be dealing in foreign coins". Jeremy Cheek will be Classifieds XXXIIli ~.
developing the department. 1il4
~
~
II The Celatot ' , MarCh '1990 '

7he CeIoJor's Letters to the Editor

Point of View . . . Dear Editor:

You humans! Just when one of us

applicable IRS regulation s.
Contributions may be mailed to the VA
Stamp and Coin Club (135), Tucson,
Commentary by Wayne G. Sayles coins tries to impress you with our AZ.85723,
intellectual acumen, we get corrected! I
n . this month's mailbag was a had stated in my January article Robert E. Taylor
project has been very successful and has

I letter from a long time reader of

The Celator asking the question,
"What ever happened to . . - • •
magazine?" We omit the name because
we are not really sure what has happened
to the publication. While the collecting
of ancient coins has been a consistently
strong pursuit for centuries, the
publication of material related to this
narrow field has been as unpredictable
and erratic as the weather in Wisconsin.
Countless attempts have been made to
provide a viable periodical, and as many
have failed. Not because of any
shortcoming on the pan of their
organizers, but primarily because of the
economic realities. Given the meager
circulation of such a specialized
publication, it is nearly impossible,
"The faithful and consistent advertisers,
who month after month support this publication,
provide an essential base without
which the effort would be doomed, "
without a benefactor, to generate the
resources necessary for a quality product
To their great credit, many have tried.
Just as many have failed.
It is remarkable to some that Th~
Celalor has managed to survive, even
thrive, in such a market In actuality, it
is not so remarkable because the
publication does have benefactors. The
faithful and consistent advertisers, who
month after month support this
publication, provide an essential base
without which the effort would be
doomed. A diverse and talented group
of contributing authors donate their
labors of love and research, foregoing
compensation, for all to enjoy and
contemplate. We have been fortunate to
have had contributions from some of the
most prominent numismatists of our
time. We have also been able to
appreciate simpler expressions of joy,
wonderment and satisfaction from newer
collectors who want to share their
experiences. From the book reviewers
to the letter writers, the commentators
to the critics, everyone who has taken
an active part in supporting The Celator
has become a benefactor. This month
we wish to give a tip of the hat to those
people (you know who you are) that
have made The Celator possible.
Where do we go from here? Not to a
glossy format with a big editorial staff!
We will remain a small, family
operated, publication doing what we do
best. We will try to iron out some of
the wrinkles and provide our readers
encouraged us to look at other suitable
subjects for this type of fonnat. Its
primary advantage is the very low cost.
Anyone interested in literature about
ancient coins knows an too well the sad.
story. We intend to expand the
production of these card cover, saddle
stitched, publications to include a series
of inexpensive reissues of some classic
works as well as the introduction of
some original material. We use the
term reissue ramer than reprint, since
these will be entirely reset on modem
equipment and in some cases
illustrations and commentary will be
added. The works selected will be out-
of-print and genecally unavailable to the
average reader or collector. 'They will be
uniformly priced at $9.95 plus postage.
The rust issue planned in this series is a
captivating autobiography, edited by
Anne Manning in 1860, of the life of
Valentine Duval. Duval preceded
Eckhel at Vienna and was responsible
for the formation of the Royal cabinet
of coins that later made Eckhel famous.
Look for it in a couple of months.
Getting back to our reader's question,
"What ever happened to - - - 1" We
regret to inform you that your
publication is missing in action. About
all we can say with any certainty is that
The Cefator is here to stay. And yes,
by the way, there are some things in life
that you can make book on.
Thanks again to all who have shared
their points of view with us in the past
They are a1ways respected, if not always
agreed with. We hope the new season
brings you a lot of enjoyment in your
hobby. As the days get longer, how
about putting pen to paper and letting
us hear your point of view!
NOTICE: Offsetpaper Isoutofs~
atpress time. Rather than delay printing for
another week, we ha'I'9 decided to run this
issue on 'Premium 70" paper. This situation
wi. be remedied for our next issue!
Deadline for the April
issue is Friday, March 9
(Celalor, p. X) that the comet pictured
on the reverse of my friend, the
Augustus/deified Julius Caesar denarius
from 17 B.C., was thought by the
people at the time of the "Judi
saecu!ares" to be the same comet that
had appeared at the time of Julius
Caesar's death in 44 B.C. I further
stated that "we now know the comet of
44 B.C. was very likely the famou s
Halley's comet. " Dr. Donald K.
Yeomans of the Jet Propulsion Lab in
Pasadena, in his letter in the February ,
Celator. explains Halley's comet was
seen in 87 B.C. and then again in 12
B.C. The comet of 44 B.C. could not
possibly have been Halley's. I do
apologize. I seem to have gleaned some '
erroneous information from someone·
Copernicus? Galileo? I'm not quite
sure. Perhaps I'd better stick to more
earthly matters and leave talk: of space,
Hubbell telescopes, Mars manned
expeditions and the like to me experts.
I thank Dr. Yeomans for his comments.
By the way, Doctor, is lIle comet of 44
B.C. a periodic visitor to our planet's
vicinity or an unknown comet winding
through lIle universe? I'll await an
answer. I'd like to "flip" through Dr.
Yeomans' upcoming book, "T h~
Hi sto ry of Comets" when it is
available.
Octavimt "Aegypm Capta" denarius
Memphis, Tennessee
•••••
The articles in Tile Celator are
enriching & informative, and I am
looking forward to another year of
enlightening infonnation. Thank. you.
Kennelh F. Veitch
Pennsyl\lQJlia
•••••
We here in Tucson, Arizona, are
endeavoring to fill a need for our
hospitalized, disabled, and home bound'
veterans patients. There ace times when
it becomes very frustrating to fill the
needs of these deserving veterans
because of a lack of supplies. Our needs
consist of stamps and coins, albums,
catalogues and other supplies.
Contributions are tax deductable under
Chief of Volunteer SeTlljc~s
Veleran's AdminiSlralion Hospilal
Tucson, Ariwna
•••••
I enjoyed your commentary on
"banning trade of antiquities".
Fortunately Israel has had the wisdom to
not yet adopt these restrictions.
Although a bill has been presented to
the Knesset to ban trade of antiquities
the practical evidence against it has kept
it from passing into law. More often
than not this legislation has been
counter productive. These laws tend to
both retard progress toward historical
discoveries and rob the heritage from the
country it is designed to protect. Many
countries in the eastern Mediterranean
area have strict rules against buying and
selling antiquities. Yet this does not
stop the flow of material to other
destinations where it can be sold freely.
If not for these laws most material
would fllst be offered in the country
where it was found. This makes sense,
since it is usually worth more there.
I also liked the article by William
Horr on the serrated coins of the
Seleucid ltingdoms. Many of the coin
hoards I acquire have numerous varieties
of these. I have often thought about the
reasons for these serrated flans.
Although I have no great theories to
date, they sure are easy to identify in
hoards of thousands of uncleaned coins.
Howard Kogen
Israel
•••••
It would appear that the Black Sea
Hoard conbOversy still lingers on from
the comments that have appeared on
various pages in your recent issues
including Arnie's colulJUl (this may be a
paid advertisement but it has contained
some of the most sensible comments
made about ancients in general in recent
months). The following points have
absolutely nothing to do with
microscopic ana1ysis of the remains of
ancient mouse droppings on the coins or
questions of style or metallurgy. They
are to do with that most reliable of
guides in all other walles of life - the
facts as they are known .
1. This hoard originally appeared on
the market in West Germany. The guy
who imported the coins into Germany
from Eastern Europe knows the market.
He knows and is known at the biggest
coin dealers in Europe and he knows
coin prices. The normal sequence of
events willl someone like this when he
has a new hoard is to immediately head

with a constantly Changing and
improving product. We've added new
equipment over the past year, and plan
to add some more this year, but our
emphasis is on improved quality not on
rapid growth. We hope you've noticed
the improvement in photo quality, and
believe it or not, we have reduced
(certainly not eliminated) the number of
typographical errors. We are producing
about 85 column feet of copy each
month (not counting ads) and it is all
related to antiquity. In 1990 look for
more of the same.
As an addition to our monthly
publication we have undertaken the
annual reprint of some of our best
artic:.les. i!l a m~~.n~ s~l~ (orqtat. 1Jle
~ QI,w
for Zurich or Munich and ask three or
four times what the coins are worth and
after much haggling to sell them for the
Po stmaster: send address changes to: highest possible price. With this hoard
P .0, Bo x 123, l odl, WI 53555 he heads for a non-numismatic center in
Phone (608) 5924684 Fax (608) 592· 4682 the nerth of Gennany and sells the coins
The Ce/ator is an independent newspaper published on the HlSt clay of each month at 226 with very little haggling to a general
Palmer Parkway, loci, WI. It is circulated internationally through subsaiptions and special dealer who has no great specialist
distributions. SubscripUon rates are $24 per year (second class) within the United States knowledge in Greek coins for a figure
and canada, $48 per year 10 all othef addresses (Air Printed Maltef). Advertising and believed to be less than twenty dollars
copy deadline is !he second Friday of each month. Unsolicited articles and news release;> each . Whatever your knowledge of
are welcome, however publication cannot be guaranteed. Second class postage, permit
pending, lodi, WI 535SS. Copyright e 1989, Clio's Cabinet. ancient numismatics this is akin to
Shylock saying forget my pound of
Wayne G. Sayles . . ...• • , , • , , PublisherlEditor flesh and here's a nice Christmas present
Janet Sayles •••..••. . . .... . .Office Manager for the kids - it simply isn't credible.
Steven Sayles. , , ••• .. •. ...•. Production Manager 2. At a European coin show several
Christine Olson, ••...•.. . ... .Distribution Asst. months ago an Eastern European dealer
P lease tum to page X~XIllI
 III

Ancient Coins at Christie~

Syracuse. l00-Litrae, c.413-387 BC

futimate $10,000-15,000

A Fine Collection ofClassical Greek Coins

in Gold and Silver
will be included in our sale of

ANCIENT, R)REIGN and UNITED STATES COINS

onTuesday; March 13th at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m.
in our galleries at 502 Park Avenue, NewYork, NY 10022

Viewing will be held on

Sunday; March 11th from 1p.m. to 5 p.m.
and on
Monday; March 13th from 10 a.m. to 2p.m.

Catalogues are available by mail fur $17

from Christie's Publications, 21-24 44th Avenue
Long Island City; NY 11101 (718/784-1480)

For Further infurmation, please call

•
James Lamb or Anne Paul at 212/546-1056

{I
CHRISTIE'S
1111 The' Celator

Museum collections
Catalogues offer greater accessibility of coins for study
by Luciana Csaki
What moves a collector to give his
beloved coins to an institution?
recent letter by a donor to the Berne
Museum gives a few clues. The
gentleman wrote that whenever he went
to visit the museum, he found the coins
and a comfortable armchair waiting for
him and could work undisturbed.
Therefore, he would give the coins to
the museum with the stipulation that
they should be visible to the public and
a catalogue should eventually be
published. Such being at least one
donor's sentiments. it seems fair to infer
that. rather than adverse effects of recent
tax laws. the real deterrent to donations
is the obscurity of the vault to which
the coins are confined. out of sight and
out of mind. with no thought of
publication. It is unfortunate that
certain numismatic institutions, while
paying lip service to the availability of
collections to users, in practice make
any attempt to see the coins a truly
Dantesque trial, a Purgatorio complete
with seven stories to be climbed in the
quest for numismatic knowledge.
Le rrwnnayage byzantin, edited by
Tony Hackens, (Louvain-Ia-Neuve,
1984, 80 pp.) is an example to any such
institution. The book is a response of
the Universite Catholique of Louvain to
the gift by Chanione Leon Matagne,
one element in the coordinated effort to
make the Matagne collection truly
accessible and fully appreciated by the
general public. The purpose of this
A effon is unabashedly stated by editor
Tony Hackens: ~I wanted to show what
a university team can accomplish with
the gift of such marvellous work tools."
(p.7).
Book and exhibit are no surprise to
those who know the sprightly and
ubiquitous Tony Hackens, Visiting
Scholar at the American Numismatic
Society in 1986, good will ambassador
at the AlA Meeting in 1987, and now
busy organizing the 1991 International
Numismatic Congress in Brussels. The
contributors and their areas of experuse
are Jacqueline Lafontaine-Dosogne
(chapter on iconography), Justin
Mossay (historical introduction) and
Banayotis Yannopoulos (two chapters
on numismatics). With the historical
and artistic background thus provided,
the coins are not seen in isolation, but
are placed in their proper cultural
context.
This guiding principle, added to the
neatness of presentation, immaculate
printing and high-qua1ity plates. makes
the slim volume an excellent
introduction to the adventure of
Byzantine coinage. Le rrwnnayage
byzantin is a proper complement to
other works not easily obtainable
(Berteie) or too expensive or
intimidating for the novice (Grierson,
the major catalogues).
In a rapidly growing field such as
Byzantine numismatics (pace all those
who consider it a dead horse), even a
new book like this one is bound to have
some data superseded by new fmds, and
it may be useful to point out a few such
instances. Secondly, although the
purpose of the book is to give an
overview of Byzantine coinage rather
than argue scholarly opinions, mention
of diverging views would have been
desirable.
The list of mints on p. 30 could be
modified by adding Spain (for a brief
discussion of this mint, see p. 14 of the
introduction to by W.E. Metca1f and W.
Hahn, and for a more detailed treatment,
read "Una ceca bizantine en Espana,
NumHisp 4). The map on reduced
weight solidi on p. 49, reproduced from
Adelson's Light Weight Solidi and
Byzantine Trade, could profit by a
comparison with the recent discussion
of Byzantine finds in Russia by John
Smedley (Studies in Early Byzantine
Gold Coinage). Oddy's caveat to the
effect that scholars do NOT agree on the
attribution of gold coinage to Italian
mints from A.D. 660 to 780 should be
heeded. There are at least two areas
under discussion: the mint of Naples,
where Byzantine issues were minted.
according to some scholars, until the
ninth century, because the Byzantine
emperor was still at least nominally
recognized, and the issues which could
be attributed to the Lombards or
Byzantine Ravenna.
Even members of the same team
entailed (as Robert Blake pointed out)
calling in the nummus and replacing it ·
with larger denominations (follis), not
merely adding larger bronze pieces to
those already in circulation; and that this
reform. along with some others
(abolition of the chrysargyron), was not
carried out in the West of the empire.
'The weight of the nummus is a
vexed question. The chart on p. 46,
~Evolution of the Weight of the Follis"
is admirable in clarity but. as most
evolutionistic theories, sins by
oversimplifying a complex issue. It
behooves fIrst of all to wonder with w.
Hahn et al. if the bronze nummus in the
sixth century was a unit of account of it
the weight of the nummus was really
one-fourtieth of the weight of the follis.
A perusal of the article "Hoard of
"Minimi~ by H. L. Adelson and G. L.
Kustas (ANSMN XI) shows a series of
reformed folies under Anastasius. Their
theoretical weight was 9.2 ' g. If the
authors are correct, it is hard to see how
this figure would fIt in Yannopoulos'
chart.
Some discussion of these points is a
desideratum for the next edition of Le
monnayage byzantin, which I do hope
will be an English one. This elegant
little book would do very well on the
reading list of college courses in
Medieval history and/or art. Besides
providing the indispensable knowledge,
it would help dispel certain myths. At
the latest Byzantine Studies Conference,
held on a college campus, I asked a cute
young coed for directions to the lectures.

BOOKS""
CASEY, Understanding Ancient COins,
occasionally disagree: J. Mossay states
that, although the beginning of
Byzantine coinage is nonnally dated to
"I am not sure,~ she answered, "but try
that group of people down there, it
might be them: they look ' stuffy
the reign of Anastasius, this emperor enough." For this and other less
An Introduction for Archa.aloglsts and Historians
160 p., photos & charts, paperback .................................... : .......... $16.75 "was not really responsible for any innocent misconceptions, the little
major innovations~ in fisca1 matters (p. volume illustrating the collection of
CLAlN-STEFANELLl, Numismatic Bibliography. 1848 p ... $75.00 14). In support of this view, Mossay Chanoine Matagne will be a light
cites Cecile Morrison in the Catalogue shining in the darkness. Let us hope
EVANS, Soldiers of Rome; Praetorl8ns Bnd Leglonalres. it's lit soon.
des rrwnnaies byzantines de la B N., p.
HEAD, History .of the Coinage of Ephesus, 14, but M.me Morrisson never said .that
89 p. + ~ pI. repnnt ........................................................................ $20.00 Anastasius did not innovate; she simply
wrote that, "especially for' the gold, the
Amandry to speak
HILL.. Ancient Greek and Roman Coins, A Handbook.
Repnnt 302 p., drawings, +16 pl ................................................... $14.00
coinage of Anastasius agrees in many at RNS meeting
respects with that of his predecessors. ~
HILL, Becker The CounterfeIter, 111 p. + 19 pI. reprint.. ....... $20 . 00 P. Yannopoulos takes a different view Michel Amandry will be speaking to
of Anastasius' innovations, stating that members of the Royal Numismatic
HILL, Coins of Ancient Sicily, 256 p. + 15 pI. + map ............... $39.00 "The refonn of Anastasius was the basis Society on Tuesday, March 20.
KIELY & VAN METER, Collecting Roman Coins for the Byzantine monetary system until Amandry's topic is entitled "Bronze
New basic guide. 74 p. + 4 plates. Atlribution, collecting themes, 1081." (p.41). Coinage in the Late Roman RepUblic."
etc. Paperback, ............................................................................ $14.75 The session will be conducted in the
A solution to this apparent rooms of the Society of Antiquaries,
NEWELL, Royal Greek PonraIt Coins. contradiction lies, I think, in the Burlington House. Piccadilly, London,
125 p. with photos of 244 portrait coins •.•.••.•.•.•.•.•.• __ .•.•.•.•.•. $19.00 realization that the refonn of Anastasius at 5:30 P.M.
~umlsmst/C Chronicle, 10 paperback reprints from the RNS
JOurnal. Includes "The Geneva Forgeries", "Ancient Methods of B A SfABY Lm
Coining", "The Roman 'Serrati", & "Fel. Temp. Reparatio·............... $16.95 8 CAVENDISH SQUARE
LoNOON WIM OAJ
TEL 01-631 3707
WRITE FOR FREE: FAX 01436 5189
• Fixed price catalog of quality coins .
• Auction of medium·priced coins.
• Catalogs of books .about ancient coins. Clive Foss: Roman Historical Coins
Professor of History at the Umversity of Massachusetts
For the collectors who would like to know more about the
historical background of their coins, or the historian who
would like ready access to information from numismatic
sources, this book will be a boon. A catalogue of' over
2.000 coins illustrates Roman history in great depth,
THOMAS P. MCKENNA showing the unique relationship between the coins and the
events and people they show. An index of historical events
is also ·included.
P.O. Box 1356·F • Fort Collins, CO 80522 Hardback, 368 pp, 341 photographs, $60 (Feb '90)
303·226·5704 . ~Ie ~s .AteDt S~~1y ~ M:>rbtill~ ~IO Fjf'l' Av, 7th Ooor, Please contact uslor
New York, NY 10010, Tet (212) 532 7210, Pu (212) 481 1689 a ee Book Lis
The' Celator. Merctn990

Numismatic FineArts

INTERNATIONAL. INC

CURRENTLY
ACCEPTING CONSIGNMENTS
One of the most respected names in ancient numismatics, NFA has consistently
achieved the highest prices for coins sold both privately and through auction. Our
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Rhegium AR lelradrachm
Auction XXII, 1989, lot 182
Estimate: $20.000·30.000
Price Realized: $55,000
2: 1 Enlargement

Brutus AR denarius Sextus Pompey A V au reus

Auction XX. 1988, lot 62 Auction XXII. 1989. lot 17
Estimate: $35,000-40.000 Estimate: $60,000·75.000
Price Realized: $75.000 Price Realized: $105.000
3: I Enlargement 3: I Enlargement

Antiochus III A V octodrachm

Auction XVIII , 1987, lot 326
Estimate: $75.000·100,000
Price Realized: $140.000
2: I Enlargement

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..... . .......... . ......... . .. .. ....... , . . . . . . . . . . .....

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. . . .....
. . ... .

,,~,
~/olluwil!& pt?MI**, ~~ by /C.G.
O:iiiipbtO iIt " - r{ JUjJriP,d C~7
YIUii(.w-, wACJ MJniiikiCampOcU ....iJ/I
Illeav, r{ Iti.J fomiJ1 wItGI oolUd to war.)
.
'They loki me. Heraclilus., they lOki me
g.you. were~.
They brought tIlC biiter ne)~'s to bear,
:>and biucr tcan to ~•••"
Still are thy pleasant voices,
thy nightingales. awake;
For death he taketh aU away,
but them. be cannot tate."
from 'Ca11lmachus'
trans,. William Cory.
Ah, YussufBey! Ott,d ear my friend,
Oflell 1 think Qf you;
'lOOse Thursday evenings ltlat we spent
In rcadillg English Verse;
Or else discussins polilia.
And tbcn a sumptuOus. meaJ.
• A true Lucullan re~joT us
That Selma had prepol'd,
While- Nazmi. later worked aeatby.
His lessocs fot next day.
How long we talked and sipped our wine,
Smoked till the air was blue.
We shared 119 many thoughts we two
As good frietxII()f:teD do.
~: Came !boac dart:'~my,c1aYs,
It seemed the Hun niigbi come.
To active duty you wctec.aUed.
To me, )'QUt wife and too;
Of all the honors t have had
That • • the greatcst ooe.
That gripllimtc puxd,. .)~ time, must;
<LJt seelDOd lhat ~J}iaa anne.
Alas! Thett came the time 10 part.
Our lives iD diffreot ways
MUll go 10 finish out !heir CO\II'IC.
IleA: you did remain.
Thus so, for dw brief spall of time.
Two ways of life bad met,
Co-mingle4 in !)De CQIlUOOO taste
Of Iitmture and_~uc.
Two different ways had found ODe path
And friendship scaled that way.
Thus in the years aheId we met
But ooce 10 talk again.
Yet still that aocient dream remained.
By friendship made secure.
To-day beneath tbfcyprw; tree
You rest fore.vetuX)re.
For DOW yoU sleep'·itCfWtish soil.
While I dwell in the West
Yet slilll drum of by-gone days;
The nightingales wbicb sang.
Will live forever in--iny heart.
Till I am laid in dust
ROMAN EMPIRE, Tdus, 79-81 AD,AR Denarius
(19 mm). Dbv: IMP TlTVS CAES VESPASIANAVG PM, laureate
bust to right. Rev: TRP IX IMP XV COS VIII PP, wah dolphin
entwined around anchor. Mint of Rome. issued between
79-80 AD. RIC 26a & RSC 309, lustrous, choice
EF & RARE in this condition------··----$1.425.00
William B. Warden, Jr.
Classical Nwnismatist
P.O. Box 356
New Hope, PA 18938 U.SA
1-215-297-5088
Profiles in numismatics
University studies Campbell-Perry coins
by Robert R. Kutcher
While lhe collection of ancient coins
at the University of Nebraska. Lincoln
does not begin to rival any of those
collections in the European museums, it
does I believe, fall within the criterion
as put fonh in the letter from Ted C.
Hays, Jr. in the February issue of The
Celator. And that is, a great collection
that was put together by a very
knowledgeable and I might add, a very
fascinating man. And too, it is worthy
of study. In fact it is not only worthy
of study, it has been and is now being
slUdied. This collection is not large. as
museum collections go, and it does not
have aoy great rarities. but what it does
have is a number of hoard coins that are
kept together just for study. But still,
this collection is relatively unknown.
The main body of the ancient section
consists of the 4,302 first rate coins and
several hundred mediocre coins from the
Campbell. Perry collection of ancient
coins . Reverend Ian Charles Gordon
j
Campbell, a trained archaeologist of the
first order from Scotland, spent the early
years of his several careers as an
archaeologist collecting and studying
Byzantine art in Turkey prior to World
War II. When war broke out. Ian being
from Great Britain, was not allowed by
the Pro-German Turkish government to
dig or to pursue his profession. Fearing
him to be an enemy agen t using
archaeology as a cover, he was not
allowed to leave the country as he might
take secrets back home, and further, all
transportation to where he wanted to go
was restricted. To make ends meet. he
. took a position as Head Master of an
English style school for Turkish boys.
It was here that he met and married
Gladys Perry, a missionary from
Adams, Nebraska, and this was where
the two formed the greater part of their
remarkable collection. Some of these
coins were bought from the local
youngsters, who must have found, or
had ready access to several hoards of
Roman coins from the rust century
A.D., as these children were playing
"pitch penny" with exceptionally fine
denarii from a wide time frame. Mrs.
Campbell found the many females that
were represented on these coins to be
"../ sultans. This was the first of a planned
... pwblishe4.ua .1989,. i,s . a p"blicatioll .of. .• Socie(¥.ofwhich he was.Rresident~ •..
rathe r interesting, and so started her own
collection of hair styles from the coins
bought from these street urchins. Some
of their coins were even found by the .
two when they would take trips to
Istanbul (Constantinople) and walk the
unpaved back roads and alley ways.
They discovered lhat doing this after a
good heavy spring rain was the best
time to find the most coins. The many
bazaars of Western Turkey and Eastern
Greece provided most of the rest of their
coins.
Their collection represents a wide
spectrum of Greek, Roman, Roman
Colonial, Byzantine, and Asia Minor
coins of the later Byzantine types .
Outslanding in this collection are me
Severan. Gordian. Philip. Byzantine and
Trebizond groups of coins, of which
more than 95% have never been in any
private collection before. Thus mere are
many new types that were unrecorded.
The bulk of the coins are much above
the average in condition and style, as the
Campbells could be very selective in
their acquisitions, being virtually the
only purchasers of ancient coins in
Western Turkey during the wac years.
They were also able to buy most all of
the complete hoards mat came on me
market that were within their budget.
The Campbells were also aided in their
coin work by Ian's cousin from
Germany, who was a German officer
that was garrisoned in the same town
that they were living in. With this, Ian
was thought, by the Turkish
govemment at least, to be a double
agent and was always followed in his
every day travels during the war. And
here in lies some olher very exciting
stories.
Prior to the Campbell • Perry
collection, the University of Nebraska
had a small nucleus of coins that
Reverend Campbell added to while he
was the curator of the collections.
Some of the acquisitions for mis group,
but which are unfortunately no longer
with the University, were the 4,489
coins of the Jem Sultan Collection of
Ottoman and Turkish coins. Later,
around five hundred Ottoman gold
pieces, a hoard found by sponge divers.
was added to this group by Ian. Seven
hundred and four silver coins of Cilician
Armenia were also bought as a hoard for
study at the U of N, as was a hoard of
Roman bronze pieces . This group of
several hundred minors is very
Ol~r death is mourned,.b y;;'
Turkish Numismatic
-.
SOciety
On Friday, February 2, 1990 Mr. L the doCuments concerning the contracts
CUneyt Ol~er, Turkey's best known
numismatist outside his 0":,,," couJ!try,
passed away after a lenglhy Illness.
Ol~er would have been 65 on March
I, and is best known for his works on
Ottoman coinage and banknotes. His
first book' was published in 1966,
devoted to~ the silver coins of the last six
series on Ottoman coinage. Volume
13, published in 1989, dealt with the
coins of Selim L Volume 14, also
- .."' .. ._-
Milic';-·,99O
interesting in lhat they appear to be a
numismatic collection that · was put
together in ancient times. All "of these
bronzes are well centered and fully
struck up and show little or no wear.
They represent virtually all of the
reverse types from all of the producing
mints of only five succeeding emperors
of me later empire. The only negative
thing about this hoard is me fact that
they were, in ancient times, stored in
olive oil and are now ralher dark and
porous. And of course, even now, after
being soaked in alcohol for long
periods. oil stain their envelopes.
Probably the best known coins in
the University's collection are the 1.243
antoniniani and one denarius of the
Smyrna Hoard. These coins from lhe
Campbell· Perry collection were studied
by Samuel K. Eddy while he was
. teaching at the U of N and his work was
later published by him in the 1967
A.N.5. Notes and Monographs No.
156. Anolher group, the Istanbul Hoard
"A~ of 1,088 copper scyphates of John
II· Alexius III were noted in the A.N.S.
Museum Notes No. II, 1964, pages
207·213 by Alfred R . Bellinger, and
again in Coinage and Money in tM
Byzantine Empire 1081 • 1261 by
Michael F. Hendy. There is a small
mention of the Armenian trams in the
Numismatic Chronicles Vol. 141,
1981, pages 166-172. In this hoard of
trams, a few of the coins have bits of
the cloth sack the coins were in when
they were buried still adhering to them.
These scraps of cloth were studied by
the New York University of Fine Arts,
and their report can be found in lhe same
VoL 141. But the photographic plates
of Armenian trams in the back of this
volume are not the coins from this
hoard, but are some that the author had
studied earlier. I might mention that
Dr. Paul Z. Bedoukian wrote a
monograph on his discovery of a unique
silver tram of Levan· Smpad. The coin
is of Levon I's two lion type wilh the
regular obverse and Levon's inscription,
and it has the same two rampant lion
reverse, but the reverse inscription is
lhat of the later usurper Smpad. What
is interesting about this is that the
University's hoard had two of these
Levan· Smpad trams from different dies
than that of Dr. Bedou.kian's coin. The
Jem Sultan collection was of course
Please tum to page XXXI
between the Ottoman State and the
Imperial Ottoman Bank in two
volumes.
At the time of his death Olcer was
actively engaged in the revision of an
earlier book, Tk Coinage of Mahmud
II. Olcer was dedicated to the highest
standards of his studies in numismatics
and will be greatly missed by his many
friends' with whom he unhesitatingly
shared his knowledge, especially to
members of the Turkish Numismatic
The .(:elalo[

M()NTHLY FEA'TURES

~)
CLASSICAL NUMISMATIC AUCTIONS, Ltd.
Presents Our Largest Mail Bid Sale Ever

SALE X

Closing
March 21, 1990

Featuring
Greek, An Important Greek Bronze Collection,
A Nice Run of Greek Imperial,
(Including a Very Nice Run of Alexandrian),
A Large Collection of Roman Republican,
(Many Scarce and Unusual Varieties),
A Nice Selection of Roman Imperial,
(All of the Twelve Caesars Represented),
Byzantine and Dark Ages,
Very Important Offering of Early Dated European
Two Nice Collections of English Hammered,
A Nice Offering of Literature
Relating to Numismatics.

Over 1500 Lots

CATALOG & PRICES REALIZED

$10.00

~11 coins are ~uaranteed genuine and as deScJibc~. Seven day return for any reason. Postage is added lO all bills. Under $200 add $3. Over S200 add $5. Payment by
beck or Visa/MC. Send all raised information. Subscriptions are available to all our publications. In the US $30.00. Overseas $40.00. This includes Auctions and
II fixed price lists. A free CODY of our auarterly list is available uiXln reQuest. Thank au, Office hOllrs are from' Q~30 AM _ 4 PM Mo d:l.v-Fridav.

CLASSICAL NUMISMATIC GROUP, Inc.

Victor England . Director
Box 145, Quarryville J> A, 17566·02-15, (717) 786·-10 I3
VllI.w

Seen in oil lamps

Greek and Roman influence merged in Egypt
by David Liebert since even minor changes in style over Greek colouists who also introduced the Coptic period. Sometimes other
This month we go back to ancient short periods of time are highly evident. Greek n07.1.1cd lamp. Indeed the whole symbols such as wreaths and grain were
Egypt to shed a bit of light on one of This makes the lamps a superb tool for range of Greek lamp development fcom substituted, but frogs predominated.
my favorite subjects, the oiliamp. It is accurate chronological dating of open·nozzle lamps to closed Hellenistic Although other types of lamps such as
noteworthy that some of the most associated finds. varieties appears in Egyptian exca- the box shaped lamps with multiple
interesting lamps from antiquity were vations. The Egyptian examples are spouts, and the sometimes beautiful and
made in ancient Egypt. Curiously chiefly distinguished by their charac- always interesting, effigy lamps in the
enough. this is due more to their value teristic clays. shape of people, animals and other
for archaeological dating and research In the first century B.C., the Roman objects existed side by side with the frog
than to their inherent beauty. Still, relief lamp replaced the earlier Greek type lamps, the frog type was the most
some truly superb exceptions do exist to common by far.
this rule. This is true because. unlike
other parts of the ancient world, where
local artists had a free reign in choosing
decorative elements for their mould
made lamps, oil lamps were mass
produced in Egypt. In the Roman
period, they were decorated for the most
part according to rather rigid
iconographic rules peculiar to the
religious beliefs of the Egyptians. For Box type Roman Egyptian Lamp
the archaeOlogist, this is a blessing
Contrary to what one might suspect
from the ubiquitous later types, lamps
were relatively rare prior to the Greek
period. Certainly light was necessary,
as anyone who has seen the beautifully
painted tombs of the dynastic period can Early frog type lamp
attest. Why then are lamps so rare?
Probably because they just aren't types throughout the Mediterranean Late frog type tamp
recognized. Pottery bowls with a wick world. The Egyptians also adopted their
floating in oil were almost certainly the use, but without the displacement of
lamps of choice from pre·dynastic times earlier types as occurred in other areas. Beginning with the post·Roman
until the Greek type lamps began to At first Roman Egyptian lamps show period, Egyptian lamps once again take
appear. Even the common "cocked hat" the same repertoire of images found on on the characteristic shapes and designs
lamp, so well known in neighbouring other Roman lamps, albeit with a heavy of their respective counterparts in other
lands, from the early Bronze Age local influence, i.e. Zeus Serapis for parts of the Mediterranean basin.
onward, is a very late development in Zeus. By the sC{;ond century, most On the whole, although the charm of
Egypt. The known examples only lamps bore an image of a frog. the ancient Egyptian oil lamps is subtle and
begin to appear in the fi rst millenium Egyptian symbol of ferti lity. may indeed be considered an acquired
B.C. This image deteriorated over time taste. it is a taste well worth the
Hellenistic Lamp . Sand may have been introduced by collector's pursuit.
until it was barely recognizable in the

The Minerva magazine released

Time Machine Company by Wayne G. Sayles Articles in the first issue covered
such diverse subjects as an Etruscan
is always eager to aid beginning collectors with moderatety Minerva, The International Review
of Ancient Art & Archaeology, shipwreck, the Icklingham bronzes,
priced coins and antiquities. Call David Lieberl direct Celtic art. Assyrian jewelry, ancient
to discuss your interests and needs. published in Great Britain, has made its
debut in 1990 with Volume I, numbers glass. and excavations in Jordan.
I & 2 already on the news stands. Number 2 followed up with articles on
The inaugural issue not only featured rock art (not the modem kind), Roman
an impressive array of articles, by well writing tablets, Egyptian archaeology,
known experts, but also set a high the Parthenon, and museum collections
standard of excellence which bodes well and exhibits.
for the publication. A conservative and Ancient coins are featured in a
airy layout, coupled with plenty of regular column written by Dr. Arnold
attractive full color illustrations, invites Saslow, as well as in feature articles.
the reader to enjoy the contents from Issue no. 1 contained an article by Dr.
cover to cover. Martin Price about the influence of
Athenian coinage throughout the
Editor·in Chief Jerry Eisenberg has Mediterranean, while issue no. 2
obviously brought to this publication a featured an article about the numismatic
speciaJ sophistication and style evident collection in the Lodz museum.
in Dr. Eisenberg's earlier works about Minerva sells by subscription for
ancient art at Royal·Athena GaJleries. $48 (air) or $32 (surface). Write to
JEWISH COIN SPECIAL The magazine is published 10 times per
year, month ly except during the
Minerva Magazine, Aurora Publi·
cations, g Cavendish Square, London
We have acquired a small group of Jewish summer. WIM OAl.
"Prutot" mostly from the time of Alexander
Jannaeus and his successors with some widows
mites and procuratorlal coins. We are offering
them while supplies last at $8 each in F condition
and $12 each in VF condition.
Ancient Coins
We now have a FAX MACHINE. You can FAX us your bids at
• Mail Bid Sales
(718) 544-2708 oreall us althe same number. • Fixed Price Lists·
• Buy or Bid Sales
We have many more interesting antiquities and ancient coins in stock. /fyou are • Numismatic Literature
not on our mailing list, you are missing some 0/ the best buys in ancient art. Send
for your fre9 catalogue today. For more informaJion contact:
Specializing in moderate pricedJudaean coins

~
The Time Machine CO. (serious want-lists solicited)
P. o. Box 282, Flushing Station,
William M. Rosenblum/",re coim
Queens, NY 11367 !XI box355.....,.green.coIo.80439
(718) 544-2708 303-838-4831
. ..... - . . . ..... ' -0 . ' . ........ .. .. . . .. . .. , •• • •••• • 0 . . . . . .... . . . . - • • • • • • • • • • ' • • •' . • •• • •••• • • ' . - •• • • • . • • • •' - _ .' - • • •••• - .... . .. . . . . . . .. . . . . .- • • • • • • • ~• • ' • • .• • • • • ••
 Royal-Athena Galleries
Select Works of Fine Art from the Ancient World

Gnuw.Eg,prian marbLe head of Ptokrn, l1l HdlenUtic marble Aph.rodju or n)"llPh ~ Graeco-£cprian marble head of a ruler,
(246-221 B.c.) 3rd quaIUT 0/ 3rd Century e.G. on rock$. Late 2nd- early lit Cm tury B.C. pchaps Ptolemy IV. 3rd Century B.G.
5 112" 11 7I f!' 7 7I f!'

Royal-Athena now sells more select works of ancient art than
. any other gallery, having quadrupled its sales over the past two
years. We attrib~te this rapid growth to our thirty years of
internationally acknowledged expertist: and connoisseurship,
the desire to exhibit the widest range of ancient works of art,
currently over 3000 obj¢cts, at competitive pri~ and in an
open and friendly atmosphere. We are currently selling to
over 650 collectors. colleagues and museums in 18 countries.
Wh~her you are interested in a Greek terracotta head for
$200 or a masterwork bronze for $2,000,000, we would be
pleased to add your name to our rapidly growing list of clients.
Send for our FREE fuli<olor 20-page brochure. The following
publications are also available:
ART OF TIlE ANCIENT WORlD, Vol. IV (1985),
679 objects, 192 color plates .................................. ...... $15.00
TIlE AGE OF CLEOPATRA (1988),
ISO objects, 29 color plates ......................................... 2.00
GODS & MORTALS: Bronzes of the Ancient World
(1989), 180 objects. 49 color plates ............................... 4.00

GREEK, ETRUSCAN, ROMAN, EGYPTIAN 6. NEAR EASTERN ANTIQUITIES

EUROPEAN SCULP'IURE TIfROUGH 1800 • OLD MASrER PRINTS & DRAWINGS
ISLAMIC, SOlJl"HEAST ASIAN 6. ORIENTAL WORKS OF ART
PRf..COLUMBIAN 6. TRIBAL ART. GREEK. ROMAN 6. BYlANI1NE COINS

rOyal-~lhena galleries new york - beverly hills

.Jerome M. Eisenberg, Ph.D., Direc:tor &tabUshed 1942

153 East 57th St., New York. N.Y. lOOZZ 36, Place des Antiquaires, U5 East 57th St.•. 332 North Beverly Or., Beverly Hills, Ca. 90210
Tel.: (212) 355-2034 Fax: (212) 688-0412 New York, N.Y. 10022 Tel. : (212) 593·1193 Tel.: (213) 550·1199 Fax: (213) 550·1395
Monday-Slrurday, 10 to 6 Monday-Saturday, II to. 6 Monday-Saturday, 10 to 6
Royal-Athena at Nahan Galleries (SoHo) Royal-Athena at B.A. Seaby Ltd.
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Tel.: (212) 966-9313 Tel.: (44) 1-631-3707 Monday-Friday, 9:30 to 5
Monday-Friday, 10 to 6, Saturday-Sunday, 11 to 7 (Send for a 'free copy of -Antiquities Forum")

. ' ,-
-- .. -.......... . ~ ....... " , .... . . . . " .............. '. . ... . '-' ,'" - •• , • ... 1 • • ,. • _ ••••••
..... ". ,
" X
- A coin's point of view
Trajan sestertius reflects on Super Bowl events
by a Trajaa Sestertius
as told to Bob Levy
"The foUowing commentary is not
by one of those rare or nicely preseIVed
ancient Roman lulio-Claudian coins
that my owner collects. Rather it is by
me, an ancient Roman sestertius of the
13th Roman emperor, Trajan. who
reigned from A.D. 98 to 117. My
owner wouldn't dream of subjecting any
of his coins to the abuse heaped upon
me on a daily basis. Abused daily, you
wonder· how can that be? The answer
is simple. I am a "good luck" piece
carried around by my owner wherever he
goes. I'm a sUJVivor - no one can deny
that. I've been worn smooth on my
high points and rim. buried, unearthed,
patinated and then harshly cleaned to a
bright, brassy shine. nicked, dropped.
dented, scratched and scraped. Do I
complain? No way. Nobody ever
listens so I j ust accept the way things
are and make the best of my situation:
"Due to my unique opportunity in
the world of today. I have decided to
make my mark: as an observer of life in
today's world as compared to life in
ancient times. Who is in a better
position to make those observations
than me? After all, I've experienced
ancient times fU'St-hand either directly or
from conversations with the Julio-
Claudian coins who were struck before
me. I'm in a better position to observe
present-day life than any ancient coins I
know. Any infonnation the coins in
my owner's collection receive is the
result of our visits, to them in their safe
deposit box. I'm not squirreled away
like they are 99 per-cent of my waking
hours in that dark box listening to all
that incessant chatter that goes on about
If you aren't seeing this symbol on
catalogues you are currently receiving
Write for our membership list
Jean·Paul Divo
Secretary, I.A.P.N.
Lowenstrasse, 65
CH-8001 Zurich, Switzerland
I!.=============..._=. _.======;;;;;=;;;;;==iJ.'.'.
New Orleans and the Superdome
"the good old days" or wondering what
year I'll next "hit the market". I'm
carried aroUnd daily in my owner's right
pocket observing everything that goes '
on. At night I'm placed on his dresser
from which I have a great view of news
reports from all major networks. I'm
also street smart - I know what's "going
down" on the street. I've heard things
you humans wouldn't /nlieve! 1 hear
about it from the change that 1 meet.
I'm just about the only constant in my
owner's pocket what with his other
change coming and going all the time
(Except, of course, for his monstrously
big ring of keys that is always geuing
dropped down on me. That cwnbersome
thing is so big and heavy it could choke
an elephant pulling an ancient biga!)."
"There you have it I may be ancient
but I'm a veritable modem information
system. You name it - war, famine,
civil or political unrest, major disasters,
corrupt officials. sports - I'm up on it.
Speaking of sports, it j ust so happens
that a sporting event and the atmosphere
surrounding that event is the subject of
my commentary. I've finally had the
chance to attend that American exercise
in excess, the Super Bowl. pitting the
Denver Broncos against the San
Francisco 49'ers in the boisterous,
French-influenced city of New Orleans.
You'll sooo Jearn of my experiences
there - from the coin's point of view:
"First, a few words about the
emperor so boldly displayed on my
obvene. Marcus U1pius Trajanus was
born at Italica in Spain in about the year
A.D. 52. He rose up through the
military ranks and was adopted by Nerva
(emperor from A.D. 96-98) as heir to
the throne. After becoming emperor in
AD. 98. Trajan expanded the Roman
Empire to a great degree. One of his
most famous conquests was of Dacia
which not only became a Roman
province but was also incorporaled into
Trajan's official name (The province of
Dacia would be between the Danube
River and the Carpathian Mountains).
To this very day the Column of Trajan,
which commemorates his Dacian Wars,
still stands in Rome. By the time of
his death in A.D. 117. Trajan had
successfully constructed and repaired a
vast number of aqueducts., bridges and
roads wbich proved extremely beneficial
to the Roman people throughout the
Empire.'
"With that bit of history relating to
the times in which 1 was minted out of
the way, we now tum to New Orleans.
Louisiana. "The Crescent City" as it is
affectionately known. host city to the
National Football League's Super Bowl
XXIV (With my heritage I, of course.
think it brilliant that Super Bowls are
counted in Roman numerals!). I think
of the Super Bowl as an "exercise in
excess" due DOt only to all the media
hype and hoopla for the two weeks prior
to tbe game but also to the
circumstances sunouncting the game.
The bast city is festooned with Super
Bowl banners throughout of "official-
$OUve.PJs.are sold iD what seemed to be·
every store about town. And prices -
that's where "excessive" really reared its
ugly head. To obtain a hotel room was
almost an act of the gods. Once
obtained the relief of having found
suitable quarters was tempered with the
realization that one was paying roughly
double what the normal rate for such a
place to stay would cost on any other
week -end during the year. And tickets
to the Super Bowl! Buyers were at the
mercy of the sellen of the~ precious
commodities (Scalpers is yOur unusual
modem term for such people on
occasions like this. My knowledge of
the history of the American Indian is
somewhat limited but through my
reasoning processes and, after baving
witnessed numerous ticket transactions.
the parallel is indeed clear!). This quest
for good as opposed to mediocre seats
and the corresponding variance in pices
reminded me of a transactioo I witnessed
in the old slave market in ancient Rome
many. many centuries ago:"
Ceionius (Wealthy land owner):
"Aelius, how much for that slave?"
Aelius (Slave trader): "To which
one do you refer. Ceionius, the athletic
muscular one or the unkempt, fat,
smelly one?"
Ceionius: "Why. the athletic.
muscular one, of course!"
Aelius: "He's going to cost you. His
price is 1000 sestertii."
Ceionius: " 1000 sestertii! You must
have been drinking wine all day long!
You offered that same slave to me last
month on the Ides of July for 500
sestertii!"
Aelius: "You 'should have taken
advantage of the price back then. With
all these people in town for the
gladitorial competition at the
Colosseum, there's been a surge in
demand for good slaves to accompany
them when they return home."
CeioDius: "111 give you 600 sestertii
for him. not one sestertius more!"
Aelius: "Sorry. But, I tell you what.
For 600 sestertii I'll sell you the
unkempt, fat, smelly slave and his
equally unkempt, fat, smelly mother!"
CeioDius: "I wouldn't doubt that you
would seU your own children ;t the price
were right, Aelius. Here is your 1000 '
sestertii for the good slave. Does your
ancestral tree include thieves and
highway robben, by chaoce1"
Adius: "No, just enterprising
Xl!II
. . - tum to _
.. .
·.·. 'The.OeIator ·.· ..March .1990 :.: XI

PUBLIC AUCTION
March 15 & 16, 1990
IN CONJUNCTION WITH
THE 15TH ANNUAL
CHICAGO INTERNA TlONAL COIN FAIR
At The Hyatt Regency - Chicago

- ' \., " ,

I " , ;',
r,· (
,. I \

;r~
,• .'
.

~.I if
' I i ~1 '\',
. \!
. "'~
'1'

TO RECEIVE YOUR COpy OF THIS CATALOG

SEND $10.00 TO:

PON I ERIO & ASSOCIATES, INC.

P.O. BOX 33588
SAN DIEGO, CA 92103

800-854-~888 or 619-299-0400
xu The. Celator

Coins by mail
Dealer lists dominate winter ancients marketplace
David P. Hennan Thomas P. McKenna Davissons Ltd. Highlighted in the catalogue is an
David P. Hennan, in Fixed Price McKenna currently has two lists The Ides of March Buy or Bid Sale, auretianus of Carausius. The obverse of
List Catalog IX, offers some very nice available. The first is a catalog of Last with a closing date of March 15, 1990, this coin shows the radiate and cuirassed
examples of Roman Imperial denarii, as Chance Books. These are books which focuses on interesting and aesthetically busts of Carausius, Diocletian, and
well as a large selection of high quality are out of print., in short supply, and pleasing coins for the collector. The Maximianus facing left. The reverse
Roman Republican denarii, close outs. Among the many titles coins displayed in this sale are not mint depicts Pax standing left., holding an
Also featured in Herman's 104 lot offered are books dealing with ancient state investment material, but rather olive branch and sceptre.
list is a 37 lot selection of Greek coins. Greek. Roman and Byzantine coins. intriguing and beautiful coins for the This coin is in good "ery Fine
including coins from Sicily, Calabria, McKenna's second list is an offering modest budget. Prices range from $8 to condition. and is being offered by
Attica, and Macedonia, among othen. of select Greek coins and Roman $1800. Empire Coins for $7,500. President of
Herman has added English Hammered Republican silver denarii. Ancient coin offerings include Empire Coins. Dennis Kroh, comments
and Medieval coins to his stock of coins Roman and Byzantine gold. as wen as a in the catalogue that he has seen this
offered for sale. For a copy · of either list COntact nice selection of Greek and Roman type offered for sale only twice in his
A copy of Fixed Price List Catalog Thomas P. McKenna at P.O. Box 1356. silver and bronze. lifetime. This aurelianus is extremely
IX may be obtained by writing to David Ft. Collins. CO 80522 or phone (303) The main feature of this sale is one rare and is reponed to be one of the
P. Herman at 1322 35th Street, Suite 226-5704. man's ten year collection of English finest examples of this type in
101, Orlando. FL 32809 or by phoning coins. The sale of English coins existence.
(407) 422-5915. includes only coins from this collection, Kroh also expressed his desire to sell
Harlan J. Berk, Ltd.
which covers over 800 years of British this piece to a collector rather than to a
Colosseum Coin Exchange Coin and antiquities dealer Harlan J. history. This section alone covers dealer, saying "I have been able to enjoy
Colosseum is closing their 76th Berk has announced his 61st Buy or Bid almost 200 lots. the piece while I have owned it so it is
Mail Bid Auction on March 7th. at 3:00 Sale. The sale offers 866 lots of ancient For a copy of the Ides of March Buy time for it to bring joy to another
P.M. EST. This mail bid auction offers and foreign coins. as well as a wide or Bid Sale write to Alan Davisson at collector. who will, I hope. appreciate it
300 lots of coins. as well as to book selection of antiquities. Davissons Ltd., Cold Spring, MN as much as I have.
lots offered at fixed prices. Gold coins listed in this sale include 56320, or phone (612) 685-3835. Also included in Fixed Price
Coins featured in this auction include Greek. Roman. and Byzantine issues. Catalogue #51 is a full page of lots
Greek, Greek. Imperial, Roman Of particular interest is a Milesian or R. C. Senior, Ltd. offered in catalogues #49 and #50 that
Republican, Roman Imperial, Byzantine AcaRlhian stater, 6th century B.C. This R.C . Senior, Ltd., of Somerset, are still available. Many of these coins
and Foreign items. coin is unique and unpublished. A England has recently issued their largest are being offered at drastically reduced
Over 120 lots of antiquities are s imilar coin from the Jonathan P. list to date. The list is composed of 18 prices.
available at prices ranging upwards from Rosen Collection was sold by MUnzen pages of offerings, totaling some 3,000 For a copy of Fixed Price CataJogue
$35. Most important items are pictured and Medaillen in 1987 for $120.000. coins. The majority of the items #51. send $2.00 (or $20 for yearly
in 14 pages of illustrations. The Rosen coin was a later issue, with a featured are Indian coins. subscriptions) to Empire Coins, Inc.,
For a copy of Mail Bid Auction 76 bull on its obverse, while the coin Senior's list also illustrates and 801 West Granada Blvd., Suite 305,
contact Colosseum Coin Exchange. offered by Berk shows a lion on the publishes a new and unique Attic Ormond Beach, Florida, 32174-8278,
Inc., at P.O. Box 21. Harlet., Nl 07730, obverse. tetradrachm of the Indo-Greek king phone (904) 677·7314 or FAX (904)
or phone (201) 264- 1161. Also prominent in the Berk sale are Diomedes, as well as a unique gold 677-7324.
extensive selections of Greek and stater of the Sassanian monarch Varhran Pegasl COins
Roman silver. v. Pegasi Coins, of Ann .Arbor,
Calvin J. Rogers
Calvin 1. Rogers recently issued his The antiquities section features a The stater of Varhran V was issued in Michigan, has announced the release of
Fixed Price List #6. This list consists listing of Roman glass. as well as a Sind in India. The list includes an their Ancient Coins and Antiquities
of over 50 Greek:. Roman and Medieval variety of bowls, oil lamps, and article illustrating the extremely rare catalog #51. The cataJog features a wide
coins. with prices ranging from $25 to amulets. coinage of this most eastern Iranian range of items, representing all major
$750. For further information or a copy of province and explains the meaning of areas.
Rogers issues 6 Fixed Price Lists per Berk's 61st Buy or Bid Sale catalogue, the strange word that appears on the Greek coins in the cataJog include
year. Free copies may be obtained upon contact Harlan J. Berk, Ltd., 31 N. coins before the king's face. It is the Arc haic, Classical. and Hellenistic
request. Contact Calvin 1. Rogers at Clark Stteet. Chicago. IT. 60602, phone Brahmi word SRI, which means LORD! coins. Roman silver features denarii of
P.O. Box 7233, Redwood City, CA (312) 609-0017 or FAX (312) 609- Also on the list are other great rarities a1l the "Twelve Caesars", the "Adoptive
94063 or (415) 369-1508. 1309. including a new Sultan of Bengal QUTB Emperors" and the Severn Imperial
DIN'AZAM. dynasty. Also offered are antoniniani as
For a free illustrated catalog contact well as argentus and siliqua issues.
R.C. Senior at Butleigh Coun Tower. Various types of antiquities are
Are you interested in Butleigh. Glastonbury, Somerset, BA6 offered in the catalog. as well as a two
8SA England, or phone 0458 50824. page bargain section containing over
CHOICE WORLD COINS? 100 coins.
You should be receiving our publications Empire Coins Pegasi publishes 8 lists per year
Empire Coins, of Ormand Beach, dealing with ancients and antiquities.
MORE THAN THREE Florida, has recently issued their Fixed and 4 lists per year offering medieval
Price Catalogue #51. Included in this coins. For subscription information or
MAIL BID CATALOGUES ANNUALLY catalog are 188 lots of ancient coins, a free sample write to Pegasi Coins,
including classical Greek, Asia Minor. P.O. Box 4207. Ann Arbor, MI 48106
Featuring RARE and CHOICE gold and silver coins of the Judaea, and the Roman Empire. or phone (313) 434-3856.
world as well as ancient coinage and world paper money. Tom Cederllnd
A sample catalogue is $10.00 postpaid. Tom Cederlind has recently issued
STONE Fixed Price List No. 87, Winter 1990.
Includes Prices Realized Introducing the list are two narratives
NECKLACES regarding coins offered. The first is a
An annual subscription is also available. The cost is $30 SUMERIAN short conunentary on an imponant coin
of Tissaphemes, and the second is the
within the U.S. and $35 outside the U.S. 3000BC story of Agrippa Postumus.
Ancient gold coins offered include
$10 ea. Greek, Roman Imperial and Byzantine
Ponterio & Associates, Inc. lots of 50 Imperial issues.
Featured in Fixed Price List No. 87
3823 Park Boulevard is an extensive selection of Greek silver
Box 33588, San Diego, CA 92103 Dr, N, KEWELOH and bronzes. Also listed are sections of
.~. 1-800-854-2888 or 619-299-0400 KURZE STR . 3 Greek Imperial, Roman RepUblican,
Licenud Auction Company # 968 Roman Imperial and Byzantine items.
3400 G6ttingen For a copy of Fixed Price List No.
P.N.G; #Q Richard H. Ponterio - President 87 contact Tom Cederlind at P.O. Box
WEST GERMANY
1963, University Station, Portland OR
97200 or phone (503) 228-2746.
The Celator March 1990 XIII: '.

Fortuna Fine Arts, Ltd.

CLASSICAL ANTIQUITIES AND NUMISMATICS

984 MADISON AVENUE TEL. 212-794-7272

NEW YORK, N.Y. 10021 FAX 212-794-7275

ROMAN BILINGUAL VOTIVE RELIEF.

This relief was a dedication set up by Felicius,
slave of Gaius Menanius in fulfillment of a vow.
It is inscribed in both Latin and Greek.
Marble, 9" x 6"
Roman, ca. 2-3rd Century A.D.

Philip II, 359-336 B.C.

Alexander III, 336-323 B.C.
Gold Stater
Gold Stater

In addition to an extremely diversified collection of Greco-Roman

antiquities, we have a varied stock of ancient coins. Our gallery is open
from Monday to Saturday 9:30 to 5:30 though we recommend an
appointment for viewing coins. Everyone is cordially invited to stop by.
XliII ·
Roman bronze coinage
Bank Leu Ltd Zurich
measured by diameter
by Warren W. Esty
I would like to respond to the letter
Numismatics which asked "What are AE2's and
AE4's?" The simplest answer was
given by Guido Bruck in his excellent
book on the copper coin types of the
late Roman empire, Die Spatromische
Kup[erpragung. Here it is:
Late Roman cop~r coins (with or
without a low percentage of silver)
struck after the "follis" of Diocletian's
reform c. A.D. 294 -296 are often
described by their diameters. "AE" is
the blanket abbreviation for coins
primarily of copper, including those of
brass (copper and zinc) or bronze (copper
and tin). AE coins often have small
amounts of other metals including
silver. If the silver content is
signifIcant but less than 50 per cent, the
term "billon" (not "billion") may be
employed. AEI refers to coins 25 mm
or greater in diameter. AE2 refers to
coins 21-24 mm, AE3 17-20, and AE4
16 mm in diameter or smaller.
This simple classification scheme
does permit such coins to be categorized
Every year we have an auction of very important ancient coins nicely (as in Sear's Romo.n Coins and
in spring. Their Values) but to describe an
We issue occasiona/lists. individual coin I personally prefer
OUf stock ranges from Hemitartemoria to Oekadrachmai, and giving its diameter more precisely. for
from Quadrantes to Multiple Aureus Medallions. example, AE20" refers to a coin of 20
H content of an AE coin (which may
We actively buy and sell at all price levels. nun maximum diameter.
Of course, to give an accurate
description of the physical aspects of a
coin it would be nice if each
denomination maintained a nearly
constant size, appearance, and metal
content over a long period of time, in
which case we could merely cite the
Bank Leu Ltd
denomination. This approach works
In Gassen 20 CH-8001 Zurich Switzer/and
well for sestertii and denarii since their
Telephone (from the US) 011 4112192406 'Tele'sl( 0114112193306
appearance remains fairly constant over
many years, although the metal content
of the denarius does decline substantially
and the size of the sestertius decreases
over an interval of centuries.
Unfortunately, in late Roman coinage
after the coinage reform of Diocletian c.
294·296 the sizes do not remain
constant for long and the true ancient
names of the denominations are not .
necessarily known.
The "bronze coin of Diocletian's
H
, reform has been known to collectors as
the "foUis" for many years and was at
COINS fIrst 27-28 mm in diameter. It was not
. actually bronze, but copper with about
3-4 per cent silver. The tenn "follis" is
I II
(
Send TodO,y " WHOLESALE TO ALL!
For 100 ancient coins in flips and attributed. A diverse lot
including Nero, Caesar Augustus, Alexander the Great,
Free Illustrated List Biblical "Widow's Mite", etc. Only $475.00 postpaid, with
satisfaction guaranteed!
TOM CEDERLIND .£onJon Coin 8aIIeries
Mission Viejo Mall
P. O. Box 1963-C Mission Viejo, CA 92691
......................... ·]>9rtl~<l, .. QR .,~ . '72Q7. ......................... . ............... 1:5.8t <:rownV8l1ey (714) 3~990
The Celator March 1990 ·
still used because we do not have one
which is clearly better, although some
scholars are beginning to favor the term
"numrnus". the generic word for "coin",
since that is a term the Romans of the
period apparently used. (A "follis " was
probably something else monetary -
perhaps a bag of 1000 coins in a later
time period). With several intermediate
sizes. the successors of the 27·28 mm
nummu s , possibly the same
denomination, were only 18 mm in
diameter by A.D. 318. Similarly, the
reform of A.D. 346-348 created a large
coin of about 25 nun diameter. but its
successors of exactly the same type were
only 16 mm by A.D. 356. With such
rapid changes the names of the
denominations, even if we knew them,
would not necessarily adequately
describe the coins for the purposes of
collectors. Furthermore, in this time
period we know of occasions when ·
coins of previous issues were
demonetized and replaced by issues
which appear, to us, to be quite similar
in size and metal content. Only
relatively recently has research shown
that the silver content of AE coins did
change between some of these issues.
A chang~ of a few percent in the silver
hardly be noticeable to us) was cenainly
important to the ancients; whether they
used new names for coins with new
alloys is not necessarily known.
Clearly the denominational system
of the fourth century A.D. is not as
simple as the sestertius-denarius system
of the fIrst century A.D. You can see
why the AE1, AE2, AE3 1 AE4
descriptive system is helpful.
There is substantial progress being
made on the ancient names of the
denominations. We now know that
some of the terms conunonly used by
collectors (e.g. [ollis for Diocletian's
coins, cenlenionalis for the coins of the
346-348 reform) are not the proper
ancient terms, but traditional usages die
hard. A group at Oxford is scouring
ancient texts for monetary terms and we
can hope that scholars will eventually
resolve the issue of the names of the
denominations of the late Roman copper
coins. But, even if they do, for
collectors the description of coins by
their diameters will still have its pla_~.
o o
= III = IV
The Celator March 1990
Choice Ancient Coinage at Reduced Prices
These beautiful ancient coins have been specially priced below current market levels for clearance. The y are all Choice quality,
problem-free ancient coins. All coins are guaranteed genuine and as described. A PNG certificate is available on any coin priced
in excess of $500. To order just call (213) 203-9855. Outside California call us Toll Free at (800) 421 -0754, or FAX us your
order at (213) 203-0496.
Ancient Greek Coinage
C2 Celeb'ia. Tarn. c. 268·228 B.C. Silve'
Oid.&chm 17.37,,1 Oi&elemed hflad of Nymph
lett, wearing ea nirlg and neeld.ce . Rev: Nak-
ed boy 'Uted on horse feeing right which
he crow .... w ith hi ' right h and; beneath
hof •• , myton; befor. hor.e, dolphin . Toned.
Vlelto- l03-4. EF ...
C5 Sicily. Sicu io- Punlc Issue s. c . 350-300 B.C .
Silv. r Tetradr.chm (17.' 7g1 Quadrige
galloping right. driven by charioteer being
crowned by Nik • . R. v: Heed 01 Tanit righl .
live dolphins around Jenkins (SNR.5Q) plate
15. '8 (sa me reverse die) Rsmiqrt mint
(Ientalively esslgned to Selinus) Lustrous.
".
c. Mace<Ionlan Kingdom . Alexander III, the
Greet. 336-323 B.C. Gold Steter (8.53g)
Head of Athel'll! right, wearing cruted
helmet ornamented with ..rpent. Rev; Nike
IIlJ<>ding left, holding wreeth .nd stylis.
AlfTIOIIt mint atate .•.......... • ~
C17 Thas nly . Llrl.... 350-326 B.C. Silve.
Orachm Larissa
Choice. VF ..
C18 P8p/ltegonl •. Kromne . 340-300 B.C. Silvef
Tetloboi (3 .59". La ... ea" heed 01 Zeus left.
Rev: T... reted bull 01 H.... left
ed: abo... bunch 01 grspel. ~.
<G"':3'.~S.
8MC-5. Toned. About EF ....... .
'.C. S!_
C19 SithyniB K.lchedon t. 350-300
Drechm (3 .78g) Bull I tanding lett.
Smelt quedrilHOrtite lncusa tquare, with
grenulated lie ld . SGC-3745 . Toned.
Obverse a bit off center. EF ...... $200
C21 Illand, off Clrll, KOl. c. 3.0 B.C. Silver
Old.achm 16.97g) Head of Heraklea right
clad In lion Ikln. Rev: vellad female head.
Mlj eaulte. BMC-22. EF ..... . .
C23 Lydia. Before K.oi_. 650-561 B.C. EIec-
trum Third Stlter (4.6Bgl Uon', head right
w ith fedilt. globule on 100ehead. Rev:
...,:';Wii.'.';;~~
Oblong punch, divldad;,;"m
SGC-3398. SNG'Von
center. F-VF .•.••••.•....
From The Inventory of Superior...
C25 Lydia/Persia. Period of A:'.~'~.,'. ~. ~~~:,!~~
HI. c. 4SO-330 B.C.
Bearded archer !It>e King)
right holding speer end bow . Rey:
purn::h. SGC·4679. VF .•.• . •.••
Seleukid Kingdom Atrtlocho. IV 17 5-184
B.C. S~yer Tet.-d •• chm minted II Aka-
Ptolemei• . Oiademed heed 01 Antlocnos IV
right. Monogram behind . Rey: Z_ ...ted
lett holding Nile" end acpetr • . BMC· 16-2 1
var . Houghton 782. Choi(:8. VF . . . U5e"
C28 Seleukid Kingdom Antiochos IV 175-194
B.C. Silver TetredrllChm (17.040) minted It
Ake-f'toIarn8i8. Dledemed t.ed of A~
IV right. R"v: Z_ .... ted I":':':::;~:;;
aod sceptre. BMC- I6-21v. H
Sup""b, "'!NIrtv Mim St.te
C29 S.leukid Kingdom Antiocl\ol IV 175-194
B.C. AR Tetradfachm minted II Ake -
Ptolemal • . Oiademed held of Antiocha. tV
right. monogrlm behind. Rev: Ze ... seated
lelt, holding Nlke .nd I ceptre .
BMC-18·21v.r. Houghton 781. VF . Me'"
coo
C3l Ptoiem8ic Kingdom of Egypt Ptoiemy ,
Epiphaoal 204-1BO B.C. Sllv... Oldrechm
(6.96g). Oiedemed held right of Ptoiemy I. .
R"v: Eegia standing left on thunderbolt, del.
in field . SGC·7873. SV-1218. Choice.
VF . . . . . ......... ... . .. .
Superior Stamp & Coin Co., Inc.
9478 West Olympic Boulevard, Beverly HillS. CslifOl'nis_90212-4299
Phone: (213) 203-9B55 . Outside CA: -{800142 1-0754. FAX: {213) 203-0496
xv····
Roman Republican Coinage
eso AEMILtA ·B M . Aemllius SelllI,..,S ~nd Pub.
Pleutl .... HyP".UI , moneyers 58 B.C. Silver
Oenl,IUI. King Arets. kneeling beside a
cemet rlghl. Rav: Jupiter in Quadrille left.
Syd. -913. Craw.-42211. Abt.
EF
C33 Ptolemaic Kingdom
e"ipllenu 204-180 CS1 AEMELIA-8 M .
Plautl ...., money..,.;._ii,:B~;iii,,~~~;~~;
(6.81g) deted yea,
Oiedemad heed of KIOIOI Ar.". kneeling beside •
E.,,1e standing le lt
field. SGC-7873v, 5
~ \~i~~:~;~,i~'; Rev: Jupher In quadrig8 left.
C.ew .-42211 . Choice. VF .••.•.•
EF
Roman Imperatorial Coinage
C55 Pompey the Great died 48 8.C. Silvar
C3< Ptoiemaic Kingdom of Egypt Ptoiemy VI
180-145 B.C. Gold Octodrachm 127. 73g). Oa".ri", minted by hIa aon Sut'" Pompey
In Sicily. 42 -40 8.C. Ba,a head 01 Pompey
Veiled head 01 Arslnoe It right; "K" behind.
R.v: Double cornucopiae. SGC-7888A. tht Gr.et right, Jug to I.ft. Litius to right.
R.v; N.ptune II.ndlng 1.lt. foot on
Svoronos 1374 (pl. 47. 1 1·3) Ex Sotheby
holding Apustr •• betw..... Anapl,..
Sela. April 1970. Mint State. High Rellel
Gem . . ........ . .......... . phlnomuI, carrying their parents.
VF .. .
Roman Imperial Coinage
•
C35 Cleopatra VII died 30 B.C. AE 21 minted at
BerytUS in Phoenicia, 31-30 B.C. Diademed
bu.t of Cleopatra VII right. Rev: Bare heed
of MaoeAntony right. BMC·l 5 . ~. WIth
bold porttaiU. VF
Juda8an Coinage
C59
•Augustu. 27 B.C.-A.D. 14 Silver Denarius
mimed et C_toUgU8I. in SlHOin, c. 19-1 B
8 .C. H...t 01 Augutltul left. weerirlO oak
w rnth . Rev : DIVVS IVlIVS. Comet.
RIC-38/b•. BMC·328. Choictt. Two Imall
ba .... 0111 m..... on neck. VF
C38 Judaell PersiBn Period c. 350 8.C. Silver
Obo( (. 47g), 'Y&hud' issu •. Head of Athena
right. Rev: Owl standing right, head fac ing;
on left lily /low&<, to right PaIeo-Hebrew In--
Icri9tlon. Mesh.·A.JC I pl. I, 1451'1. Obv_
off Cltfll&<. VF .. • ~
•• ~
.
Cllus CMsar died A.D. 4 Silver Denariul
minted c. 17 B.C. YQU1hlul bare head right.
~::~~,~: ::~' ;:;.11 within oaIl wrel th. Rev:
"
Judeea Hellenistic P8fiod c. 300-200 B.C.
Silver 'Yahud ' lasuel.19g) Head? Rev: Eagle
with wings spread st.ndlng left; in f ..ld to
left P.leo-Hebrew inscription. Meah.·AJC I,
pll3 No 14SF. ObveI"H off cent .... VF
C82 G .... IC.IIguI.) A.D. 37-" 1 SI""'. Denarius
mimed II Rome, A.D. 37-3S. Laureat. head
01 Gaiut: right. Rev: GERMANICVS CAES PC
--"
CAES AVG GERM, bare head of Germanicul
right . RIC-lB. Slightly potOU •. EF •
Judaea City Coinage IkmnI Philip II A.D .
244-249 AE 2B. Radiat e, cuira..ad and
drlpe bUll 01 Philip II fight . Rev : I C63 Cleudiutr A.O. 41 -54 Silver DenariUs mlntad
"AKTI/AAOV/C APIA " within w. eath. pOIthum08ly at Rome, A.D. 5•. LaU1e8te
ROI. -62. Attractl... patina and head of CtllUdlUilelt. Rev: Ornemltfll.I . 1ow
VF ......... . .. .. . . quldrl", right. RtC(N8I"0)·6. Choice.
VF .... ..... ............ . .
diadC~.i~1;,~;'~~;;:~.;~:;
Judaea City
F.ut:tine Jr. A.D.
88 (A.D. 159180). Dreped bust
Jr. right. Rav: Tyc:he staoding to
(yeaf 86) in field . Ros. ·20. Rare.
Judeea City Coinage
A.D. 177-192 Neepoi~":l:,~;:
AE 15. Bust
right . Rev: Horee peeing tight.
plltin •. VF .. •••••••. Vup.li.n A.D. 69·79 Silver Denarlu,
mlntld at Rome, A.D. 69·71 . LaurNta head
ofVesp..lan right . Rev: COS ITER TR POT,
PIX se.ted 1.lt, holding branch and
caduceu • . RIC-10. Lustrou. , _'_~~ ••_
EF ................. .
 iNl
Conquistadors
him by secretly sending his captain,
Francisco de Ulloa, north from
Acapulco in three small ships to find a
river which would lead them inland. CO
the reputed area ot" the Seven Cities,
somewhere in New Mexico. De Ulloa
immediately double-crossed Cortez and
went into the conquistador business for
himself. He plundered the small Indian
villages on the coast. then scuttled one
of the ships and sent another back to
Mexico with die sailors who would not
join him. He then proceeded north
in
the caravel Trinidad with 24 renegade
conquistadors. S Indian women and all
the treasure or valuables from the dne
ships. Some of this treasure CODSiIied
of European coins including thousands
of ancient Roman coins.
On June 30, lS40, de Ulloa reached
the mouth of the San Luis Rey river
near San Diego and believing this to be
the route to the Seven Cities.
disembarked and explored inland taking
some of the treasure with him to bribe
or trade with the Indians. He left on
board the ship as caretakers, 3 scribes
who would not be useful as soldiers. A
few miles from the mouth of the river.
they found a large village of Indians and
set up their camp. Within a few days,
de Ulloa and all his men contracted a
deadly form of dysentary from the
polluted food, drinking water and the
unsanitary conditions of the Indian
village. The scribes. living on the ship,
remained healthy and took care of the
sick and dying soldiers but could not
• cure them. The dead and their
pc&eSSioos were buried in a cave nearby
and when all had died, the scribes
outfitted the ship's small boat and
Giessener Mlinzhandlung
Dieter Gorny GmbH, Mlinchen
Giessener
Miinzbandlung
Dieter Gorny GmbH
0-8000 Miinchen 2
Max.imiliansplatz 20
Tel: 49/89/22 68 76
Fax: 49/89122 85 513
returned to Acapulco. The scribes could
not sail the Trinidad and left it with
most of the treasure anchored at the
mouth of the river. Later. a violent
storm lOre it from its mooring, drove it
south and destroyed it on the shoals off
Point La 10lla.
The scribes told their story of the
disaster to the Spanish officials but the
sunken Trinidad. was never found. One
of the scribes wrote the history and
report of the voyage and this was later
discovered in the archives at Seville.
This document, conf"mned by other
reports in archives at Madrid and Mexico
City, led Dr. Markey to the burial cave
near the San Luis Rey river.
The more than 2.000 coins found in
the cave date from early Roman Imperial
times to A.D. 1500. Dr. Markey
believed that many thousands of coins
still lay in the sunken wreck and the
San Luis Rey Historical Society began
an intensive underwater search. A 1968
photo of some of the coins found in the
cave shows asses of Tiberius and
Drusus. sestertii of Hadrian. Gordian m
~d S~verus Alexander. denarii of
Septimius Severns and Caracalla. several
B)'1.IDtine fobi of a variety of emperors
from around A.D. 900 and a late
Renaissance bronze medallion which is
a copy of a sestertius of Galba.
But how did ancient Roman coins
come to be in the possession of Spanish
conquistadors in 15407 These brutal
soldiers of fortune were the dregs of
European society. Not just Spanish but
Italian and Portuguese soldiers from
areas under Spanish control joined in
this great adventure and plunder of the
New World. Many were from the milKX'
•
nobility of these countries. the "black
sheep" of the family in trouble with the
authorities, the church and money
lenders. One theory suggests that to
escape punishment and to perhaps make
their fortunes. these misfits converted
all their possessions into coined money
which could be easily carried and came
to Mexico. Most of this was the
currency of their local district but in
many of these European countries. coins
and metals were in very short supply at
this time and ancient Roman coins were
used as a type of emergency bullion
token coinage.
It is reported by many historical
accounts that in late medieval Europe,
Roman sestertii and asses freshly dug
out of the ground were immediately put
into circulation, as small change, to
supplement the local currencies. In
Italy, the shortage of metals was so
severe that ancient Roman buildings
were mined for the brooze aarnps which
held the stones together. The
Colosseum in Rome still shows the
thousands of holes dug into its surface
at the joints where such metal ties were
removed by scroongers. In England, the
Roman silver siliquae plowed up in the
fields were often clipped down in size
and circulated with the local silver
pennies to make up for the shortage of
coined money. Even the Spanish "Cob"
money from the New World is another
fonn of money of necessity, hastily
struck to make up for the shortage of
coins in the Spanish empire at this
time.
These Roman coins may have been
brought to America for use as money of
necessity or even pefhaps as trade goods
Sicily, t..ontini, Tctradrachm (17,12)
ca. 480 B.C., Traitt plate 73,10;
Hirmer pI. 6 18/19 (from same dies)
Macedonia, Sermylia. Didrachm
(8,48) 510 - 490 D.C .. Raymond n,
16AMNG II, 6 (fromaamedicl)
C. Julius Caesar, Denmus (3.92)
Spain, 46 - 45 B.C., Cr. 46812;
S,..IOI5
LieiDius. Solidus (5,29) Antioch,
321-322 AD. Ric. 33 var.
The Celator March 1990
Co~inued from page I.
with the Indians. The native
civilizations were just emerging from a
stone age epoch so small bits of metal
would be ltighly prized by the American
Indians and just as useful for barter as
were the traditional trade goods of beads.
tools and mirrors.
Another theory proposes that. as
members of the middle and upper
classes, these conquistadors may have
followed the custom of the European
gentlemen of the times and collected
ancient coins as a hobby. These coin
collections were prized for their historic
value but the collector also knew that in
an emergency. the coins could function
as bullion. A similar dual purpose for
possessions is indicated by .the gold
chains worn by Spanish nobles of this
time. These long chains were made of
gold links of equal weight and several of
these chains have been found in Spanish
wrecks off the coast of Florida. They
were splendid ornaments andjewelry but
also, when necessary, a gold link could
be detached and offered as payment.
This practical and versatile approach to
precious objects and cherished
possessions could also have been
applied to coin collections and this
would explain why a coin collection
might be brought to America by a
soldier ernbarldng on an adventure.
This theory about portable, dual
purpose coin collections may be
substantiated by other finds of ancient
Roman coins in Southwest America.
An article in the Journal of the Society
of Ancient Numismatics, SAN, Vol.
XV. No.3, Fall 1984, titled
Please tum to page XXVII
AUCTION
April 2, 1990
ANCIENT COINS
Over 1000 Celtic. Greek,
Roman, Byzantine and Islamic
coins. A special group will
consist of bronze coins from
Magna Graecia and Sicily. as
well as exceptional rare Denarii
from the late Roman Republic.
and rare
high grade gold coins of
Tetrarchs.
Auction Sale No, 49
MEDIEVAL tllro_,111 MODERN
time.. April 3J4., 1990
Auction catalogues are
available at
US $10 each
from our compaay.
 The Celator March 1990 )<VII

Holyland Jug
,.,~;.;;: redware and plain
Age 1900-1500 B.C. Syro HlttHe· The Goddess Astarte
Roman Spindle Bottles FIne terracotta, bird or female laces
terracotta $195 2100-1600 B.C.
Ho/yland 50 B.C.-1()O A.D. V. Fine
$295

rS115 "$90 6" $65 4.5" $50 3.5" $29 4-,-5N $275 5-6" $375 6-7" $475 7~ 1675 ...... $875
Roman Jug
terracotta
Ho/yIand 100-300 A.D.
ff' epprox.
Good ...
AM $150
EL FIne
$195

Holyland Jug Holyland Dipper Flask

terracolta lerracotta
Middle Bronze Age 1900-1500 B.C. Middle Bronze Age 1900-1500 B.C.
6.5" approx. 6.5· """",.
V. Good $195 V. Good $195
V. FlneS245 Y. Fine $245
Ex. Fine $295 Ex. Fine $295

PHOENICIA
L gp,yG~d /fhl?r"'''J ~
~m~~4b.
- P.o. Box 692 Gracie Station, New York, NY 10028
Money back guarantee within 10 days for any reason.
Please add $2.00 for shipping and handling.
Special prices on quantities!
0eaIers wanted I Cocked-hat 011 Lamp
(212) 722-4603 lerracotta
Holyland Spindle Bottles Iron Age 1000-700 B.C.
terracotta SS approx. diameter
Middle Bronze Age 1900-1500 B.C. V. ftne $120 Ex. Fine $150
S" apprOl(,
$295

Sumerian Earrings
mutti-colored stone beads
3000 B.C,
3" approx. length
Minimum 5 pairs - $100

Ancient Bracelets Roman Jug Holyland Juglet

Early Roman Tear Glasses bronze terracotta terracotta
double-bell txxty 100 B.C.--400 A.D. Ho/yIand 100-300 A.D. Iron Me 101)1)---700 B.C.
HoIyland 50 B.C.-1C)I) AD. Minimum 10· $139 3 . 75~ approx. 5.5" appro,.
Y. Good $45 Good S95 Rne $150 Ex. Rne $195
V. Rne$65
. Ex. Fine $85

•
Ancient Buckles
bronze
100-600 A D.
Minimum 10· $109
Pilgrim Flask
terracotta, red target motif
Iron Age 1200-900 B.C.

V. Good $125 ff'

Rne """'"
$175 V. Fine $235
Ancient Weights
bronze and lead
•
Holyland 200 B.C.-700 AD.
Mi nimum 10 · $139

..... , . ..... ..................... - ............ . .... . .. ... ..................... : ... .

 CUNEIFORM CLA Y CONES
Writing in ancient Mesopotamia evolved in response to a need for
accurate record keeping. Once the idea that sounds and ideas could
be communicated by a series of consistent symbols was understood,
the script developed and was quickly pressed into practical service.
Cuneiform script evolved directly from picture drawings becoming
more and more stylized until a standard script developed. The first
known cuneiform texts are from the ancient city of Uruk, in southern
Iraq and date from about 3,000 BC. They reveal a complex business
structure already in operation.

Side by side with the economic texts are dedication texts. The
practice of consecrating the foundations of new buildings seems to
have started almost as early as building itself.

In order to insure that the sanctuaries of the various gods would last
forever, they were built on sacred ground and the foundations were
laid with great ceremony. Special deposit objects were carefully
placed in the foundations and walls.

Foundation deposits took many forms and inscribed clay cones and nails were often placed in
the corners, and under entrance halls. The inscriptions usually named the king and the deity to
whom the sanctuary was being dedicated.

For example:

TO MARDUK, HIS LORD, NEBUCHADNEZZAR,

THE KING OF BABYLON, FOR HIS LIFE,
HE PRESENTED IT.

We have acquired a collection of ancient Babylonian

cuneifonm clay cones dating from 2,000 . 1,000 BC each
with its own translation. These cones are made of terra
cotta and stand from 4 to 6 inches tall. Each one is
mounted on a custom made base.

$800 - $2,800
DEPENDING ON SIZE
AND CONDITION
The eelator March 1990 XVIIII .

PERSIAN CALLIGRAPHY & MINIATURE PAINTING

#1. #2.
Persian and Arabic writing were derived from the Aramaic language just before the advent of Islam in the 6th century. In the ear1y Islamic
period the two were very simlar. At first the script was unwieldy and difficuh to read and write , but by the 10th century. punctuation had
been developed and the letters had been streamlined. The script was primarily used to illustrate the Koran, the Islamic holy book. ~ the
artists began to write in a more beautiful and rythrric manner various styles of calNgraphy evolved.
Calligraphy has played an important role in all of Islamic design. Persian calligraphy has always been the most lyrical and beautiful. Since
penmanship was considered an important accomplishment for a man, and good calligraphers were the most respected artists, calligraphy
reached a level of perfection in Iran unequaled in other Islanic countries.
Persian miniature painting originated in the 13th century at the time of the II-khanids. When Persian and Chinese styles ningled. Miniature
painting began to illustrate the text of manuscripts of all kinds. Perhaps the most important and beautiful style is that of Shahnama, a lyrical
style that combines both niniature painting and Persian calligraphy.
'The Shahnama style is of great artistic importance for its strength of composition, Une, and harmony of color, as well as the beauty of its
calligraphy. It has been said that Shahnama was bom of divine inspiration.
We have recently acquired two different and fine exarrples of Persian calligraphy, each page type is inscribed on both sides.

#1. Shah nama pages with colorful hand'painted miniature scenes and calligraphs. Each painting is a different
illustration from classical Persian literature. (c. 1800's) approx. 13" x 9" and mounted in a lucite free standing
frame ..............................................................................................................................................................................$1 95 ea.

#2. 16th century Persian Koran pages written in classical Arabic calligraphy with a gold leaf decorative design,
approx. 10" x 7112" and mounted in a lucite free standing frame ...................................................................... $195 ea.

, .. -......
. . ..
 xx The Celator March 1990

Roman serrati
Acceptability of coins suggested as reason for serrations
by Jordan lVagner test of metal quality. Therefore the Mattingly's article explain why some that do not have horse types. Therefore

. - I was surprised to see the article,

"Serrated · Coinage Helped Ensure
Quality And Stability". on
page
of the January 1990 issue. I believe
xvm
this article may contain errors. the most
significant of which is that serrated
coins did NOT ensure metal quality or
stability, nor was this their purpose.
This letter will summarize evidence
regarding serrated Roman Republican
denarii and cite the alternative
conclusions of SOtre scholars.
The flans of these denarii were
serrated by hand prior to striking. This
was done with a chisel or similar tool,
and not by filing as suggested in the
presence of mint·produced serrations
would not have induced confidence in
the metal.
Although other Roman
denominations in precious metal are
sometimes plated, only denarii are
~ 1935) refuted Mattingly. The facts and
The Syrian and Macedonian serrated
bronzes prove that serration can have
some other purpose,.since it must have
had one in those cases (These coins had
their flans cast with a uniformly serrated
edge).
The Roman serrati were minted for
circulation primarily in Gaul and Spain,
which is where they were mainly struck:.
periods of democratic minting activity
did not result in serrati, nor why several
individuals (who could not be both
Marian and Sunan) regularly struck both
serrati and non-serrati.
Sydenbam (Numismatic Chronicle,
objections cited above are his. He
argued persuasively that the key to
understanding serrati lies in the
provincial nature of these issues. He
pointed out that the transalpine natives
showed no concern for metal quality
when they began making imitations of
the Macedonian gold staters circulated
there by Rome (at a much later date than
the wheel on the later native coins had
significance as -a religious symbol and
as a sign denoting a medium of
exchange. This symbolism must have
pre-dated the coinage.
The earliest regular issue of Roman
serrati- is a RO'ma-Dioscuri type.
featuring a wheel as a symbol. This
would be an ideal introduction to
coinage for the transalpine traders. It
was reminiscent of their serrated amulet
currency, and had horses and a wheel.
Therefore the Romans adapted their
mint practices to the existence of local
ensure
religious susceptibilities so as to

- article. The cuts extend all around the

coin and are of irregular depth. at
irregular distances. at irregular angles.
If the sole purpose of serration was to
indicate metal quality. then a single
notch would have sufficed with much
less effort.
Clipped denarii are virtually
unknown. therefore the benefit of a
milled edge was unnecessary.
Furthermore. this kind of serration
would actually make clipping much
easier.
Plated serrati as well as plated non-
serrati are found frequently. Therefore
serration had no preventative effect on
plating, and this fact wouldn't have
Scholars have generally agreed that the
purpose of the serrations was to make
the coins more acceptable. and that they
were intended for the transalpine areas.
But they have not always put these two
facts together. nor have they agreed on
how the serrations make the coins more
acceptable. It should be noted that
Carthaginian serrati of gold and silver,
which feature cuts similar to Roman
serrati, are frequently found in Spain.
Grueber (BMC, 1910) states that the
senatorial party issued plated coins to
which the democrats reacted. This has
important ramifications below.
Mattingly (Numismatic Chronicle,
1924) thought the acceptability of
the first serrati). He noted that officials
did serve at more than one mint, which
accounts for individuals issuing both
kinds of denarii. According to
Sydenham, the Romans discovered that
there was something in the look of a
serrated coin that would make the
natives accept it more readily, despite
their suspicion of novelties and the fact
that they had never before seen coinage
of any kind. His argument follows.
Bronze amulets in the form of a
wheel are found in the transalpine areas.
They were connected with sun-worship
and sometimes had serrations like those
of the Roman serrati. They are
sometimes found strung together on a
the circulation of Republican coinage.
The serrati's appearance suggested a
mediwn of exchange already familiar to
the natives. Long after the introduction
of Republican money. the serrated edge
was retained on provincial issues as a
concession to local tradition. Thus the
serrations were a guarantee of the
purpose the coin was meant to serve,
not the metal purity.
Sydenham (Coinage of the Roman
Republic. 1948) maintained the above
vie~ws. but he agreed with Grueber
(BMC, 1910) that the official minters of
the SuDan party issued a percentage of
plated coins, to which the democratic
party reacted politically. Mattingly, in

,- -- escaped the money-wise class of people

(equites) for long. Once they figured it
out, this labor intensive process would
have been stopped. But the serrati did
not stop.
Non-serrated denarii that show
testing by serration after leaving the
mint are not found. Thus there is no
reason to believe that this kind of
serration was used outside the mint as a
serrati derived from providing confidence
in the metal; and that minting serrati
was a policy of the democratic party at
Rome. He argues that the Gracchians
issued serrati to gain the support of the
equites who had suffered from the bad
money of the senatorial party. This
theory that serrations discouraged bad
money is not supported by the
observations cited above. Nor does
loop, and so may have passed for
currency.
Horses possessed a religious as well
as tribal significance. Later on, horses
were popular reverse types on the coins
the native people struck for themselves,
which often also had a wheel in the
field. The wheel is clearly not a
remnant of a chariot on many of these
coins, and it also appears on their coins ·
an appendix to Sydenham's book, states
~Sydenham is wrong in asserting that
serration was not devised as a protection
against the forger. The game was a
subtle one and the forger took the last
trick by plating serrati" but that
"Sydenham is surely right in attributing
[plating] to the Roman state as well as
Please tum to page XXIlIl

Clip & Save

QUOTES FROM THE PAST
Coin File "It is astonishing what power
words have over man. "
Audoleon I
Napoleon Bonaparte
I
AR • Tetradrachm I
315-286 BC I
Athena I horse I
SG 1523, BMC 5.~ I
I Paeonia, in northern I TRIVIA QUIZ
I Greece, asserted its I
I independence of Macedon in 359 and retained that status until the I
end of Audoleon's reign. The "Kingdom of Paeonia" was not only Which usurper of the Roman Imperial
I unusual for its bold independence, but for the artistic representations I tttle, during the time of GallJenus.
I found on its ooinage. Horse cavalry were a source of great pride to the I ro.. from the poshion of blacksmhh
I I to rule the "Gallic empire"
- I
I
Paeonians and a oontingent served with Alexander the Great in his world
conquests. It is not unusual therefore to find equestrian themes. The
3/4 facing head of Athena is an artistic convention, popular-during this
I
I
If only for a few days?
•
I period, which is closely linked to similar representations found in the I
-------------------------
toOO of Philip II of Macedon and in contemporary Scythian tombs. .J (Last month's answer on page XXXIIII)
L

BOSTON...
Ancient and Foreign Coin
Mecca of The Northeast!
BAY STATE COIN SHOW

Man:h 16, 17, 18. 1990

November 16. 17. 18, 1990
"57" PARK PLAZA HOTEL
ROOIn reservations: 617-482·1800
Over 24 years ...
"New England's Largest Coin Show!!!"
Chairman: Ed Alea
Box 400, Winchester. MA 01890
I>- 617-729-%77
 The _Celator March 1990 XXI

: 23 Leo I, AU - Solidus,
: Obv: Helmeted bust 314 right, Rev: Angel left holding cross, star r. t
: attractive, officina i. VF $400
•
at low fixed prices 24 Leo I, AU - Solidus,
Obv: Helmeted bust 3/4 right, Rev: Angel holding cross,
officina theta, VF+ $425
36 25 Maurice Tlberlus. AU - Solidus,
Obv: Helmeted bust facing, Rev: Angel,
: 1 Alu:lus I, AU - Hyperpyron, S8 478, minor flatness on edge, nice, VF+ $375
• Obv: Christ enthroned, Rev: Emperor standing, • 26 Maurice Tlberlus, AU - Solidus.
':
• S8 1913.1argefion, VP$380 : Ohv: Helmeted bUst facing, Rev: Angel,
•• : large flan, some flatness. VF+ $325
• 2 Andronlcus n, AU - Hyperpyron, •
: Obv: Virgin within city walls, Rev: Virgin and emperors, : 27 Michael VII, AU - Hyperpyron.
• SB 2396, not bad for these, aVF $185
•• : ObI(: Nimbate bust of Christ facing, Rev: Bust of emperor facing,
: 3 Constans n, AU - Solidus, : S8 1868, FP $350
Obv: Busts of emperor and son facing, Rev: Cross on steps,
•
: : 28 Nlcepborus m, AU - HistaIi:J.enon Nomisma,
: sharp,SB 959, officina S, EF+ $425 : Obv: Christ enthroned, Rev: Emperor standing w/labarum,
:• - 4 Constantine IV, AU - Semissis, J : S8 1881, VP $295
: Obv: Diademed bust right. Rev: Cross on Globe,
•
: 29 Phocas, AU - Solidus.
: S8 1161, minor flatness, VF $1 fi 5 : Obv: Bewed bust of emperor, facing. Rev: Angel holding sceptre and globe.
.' S Constantine IX, AU - Histamenon Nomisma, -. S8 618, attractive portrait, aEF $370
Obv: Nimbate bust of Christ facing, Rev: Bust of emperor facing, 30 Pbocas, AU - Solidus,
very popular and artistic, SB1830, EF $350 Obv: Bearded bust of emperor facing, Rev: Angel facing, holds sceplre, globe,
6 Constantine IX, AU - Histamenon Nomisma, S8618, officina Z, bold EF $400
Obv: Nimbate bust of Christ facing, Rev: Bust of emperor facing, 31 Romanus m, AU - Histamenon Nomisma
nice example, SB 1830, VF+ $335 Obv: Christ enthroned, Rev: ViIgin crowning emperor,
7 Constantine IX, AU - Histamenon Nomisma, SB 1819, small die flaw on edge, nice, VF $325
Obv: Nimbate bust of Christ facing, Rev: Bust of emperor facing, 32 Romanus IV, AU - Histamenon Nomisma,
very slightly double struck, SB1830, EF $350

-
Obv: Christ with Romanus & Eudocia, Rev: Sons facing,
8 Constantine vn and Romanus I, AU - Solidus, • SB 1861, nice, VF $295
. Obv: Nimbate bust of Christ facing, Rev: Constantine and Romanus facing,
•
: 33 Romanus IV, AU - Histamenon Nomisma,
SB 1751, legends barbarous, P+ $270 : Obv: Christ with Romanus & Eudocia, Rev: sons facing,
9 HeracUus, AU - SolidUS, : SB 1861, sharp, EF $325
Obv: Emperor and son facing, Rev: Cross on steps, ·
•
: 34 Tbeodoslus n, AU - Solidus,
SB 738, officina S, light grafitti, VF $ 350 : Obv: Helmeted bust facing 3/4 right. Rev: Roma seated left,
: 10 Heracllus, AU - Solidus, : VotXXX,MultXXXX, VF$3fiO
: Obv: Emperor and SOD facing, Rev: Cross on steps
•
: 3S Theodoslus n, AU - Solidus,
: SB738,officinaE. EP$375 · : Obv: Helmeted bust facing 3/4 right. Rev: Roma seated left holding globe,
• : Vot XXX, Mult XXXX, sharp, VF+ $450
: 11 Heracllus AU - Solidus,
Qbv: Helmeted bust facing, Rev: Cross on steps,
••
• 36 Tb..eodoslus n, AU - Solidus,
SB 731, officina E, very nice portrait, aEF $350
•• Obv: Helmeted bust facing 3/4 right. Rev: Theodosius n & Valeotinian m,
12 Heradlus, AU - Seminis, : SR 4289v., scarce type, nice, VF $525
Obv:Diadcmed bust right. Rev: Cross on globe,
•
: 37 Theophllu., AU - Solidus,
SB 784, officina i. wavy as usual. EF/VF $195 : Obv: bearded bust of emperor facing, Rev: Michael II and Constantioe facing.
13 Heraclius, AU - Solidus, : S8 1653, appealiDg, VF $395
Obv: Emperor and son facing, Rev: Cross on steps, Carthage
•
: 38 Tiberi.. U Constantine, AU - Tremissis,
: SB 866, small thick flan, unusual. F $3fi5 : Obv: Bust facing right. Rev: Cross,
•• •• SB 425, double s~k, nice porl, aVF $140
: 14 HODorlus, AU - Solidus. •
: Obv: Diadcmed bust of emperor right, Rev: Emperor trampling Barbarian, : 39 Valentlnlan I, AU - Solidus,
.: Ravenna, SR 4244v., minor edge scrape, superb EF $975 : Obv: Diademed bust right. Rev: Emperor holds standard, Antioch,
•
: IS Isaac n, AU • Hypetpyron,
• Obv: Virgin enthroned, Rev: Emperor crowned by archangel,
.
: minor grafitti, worn but attractive, F+ $ 3 25
,•
••• 40 Maurice Tlberlul, AU - Solidus,
SB 2001, strong reverse, VF $300 Obv: Helmeted bust facing, Rev: Angel,
•
: SB 478, nice, VF+$360
I6 John ·D, AU - Hyperpyron,
Obv: Christ enthroned, Rev: Sl George & emperor,
•
58 1941, broad flan and nice, VF $225 Terms of Sale:
17 John D, AU - Hyperpyron, All items are unconditionally guaranteed to be genuine.
Obv: Christ enthroned, Rev: Virgin &; emperor, ClOSS between, Any itorn may be returned within 10 days for full refuncL
All sales are for cash, payable in U.s, doIlan,
• S8 1938, broad flan, wavy at edge, VF+ $315
.' 11 Jasb n, AU - Solidus, Cltecb nmst be drawn on U.s, banks, Coins are shipped
poslpaid, by insured or regis=ed mail _ clxcla
Obv: Helmeted bust facing, victory L., Rev: ConJtantinopolis aeated, from parties unknown to the firm must clear prior to shipment.
S8 345, flCC worn, otherwise nice, VF $325 Wiscoosin residents add 6% sales tax.
19 Justin n, AU - Solidus,
Obv: Helmeted bust facing, Victory L., Rev: Constantmopolis seated, SPECIAL!
SB 345, lovely coin, EP+ $390 With each purchase we will include a free copy of
20 JDSIIn1an I, AU - Solidus, Jacobs' "Coins and Christianity"
• (one pee customer)

-
Obv: Bust faciDs 314 right. Rev: Anpl holdin8 cross and globe,
SB 137,offic:inal, VF$375

21 JustlDIaD I, AU - Solidus, Order From:

Obv: Hetmeted bust facing, Rev: Angel holding loog aoss aDd globe,

:
SB 140, decent. strike, attractive, EF $350
22 Justinla.D I, AU • Semissis,
: Obv: Dildemed bust. ri8ht, Rev: Victory seated right with shield,
Elysian fields
•• P.o. Box 35
S8 143. VP $195
• Horicon, WI 53032
 XXII
Super Bowl
-
businessmen such as myself. Enjoy the
fights, Ceionius, now that you don't
have to worry about obtaining a slave.
You've procured a choice one. I'll even
keep him away from the smelly one
until you return!"
"Such was the situation in trying to
obtain choice seats in the Louisiana
Superdome for the Super Bow!!"
"As for food and drink in New
Orleans, the list of fine restaurants
seemed e ndless. Many boasted the
amount of time in which they had been
in business. Antione's, since 1840;
Commander's Palace, since 1880; La
Louisiane, since 1881; Pascal's Manale
Restaurant, since 1913. It was hard at
times to keep my flan from shaking
with laughter. when I saw those "old"
dates compared to me - Trajan sesrertius,
since A.D. 106!"
"A sight one has to see to believe is
Bourbon Street. Thousands of
inebriated individuals of whom close to
half seem to have lost all semblance of
self-control are beckoned into any
number of establishments featuring
naked dancing women gyrating to the
sounds of loud music accompanied by
wildly fla shing lights. Other
establishments offer male dancers doing
the same! Still others feature males
- impersonating females! Talk about
bizarre. The streets even become so
slippery with spilled alcoholic beverages
that one has to be especially wary not to
slip. One slip and that poor soul stands
the risk: of not only soiling one's
gannents from the spilled beverages but
also from the equus droppings
intermittently deposited by the mounts
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GREEK, ROMAN, BYZANTINE COINS
AND
CLASSICAL ANTIQUITIES
EDWARD J. WADDELL, Ltd.
- 7910 Woodmont Avenue, #1104
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• , (301) 654·0470
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ridden by the law enforcement officers
who patrol to deter bad behavior. The
crowd gets so thick at times that one
literally cannot move and is forced to
stand still and observe the mayhem.
How ironic. To think how the ' much-
maligned Caligula was chastised for his
and the people's behavior during his
reign from A.D. 37-41. Why. in this
place he would just blend in with the
crowd! Now that is a scary thought!"
"Finally game day arrived. As we
entered the Superdome I CQuid hardly
believe my obverse eye - the Roman
Colosseum was never like this! The
structure rose, in loday's terminology,
27 stories into the air and was filled
with 70,000 hard-backed mostly
cushioned seats divided into 3 levels.
Walkways were carpeted and the
temperature was a constant 72 degrees.
Food, drink and restroom facilities were
easily accessible to the masses. Large
boards fl ashed messages, statistics, and
pertinent infonnation for all 10 see. The
crown jewel was a system of numerous
giant replay screens! My mind drifted
for a moment as I combined past
experiences with the present: "The
Dacian and Gaul have been fighting for
over 15 minutes now, each landing
stunning blows to each othcr's shields!
as they pound one another onc realizes
this battle is nearing an end. Wait! The
Gaul has staggered! He's dazed! The
Dacian is swinging his sword with a
hard right to the neck - ooooh! Let's
watch that beheading again in slow
motion on the giant instant replay
screen s ..... M My daydream was
interrupted by the clanging of more
change on top of me in my pocket. My
AE Sestertius
of Trajan
(pocket of author)
owner, along with his wife and oldest
son who was celebrating his birthday on
this day, must have been buying
everything in sight. Popcorn, peanuts,
banners, drinks, programs, buttons, t-
shirts · you name it. It seemed like just
about every time he stood up I got
dumped on with more change!"
"Change these days is not the same
as in ancient times. In the past each
piece had its own personality, an
identity all its own. Some were off-
center, some not; some had great style,
other had style lacking much skill. The
coins I circulate with these days are so
homogenous. The faces stay the same -
only the dates on the coins change.
Their intrinsic value is virtually non-
existent but those guys have one great
trait. They are all ears. You should
hear what some of the owners of NFL
teams not in the Super Dowl were
saying about each other!"
"The game itself began with an
audience of 110 mill ion people
watching in the United States and
millions more tuning in from London
and other European cities live via
satellite. The game was immediately
dominated by the San Francisco 49'ers.
This game of American football is most
perplexing to mc. Much time and effort
is spent speculating which is the more
dominant side. To find out the winner
would have been simple to me. Just
supply all the combatants with swords,
shields, knives, slings and other
accoutrements of war and let them have
Classical Numismatic Review
published with a new look
Classical Numismatic Review has a
new look. Volume XV, No. 1 of the
quarterly fued price list, published by
Victor England, has been expanded and
wrapped in a slick color cover featuring
a beautiful green sestertius of Nero.
Among the changes are a new title
for Kerry Wetterstrom, now serving as
"Auction Director", the addition of Peter
Lampinen in "Research and Books", and
a new and used book list. Feature
articles by Kerry include one about the
portrayal of MNemesis" on Roman-
Don't forget to Tell your friends
abou.t ThlJ Cefator
. .. .. . ..... .. .
"
The Celator March 1990 ·
Continued from page X
at each other. The one person left
. standing could thus rightly proclaim his
side the victor. No second guessing or
bickering. The answer would be clear
cut (At least, that's the way we used to
do ill ). Now the combatants are anned
with helmets and protective padding so
they don't get hurt. Doesn't quite make
sense to me. The losing team just
seemed to give up as the score mounted
up to the final margin of 55-lO. They
couldn't believe how soundly they had
been defeated. If given the option, I
believe the crowd would have given the
Denver Broncos the "thumbs dowJl."
gesture as in ancient times. Their
misery would have finally been put to
Mend!"
"I headed home the following day
with fresh images of unbefore-seen
sights now imprinted in the memory
banks of my flan. I may as well face up
to the fact that I'm not a "collectible"
like the other coins in my owner's
collection and never will be. On the
other hand I guess they'll never be Mgood
luck" pieces enjoying the freedom that I
possess. Maybe my purpose in life is
now to travel and comment on the
places I visit as they relate to life in
ancient times. That sounds pretty
enjoyable. I think: I'd like to travel to
Las Vegas sometime in the future. I
hear that's a place that's real exciting for
pocket change like me. Who knows - I
may even meet some cute little $1
gaming token at Caesar's Palace and
really have some fun ..... "
Egyptian coinage as well as a survey of
the coinage of Larissa.
Also included in the Review are
editorial comments and market news.
The sub scription ra te for all
publications of Oassical Numismatic
Group, which includes the quarterly
review, auction and mail-bid catalogues
and numismatic literature catalogs is
$30 in the U.S.; $40 in Canada and
overseas. Write to Classical
Numismatic Group, Box 245,
Quarryville, PA 17566-0245.
The Celator March 1990
Glendining's to hold two
auctions of ancient coins
GJendining's, the Coin Auctioneers,
who celebrate their 90th anniversary this
year, continues to dominate the London
market, and will be holding two separate
sales of Ancient coins on Wednesday,
7th March. The first of these sales is a
specialist collection of Byzantine coins.
formed by Mr. R. N. Bridge, and now
catalogued for him by Thomas Curtis of
A. H. Baldwin & Sons Ltd. The
catalogue takes the coins in a
chronological sequence, Emperor by
Emperor, and all the more important
pieces are illustrated in the 6 plates. In
the preface to the catalogue Mr. Curtis
acknowledges the help he received in its
preparation, from Mr. Peter Donald, the
Byzantine numismatic expert. The coin
illustrated on the cover is a solidus of
the Emperor Heraciius. from the
Jerusalem mint, which depicts him in
the style of his predecessor Focas. The
coin, which appears to be previously
unpublished is estimated to sell for
$5,000.
In a second catalogue Glendining's
lead with the collection formed by Mr.
A. L. Phillips, who died at the end of
last year. Much of the collection came
from the many sales held by
Glendining's during the 1950's and early
1960's. Many of the coins he bought
then, in lots, are now catalogued as
single items, valued at prices from
about $150 and upwards . There is a
splendid gold stater of Alexander the
Great (Est. $2,500). Perhaps the rarest
Harmer Rooke sale indicates
growing -antiquities market
Harmer Rooke's latest Antiquities
Sale, held on January 24th, once again
is a testament to the growing interest
and widening boom of the antiquities
market With about a 95% sold lot
ratio, there was a
considerable amount
of competitive bidding
and many strong
prices were realized.
Five lots of
cuneiform tablets.
always of great
interest, realized $385. Cuneiform Tablets realized
~~g5~~' and $;;gg $357.50 and $308 respectively over $6000 against a
respectively.
An 8 112" schist statue of Horus and
Isis hammered down at $4400, while a
fist·sized Hmestooe head of a priest from consignments at this time.
the Ptolemaic Period brought $1980 and
a choice Apulian ware askos sold for a
modest $3850 despite its rarity and
condition.
Ponterio CICF sale boasts
choice offering of ancients
Ancient coins form a signific.ant
portion of the Chicago International
Coin Fair Auction this year. The sale
will be held by Ponterio and Associates
and will take place at the Hyan Regency
(site of the convention) on Thursday
evening, March 15. The ancient coins
section directly .follows a session
featuring world paper money.
The sale features over 260 lots of
choice ancients, 51 of them in gold.
Included are three rare electnlm staters.
one of Kyzikos with sphinx and tunny
fish; one of Lampsakos bearing the
forepart of a winged horse; and one of
Miletos with a lion lying left and
l~king back. Roman gold includes
XXIII
Coming Events ....
coin in the collection is a Sassanian
gold Dinar of the King Khuaru that
could fetch up to $7,000 • $8,000. It
was bought from Glendining's in 1962
for £10S. In the Roman section there is
a choice denarius of Mark Antony and
Octavian (Est. $750) and another of
Augustus (Est. $1,250). English and
Foreign coins from the Phillips
collection will be sold on June 20th.
There are a further 300 lots of
Ancient Greek and Roman coins, and 50
lots of Islamic pieces. One of the more
. interesting coins in this section is a rare
. architectural type sestertius of the
Emperor Vespasian, showing a side
view of the Circus Max.imus (Est.
$1,250). In the group of Islamic coins
is an Umayyad dinar of Hisham·bin 'A
Malik, year 123 (Est. $1,750).
Glendining's are also selling the final
portion of hammered pennies from the
R.N.P. Brettell Collection and a further
785 lots of good quality English arid
Foreign coins in gold and silver.
The R.N. Bridge catalogue is
, available by post from the auctioneers
for $10 and the General Sale catalogue
is $12. Before sending your money the
auctioneers point out that a full years
subscription to all catalogues containing
ancient coins is only $75.
For further information please
contact Daniel Fearon: Glendining's,
101 New Bond Street, London, WIY
9LG, England, Tel: 01 493 2445 Fax:
01 491 9181.
Send this ad for a FREE sample of ODe of our latest auction catalogs and tell lIS what roo are collecting.
The cover lot. a Roman marble
segment of a limestone sarcophagus
with a portrait bust of a young man
fetched $4950 and could be the biggest
sleeper in the sale. CLASSICAL NUMISMATIC BOURSE
The most activity, A Private Invitational Bourse For The Collector
however, was on the 5
Featuring major dealers of
112" Etruscan bronze
Ancient & Early Foreign Coins
statue of Hercules
wearing the flayed
from around the country.
skin of the Nemean REGIONAL SHOWS HELD IN
lion and wielding a San Francisco, CA
club. This choice Oricago, IL
specimen brought Dallas, TX
$3750 estimate.
Washington, OC
. New York, NY
Harmer Rooke is planning its next
sale for May and is actively seeking
"Value and Integrity"
For further infonnation and an invitation to the show nearest
Any
inquiries should be addressed to Mr. to you. write today.
Howard Rose, Hanner Rooke Galleries.
3 East 57th Street. New York. NY
CLASSICAL NUMISMATIC BOURSE
10022. BOX 245, DEPARTMENT I
QUARRYVILLE, PENNSYLVANIA 17566
exceptional aurei of Augustus (RIC
521), Nero (RIC 61). Domitian (RIC
Yes. 232), and many others. A nice
selection of Visigothic gold is also
presented.
Greek. silver is well represented, with
some notable examples including
tetradrachms of Rhegion. Himera.
Leontini and Syracuse. Rare and
attractive coins from northern Greece are
also abundant in the sale.
To obtain a copy of the sale
catalogue send $10 to Ponterio and
Associates. Inc., Box 33588, San
Diego. CA 92103. Ponterio may also
be reached at 8(x)"854·2888.
 XXIIII The Celalor March 1990

Munzen ond Medaillen AG Serrati Continued from page XX

For 45 years
-
to forgers -- but, probably, not regularly
over a long term of years."
we have been serving Mattingly (Roman Coins. 1960
revision of the 1928 original) modified
collectors of Ancient Coins ... his position slightly. He maintained
that with regard to issues by the
and we would like Gracchians "the cutting of the edge was
designed to give palpable evidence that
the new coinage was of pure silver. In
to serve you too! the following period serration certainly
played some part in the party strife; but
we cannot relate it as closely as I did in
the fIrst edition to political events, and
the preference of some provinces for
serrati enters into the question."
Since the 1960 edition is a revision
rather than a rewrite, and doesn't address
the serrati question directly. it's hard to
judge his views on Sydenham's thesis.
Mattingly assigns several serrate issues
to Pisa that were formerly assigned to
.Monthly Illustrated Fixed Price Lists· Spain, but points out that Pisa was a
point of embarkation for Spain where
• Public Sales • Appraisals • they circulated. So Sydenham's view is
not damaged by this.
• Large Stock in All Price Ranges • Crawford (Numismatic Chronicle,
1968) convincingly maintained that all
• Buying and Selling • contemporary plated coins are forgeries
(contradicting Sydenham and Grueber)
and that the actions of the state (or
us willr officials) were to debase rather than to
plate. This means that serration by the
Gracchians would not have impacted
Please contact: Optimate money even if serration were
effective against plating.
Miinzen und Medaillen AG
P. O. Box 3647 • Malzgasse 25
CH • 4002, Basel, Switzerland THE CELATOR IS NAMED FOR AND DEDICATED TO THE
COIN DIE-ENGRAVERS OF ANTIQUITY WHOSE ART REMAINS
Tel. (061) 23 75 44 AS POWERFUL AND APPEALING TODAY AS IN THEIR TIME
The sources cited above contain more
careful and complete development of
these arguments. Unfortunately these
are all the references 1 have at my
disposal. I'm sure that there are other
articles, plus Crawford (R 0 rna n
Republican Coinage, 1974) with more
current information. Perhaps the
democratic serrati could be reinterpreted
as an advertisement of intent to crack
down on forgers. while the other party
didn't care about what bad money was
doing to the equites. Even if these
serrati were produced for Sydenham's
reasons, the democrats could have used
their issuance for such anti-optimate
propaganda
Mattingly could retain his opinion
that some issues of serrati were pan of a
party platform to win equite support,
without maintaining that they were
intended as an effective deterrent to
plating. The serrations could have
served as an advertisement of the p;uty's
claim to a policy of sound metal
content This use of serration to make a
political statement could be effective and
seems consistent with the way that
thought went into selecting coin types.
but the purpose of serrati couldn't have
been simply to ensure quality. since an
ineffective technique that was so labor-
intensive would not have been so
persistently used.

ANNOUNCING AN IMPORTANT NEW PUBLICATION!

MINEKYA
The International Monthly Review of Ancient Art & Archaeology
MINERVA is an illustrated news and review magazine, appearing monthly (except July
and August), devoted to ancient art, antiquities, archaeological and numismatic discoveries
worldwide from prehistory to the 18th century. With regular contributors from around the
world, MINERVA. published in Englafld, is truly international in style and coverage.
Feature articles will emphasize newly discovered works of art and objects of
archaeological and numismatic importance leading to a better understanding of the past
A monthly numismatic column. by Dr. Arnold Saslow. will furnish readers with a lively
review of the ancient coin marketplace. Regular excavation reports will include
prehistoric, classical. early Christian. rredieval, Egyptian. Biblical. Near Eastern. Asian.
Oceanic, African and American fmdings. as well as rqx:rts on underwater an::haeology.

Liberally illustrated with full-color and black and white photographs. it will impress you
with the breadth of its coverage. the forcefulness of its reporting. the knowledge and wit
of the feature writers, and the sheer usefulness of the many reports and listings for
museum and gallery exhibitions. auctions. fairs, conferences. meetings. as well as the
abstracts and book reviews.
Jerome M. Eisenberg. Ph.D., Editor-in-Otief
Professor Barri Jones and Peter A. Clayton. Managing Editors
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 Marchc1990 -
Civil Wars
after him. Rome itself took on a new
designation:
~
colonia Commodiana.
While actions such as these surely
great disrress, Commodus also
took the far more dangerous step of
debasing the coinage in 190. This step
had actually been taken earlier by others,
including his father Marcus Aurelius in
160 and 170, but the reductions of
Commodus were more severe.
There were numerous conspiracies
directed against Commodus, but the
successful one was instigated by his
Praetorian Prefect, Quintus Aemilius
Laetus. Laetus was from Roman
Africa, and was the fJISt African to be
given the vital command of the
Praetorian Guard. Laetus flrst prepared
the ground by using his influence to get
men of his choice into important posts
throughout the Empire. One of the first
of these appointments made Lucius
Septimius Severus governor of Upper
Pannonia in 191. Severus. who hailed
from the African city of Lepcis Magna,
had already served as governor of Gallia
Lugnensis and had commanded a legion
in Syria, among other posts. but he did
not have as much experience as previous
governors of this important province.
which included three legions very close
to Italy . Soon after this. Severus'
brother P. Septimus Geta (not to be
confused with Severns' younger son of
the same name) became the governor of
Lower Moesia, Q. Aurelius Polus
Terentianus was made governor of
Dacia, and Decimus Clodius Albinus
was given Britain. All of these men
were from Roman Africa and, while
they may not have been directly
involved in the plots of Laetus. were
presumably men he felt he could trust.
Laetus was apparently unable to
influence the choice for Syria, however,
which went to Gaius Perscennius Niger
in 192 through the influence of .
Commodus' wrestling partner Narcissus.
The flnal plot fool( shape at the end
of 192. On the last day of the year
poison was given to Commodus. but he
only became ill and Narcissus was sent
to strangle him in his bath. The city
Prefect, Publius Helvius Pertinax
(January ~ March 193). who was almost
certainly aware of the plot, had been
chosen by Laetus to become the next
emperor. On the night of the murder
Pertinax went directly to the camp of
the Praetorian Guard where he promised
them each 12,000 sestertii. In spite of
this the soldiers were not excited by
Pertinax, although after prompting from
Laetus they did acclaim him emperor.
PERTfNAX
Going next to the Senate house Pertinax
at first "refused" the honor. though the
Senators. no doubt easily seeing
through the little game. would have
nothing of it. Pertinax was Emperor of
Rome. He at once accepted the title
pater patriae, "Father of his Country",
which previous Emperor's had only
taken later in their reigns, although the
designation "PP" does not appear on his
coinage. Pertinax officially rejected the
call for his wife, Flavia Titiana, to be
made Augusta, and for his son to be
made Caesar, though these titles appear
on provincial coinage issued from
Alexandria for Titiana and the younger
Pertinax-. Since Pertinax's family
members never appeared on regular
Imperial issues it is not kn?wn whether
these titles were officially condoned or
the work of an overzealous Egyptian
official. However, since the wife of the
Prefect of Egypt, Mantennius Sabinus,
was a friend of Titiana, it was likely not
a simple mistake.
..-"":=....
TITIANA
Pertinax relied heavily on Laetus and
may have been honoring him in a pun
with the inscription "LAETITIA
TEMPORVM"", which appears on oolns
of all metals. and anudes to a
prosperous new year. Pertinax also
praised good sense with "MENTt
LA VDANAE" and the personification of
Bans Mens which appears on some
denarii, although his good sense did not
extend to shrewd political judgment.
Pertinax made many moves to improve
the economic health of the Empire
following the excesses of Commodus,
including restoring the silver content of
the coinage to the level it had been
during the reign of Vespasian (69·79),
selling off much Imperial property, and
paying the Praetorian Guard only .half
the donative he had promised. This last
move was an echo from 69 when Galba,
as part of the effort to make up for what
had been spent by Nero, refused to
honor promises of money made to the
soldiers by one of his aides. In both
cases the move against the Praetorians,
however prudent, proved disasterous.
Pertinax's reputation with the Guard,
never high. plunged, and when he had a
falling out with Laetus a gang of
mutinous soldiers burst into the palace.
Laetus probably did not instigate this
attack, but he abstained from stopping
it. The soldiers assassinated Pertinax as
a gang of soldiers had murdered Galba
over a century earlier.
The plot against Pertinax does not
appear to have been well organized since
there was no designated successor. At
once. however , Titus Flavius
Sulpicianus. the Prefect of the City of
Rome, and Pertinax's father·in·law,
rushed to the Praetorian camp to have
himself hailed as Emperor. Some of the
soldiers, however, were wary of
elevating a man so closely related to the
one they had just murdered, and two
Tribunes went to the Senate house
looking for another candidate. Waiting
there they found Marcus Oidius Severus
Julianus (March. June 193). Julianus
was not an unworthy choice for
Emperor. He was well known, had
commanded a legion, governed four
provinces, and had been Consul in 175.
ironically with Pertinax as his coUegue.
Julianus had also been implicated in an
abortive conspiracy that had been
hatched against Commodus in 182,
although he had been acquitted.
Memories of that mad emperor were
stin fresh and those accusations could
only enhance his reputation with the
Senate, although not neccessarily with
the soldiers. Nevertheless, Julianus had
Sulpicianus to contend with who had
the enviable position of being inside the
Praetorian's Camp. JuIianus arrived at
the camp with the Tribunes, but
Sulpicianns' men refused them entry.
From both sides of the Camp wall
promises were issued by each candidate
XXv
CQntiml$!! from pago ,f
for the size of the donative they were
prepared to offer, and the affair quickly
degenerated into an "auction" for the
Roman Empire. Sulpicianus had
reached a figure of 20,000 sestertii for
each man when Julianus rose to the top
In Rome the challenges against
Julianus soon became known. and it is
doubtful that anyone with any detailed
knowledge of the situation gave
Julianus much chance. The coinage
issued by Julianus, however, shows a
-
of the wall and shouted in a loud voice much different view of events. The
that he was raising the bid by 5,000 reverse of some issues show him
sestertii. That won the auction and
Julianus was proclaimed Emperor.
holding a globe with the inscription
"RECTOR ORBIS" .. Ruler of the
World. The coinage also proclaims
"CONCORDIA MILITVM", the
Harmony of the Soldiers, even though
his authority barely extended over the
Praetorian Guard, and some denarii
honor ~ SECVRITAS" at a time when
rival armies were preparing to march on
him. In spite of Julianus' lack of
support outside a small circle in Rome,
-
a few provincial coins were issued in
-,
DIDIANUS JULIANUS
Western Bithynia in his name and that
His joy must have been short lived. of his wife, Mantia Scantilla. Manila
The very next day, in spite of promises · Scanti1la and their daughter Oidia Clara
to hand ant money to the urban also appear on some rare imperial issues
plebians, Julianus was attacked and struck at Rome. These coins advertise a
insulted by the citizenry of Rome . . great deal of wishful thinking, and must
Julianus must have hoped for support have been employed as a counter to the
from the rest of the Empire, if he even ' bad news that came in from abroad in
had time to worry about it, but none spite of attempts to suppress it. This
was forthcoming. Within a few days of was not the only reason Julianus needed
hearing the news of Pertinax's murder coinage, of course. He had to pay his
Septimius Severus in Pannonia and soldiers. In a further bid for their
Pescennius Niger (193~195) in Syria support he actually paid the Praetorians
began to gather support for themselves, 30,000 sestertii each. a sum~reater than
and the loyalty of Clodius Albinus was he had promised. "This donative required
also open to question. The speed at 150 mimon sestertii, the equivalent of .
which these plans were made suggests almost 38 million denarii. While this
that both governors were growing sum was massive it was not unduly so
nervous about the plots which had fllied in comparison to other donatives.
the short reign of Pertinax, and that his Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus (161~
assassination was not unexpected.
Please fum to pago Xxvi
TWO DAYS OF IMPORTANT SALES
WEDNESDAY THURSDAY
7 MARCH 8 MARCH
Byzantine Coins from the R.N. Bridge Collection.
339 lots ~ mostly in gold· illustrated catalogue· US $10.00
(Sold in conjunction with AB. Baldwin & Sons Ltd)
Ancient, Eoglish and Foreign Coins.
1278 lots ~ Ancient Greek, Roman, Byzantine and Islamic coins including the
collection formed by the late AL. Phillips. A collection of British Sovereigns,
including all the Colonial mints; A collection of British and ColIlJI¥)llwealth coins;
Englishgold coins; English silver coins; Foreign gold and silver coins.
including selections of Chinese and the U.S.A. illustrated catalogue ~ US $12.00
The R.P.V. Brettell Collection of Coins of the Devon Mints.
Final portion ~ 72 lots • illustrated catalogue ~ US $5.00
The catalogues will be available from February 12th
Please rush or the sale catalogues as matkcd:
Bridge Collection................. General Sale ................. Brettell Collection .... .... ............... .
NAME ................ ................................................................................................... .
ADDRESS ................ ...... ............ ..... ..... .... ............................................. ... ........... ... .
TELEPHONE NO: ............................... FAX NO: ................. ... ....... ... ........ .
. Enclosed US $ ..................... .
LONDON,-PARlS-NEWYORK-GENEVA,BRUSSELS,ZURICH,THEHAGUE
Glendining's - affiliated to Phillips, the International Fine Art Auctioneers.
 .. XXVI •. ·.the Celator . March.1990

Civil Wars Contl...ed from page XXV

169) began their joint reign with a Severos, but in combination with Niger declare him Emperor, was in Severus'

.-
H
"FELICIT AS TEMPORVM as well ,

massive donative of 20,000 sestertii per
man, which, considering the devaluation
which the currency underwent in the
intervening thirty years was actually
worth more than Julianus' donative.
Still, the donative of Julianus was
equivalent to almost 25 years of
ordinary pay for the soldiers.
The short reign of Julianus was
becoming an echo of the earlier reign of
Otho, who had also been raised to the
purple by the Praetorian Guard. As
Otho had been attacked by Vitellius and
an army from the Rhine, now ]ulianus
was attacked by Severus, who marcbed
into Italy with an army from the
he would be extremely dangerous .
Severus sent envoys to Albinus. with
the offer that Albinus would be declared
Caesar if he supported Severns' claim to
be made Augustus, the implication
being that Albinus would be the second-
in-conunand and heir to the throne.
Albinus agreed. Severns first dispatched
his brother and an army into 1luace to
delay any action by Niger and then
marched on Rome. After spending less
than a month in Rome following the
death of Julianus. Severus led his army
east.
favor and gold and bronze were also
struck in its name. Pointedly, perhaps,
the three legions under Albinus' direct
control were not included, although
theoretically they also gave their
ultimate allegiance to Severos.
Niger was not idle during this period,
and his aristocratic standing, which
Severus lacked, gave him considerable
support in the Senate. Severus left
trusted men in charge of the city and
new Guard, however, and no problems
of loyalty arose during his absence.
Niger was fortunate in that the Parthian
Empire, which lay at his rear and could
nonnally be expected to take advantage
as with cornucopia and baskets of com.
A crescent and seven stars illustrates the
astrological portents of the stars which
supposedly supported Niger and his
claims. Numerous Roman deities also
appear on the coinage. although with a
distinct eastern flavor. Jupiter, for
example, is sometimes portrayed in the
traditional form, and sometimes as
"IOVI PRAE ORBIS" -- "Jupiter, Lord
of the World" -- a reference to the
Phoenician god. Baal. Military issues
are also very conunon. Soon after the
battle at Perinthus, Niger's coinage was
proclaiming his victory and the merits
of his army. A common type has

--
Danubian frontier. Julianus himself
may have been aware of the connection.
for his denarii with MSECVRITAS P R"
had last been seen on the coinage of
none other than Otho. Otho, however,
had taken his army out of Rome to meet
the legions of Vitellius, where, at the
First Battle of Bedriacum. Otho's forces
had been defeated and Otho himself
committed suicide. Julianus was not to
have this chance. In spite of frantic
efforts to fortify Rome, and equally
desperate appeals to Severns to rnle as
co-emperor, when Severns, from almost
fifty miles away, directed an order to the
Praetorians to arrest the murderers of
Pertinax, the order was obeyed. In the
Senate Severus was declared Emperor,
Pertinax was deified, and Julianus was
condemned. Soldiers, presumably the
same ones who had cheerfully accepted
Julianus' money, went to the virtually
deserted Imperial palace and murdered
Didius lulianus. Severns entered Rome
and became the fourth man in six
months to take up residence in the
palace.
History was not to repeat itself with
Severns. In 69, after the death of Otho.
Vitellius had waited for Vespasian's
army from the East to invade Italy. At
the Second Battle of Bedriacum
Vespasian's fortes were victorious and
the civil war was ended. In 193,
however. Severus was in a better
position than ViteUius had been. Before
marching on Rome he had acquired the
backing of sixteen legions on the
Danubian and Rhine frontiers, as well as
other troops in Spain and Africa, while
his principal rival, Niger, controlled
only ten legions in the East. Severns
also set about to raise three new
legions: Legio I. II, and ill Parthicae.
The wild card was Clodius Albinus who
commanded three legions and numerous
auxilliaries in Gaul and Britain. By
himself Albinus was not a threat to
SEPTIMIUS SEVER US
In Rome the Imperial mint at once
began producing coins which proclaimed
the new arrangement. Severus' tides
now included "PERT", for Pertinax,
whose name he added to his own. A
small issue of gold and silver in the
name of "DNVS PERTllIlAX" was also
issued, with the reverse of
"CONSECRATIO" and an eagle on a
globe. Albinus appears on some
coinage with the designation "CAES".
There was also a need for a new donative
which the soldiers began to clamor for.
The Praetorian Guard, however, cou1d
hardly expect one and in fact, after being
ordered onto the Field of Mars minus
their weapons, Severus ordered them
disbanded. A new Imperial Guard was
fonned from non-Italian soldien with
proven loyalty to Severos. Severus'
troops had demanded a bounty of 10,000
sestertii each for their part so far. Even
in the best of times that represented an
enormous sum for sixteen full legions.
Severus reduced it to 250 denarii each.
that is 1.000 sestertii, which was
probably paid with a new issue of
legiooary denarii. similar to those which
had been issued over two centuries
previously by Mark Antony. It is
possible that some of the donative of
Julianus was taken back: from the
disbanded Praetorians. Coins were
issued in the names of flfteen of the
legions under direct command of
Severus, and it must be presumed that
the sixteenth, Legio X Gemina, had
done something wrong. Legio XIV
Gemina, however, being the nest to
of Roman internal difficulties, had just
experienced a civil war of its own, and
was in a weakened condition. The
ruting Parthian King, Vologases V
(191-208), even found it prudent to
support Niger, although no troops were
committed to aid him. Niger's forces
gained control of Byzantium and from
that position he planned to thwart the
ambitions of Severus. Niger's army
launched an attack on Perinthus, a city
fifty miles west of Byzantium on the
European coast of the Propontis. The
city was not taken, but Niger dealt a
severe defeat to the Severan forces
defending Perin thus. This victory
generated strong emotions in the
Nigerian camp. and some of his
followen began to hail him as the "new
Alexander". At best, this was wildly
inflated flattery.
PESCENNIUS NIGER
The coinage of Niger. and no doubt
Niger himself. did nothing to dispel
these grandiose views. Under Niger an
extensive series of silver denarii. along
with some gold pieces. were produced at
Antioch which functioned as the
"Imperial" mint. It Is u nClear Whether
other mints were utilized for the primary
issues, although some provincial bronze
with Greek inscriptions were struck at
other cities in the East. Niger adopted
the virtue justice as the guiding
principle for his reign and some fonn of
"IVSTVS" appears in his name on the
obverse of most of his coinage. The
Roman justice goes further than the
modem connotation and alludes to a
Golden Age which Niger was promising
to bring about. This Golden Age is
also represented on issues proclaiming
"SAECULI FELICITAS " and
"INVICfO IMP", or some variant, with
a trophy and weapons. Victory is also
shown with a wreath and palm, and
Mars appears on other issues. After
Perinthus , however, these martial
themes became increasingly desperate
hopes rather than true claims of victory.
Severns began his march east after
spending only a month in Rome. But
before his army was even ten miles out
of the city there was a mutiny. It was
dealt with quickly, probably with some
of the legionary denarii which had. been
struck, a nd there were no further
difficulties. Severns proceeded overland
to Perinthus while elements of his army
now besieged Byzantium. Niger had
entrusted the defense of Asia Minor to
his able lieutenant Asellius Aemilianus,
but it was not enough. Severns'
Pannonian Legions. under the command
of Ti. Claudius Candidus, crossed over
from Thrace and at a battle fought near
Cyzicus Aemilianus was defeated,
captured and executed. Niger then left
his army in Byzantium and moved over
to take command of other forces in
Nicea. The nearby city of Nicomedia.
however, defected and provided a base for
Candidus. Niger's army was attacked
near Nicea in the winter of 193-4 and
was almost totally destroyed. The news
of these battles travelled swiftly and in
mid-Febrnary 194 Egypt defected from
Niger. Arabia soon followed suit, and
one of the two legions stationed in
Palestine, Legio VI Ferrata, also swore
allegiance to Severus. Niger, however.
made preparations for the defense of
Syria in mountain passes near Issus,
less than a hundred miles north of
Antioch. Niger, as the "new
Alexander" , must have seen the irony in
this location, which, five hundred years
before, was the site of a great victory for
the real Alexander over the Persians.
The Severan army, now under the
command of Cornelius Anullinus,
forced the passes. inflicting massive
cas~alties. Niger, now without an
army, fled fU'St to Antioch and then east,
presumably to find a safe haven in
Parthia. It was not to be. Pescennius
Please tum to page XXVIII

HOARD SPECIALS
ROMAN EMPIRE, ,.drlIIn, 117-138AD, AESestel1ius A. $475 Byzantine AE (100) fair-fine.
(25.73g. & 33mm). Obv: HADRIANVS · AVGCOS IIIPP B. $675 Greek AE with Roman Colonials (100) fair-fine
laureate bust facing rtlht. Rev: 5 - C Diana stg, holding arrow and bow. C. $695 "Widow's Mite" type lepta (100) fair-fine
Mintof Rome, issu9d between 134-138AD. Cohen 1364, D. $495 Roman bronzes (100) VG-VF
BMC 474, 1545 & RIC 777. (Ex-Sternberg AUdion SakJ xv. 1985, E. $195 Roman bronzes (100) fair·fine
Jot 399). Lovely green patina superb EF, and wol1hy of the fioost F. $495 Roman bronzes (500) mostly fair
cabinetofco.i19------------$4,500.00 G. $280 Ancients (1000) mostly poor
William B. Warden, Jr. Please add $8 lor postage and packing
Classical Numismatist
P.O. Box 356 .£omIon Coin §oJ/eries
PA 18938 U.S.A. Mission Viejo Mall, Suite 132
Mission Viejo, CA 92691
'·5 at Crown Valley (114) 3640090
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...··-......
~~~
.............or . March'1990
Conquistadors
~ Archaeological Evidence for Ancient
and Medieval Coin Collecting in
Spanish Colonial New Me~co". written
by John B. Brostet, reports on one of
these finds in detail and further develops
the "ancient coin collection"
assumption. Mr. Broster describes a
hoard of ancient coins found under a
stone ledge in the desert near Taos, New
Mexico. It consists of 13 coins. late
Roman, Byzantine and Islamic, dating
from A.D. 251 to A.D. 1593. The
hoard contained silver and bronze
antoniniani of the emperors Volusian.
Gallienus, Diocletian and Maximianus,
rolli of Licinius I and Constantine I,
Byzantine folli of Justinian I, Phocas,
and 2 unknown emperors, and a copper
fats of Islamic times. Apparently, the
coins were hidden around 1680 to 1692
when rebellious Pueblo Indians killed or
chased away all the Spanish settlers in
this area In conclusion, Mr. Broster
suggests that the coins, being common
and well circu.laled, were collected by the
owner in Europe only as historical
curiosities and brought to AIrerica. He
also describes another, smaller hoard of
3 Roman coins found near Gallup, New
Mexico several years earlier. It
consisted of a follis of Constantius I, a
centenionalis of Constantius IT and a
follis of I ustinian I. This hoard
represented a date span from A.D. 305
to 565,
While the small hoards ·of ancient
coins described in the article in the SAN
Iournal may support the "ancient coin
collection" theory to explain the
existence of Roman coins in America.
the larger numbers of coins found at the
cave near San Luis Rey· gives some
9Larmer <.:Rooke Balleriu • 9Larmer <.:Rooke r:N'umimuJfisfs LIl.
We Are Actively
Seeking Consignments
For Our 1990 Auction Season
597. Gold Tremissis
of Sisbut
the VWgoth $770
Continued from pago XVI
weight to the "ancient coins used as (Editor';, AdtUndW71: By the 16th century. conquistadors were aUo accompanied by
bullion c:r trade goods" theory. Perhaps humanism was in full swing and the ad~nlurous clergy. Is it 100 much to opect
both concepts are valid explanations for Rmai.uance wasjiuud by knowudge gaiMd thal SO/M enlerprising abbol, wilh ambitibns
these curious discoveries and they through collections of ancienl coins and of establishing a monastery in the New
tJrtifot:ts. Among the most MTneSI colUClors World, carried with him a suitabu collection
illuminate an interesting sidelight to the
were the uaders of the Roman Catholic 10/urther thal aim? Among all 0/ the other
field of ancient numi smatics in church. Virtually every nwnastery and possibilities, perhtJps ON ofour readers can
An<rica. seminary boasted a collection of ancient foetor this hypothe.sis illlo the equarion. Su
coins which was usedfor study. [t is a well also: New Finds this issue,for a recentfUld
known fact that the early Spanish ofsimilar inJereJ1.)
AUTIlORS NOTE:
Perhaps some of the readers of The Writing for The Gelator is easy and fun
Celator who live in the San Diego area
would like to write the final chapter of don't be afraid to give it a try!
this story. The San Luis Rey Historical
Society seems to have ceased operations
and I cannot determine whether the
treasure of the Trinidad has been located. NEW FINDS••.•
Also. I do not Imow if the coins
discovered in the cave have ever been
fully cataloged or even described in the
documents.- Where are these coins today
and are they available to numismatic
researchers? A follow up article by a
Californian would help, once and for all,
to solve the mystery of ancient Roman
coins found in America.
Bibliography and Notes:
1. A good description of the finding of Two months ago, Dennis Kroh submitted a new fllld that was literally that - a
the coins at San Luis Rey and the photo stray, albeit rare, coin of Carausius. This month we offer another stray find.
of the coins mentioned in the article, The coin featured is obviously not rare or unusual, it is in fact a rather common
can be found in the book. Treasure ... AE - drachm of Antoninus Pius, struck at Alexandria in Egypt during the second
How and Where 10 Find II, by Robert century A.D,
Nesmith and John S. Potter Jr., Area What makes this fllld unusual is that it was recently located with a metal detector
Publishing, New York, 1968, p, 136. by Mr. Gil Fimbrez, on a beach in Baha California, Mexico. Too bad Bob Levy
2. A history of the Trinidad can be
doesn't have this one in his collection, it surely is a coin with a story to tell!
found in the book. The Treasure Diver's
G uide, Revised Edition, by John S. Photo courtesy of Colin Bruce
Potter Ir. , Bonanza Books, New York, World Coin News
, 1972, p. 459,
Individual Quality Items,
Since 1905
Whole Collections
& Estates Are Always
of Interest To Us
595. Gold Solidus
of VaieDS $412.50
166E. Apulian
Skyphos $M5
These Are Some of the Prices Realized from
Absentee Auction XXXIV - JanuBfY 24, 1990
Our Galleries Feature a Quality Selection of
Classical Anlfqumes from Egypt,
Greece, Rome and the Ancient Near East;
Pre-Columbian Art; Tribal Arts --
317. Jaina Priest $1925
Indian and Ethnographic; Ancient Numismatics,
Also: American and Foreign Numismaffcs,
Antique American Glass & Bottles,
Estate and Period Jewelry & Wristwatches,
Harmer Rooke Galleries
3 Bast 57th St, New York, NY 10022, Dept. C
NYS: 2127511900 WATS: 8002217276 FAX: 212 758 1713 95, Usbabti or
Auctioneer NYC Lie.• 823790, 8= Pcdi-Hor-Neitb $1210
xxviii · .
Civil Wars
Niger was captured outside the city and number of different Imperial and
put to death. provincial issues. Ro me was the
principle mint, although a few eastern
Severus was not through in the east. mints were also employed while the war
however. Niger's head was sent to with Niger was on, striking primarily in
Byzantium. but the city still did not silver. Alexandria began a small series
surrender, no doubt knowing the for Severos and his wife Julia Damna
punishment wroch awaited it from the soon after defecting fro m N iger,
victorious Severus. After two and a half although after a few years this mint fell
years, in late 195. starvation forced a silent for the rest of his reign. Laodicea
capitul ation, although many of the struck coins for Se veros. and a few
city's inh abitan ts fl ed by se a. tetradrac hms wer e also "minte d
Byzantium's walls were razed and its somewhere in Asia, perhaps Caesaria,
city status revoked. For the rest of the while Emesa minted mainly for Julia
east. however, it took only a few weeks Domna, who hailed from a powerful
for Severu s to establish complete religious dynasty in the city, Niger, no
control. Punishments were dealt to doubt to strelCh his funds, had issued
many of the men who had supported denarii with a very low silver content,
Niger, and there were extensive even below that used during the final
confiscations of wealth and property. years of Commodus. Severos, unlilce
Antioch lost its city status and was Pertinax, who he was supposedly
placed under the jurisdiction of its rival avenging, did not greatly improve the
Laodicea. while Syria itself was divided standard used by the eastern mints. The
into two smaller provinces. Severus Rome mint soon followed with denarii
then looked to the allies of Niger's of almost as low silver content.
outside the Empire which now provided Provincial bronze was also issued in
havens for some of Niger's soldiers. great quantities under Severos from
W ith more retri bution in mind
hundreds of mints throughout the east.
Mesopotamia was invaded . The The range of these typeS is extremely
Kingdom of Osrhoene was annexed,
varied, from Perinthu s, for example,
although King Abgdar was allowed to large bronzes were struck with a detailed
re main in control of his capital at galley carrying Severus and legionary
Emesa. and the Adiabeni and Scenite standards. Provincial coinage was also
Arabs initially offered their submission. issued in abundance for J ulia Damna,
Parthia itself was to be the object of an
and Severus' two sons, both alone and
invasion later in Severus' reign. The in virtually every poss i~J e combination.
eastern campaigns had the added benefit
The early imperial coin age of
of allowing legions which had been on
Severus is dominated by martial themes.
opposing sides in the civil war to fight
together as Romans. With the e ~ t As per c usto m. Severus was hailed
fairly secure, Severus no w turned hiS "Imperator" when his forces wo n a
attention back to his remaining rival and significant victory, There were to be
previous ally Clodius Albinus. Severus several such victories recorded during the
made his intentions clear when he period of the civil wars. Severos altered
formally raised his elder son, the future the normal obverse inscription on his
emperor CaracaUa (211 - 217) to the coins to show these victories, so that,
rank of Caesar, implicitly proclaiming for example, we see "L SEPT SEV
that CaracaUa, and not Albinus was to PERT AVG IMP II" on coins issued
be his successor. Albinus understood after the battle near Cyzicus. The
this move clearly, and civil war flared designations IMP III and IMP IlII
again. followed the battles of Nicae and Issus
The coinage of Severos during this against Niger himself. The invasion of
early part of ~ reign consists of a vast Mesopotamia following the death of
" in his name as well, some with the
FIXED PRICE LISTS and AUCTIONS
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£." c.oia iIlIuttotJ 0U#Al siu
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--~-----
Niger lead to IMP V. IMP VI, and IMP
VII, as well as the titles "Parthicus
Arabicus" and "Parthicus Adiabenicus".
The latter actually appears on the revene
of some gold issues before the fifth
acclamation of irnperator. suggesting
that the Arabs may have made some
form of submission which perhaps was
no t fulfilled resulting in the battles
fought against them. These must have
been great fights since the Senate
awarded Severus a triumph which he
declined lest it appear as if he were also
celebrating his victories in the civil war.
The conclusion of the seige against
Niger's holdouts in Byzantium led to
IMP VOL After Cyzicus Severos also
added "PP", pater patriae. as a title.
This was taken sooner by Severos than
most previous emperors, tho ugh not
sooner than Pertinax.
The reverses of much of the denarii
minted at this time further advertise
Severus' military successes, after
Cyzicus, for example. the common
theme of an advancing Victory with
wreath and palm, and the inscription
"VIer AVG TR P II COS II" is seen.
On later denarii, when Ire defeat of Niger
was a l most certai n, "MARS
PACATOR", Mars the Pacifier, and
"PACI AVGVSTI", the Emperor 's
peace, are presented, being assurances
that Severus will soon end the civil war
and restore peace. Other coins promote
the emperor's generosity. perhaps
alluding to gifts and games given to the
people of Rome. Severus. as a native
of North Afri ca, aIso produced coinage
with African themes. The Punic god
known as Saeculum Frugiferum is
sho wn and a representation of Africa,
herself, with an elephant skin headdress.
lions. and perhaps most importantly.
com appears on some bronze issues.
These served not only to advertise
Severos' Punic-African heritage, but
also as a reminder that he was in control
of Africa which had become a major
source of the city of Rome's com.
C10dius Albinus was also from North
Africa, and while the war raged between
Severns and Niger, Rome minted coins
same African themes.
During the eastern campaign
following the death of Niger. Severus
no longer felt the need for an all}~ce
with Albinus . Severus had it
proclaimed that he was now the adopted
son of Marcus Aurelius, prompting the
new governor of Lower Moseia to
sarcastically cQmmend Severus for
-finding a father". This move. however,
provided a vital link with his reign and
the still admired Aurelius, and Severns
eventually began to date his reign from
the death of Commodus, ignoring the
short tenures of Pertinax and Didus
Iulianus. A sesttrtius issued during the
invasion of MesopotanUa proclaims that
Severus is the son of deified "Marcus
Pius", further linking Severos with
Aurelius' p-ectecess« and adoptive father
Antoninus Pius (138 - 161). Severos
also had his elder son's name changed to
reflect th.e new family relationships.
The child. born L. Septi.mius Bassianus,
became M, Aurelius Antonious.
Histcry, however, generally m:~ him
by his nickname CaracaIla, which he
earned later. As far as Albinus was
concerned, however, the sting came
soon after when CaracaUa was promoted
to Caesar, a title which appears on his
coinage. for it was clear that Severos
was going to follow the example of his
"father" Aurelius in making sure that
his natunJ son was heir to the throne.
Clodius Albinus bas been criticized
by some for forming his alliance with
Severus in the first place, He did. after
aU. know that Severus had two sons f!C
Continued 'rom page XXVI
CLODIUS ALBINUS
his own and probably suspected that
Severus would want to eventually make
them his heirs. However. Albinus was
some ..... hat limited in his options if he
desired to become emperor. An alliance
with Niger, while c learly of great
benefit to the easterner, would have been
of little consolatio n to Albinus if
Severos attacked him ftrst. It may be
that Albinus hoped that the war between
Severus and Niger would drag while he
gathered his strength. While Severus
was engaged in this war Albinus did
extend his authority beyond the province
of Britannia. Albinus also had support
in the Senate. and the governor of
H i s p anis Tarracon e n s i s. w ho
commanded one legion. became his ally.
It is also possible, however. that
Albinus expected Severos to continue
their alliance and that he was simply
taken aback by Severos' promotion of
Caracall a. This would explain why
Albinus waited as long as he did before
moving openly against him in 195
when he had himself declared emperor.
Lugdunum in Gaul was seized and
became his headquarters. Trier in Gallia
Belgica was attacked and. altho ugh an
invasion of the Rhineland in 196 failed,
forces Joyal to SevetuS were defeated.
Se verus meanwhile. proceeded west.
returning briefly to Ro me before
marching nortbto confront his last rival,
The break between Severos and
Albinu s meant that Rome ce ased
minting for the latter. Greek provincial
coinage for Albinus also ended since it
was minted in the east which was under
the control of Severus. Albinus still
needed coinage, both for monetary
reasons as well as for the propaganda
value. Lugdunum became his
"Imperial" mint. Denarii, a few gold
issues, and perhaps some bronze were
produced there. but with the style being
inferior to that employed at regular
mints. While Caesar under Severus.
Albinus had added the name Septimius
to his obverse inscriptions, althoug,
somewhat oddly. this designation is
retained on much of his Lugdumun
coinage, This suggests that it was more
than a simple gesture of ·fealty for
Severos, but was part of Albions'
original name, The Lugdunum coinage
of Albinus is ambitious in the scope of
vmues which are attributed to the
emperor, Of course valor, victory,
fortune, aM hope are on his side as well
as "CLEMENTIA". 1be last may have
been intended to sway those who feared
Severos enough to withhold support for
Albinus, siDee clemency was not one of
Severos' real or numismlltic virtu~,
Some reverses depicting Aequitas were-
very similar to coins produ~ under
Pertinax, suggesting that Albiilus was
making an appeal to rule both wisely
and in the RlIJlDfZ of that short-reigned
emperor, Military types were also
produced, with the common theme of
Victory advaocing with wreath and
palm, as well as other forms such as
Jupiter holding Victory. Denarii with
·FIDES LEQION COS IT" around two
_tum to_lQIX
Coins of the Bible
Pilate strained relations
COPYRIGHT 1980 by David Hendin
Pilale then went out unto them and
said, What accusation bring ye against
this man? .. Then said Pilate unto
them, Take ye him, and judge him
according 10 your law. The Jews
therefore said Ullto him, II is not
lawful for us to put ally man to
death ..
John 18:29-31
Pontius Pilate was the fifth of 14
men to hold the position of pro-
curator - or governor· over Judea.
The first procurator, Coponius,
was apJX)inted by Augustus following
the exile of Herod Archelaus in 6
AD. With the exception of the three
years that Agrippa I reigned as king,
the procurators ruled until 66 AD,
when the Roman-Jewish war erupted.
The earliest procurators imposed
stiff taxes on the people of Judea.
Pontius Pilate caused special strains
on the relations between Rome and
Bronze let pon of Pon ti u s Pilate u nde r T i ber lu s,
minted 29 AD. Obverse: three ears of barley; reverse: libation
ladle.
Gorny auction emphasizes
except ional ancient coins
Dieter Gorny GmbH, of Munich,
Gennany, will be holding Auction Sale
No. 48 of ancient coins on April 2,
1990. The auction will take place in
the Hotel Continental in Munich.
The auction consists of about 1000
coins including Celtic, Greek. Ro man,
Byzantine and Islamic. Almost all of
these coins are of extraordinary quality.
Some highlights, among others, will
be a group of imitations of Thasian
tetradrachmae, numerous coins of Greek
cities under the Roman government, as
well as many rarities, particularly
from Magna Graecia. Sic ily and
Nonhero Greece.
There will also be many interesting
pieces in the catalog for collectors of
small coins.
One feature of the Roman section
will be a splendid group of rare and high
g rade late Roman coins, plus a
highlight of rarities of gold coins of the
late empire in exceptionaUy high grade.
Also included in the auction are five
exceptional items pictured below:
Sicily, Syracuse
Tetradrachm 485·479 B.C.
This is the flIS t year that Gorny wiD
hold three auction sales of ancient coins.
F"{ ~1';t.in~QIJ!I:~O~~~&~ding this
If this calibre of numismatic art excites you -
it is only one of hundreds of beautiful
the people of Judea. Of course, Pilate treasures from the past residing
is probably the mos t infamous of the for the moment in our trays.
procurators because of his role in the
trial of Jesus. Write for a complimentary
Many of the procurators practiced
excess ive cr ue lty. Th e his to ri a n copy of our catalogue.
Tacitus wr ote that procurator
Antonius Felix, who rose to his post
from slavery, "exerci sed the
prerogative of a king in the spirit of a
DR, Pavl RyneaRson
slave, with superlative cruelty and
licentiousness. "
P. O. Box 4009
Of the last procurator, Gess ius MALIBU, CA 90265
Florus, Josephus wrote that "he made
an open boast of his crimes against the
people; he practiced every sort of
robbery and abuse precisely as though
he had been sent to punish condemned
criminals ... His cruelty was pitiliess,
his infamie s shameless... Whole
districts were depopulated by his
Jean
greed, multitudes left their homes and
fled into foreign provinces.~
Under A OTUS' rule, the Jews ceased
their daily sacrifice for the emperor.
ELSEN, S.A.
Thus, war with Rome was declared.
• Public Auctions
• Numismatic literature
• Monthly Illustrated Price Lists
• Ancient, Medieval, Islamic and Modern Coins
Avenue de Tervueren 65, Bte 1
~1040 BRUSSELS-BELGIUM
,~ Tel: 011-322-734-6356
•
It's Here!
L,
1Jestoj
rae CeIoIor
"1.
Macedonia, Uranopolis
Didrachm ca. 300 B.C.
Ig8g
--I Avaifable for distribution
24 excellent articles about ancient coins and
antiquities reprinted from the pages of The
Celator in magazine format,
Servius Su/picius card cover - saddle stitched
Denarius, Rome
$6.95
,
postpaid
A great way to save your favorite articles
Special offer: the award winning
Best of The Gelator - 1988
Dioc/etian along with the
Siscia 294-305 AD. Best of The Gelator - 1989
$10 postpaid for the pair.
Dealer inquiries invited.
Foreign addresses allow 4·6 weeks for delivery.
-
Licinius J
Solidus, 321·322 A.a.
rae CeIoIor
auction, contact Dieter Gorny G mbH, P.O. Box 123
0-8000 Munchen 2. Maximiliansplau
20, West Germany, Tel: 49/89r2.2 68 76 Lodi, WI 53555
or ~~: ~/~121- .85 .5,lJ..: ~ '. -," ,',"_' .'. L ...",,,~",,"',"'.",","',"',"'~__",._,,,,..,"..",..','.'.''".'''',~:<'.'.'"......
. ....
..""..".''.''''
.''' ...",..",."..".''''.~.~. ..
.... ..:o.:"."....':'.~.~....
. :' ..:o:o::o!--.
 lhe~tQ. r.

Indo-Greek drachms
Further research changes control mark percentages
by David R. Dawdy More interesting. the six added coins workshops E and K. unless there was References to Mitchiner are to page
To continue the saga of the control of type 1769-72 from the E workshop some sort of overlapping of the 251 of Mitchiner. Michael, Oriental
marks on Indo-Greek drachms of are: three with E left, 1 with E right, personnel at different times. Coins and their Values. the Ancient &
Menander (Cdalor. August 1989). 81 and two have a combination of So Mitchiner 2 is underrepresented. Classical World, 600 B.C. - A.D. 650,
more coins with control marks which workshop K9 and workshop E. one with 9, 10. and 15 are overrepresented. and 1 Hawkins Publications, London, 1978.
Mitchiner would classify as Punjab have E left and one with E right. The E's are and 18u e about the same as
passed through my hands. Five not all identical, but have different extra, Cunningham. The frequency comparison is now:
Panjhir5 were with them, but are not diagonal strokes"inside the E. The three
counted. These 81 are included with the added coins of workshop K9 have one
previous 107 to give the updated table with the K9 left with a Gamma right. Frequency in Percent for Control Mark
of frequency for 188 coins of Menander. This leaves open the interpretation of I 2 9 10 15 18
Cunningham 30.7 26.5 4.6 6.0 3.9 9.9 81.6
Coin Pushkalavati South Taxila This group 25.5 10.6 10.6 18.6 13.3 10.1 88.7
Type O>ach
Chlef E K
2 1&3 6 9 10 15 17 18
Diadem Bust 24 81 17
I'
3S·@ 24@ 110
New mail bidders credited
M1769-72 I'
Bust 18@ 12@ 31 I & 35
for strong Kolbe ~uction
Total proceeds of the George several hundred dollars at a time, it sold
M1779-82 I' Frederick Kolbe Public and Mail Bid for $3,300' (all selling prices given
Sale 43 of Important Numismatic include the 10% buyer premium).
Javelin Bust Books exceeded $111,000 , well over
the total of the pre-sale estimates. The The sale featured a remarkable
'sale featured the library of the late collection of American Numismatic
Pallas Right 2@ @ I@ 5'@ 8 Association publications and
Austin Ryer. Jr., selections from the
Jack Collins library, and other memorabilia.
M1785.s8 Kolbe's next sale will be held at the
important properties.
While the success of the sale may be Long Beach Convention this June and
Pallas Left II@ I 9@ 14@ 35 will feature portions of the magnificent
largely atnibuted to the many rare and
desirable items featured, the firm also American numismatic library formed by
MI790-94 ; .
John W. Adams. Copies of the
had more new mail bidders participating
than in any sale in meJllOf"Y. Held in illustrated, large format sale catalogue
20 48 II 20 35 25 10 19 188 may be reserved by sending $10 to
conjunction with Sam Lopresto's 12th
Annual Winter Numismatic & George Frederick Kolbe, P.O. Drawer
• Control mark to left of Pallas 3100, Crestline, CA 92325. After
@ mustrated in Mitchine:r Philatelic Exposition in Long Beach,
there were also over 40 floor bidden in April 15th. the price of the catalogue
'1 Coruml Mart: similar (Cunningham 92 and 93) but not the same. will be $15.
aueodaoce.. Bidding was intense and, of
the 700 lots in the sale, only 30 Kolbe has also just issued a fixed
remained WlSOId. price list featuring rare and important
1&1 ANCrIRT !IT One of the most exciting lacs in the
sale was a specialleatber-bound copy of
works on ancient numismatics,
including a long run of early American
the 1970 Judd work on pattern coins, Numismatic Society Numismatic Notes
being copy No. 1 of only four original and Monographs. Many of the more
interleaved coples. On the blank leaves important works on ancient coins were
of the book. are the autographs of some once in the library of the famous
fifty famous American numism.ati.sts of American numismatist Edward T.
presents the day. Estimated at $500, bidding Newell. Copies of this price list will
started at $375 ilnd. after a frenzied Dca be sent to readers of The Celator free
battle with bids -being increased by
the RAPHAEL · COSME upon request.

COLLECTION Civil Wars --, ...

standards and a legionary eagle are very .
often found in near mint condition. !
Assuming that the coinage of Albinus
vanished very quickly from circulatioo
after his faIl this issue may be the final
production of his mint.
Although Albinus had only three
legions under his direct command the
army of Britain also consisted of
numerous auxiliaries. Albinus
withdrew the majority of these 10 Gaul,
giving him an army of perhaps 40,000
soldiers. He may also have set about
raising more troops once established in
Gaul. Severns, however, had at his
disposal a far larger force. Severus
marched into Upper Germany and
approached Lugdtmum from the north in
early 197, this time personally leading
his legions. There was an initial battle
at Tinurtium. sixty miles north of
Lugdunum. where Albinus was defeated
but able to withdraw. The climactic
Caribbean Indians Art, and Pre-Columbian Art battle of the civil war occurred outside
Classical Antiquities Lugdunum itself on 19 February 197.
Severns himself almost lost his life
P.O. Box 691413 - when he and some Praetaians rode over
concealed pits which threw them from
Orlando, Florida 32869 their mounts. Instead a sudden cavalry
cbarge caught Albinus off guard.
phone: (407) 240-4322 SEND $3.00 FOR CATALOG Albinus was defeated _and the city of
..._-....__.........________..~........................~"."."_."."_!"..............~... > ~~"!'! WoO!! .~ .~ .' !'t. ~~
Continued Irompage XXVIII
Albinus himself was trapPed in a house
by the Rhone and committed suicide.
With the new title IMP vnn added for
this victory L. Septimius Severus
became the undisputed master of the
Roman world.
The death of Commodus had sparked
a civil war which, initially, had seemed
an echo of the troubles which followed
the death of Nero and the nYear of Four
Caesars", 69. But the civil wars of 193
- 197 were to be much more damaging,
both in the destruction wrought by war
and in the reprecussions which Severns
'carried out against his enemies once the
fighting was over. "The large inDux of
wealth which flowed into the Imperial
, purse during these purges, as well·as the
debasement of the currency, gave
Severus the funds to increase the pay of
the soldiers for the Imt time in nearly a
century. Such concessions cemented the
bond Severus had forged with his
soldiers which was the basis of his
power. In the years following the death
of Severns many were to lcnow what lay
behind the power of an emperor, but few
were able to control it effectively, and
the Roman Empire was plunged into
decades of rule by many men who
consciously or not, sought to imitate
Septimius Severus.. '" . . ...
'.' , • ~
The 'C8I8tb~
1 • • . ,. .
Marth 1990
.
Profiles
featured in Coins of Ih~ Ottoman
Empiu and the Turkish R~public, a two
volume set that was written and the
coins photographed here in Lincoln by
Bill Holberton, the man who assembled
the collection before he sold it here. In
the book The Later Pala~ologan
Coinag~ by S. Bendall and P. J. Donald,
credit is given for the coins used that
were from the University of Nebraska
collection. And so, the collection
certainly is noteworthy, and has been
and is now worthy of world wide study.
Ian Campbell's personal numismatic
library, while it is not now a part of the
U of N's numismatic library, is none
the less interesting. It contains most of
the early B.M. and later Royal
Numismatic Society publications, and
many of the other more notable
European books and catalogues. And of
Largest sale to date
CNA X features 1497 lots of ancients
Classical Numismatic Auctions. Ltd.
of Quarryville, PA announces their
largest sale to date, CNA X, a mail-bid
sale closing Wednesday, March 21. The
large fonnat catalog features 1497 coin
lots and 205 numismatic literature lots.
This sale definitely has "something for
everyone" and every individual lot has
its photograph directly above the
description for ease of use.
The sale starts with 192 lots of
silver. gold, and electtum Greek coins
and features 35 lots of electrum from
Mysia and Ionia. Of particular interest
is lot 49, an EL stater of Kyzikos with
a griffm seated left, in VF condition and
formerly part of the Jonathan P. Rosen
collection. Lot 49 is estimated at
$2800. An excellent selection of
Parthian coins featuring several obols -
a rare denomination in the Parthian
series - is followed by over 100 lots of
Greek: bronzes with many in high-grade.
The Greek bronze section is especially
strong in Italian and Sicilian bronzes
that come from an important east coast
collection . .
A nice run of Greek Imperial is
included in CNA X and is highlighted
by 32 lots of Roman Egyptian bronzes
and tetradrachms. The second part of an
important collection of Roman
Republican coins is next in the sale and
features many rarities. An extremely.
rare Anonymous...£ Triens of ci.rca1zf7::..- r
215 B.C. with Hercules fighting a
centaur 00 the reverse higbliglits this
section. This piece is lot 423 and
grades Fine+ with an estimate of $700.
::rbe Republican section numbers 283
lots in total and should not be missed
by the specialist in this series.
The Roman Imperial section is
highlighted by a very nice collection of
sestertii that covers the reigns of
Augustus to Volusian. Scarce sestertii
of Agrippina Senior, Caligula, Titus
and Sabina compUment over 40 othen
in this important offering. Also of
importance is an extremely rare aureus
of Vitellius (lot 767) with facing busts
of his children on the reverse. This rare
coin grades near VF and is estimated at
$3500 (Sear (#764) values it at £8000
in Roman Coins and Their Values).
A small but choice offering of
Byzantine coins is followed by a
selection of early dated medieval
coinage. With dates ranging from 1405
to 1504, this 16-lot section is an
excellent introduction to the medieval
portion of the catalog. A 1484 Half
Guldiner of Sigismund. of Tyrol. (Jot
coune it has the more recent better
books and sylloges on ancient
numismatics. Some of his books, like
the 13 volumes of the Grult. Coin -
Types Classifi~d for Imm~diat~
Idl!llliftcation by L. Anson, 1911-1916
are not to be found in the major
numismatic libraries of this country.
There are the original 1850's - 1860's
volumes of M~daill~s Imperiales by
Henry Cohen and the 1860's volumes of
Monnaies Byzantines by L. Sabatier and
Coins of th~ Ancients with 70 plates,
London 1881, by Barclay V. Head.
These are together with the 1908 Vol. I
& IT of Imperial Byzantine Coins by
Warwick Wroth and his companion
1911 volume on The Vandals,
Ostrogoths and Lombards and these are
only a few of the earlier books. But
what is really fascinating, at least to me
about 1m's books, is al1 of the letters
) 200 ~ mbr.ed II'Iti8nb
1060) is featured and should be of
interest to the early dated specialist.
Graded as a toned EF and extremely rare
as such, lot 1060 is estimated at $2750.
One of the best offerings of Hammered
English coins to ever cross the auction
block of CNA. Ltd. is definitely one of
the strong points of the entire catalogue.
This 200 lot section features an
important run of the coins of Elizabeth I
including a gold half Pound piece and
three silver crowns. Also included are
two groats of Richard m, both VF in
condition, and estimated at $7.50 each.
CNA Ltd. expects this section to receive
Please...
Check the date on your mailing label.
If it has passed, you are in danger of not
receiving future issues. Renew today!
..:
and notes, some from the authon;, that
are found in them as book marks.
When I opened several of his R.I.C.
volumes, I found hand written letters
that were signed; "Your Friend,
Sincerely, Harold MattinglyR. And in
the front of Michael Grant's book.
Roman History From Coins. a book:
that was used in our class on ancient
numismatics at the U of N, is another
hand written letter, one from Mr. Grant
thanking his old friend for using his
books in the classes as hand books.
Other books have things like old
Christmas cards from people at the
Heberden Coin Room of the
Ashmolean, while others have cards and
letters from prominent collectors and
dealers from around the world and from
his old students from Turkey, The
marginal notes in the catalogues on
when and where he purchased or was
much bidder interest with the shortage
of nice material that exists in the
marketpiace.
CNA X is completed by 90 lots of
miscellaneous material and group lots.
The group or "large 10tsR should not be
missed by the collector looking for a
quantity of material at attractive prices.
CNA Ud. emphasizes that their large
lots consist of quality coins in quantity
for the budget-minded collector! Any
coUector that desires a copy of CN A X
may order their copy by sending $10 to
CNA. LtdJCNA X. P.O. Box 245.
Quarryville, PA 17566. Catalogues
will be available after February 21.
Ancient Coins
& Antiquities
For Serious Collectors
Occasional Lists
.E18
~
Continued from page VI
given that particular coin is also very
interesting. Hoard coins are also
documented as to which board, and what
number in that hoard that coin was in,
as well as when and where the hoard
--
came from.
Reverend Campbell's life and
exploits in his collecting years in
Thrkey are what legends are made from.
However. now he is at an age and in
poor health and no longer cares to write
about his adventures in the Mid-East.
He did write for Numismatic
International for a number of years, but
now he confmes his literary activities to
his poetry and letters to his many
friends around the waid.
•
$95 Export Specials
"T,.... ........ Speeiar
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OR
Wholesale Iotof 100 d'ituld bronzes tun aI
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Indudea . . . . . types& •
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Jewish Pet\n:)101ht New Testament Period.
Jewish, HerodIan & Roman (Augustus tvu
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irTmeciUt ~ send otdarwilhpayment
, (perlDnllilchadtsOK)to:
H. Kogen
P.O. Box 2137
Natanya 42121 Israel
If you aI8 not on my maing list,
write for free llustmod catalog.
 XXXll : The .Celalor Marcll .1990

""-
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fothe ANCIENT COINS AlGAl
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1
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'The Celator 'March 1990 XXXIII

~:THU~ LI~
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NUMISMATIC LITERATURE Price Lists
P.o. Box 21CL Auction Representation
GEMS, CAMEOS, JEWELRY P.O. BOX 356
Hazlet, NJ 07730
Ancient to Modem . NEW HOPE, PA 18938 Want List Service
(215) 297·5088 p, O. Box 4102
AUCfION SALES Clifton, NJ 07012
(201) 744 • 8146

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& Medieval Coins
AND
Catalogues sent upon request ANTIQUmES
Harlan J. Beric, UtI.
VIKEN M_ HAVANDJIAN IMPERIAL COINS
m iy
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AUSTIN, TX 78763 and ANTIQUITIES
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• All coins and artiracts
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"""

Numismatist FIXED PRICE LISTS

ANCIENT CENTRAL ASIAN
ISLAMIC and INDIAN COINS
Persic Gallery, P.O. Box 10317,
Torrance, CA 90505
Telephone: (213) 540-1855
CATALOGING SERVICES
COUNTERFEIT ALERT IflARIES PHOTOGRAPHIC
BOOKS (415) 365-5073
THOMAS D_ WALKER
P.O. Box 29188 Dept. C
San AntoniO, TX 78229
(512) 696-5393
1ionbon Groin ~/1l1trul
SubscripUons: one year at least 4
issUE!s, $15..00 U.S. & Canada. $25.00 Suite 132 Mission Viejo Mall
Foreign. Wnte for a complimentary copy if Mission Vie}o. CA 92691
you haven' seen my 1~1s.
. (714) 364-0990 or 582-3481
XXXIlIl The Celator . March 1990

Letters COntinued from page II

Specialist in Ancient Coins
also stock World Minor CDiM, Medals,
CroWll.!', Artifacts, Books atrd Coin CilSU
Our inveDtory is among the finest in America,
due to maintaining the most active convention
schedule of all ancient coin dealers, we buy and
sell a tremendous selection of all types of
nwnismatic maleri.al.
ESPECIALLY NEED
Gold and Sl1ver of the 12 Caesars
We attend and will represent yoo at major
auctions. In the past two yean: we have
completed five $e1s of the 12 Caesars in gold.
GEORGE M. BEACH
Numiscellaneous
p.o. Box 113, Owa;so, MI 48867
(517) 634-5415
Over 20 years in business
Christian Blom
Greek, Roman and
World Coins
write for free sample list
2504 N. Quantico St.
Artington, VA 22207
71J3..533.3t 19 -
noon to midnight
had a stack of these pieces on his table
priced at the equivalent of thirty dollars
to pick. What was strange about this
group was that among the nice shiny
EUROPE'S MAIN majority were maybe thirty or forty
SPECIALIST DEALER IN coins with a slightly base appearance
ORIENTAL COINAGES and with generally different texture to
the majority of the g roup. After
haggling I agreed to buy a quantity for a
substantial discount Five minutes later
the deal was off because the only coins I
had picked were the base looking
examples which were in fact genuine
coins sprinkled in with the fakes to
make the group look credible. The
Free iIlus/Talro stllu fist QWliLW/e 011 reqrusl. seller was from a group of dealers who
mOre than any others would know the
R.C. SENIOR LTD. source of the coins and the real point of
Butleigh Court Tower origin.
Butleigh Glastonbury 3. This is a follow Qn from 2
Somerset BA6 8SA England above. When you do see undoubtably
Tel. 0458 50824 genuine examples sprinkled in with the
recent disputed group you realize how
little credibility the new find has. They
bear no resemblance to the genuine
article and whilst they may appear
credible in isolation they appear in a
Smart dealers totally new light when viewed in this
context.
and collectors
4. Nobody in this business is
meet in the infallible irrespective of longevity,
reputation or past history. When the
authenticity of a particular piece is in
dispute it isn't metallurgical or
ProfessioruJ computer analysis that decides the fate
of the coin - it is usually the combined
people who still appear to have an axe
to grind are people who are holding
large stocks of the pieces and cannot sell
them.
5. TIlE CRUNCH. Every hoard
that is found is finite. There may be
twenty coins in the hoard or there may
be twenty thousand but there is a rmite
number. This hoard seems to be
limitless depending on the number
required by the market. If you speak to
the right people you can place an order
for as many as you wish with the price
reducing depending on quantity. If you
want ten thousand you can have them
BUT it may take a few weeks. For this
sort of amount the people involved
would normally deliver genuine coins
yesterday but... ..
The controversy concerning this
hoard is dead and buried in Europe which
is more than these coins have ever been:
only in the United States is there still
dispute. I hope that the above will help
lay to rest once and for all a distasteful
episode in an otherwise wonderful
hobby.
John Cummings
John Cummings Ltd.
w,w"n
•••••
Thank you very much for my copy
of ~ The Best of The Celator 1989 it is
stupendous. I not only read it from
ft
,

NUMISMATICA
fJhreclorg opinions of a group of dealers and
museum experts whose opinions are
highly respected because they have
cover to cover, I have read most of it
twice, and some for the third time. I
can hardly wait for next year's issue, but
ARS CLASSICA AG generally been proved to be right before. I don't know how you are going to top
In this particular case the falseness of this one.
ANTIQUE COINS the coins has been totally accepted by
AND MEDALS every major authority in Europe Robert R . KuJcher
GREEK including the British Museum, Bank N. brru/w
ROMAN ORACLE Leu, Spinks not to mention non-
authorities like myself. The only
BYZANTINE
MEDIEVAL
ANCIENT COINS •••••
Attn.dJve Andent GredI:
AUCfIONS • PRICE LISTS And Roman Coins
For The Collector
SENT ON REQUEST
VALUATIONS Affordable Prices - Free Lists
NUMlSMATICA ARS CLASSICA AG Conservative Grading
_d<:w _ _ 43 8001 zOJuc:H, SW1I7lllU.AND 539 - 62 St. Rates:
Tot....... 0) 261 17 03 Po:< 01 161 S3 14 Brooklyn, NY 11220 $5.00 for the first 20 words, 20¢ each additional word.

Coins of Roman Britain, British Fa m ous auction cata l ogs:

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specializing in ancient coins and antiquities:
• • • • • • • • • • Clip&MaU
: Please include me as a subscriber tp The Celator:
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Conder tokens, Canadian Colonial
tokens. Free lists. S. Cordova. Box
2096. Citrus Heights, CA 95611.
Ancient Greek, Roman, Judaean and
Byzantine coins. Very reasonably
priced. Send want list to B. Levin, One
Independence Place, Suite 1908,
Philadelphia, PA 19106.
Computer fili ng (IBM): List. Sort,
Print out your collection. Easy,
powerful, Shareware. $10 postpaid.
Bob's, 100 Overlook, Willow Grove.
PA 19090.
T h e other ancients: A fr ic a,
Mideast, India, Southeast Asia, the
Orient. Primitive Monies. Books, too.
Free lis t. Semans, Box 22849P,
Seattle, WA 98122.
•••••••••
Greek, Roman, Medieval coins.
State:_Zip:
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:
•
Griechische MUnzen Sammlung
Kunstfreund (1974) 369 plates, mint,
prices realized, $99. Ars
Classica/NaviIle IV: Greek Coin
Collection, Grand Duke Michailovitch
& Sir Arthur Evans (1922), 36 plates,
scarce, very good, $1 10. No V: Greek
British Museum D uplicates, (1923), 8S
plates, rare, V.G., $135. Ali postpaid.
Specialist in Continental European
publications. Ask for my rockbottom
prices for R.l.C . . Want lists of books
and coins welcome. Stoffel Vogeiaar,
Mulrany, Westport, Mayo. Ireland.
Ancient Gr eek a nd Roman bronze
coins mainly from Asia Minor with full
description (ace. BMC. Aulock. Kop.,
Lindgren. Hunter, etc.) sold by private
collector at favourable prices. Gerhard
Rohde, c/o. Bayer AG, FB·MlAllg.,
S090 Leverkusen, West Germany.

•
Monthly catalogs with very reasonable
• prices and discounts issued for 23 years.
Francis J. Rath. Box 266. Youngstown,
NY 14174.
Roman coins: Italian collector sells
very fine duplicates accumulated over
~donating
s
YOU MAY OBTAIN
LARGE TAX REF.... OS
your dJplical8 coins and
ps to hel~dcapped children. For
free useful In ticn and the new 1985
!\lias (wrinen by a tax-attomey) write:
TIiE NUMtsMAl1C INSTITUTE
P:o.Box 7476Ch~~~IL 60680
: Enclose $24.00 for 12 issues (u.s. and Canada; $48 All other addresses.) : the last 25 years - will consider trade
• Mail To: The Celator, P.O. Box 123. Lodi. WI 53555 • proposals - s till actively buying

I
Romans - write to: Giorgio, P.O. Box Fob. 90 - TrivIa An.-:
••••••••••••••••••••••••• 704, Road Town, British Virgin Islands, ··Meleage(·
I
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\\,;;=.........;;;;;;;;;;;;.......;;;o..,.....;;;o;;;;;;.......;;;o""'.......... . . .... . Indies.
West -.ft .
The Celator MarCh 1990 Paid Adveftilement
Dear Celator Reader:
After 3 California shows on three consecutive weekends, I think I can
finally sit down, look at the near-~ mountains, and catch my breath . To
say that it has been hectic is definitely an understatement. I really can't
remember a time when it has beerfso consistently busy and also that the
attention seems so focused on choice ancients.
I have finally gotten around to doing my preliminary paperwork in
anticipation of having to seHle with Uncle Sam and have come up with
some interesting figures which I think are worth sharing with you. My
gross revenues for 1989 were up 45% over 1988 and this without
issuing any pricelists. nor having any auctions, nor havi ng a major
collection consigned to us, and in fact having eliminated a couple of
shows which seemed not realty worthwhile. Obviously I am quite proud of
this accomplishment, but aside from the dollars and cents part of it, what
does it show?
I interpret these figures to show a great increase in the number of
buyers of ancient coins. that the focus is on more expensive ancient
coins, and that the price of ancient coins has increased during the past
year.
For those of you who actually don't know me , or who haven't seen me,
you have to understand how we do business. We d epend on shows to a
great extent and Qo about 20 major coin shows a year. At these shows
we usually have the largest display of ancients 01 any of the dealers in
attendance with a minimum of 4 cases chock full of ancient coins and if
space permits, we sometimes have up to 6 cases, For a person attending
a coin show for the first time the effect is usually staggering. They see
our display , usually with an entire case filled with ancient gold, then they
walk around and see what else is at the show, then end up back at our
display, scratching their heads, and usually asking, "where did you get so
many choice ancient coins .. ?". Well we in fact have long figured out the
psychological effect of having so many choice ancients, and of course
buy coins with this in mind. h is a little hard to get someone to decide they
should pay attention to what you have, since there are usually quite a
number of ancient dealers from whom they can choose, if what you
display are VF'ish antoninianii and F-VF sestertii. I begin to wonder at
times why this equation is so hard for others to figure out, but that's what
makes the world go round I guess.
Anyway, once a prospective buyer decides to stop, it is a very rare
occasion when we can't fumish them with something that they desire. In
fact, after looking at our coins, they often find they desire something that
they had no tdea they desired, until they saw it in the flesh.
It was with some amusement that I recently read an article that indicated
that a collector should ~ buy coins from a price-list, The article was
naive in my mind, since when you think about it, the majority of the largest
ancient coin dealers world-wide , rarely If ever issue a price-list. It
seems in the U.S., the mark of actually deciding to become an ancient
coin dealer, is. for individuals to issue a price-list. This apparently
legitimizes them in the minds of many of being an actual dealer. Of
course, during the gold & silver boom of the late 1970's I distinctly
remember beauty salons and in one case a bowling alley having a large
sign out front stating, "We buy gold & silver", That is one of the
wonderful things about America. In many cases one can become
whatever one wants just by stating, "Je declare.. ".
In real terms though, the reason why we don't issue a price list and so
many of the other large firms do not issue a price-list is that the nicest
coins would never make it onto the list. Yes, you could list them,
I as a few dealers have done during the past year, with the fore--knowledge
that they are already long sold, -and ·by listing them, you could then get
the names of additional well-heeled buyers who you might not know of, in
case you find a similar coin in the future . But 1 think the ethics of that
would lead to some side-long glances and in fact is why The Ce/ator has a
policy 01 not accepting ads for coins which are already sold. Let's be
logical about price-lists for a moment, If you have a really great coin, no
maHer what it is, and you know that you have 4-5 aaive buyers who 'NOuld
love to own the coin, why would you simply not sell it? To list it, you have
to photograph it, set the type, send it out to be printed, mail out the list ,
then wait for a response, then ship the coin, then wait to see if the client
accepts it . One does not have to have a M.BA from Wharton to see that
the business sense of this does not make much business sense .
The other fact about price-lists is what we tell our clients. Never buy
an anCient coin until you have held it in your hand . That does
not mean you should not order a coin off a list. What it means is that the
art of photography has developed to a point where a pig's ear can indeed
be made to look like a silk purse if you use the right lighting and lenses.
Go ahead and order the coin but take a good look at it before you
decide to make the final decision to purchase. A case in point, At the
recent Long Beach Show, an English dealer offered me a beautiful
dupondius of Trajan with a rare re verse. The coin looked EF and had a
super green patina, He told me the coin was found but 3 weeks ago in
Lincolnshire. The problem was that in the intervening 3 weeks someone
had taken a sharp tiny knife and decided to clean the fields on both sides
of the coin. At first glance it was super, but under 5X magnification you
could see dozens of horrible gashes into the patina of the fields . A
•
magnificent coin for a price-list or auction, but not up to the standards we
demand for coins that go into our display cases, and so we turned it
down, I am sure the coin will sell and perhaps tum up on a price list.
"Nough said, .
Now having said all this, we in fact have decided to start putting out a
large monthly price-list , in the near future. Why? You mi~ht
justlflabty ask. The fact is that for over 13 years we have been buYI,ng
deals, collections, parts of hoards, remnants of estates, etc. all of whICh
have bum up and which we simply can't schlep around to coin shows nor
take the time to sell. But many of them are great collector coins.
And in fact, we know that many of our most ardent readers are collectors,
they do not buy for investment, and in fact read our column to get self-
satisfaction of how happy they are to be serious collectors, as they see
the people who are buying ancient with some mind to future monetary
gain, to be well down the road to Damnation. The Pl?int is: we have no
problem in dealing with you folks, although the dealing will actually be
done by others than myself. So stay tuned , and please do not write
to us at this time asking to be put on a mailing list for prlce-
lists. It will happen, but not right at the moment. So be patient, and we
will let you know through the pages of The Celator, exactly when.
By the time this comes out. most of you will know. about the proposed
acquisition of the controlling share of stock of Supenor Stamp & COlO Co.
by Bruce McNall , the owner of Numismati? Fine Arts. I off~r my hardiest
congratulations to both parties and see t,hlS merger as ~n I~portant step
in further informing the buying public of the availability and the
Significance of coins as a medium for both collecting and .investing. I
anticipate that this will yet put more pressure on the decreaSing supply of
choice ancient coins, thus causing continued price increases.
FOR THE MONTH OF MARCH WE WILL BE
IN OUR CALIFORNIA OFFICE
-
UpCOMING SHOW SCHEDULE:
Mid-Winter ANA - San Diego, March 2-4th. For the first time, the
Mid·Winter ANA has been held someplace sensible. This is a 2 112 day
show as on Fri. & Sat. the show hours 10-7 and on Sun, 9-1 . (I don't plan
them, I just do them.) The show is being held at The Town & Country
Hotet in San Diego (California) anell imagine it is easy to finct. This will be
a very major show and we urge you to attend. We will have table 129.
Boston - sorry we CAN'T BE at the Bay State show as we will be at the
Chicago International. We do hope to schedule something for Boston
area clientele so stay tuned for a further announcement.
Chicago International - March 15-17th. The show will be at The
Hyatt Regency in downtown Chicago on Wacker Drive. Please note that
this is a Thurs., FrI., & Sat. show as Sunday is again SI. Patrick's Day
and you really don't want to be in downtown Chicago on St. Paddy's Day
(they dye the river green par example). The show hours are 10-7, 10-6, &
10-5 respectively for each day. We will be at table 43. This is a very
important show with many of the major European dealers in attendance
and we urge you to aHend. This year the show will have actual table
lighting,
WANT LISTS - Those of you who have taken advantage of our offer to
aid you in your search for ancient coins have developed a nice
relationship with us and in turn have had coins which you have been
looking for made available , You also know that in the future, if something
for which you have been hunting comes up, we will call you and send the
coin for inspection. You have also just read my thoughts why your waiting
for such an item to show up on a price list is fruitless at best. If you do not
avail yourself of our services, that is your choice, but we do extend to you
our professional capabilities. Hope to hear from you.
Rare Coins & Classical Arts Ltd.
"Specialists in Museum Quality Coins"
Member: ANA , ANS, SAN, AINA , INS, Fellow RNS
P.O. Box 374 P.O. Box 699
South Orange, NJ 07079 Palm Desert, CA 92261
Phone: (201) 761"()634 Phone: (619) 345-7161
XXXVI The Celator March 1990

Harlan J. Berk, Ltd.

At Your Newstand
Closing Date March 20
615t Buy or Bid Sale
881 Items Offered Including
Ancient Coins, Foreign Coins, Antiquities
and Autographs

Visit our
loop location during
the week and 1st saturday of each month

Harlan J. Berk, Ltd

PNG 178 31 North Clark Street, Chicago, Illinois .60602
ANA-LM 762 (312)609-0017 FAX (312) 609-1309