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Roman marble ieat)ing panther, body SllPlxmed by cree mmk Egyp tian large faience hones,l·headed Bastet, feel on caPlivcs. Back lSI Century AD. From Ariccia, 11(1)' Height 23" (58.5 em.) /Jillar inKribed. Ca. XXls(·XXVch D)nasc)' (ca . 1080-715 B.C.) Ex Cd/eellon of Cardinal Despuig de Som~ee (18th CcnwT)') Height 9 112" (14.1 em.)
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Vol. 5, NO.3 I FEATURES March 1991
6 Treasures of the Arras hoard raise questions about the use of multiple aurei in ancient Rome by MaNin Tameanko Publisher/Edilor 14 Research leads to reinterpretation Wayne G. Sayles of "turrets" on Roman bronze Page 6 campgate reverses Office Manager Arras hoard by Victor Failmezger Janet Sayles by Marvin T ameanko 24 Common coins portray deeds of Associate Editor uncommon men and provide links Steven Sayles with great movements in history Distribution Asst. by Robert rye Christine Olson 31 Microletter proponent Art responds to criticism Parnell Nelson by Jerry Vardaman
The Celater is an independent journal Page 14 published on the first day Turrets or beacons? of each month at 226 DEPARTMENTS Palmer Parkway, LOOi, by Victor Failmezger WI. II is circulated internationally through 2 The Celator's Point of View subscriptions and special distributions. Subscrip 4 Letters to the Editor tion rates are $24 per year (second class) 12 Antiquities by David Liebert within the United States and Canada, 18 Book News $48 per year to aU other 20 People in the News addresses (Air Printed Matter). 21 Art and the Market Advertising and copy deadline is the second Page 24 Coming Events 22 Friday of each month . Common coins: Unsolicited articles and uncommon men 26 Just for Beginners news releases are by Robert T ye 27 Coin File - Quotes - Trivia - Humor welcome, however About the cover: publication cannot be Gold medallion of Oioolelian, 28 Coins of the Bible by David Hendin guaranteed. Second Maximian, Constantiu$ and class postage, permit Reference Reviews by Dennis Kroh Galerius (10 au rei) found al 34 pending, l ocli, WI 53555. Copyright ©1991, Beaurains France in 1922. Part 37 Professional Directory of the "Arras" hoard discussed Clio's Cabinet. by Marvin Tameanko this issue. 44 Index of Advertisers - Classifieds Photo courtesy al the American 608-592-4684 Numismatic Society Museum, New York.
Deadline for the April issue is Friday, March 8 with very little margin. When buying, the prudent (and successful) dealer will CJI'u. Cdato, i, !lamed fa. and dEdicated to tl'u. coin die-E.nfj'tauE.'t1. of anti'luitfj who~e;. Q'tt 'tE.mainJ. ai powE'fu[ and apPEQfr.n9 today ai in tl'u.i. time. 2 The Gelator Sicily, PanOrl1lUS, T<.' tud r ~ch ll1 Sold NOYr"lIlbcr 30,1990. SJ9,600. Fi nc Grcck and Roman Coins will bc includcd in our sale of Ancient, Foreign & United States Coins to be held in New York Ci ty, June 5th and 6th, 1991. We are now accepting consignments of Fine Ancient Material for our sale through Aprillst. For catalogues, consignment details or general information about Christie's contact James Lamb, Christinc Dcussc n or Glenna Sainsbury at 2 1 2/546~1056 , or write Christie's Coin Department, 502 Park Avenue, New Yo rk, New York 10022. ~ ~ CHRISTIE'S March 1991 3 or all of the following can be caused by ice I am preparing a paper for the Xlth crystals. -Parhelia-(alsoknown as -mock International Numismatic Congress in su nsWo r "sun-dogs") can appear. These Brussels, Sept. 8-12, 1991 , on the sub are colored spots appearing twenty-two ject of "Cut Bronze Coins of Syria and degrees on either side of the sun. The Palestine, Ist-2ndCenluriesC.E.R While sun-dogs lieon the Mparheliccircle"which this will be based larg ely on!wo groups of is sometimes visible and can extend these I purchased some time ago, I am horizontally all around th e sky at the sun's assembling a corpus of all known issues altitude. Pillars or even cro sses going and would like the help of your readers, through the sun can also appear. as very finle is published on them. The Constantine's vision might've been fullest account seems to be Meshorer's due to some combination of the above. listing and remarks in Masada I: ThBCoins Dear Editor: The problem is that what is depicted on of Masada, p. 128 and Plale 80. Cut the coin in question bears litlle resem bronze coins of th e Bar Kokhba War are One of my New Year's resolutions blance to what is caused by ice crystals. also mentioned in Jewish Goins of the was to finally get out the congratulatory A drawing of the suite of known phe Second Temple Period, Plale XXI and letter to The Gelator that j've been nomena caused by sunlight passing p. 160, and Mildenberg, Plate N, 0 and meaning to write. I would like to join the through ice crystals in the upper atmo p.118. chorus of people who have told you what sphere is reproduced in the article, "A Most of my pieces are Antioch bronzes a great job you are doing. The Gela/oris Fie ld Guide to Atmospheric Optics", from Augustus th rough Trajan of th e better than J ever expected such a pub written by Fred Schaaf, published in the general type listed by Meshorer, though licalion would be. Your achievement is March, 1989 issue of Sky & Telescope many are in poor condition and barely ali lhe more remarkable atler laking inlo magazine. Some combination of Ihese recognizable as Antioch coins. I also account Ihe four or five failed efforts to phenomena could form a pillar or cro ss have an As of Augustus from Ephesus create an ancient coin magazine in the shaped pattern. If a pillar and the two (A.I.C. 1,486) and another from Rome twenty years prior to your first issue. sun-dogs were present, the mind might itself. There are several Seleucid coins, Furthermore, your publication has shown reinforce or complete the parhelic circle some other Greek or city coins, !wo or sleady improvement over the !wo years to form a cross. more from Phoenicia, and at least nine or so thai I have been a subscriber. I The accounts of Constantine's sight Jewish prutot from Herod Agrippa, 4213 really like the new format. ing say that it occurred shortly after the C.E., through year 3 of the 1st Aevolt, Your January, 199 1 issue is no ex sun passed the meridian. This places it in 68/9C.E. (There are some almost illegible ception to the above. It was nice to have the early (?) afternoon. Unfortunately, coins of prutah or lepton size wh ich might a coin on the cover. After all, you are a the pillars occur when the sun is at a low be later Arab coins, as there was an numismatic publication. I found David altitude. These pillars are caused by the Abbasid coin in this group also.) Most of Miller's article on Constantine's vision to reflection of the sun's rays from flat ice the se came from Syria and Lebanon. II is be very interesting. crystals, in much the same way th e set unclear to me wh ether there is a connec I would like to comment on his ex ting sun reflects oN of a body of water. tion between these cut pieces and the planation of Constantine's vision. He None of the above explains the command Jewish-Roman wars, or whether this is a stated that the cross in Ihe sky was formed 10 Rconquer in IhisR. Someaccounts have practice that started in the provinces in by the sun's lighl deflecting oH ice crys Constantine hearing it, others seeing it. Seleucid times and simply continued un tals in the atmosphere or dust raised by Also, if this coin does refer to th e vision, til the debasement of Roman money in the army . what of th e presence of the sun-gad? As the 3rd century. Rule out dust particles, as they would Christ is depicted in some catacomb I am also interested in reports of exca only cause concentric rings (halos) to paintings in Ihe form of Helios, could this vations in the Middle East which mention appear around the sun, a sort of target be the first depiction of Christ on a coin? cut pieces. paltern with the sun as th e bulls-eye. The All told, despite Mr. Miller's article, I 1 have been requested 10 provide a reason fo r this is that they are of irregular think th at this coin pattern is still a mys definitive title and resume by Aprill. Any shape and would be randomly distributed tery. The pattern on th is coin doesn't help The Gelalor's readers can give me ill a dusl cloud. seem to match any atmospheric phe on this project will be much appreciated On the other hand, ice crystals in the nomena that I am aware of. On the other and properly credited! upper atmosphere are possible candi hand, it certainly doesn't seem to be a dates for causing this phenomenon . camp plan! Robert D. Leonard, Jr. Usually, ice crystals in the upper atmo An alternative explanation of the vision 1065 Spruce Sf. sphere are also randomly arranged, might involve the sun's gl inting oN of the Winnetka, IL 60093 producing halosaboullhesun. However, snow on a mountain-top or refracting on rare occasions, the crystals can be through a crevice (or ice-covered forest?) partially aligned due 10 atmospheric in a mountain. These phenomena would Kudos to Oennis Kroh for his Refer conditions. Atsuch times, Ihey cancause only last a few minutes, the ice crysta l ence Reviews, and to you for publishing complex partial halos and other phe phenomena could've lasted an hour. them! nomena. This is because they can take Another thing to Ihink about is that staring on a variely of clear, prism-like shapes at the sun, even for a short lime, might Verland P. Nelson and even pyramidal shapes 10 refract or produce all sorts of strange "visionsM. Missouri reflect the sun's light. The halos are Ralph DeMarco causedbydiffraction, which is somewhat New Jersey different. Besides whole or partial halos, some Please turn to page 33 4 The Gelator Numismatic aFine Arts THE VERY BEST IN ANCIENT COINS WE ARE Now ACCEPTING CoNSIGNMENTS FOR OUR 1991 AUCTIONS QUALTIY SINGLE COINS AND COLLECTIONS • UNSURPASSED RESULTS FOR COINS SOLD IN AUCTIONS • COMPLETE ACCESS TO THE I NTERNATIONAL MARKET • SUPERLATIVE !'j'IOTOGRAPHY AND EXPERT RESEARCH Numismatic Fine Arts IN 1 EA NA T I ONA l INC 10100 SA.NTA MOl'.'1c..... BOUUi VARD, 6TH Fl.ooR Los A"GELES, CA 90067 TELEPHONE: (213) 278-1535 FA'" (213) 785-0457 March 1991 5 Treasures of the Arras hoard raise questions about the use of multiple aurei in ancient Rome by MaTyin Tameanko In July, 1982, ancient coin collectors and dealers were aS lou nded and del ighted by an auction sale held by Sotheby Parke Bernet in Zu rich, Switzerland. Offered for sale in Ih is event was the fi rst part of the remainderofthefamous Virgil Brand Collection. This legendary, enonnous collection was thought to have been en tire lydispersed afler Virgil Brand'sdeath in 1929. It had contained 368,000 items including 1,200 fabulous Roman gold coins. some of the highest rarity. After his death, the Virgil Brand Collection was offered to the Smithsonian Institu tion by his brothers who were the heirs to the estate but Congrc.,,-'i wau Id nOI approve The famous ten aure;. London medallion of Constanfius I, the purchase. The asking price was a struck aft(iJr A.D. 296, found in Ihe/egondary Arras hoard ~ -="'~ _ ... "' ~ ...... -- .- mere five million dollars but still a sig nific ant sum in those days of the great almost as if they are too magnificent to mismatic event of modern timcs. But depression. Reluctantly. his brothers be shared with the public and of course, recently the story has been diminished sold off this eltceptional collection in a there is always the fear of theft. In fact, and demoted to a simple incident oftheft mu ltitude of famous auction sales. several of these famous coins have been involving a part of a great coin hoard. One of Virgil Brand's brothers. stolen from important. national museums. The original reports were written by however, held back and retained about The large. gold coins called "multiple several renowned nu mismatists. J. 2Q,(X){) coins including a rare, Roman aurei" are categorized by eltper1s as coinsl Babelon and A. Duquenoy wrote the first five aurei piece of Galerius as Caesar medallions and they are considered to be account in the French numismatic peri· under Diocletian, A.D. 293-305 ano a numismatic curiosities. Scholars are still odical, "Arethuse", January, 1924. This legionary aureus of Mark Antony. This asking: Were they medals orcirculating was followed with reports by Agnes unknown remnant of the collection was coins? Why were they struck? And who Baldwin in "Numismatic Notes and held by another two generations of the were they presented to? The Virgil Brand Monographs", 1926 and by Sir Arthur Brand family and finally came onto the five aurei piece of Galerius and the dis Evans in the "Numismatic Chronicle", market in the Sotheby'sauction in 1982. covery of the Arras hoard can be used to 1930. Using the second and third hand, Numismatists knew that Virgi l Brand, par1iall y answer some of these questions. hearsay information available, they all at one time or another. owned two mul A coin described as being from the told the story in the same fa shion. La· tiple aurei but no one knew about this legendary Arras hoard immediately calls borers, working at a brickfiel d in the rare five aurci piece of Galerius which to mind the amazing slory behind this village of Beaurains near the city of was the featured coin in the SOlheby's numismatic discovery made in 1922 near Arras in the Pas de Calais area of northern sale. II is described in the catalog as one Arras. France. This find was originally France, dug up a ceramic pot and a silver of two such medall ions from the Arras repor1ed as a story of ancient treasure vessel which contained about 400 aurei, hoard found in 1922. Such multiple with mysterious and romanlic u nder10nes 110 denarii, some silver plate, jewelry aurei of the Roman empi re areextremely typical oftllc sensationalism in the news· and a silver candlestick. Many of the rare and are usually hidden away in papers of those days. But the find is still gold coins were rare, large multipleaurei. anonymous, private collections. It is considered to be the most important nu· The workers immediately divided up the treasure among themselves and then crossed the nearby border where some of them sold thei r shares to a Belgian an· tiquitiesdealer in thecityofGhent. This WHOLESALE TO ALL! dealer consulted a local museum curator 100 ancient coins in flips and att ri buted. A diverse 101 who could not believe that the medallions were genuine because they were so large, including Nero, Caesar Augustus, Alexander th e Great, in such marvellous states of preservation Biblical "Widow's Mite", etc. Only $475.00 postpaid, with and of such beautiful designs. Thedealer, satisfacti on guaranteed! convinced by the curator that the coins were modem fo rgeries, melted down the medallions and a large number of the London Coin (ja{{eries aureJ. Mission Viejo Mall, Mi ssion Viejo, CA 92691 A later embellishment to the story revealed that the dealer placed the coins 1-5 at Crown Valley (714) 364-0990 on the tracks under a train to flatten them out before he melted them down. Twoof 6 The Gela/or these medallions were reputed to be gi action and attempted to recover the sto Bourgey. Bourgey was also a scholar g,tntic 100 aurei pieces, each weighing len coins. As no proper inventory had and he published descriptions and pho more than a pound. 11le laborers who been made of the treasure, many of the tographs of these medallions and coins. found them descri bed them as being as coins remained at large. The laborers The share given to the city of Arras is large as sauce rs. The melt down of such and dealer, to conceal their pos~ss ion located in the Municipal Museum. The exceptional and ra re coins wasconsidered and subsequent sale of these stolen coins, rest of the coins, jewelry and medallions to be one of the greatest tragedies in concocted the story lIbout the melt down. are now spread out over Ihe world. many numismatic history. 'nlen, as one lie begets another, they in private collections which are not TIle original reports also disclosed made up the stories concerning the very documented or publicized. Some are in that several of these large gold medal Iions large, 100 aurei medallions in the hOilrd. the British Museum, London, from the were SllVed through a lucky quirk offate. No one knows how many gold coins Sir Arthur Evans Collection and in the One of the laborers. who had not .~old his were not recovered but they did show up American Numismatic Society Mu~um, share, suffered from intense fe elings of from time to time and were recognized New York, from the Newell Collection. guilt. In the confessional box, he related by a gray surface mottle caused by the According to Bastien, the original the story of the discovery to his priest and aluminum compounds in the clay from find probably consisted of about 100 this worthy clergyman told him to return the field. Many of the coins sold by the aurei and I OOdenarii of the earlyempire, the treasure to the ownerof the brickfie Id. workers in Belgium were laterpurchased and about 400 aurei and solidi. 10 silver This highly dramatic story is frequently by Charles Dupriez, a numismati st from argentei, 60 sil ver quinarii and 30 to 35 recounted by numismatic writers and Brussels. These eventually reached En multiple aurei/medallions of the late journalists, even today, but it may be gland. Holland, FTlInce, Italy Hnd the empire. He doubts that any 100 aurei more fiction than fact. United States. At that time, there was no pieces were ever contained in the hoard Among {he coins in the hoard was the intern lltional law to protect lllltiquities and he dismisses this rumor as totally falnou ~ London mcd;lllion ofCom:tantius and many of the coins were legitimately unreliable. The hoard also included go\d I (Chlorus) A.D. 305-306. As the Caesar sold by reputable coin dealers and ob jewelry, acameo. a necklace made upof to the co-emperor, Maximianus in A.D. tained by famous collectors and institu eight gold aurei and an elaborate silver 2%, he reconquered England from the tions. candlestick bent in three to fit into the rebel emperor Al lcctus and thi s ten ilurei The treasure it ems remaining in the pot. This candlestick has been restored medallion portrays a spectacular scene bucket lind the coins recovered by the and is now in the Brit ish Museum. The of Constantius on horseback and his authorities were di vided up in 1927 be silver container was badly ox idized and soldiers sailing up the Thames in a ship tween the city of Arras and the owner of has disappeared. to relieve London. Also shown are a the brickficld. The owner immediately Virgil Brand. the Chicago brewery wa lled c it y and a fe male personific:nion sold his port ion to a Paris numi smati st. E. tycoon, was a legendary, knowledgeable. of London who is imploring or welcoming the Caesar. So that no mi stake could be mude as to the identity of the city, the abbreviation LON appears below the fe mal e figure. The reverse legend is Miinzen und Medaillen AG REDDITOR LVCIS AETERNAE, po 45 eti clilly translated as Restorer of the For years we have been serving Eternal Light. The London medallion is col/ectors of Ancient Coins ... now located in the Municipal Museum in Arms and is considercd to be u national and we would like to serve you too! treasure of France and a major histo ri cal rnonumenf of Romlln Britain. A more thorough and accurate report on the Arras hO:l rd, tempered by the perspective of time. does aWilY with all the human drama and tells the story with more authentic detail. This report is given in the book, L e Tresoir de • Monthly Illustrated Fixed Price Lists· Beallrains(dif d' A,TOS ), by Pierre B:lstien • Public Sales· Appraisals · ,md Ciltherine Metzger. publishcd in • Large Stock in All Price Ranges· 1977 . Bastien is the recognized author it y and cataloger of the Arras hoard. As • Huying and Se lling . he tel ls it,the find was made in September, 1922. by Belgian day· labore rs. digging Please send us your want list. We wjIJfill it! clay in a brick fi e ld in the French village of Beaurains. The treasure was found in Please contact: a large, disintcgrati ng, silver vessel contained inside a larger ceT:lm ic pot. Miinzen und Medaillen AG The fi nd was immediately"sequestercd" or put away for safekeeping in a bucket. P.O. Box 3647 • Malzgasse 2S lbat night the laborers, fearing they CH • 4002, Basel, Switzerland would not get a share in the treasu re, re turncd and stole a part of the hoard. Tel. (061) 23 7S 44 TIle iwthorit ies immediiltely took legal March 1991 7 for $132,000 in the Sotheby's auction sale to a Belgian dealer acting for an anonymous collector. Numismatists and collecton> wiU probably not see this rare coin again for many years. The history of multiple au rei in the Roman empire is a subject that requires more detailed research. As a rough out line. multiple aurei appear firs t in the reign of Augustus, 27 s.c. - A.D. 14. Only two examples are known from this period and one may be false. The un questionable one is a unique, four aurei coin, RIC 204, dated to A.D. 2. It is one The rare Virgil Brand five aurei coin/medallion 01 Galerius, of those numismatic puzzles which make from the Arras hoard, purchased in 1923 the study of Roman coinage so fascinat ing. Based on the style, it is known to -- have been stru ck at the mint of Lugdunum and pa s.~iona te coin collector. As soon as that it was then located in an unknown. in Gaul. The reverse shows the goddess they were known, he purchased some of private collecti on. Number 225 wh ich Diana, wearinga "polos", a typeofhead the Arras coins and medallions from appears to be almost identical to 224, is dress, holding a bow and reaching over various European sources. Agnes ill ustrated by a pencil rubbing made by her shoulder for an arrow. The legend is Baldwin reported in the Numismalic Charles Dupriez before he sold it in 1923. IMP XV, with SICIL below. This coin Chronicle. 1933, that Brand possessed a Bastien did not know to whom it was O1lLy celebrate the reconquest of Sicily ten aurei medallion ofMaximianu .~, A.D. sold or where it was located in 1977. The from Sextus Pompey by Agrippa in 36 286-3 10. described as having a reverse shape of the nan and the position of the B.c. Tn mythology, Diana was the god of Hercules standing and the legend, strike related to the coin edges when dess directly associated with the island HER CVU CONSERVATOR I AVGG compared to the photograph in the of Sicily. As the coin was struck 30 years ET CAESS NN. It W;IS struck in Trier Sotheby's catalog confirms that this was after the event, E. A. Sydenha01, in his (Treveri), Germany. and shows the mint the Virgil Brand piece. Mr. Brand was, book Historical References on Coins of mark, PTR. He also had a five aurei without adoubt, the original purchaser in the Roman Empire, concludes that it was medallionofMaximianus, with 11 reverse 1923. He probably kept this acquisition struck to commemorate an anniversary of Hercules standing but also holdil.f, a secret because legal ownership of the of the death of Agrippa, in 12 s.c., by bow and with the same legend as the ten coin was still questionable at Ihat lime. refering to his great victory in Sicily. aurei piece. It wa'i also struck at Treveri. These fi ve aurei coins of Galerius as There are aurei. RIC 196, and denarii, No existing document reports that Virgil Caesar to Dioclelian,A.D. 293-305 weigh RIC 197, with similar reverse de sig n .~ Brand also owned the five aurei piece of 26.28 grams and show Mars advancing but with IMP XII in the legend. Galerius and numismatists were 4uite right carrying a spear with a trophy over This uni4ue and outstanding coin was surprised when it lIppeared in the his shoulder. The reverse legend is found in the excavations of Pompeii in SOlheby's 'Iuction sal e. MART! VICTOR!, Mars the Victorious. 1759. The actual find spot is uncenain In his book, P. Bastien illustrates the TIle Trier mint mark, TR appears below. and the coin is documented as "from an two, simi lar Galerius medallions as There are no references for these two unknown location" in records written numbers 224 and 225. He records that coins in the major catalogs such as Ro year.; later. This is not unusual as the his illustrat ionof 224 was an electrotype man Imperial Coinage (RIC) or the excavation of Pompeii in those days was from the coin dealer.;, Spink and Son, in BrifishMllsellmCaralogs(BMC). Brand more of a treasure hunt by aristocratic London and that it was originally in the is reported to have paid $4,200 for his families than a scientific search by ar W. C. Peck Collection. Bastien states specimen, a princely sum in 1923. It sold chaeologists. Records were not kept and many finds cannot beaccounled for. This unique coin was kepI in the Musco Nazionalc at Naples for many years. It was stolen in 1977 and undoubtedly will never be seen again. After Augustus, multiple aurei are not known until the reign of Domitian, A.D. 8 1-96, whostrucksupcrbexamples of these medallions. Trajan and Hadrian issued many of these coins and this con tinued up to the reign of Lucius Verus. A.D. 161-169. Many eXllmples exist from the reigns of Commodus and the Severans who revived the practice of issuing these coin/medallions. The mon The earliest known multiple aurei coin. etary relationship between these large struck under Augustus in A.D. 2. found at Pompeii gold coins :\Od the commonly used llurei is not known...... 8 The Celator Superior Offers The Popular Rhodian Silver Didrachms At Wholesale Prices! Rhodes was at the peak of its power during the period 307-167 B.C., when these coins were minted. It withstood a siege by Demetrios Poliorcetes in 304 s.c. and remained a commercial and military power until 167 B.c., when Rome declared Delos a free port. Rhodes was also the site of one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World; the Colossus of Rhodes. The Colossus was a large bronze statu e of Helios, (said to be over 100 fect talll, built by ChaTes of Lindos. The Colossus stood for over fifty years until it was demolished by an earthquake in 224 B.C. These coins show on their obverse the facing head of Helios and on their reverse a Rose and bud, which is a punning allusion to the name of the city and island. These lovely silver didrachms are superb, boldly struck and grade Lustrous Ex tremely Fine. They typically sell at retail and at auction for $650.00 or more because coins with fac ing heads are among the most desirable of all ancient coins. B.CtJ 8 C. O. E. F. (t (I• G. • H. I. Special - Your Choice: $395.00 each Superior Stamp & Coin Co., Inc. .E7§ 9478 West Olympic Boulevard, Beverl y Hills, California 90212-4299 ~ lawrenco Goldberg Telephone: (213 ( 203-9855 • Thll Free: (8001 421-0754 I,. GoIdb'''Q M. rI< Goldberg Fax: 12131 203-0496 March 1991 9 In the reign of Trebonianu!> Gallu!>. were considered to be the heavy aurei peared under Galerius, as Caesar A.D. 1\.0.251-252. a change wa .~ made in the denomi nation because they showed the 293-305. This remained in use up to the circulating go ld coinage. Gallus intro emperor wearing the radiate crown. This reign of the emperor Constantine I. A.D. duced a heavy au reus. with an obverse continued until the reign of Aurelian, 307-337, when his refonn oftheeoinage showing the emperor wearing a radiate A.D. 270-275. who completely refonned in the west replaced the aureus with the crown. This coin weighed 50 percent the coinage and increased the weight of solidus denomination. The aureus re more than the ordinary aureus. He also the ordinary aureus. Throughout this mained in use in the eastern empire until introduced a lighter gold coin weighing time. the so-ca ll ed heavy aureus re mained the defeat of Licinius in A.D. 324. then about 20 perce nt ie !>s than the aureus. at about I 1/2 times the weight of the the solidus became the standard gold The names and monetary relationship of aureus. coin in the Roman empire. Almost im these coins is uncertain. This change After the refonn of the coinage by mediately, double solidii and other large was carried on umi l the reign of the Diocletian, A.D. 284-305. multiples of multiples appeared as medallions and emperor Valerian I, A.D. 258. when gold the aureus in various denominations be some of these were foun d in the Arras coins of several irregular sizes and gan to appear. A clearly identified and hoard. weights were issued. The heaviest coins accurately weighted double au reus ap- The important question remains: What was the purpose of the fi ve aurei and other multiple gold denominations? Jocelyn Toynbee in the book ROfTUln Medallions explains that a special cat egory of coins called' money-medallions' existed in Roman currency. By we ight. these medallions were multiples of the Bank Leu Ltd Zurich aurei and were frequently struck with the same reverse designs that appeared on Numismatics circulating coins. The majority of these medallions commemorated some mili tary success or an event such as an anni versary related to the emperor's reign. The designs themselves were of the highest art fonn and were technically well engraved and better struck than the ordinary coins. The portraits on the multiple gold coins were rendered in the fines t style and with exquisite detail ap parently by the best artists available. They were in fact major works of art. From these observations, Toynbee con cludes that the coi ns were special presen tat ion pieces which the Romans called "donativa". These were potentially money which could be used as currency but llctually medals, treasured and pre served by the recipients as tokens of Imperial favor and as badges of honor. Most likely, they were given as gifts by the emperor to military leaders, allies and officers as a reward for their perfor mance in campaigns or to assure their continuing loyalty in the future. We can onl y specu late as to who wa~ Every year we have an auction of very important ancient coins the owner of the Arras hoard. After the in spring. discovery, the brickfield was thoroughly We issue occasiona/lists. explored and excavated. Nothing more Our stock ranges from Hemitartemoria to Oekadrachmai, and was found which could identify the hoard. from Quadran/es to Multiple Aureus Medallions. As no rui ns of buildings were discov We actively buy and sell at all price levels. ered, it is assumed that the treasure was impulsively buried in a barren field. The bent candlestick indicates the haste and desperation of the burial. Bastien con Bank Leu cluded that the owner was a military officer of high rank. The hoard con Numismatics tained coins from the reign of Vitellius Bank Leu Ltd up to the reign of Constantine I, a period In Gassen 20 CH-8001 Zurich Switzerland of over 240 years. They were struck at numerous mints all over the Roman Telephone (from the US) 011 41 1 2192406 Telefax 011 4 If 2193306 empire. These range from London in the 10 The Cela/or nonh to Alexandria and Antioch in the years. "is extremely rare to find the SOllie Notes 011 the Arros Hoord, by Sir Anhu r south cast. from Can hage in Africa to names of possible owners in a numis Evans, in NUlllislII(l/ic Chronicle, pages Rome in Italy and to Trevcri in Gennany. mUllc hoard and this marvellous, legend 221-274,1930. The hoard appeared to consist of two ary treasure should slnnd as an everlast The Aurei and Solidi o/the Arras Hoard, by Agnes Baldwin Brell, in Numismatic pans. Theearly empiredenarii and aurei ing memorial to Valerianus and Patern a, Chronicle, pages 268-348, 1933. which form the first pan were well worn whoever they may have been. Roman Medalliolls. by Jocelyn M. C. and separated from the rest of the hoard Toynbee, the American Numismatic So by a century of time. Bast ien suggested ciety ,Numismotic SlIIdies No.5, New York, thai the first pan of thc find was booty Bibliography: 1944. probably taken from conquered Gemlan Ml'dalliOiIS d'O, du Tresor d'Arra.f, by J. U TresorDe 8eauraills (Ditd'Arras), by P. tribes who were known for their prefer Ba~lon and A. Duquenoy, in AretlwH'. Bastien ande. Metzger. Wellem, Belgium, ence to hoard coinage of the early em pages 45 -52, January, \924 . t977. FOllr Medufli()/u/rom lilt Arras Hoar March 1991 11 Antiquities Cats were venerated as symbols of Egyptian deities by David Liebert tory, and people keep met, etc, The large number of mummi Experts tell us that the cat is the most asking the question, fied cats excavated shows the high regard popular pet animal in America today. often creating elabo with which they were held in life and in The cat population far exceeds the dog rate mystical, sym death, as do the numerous representa population. The experts will tell you bolical, and/or cos tions of calS in ancient Egyptian art. several reasons for this. They Sil Y that mological explana They were shown in domestic poses on Ameri cans live in smaller houses and tions to account fo r wal l paintings and reliefs, were venerated ,lp FEATURING: The Joe Houde collection of Greek and Roman gold and silver including aurei of Pertinax, Maximianus, Tacitus, Augustus, Commodus, Septimius Severus, Trajan Decius, Domitian, Gordian III , Lucius Verus, Diocietian, Claudius, Vitellius, Antoninus Pius, Caracalla, Macrianus the Younger and others. Catalog and prices realized $15.00 PONTERIO & ASSOCIATES ~:~ 8D~~~,n~~n9~~~3 e ~i::; ~E:~:;:~ · l.M 2 /63 11308 Richard II. PfHlluiQ 800-854-2888 619-299-0400 Lieensed ar>d bonded auc1ion company. Calif. license #968. March 199, 13 Research leads to reinterpretation of "turrets" on Roman bronze camp gate reverses by Command er have three tu rrets, while most (and there degrees of "celator" skill; or even a Victor Failmc"I.gc r , USN are exceptions) of those issued by the method of coin die or production control To even the novice collector of lHfe Constantinii had only two. Aftcr a series in addition to the sequential variances of Roman bronze coinage the issues of of intrigues against Constant ine, Licinius mint markings.6 Constantine the Great and his sons with I and his son, Licinius II, were put to What has always interested me about a Roman military campgatc reverse death in A .D. 324 and another of this series of coins was that initial de should be familiar. It was finding one of Constantine's sons, Co nstant ius II, was scriptio n in Roman Coins and their thesccoins 20years ago , one rainy March elevatcd to Caesar. These " PROVI Values of a campgate with two turrets. momingnorthofNaples, Italy, thatstaned D ENTI A EO. coins continued to be issued My example looked like a Roman mili- me collecling ancienl coins. tary gate, but what were Urged by a British friend to go those structures described "coin ing" with him in a newly as turrets'? To my eyes, pl owed fi e ld ncar the site of the they looked like a ball on a ancient town, Litemum, now tripod, n ot unlike my called Laso di PatTia, I was im "Weber" barbeque grill. mensely pleased to find my first The answer suggested it Roman coin . J self in John Fox's excellent The coin I found that Illom work Roman Coins and ing (Fig. I) was a small bronze How to Col/ect Th em. In coi n of Constantine II , as Cae his section on thematic col sar (A.D. 317-337) wi th the re lecting he suggests that: verse inscription of " PROV ] DENTIA CAES S" (foresight of "The simple camp-gate the Caesars) . It is described by reverse oflhefollrlh cen David Scar in Ranum Coin.wnd tury might make (J theme their Val/l f?f (1970 edition) as a more suited 10 many "number 3848, an AE-3 with a pockets: thebrickCOllr.\·e campgate surmounted by two vary in number and size: turrets" on the reverse.2 O ver .mmetimes the gales are each IU rret is a dot and between open, sometimes closed: them is an e ight pointed star. the so-cal/ed "Iurrets" The coin was minted in Rome (I SIIspect that they are in in the third works ho p o r factbeaconsJrangef rom "officina" as indicated by the two to four and may even mini mark " R wreath T ·. Later have had some denomi Figure f research revealed that it orig i nation significance in the Reverse of an AE3 of Constantine /I as Caesar showing "turrets" nally had a very thin silver early years of the de· coating or wash on it. sign".7 Fo r the last twenty years. this co in has for the next six years at all fifteen active been part of an ever growing collection Roman mints (i.e. Lo ndinium, T reveri. While I disagree with Fox's comment on o f anc ient coins which subsequently in Lugdunum, A reiate, T ic inum, Roma, the deno mination significance. the idea cluded si mil a r c o ins issue d by Siscia. Sirmium, Thessalonica. Heraclea. that these turrets were in fact beacons Constantine II 's brothers. In pursuit ofa Constantinopolis, Nicomedia, CYZiCllS, was very interesting and I commenced a more specialized collection on the coin Antiochia, and Alexandria).4 search for some ancient ev idence to sup age of one of these brothers. Constant ius A by no means scientific study of the port this theory. II (/\ .0 . 3 17-361), I allempted to fi nd out thirteen examples of this coin type in my A 1984 trip to England and a visit to more about thi s very common Roman collection revealed that although every Hadrian's Wall provided further details coin .md to clear up some questions. example had a star between the two tur about Roman military fortifications and This type of reverse was first minted rets,S only one star is six pointed and all campgates. However, none of the in A.D. 3 17 at Heraclea for coins issued the others are eight pointed. Likewise, campgate remains looked like the oneon in the name of the joint empero rs. all but one example had small dots over the back of my coin. According to a Constantine the Great and Lici nius I) each turret. Three coi ns had additional locall y purc hased guidebook, legionary As might be expected. the emperors were sma ll dots in the doorways o f the cam pgales genera ll y appeared to be styli zedas"PROVIDENTIAEA VGG". campgalc (twO :ll the lOp and one at the double gates, no doubllo allow a grealer U ll er that same year. an er they created bottom) and perhaps most notable, the number o f troops to sortie at one time. three of the iT sons Caesars. Crispus, courses of bri cks v.uied from five to ten Funher, these gates were flanked by two Constantine II . and Lic inius II , coins with the majority (nine) having e ither six doorless lowers; but, an almost perfect we re issued for them with the or seven courses. Although it cannot be match for the campgate depicted on my "PROVIDENTIAE CAESS" legend. said with any degree of certainty, most of coin was a milecastle, The guidebook During this time period, mosl of the these differences can probably be as staled that "milecastles, as their name coins issued by the Licinii appeared to cribed to: local artistic license; varying implies, were a Roman mile -+ 14 The Gelator C. J. Martin (Coins) Ltd of London, England. As major wholesalers of Ancient Coins and Antiquities of the Ancient World we oHer some of the keenest priced coins and artifacts available on the world market , both to dealers and collectors. If you would like to benefit from buying al English prices with old fa shioned English grading, then ask for our regular catalogues by leller, lax or phone. This month we o"er:- FIRST CENTURY OF ROME - SILVER DENARII AUCUSTUS TIBERIUS NERO VITELLI US TITUS DOMIT1AN TRAJAN gd.V. F. gd,V.F. gd.V.F. gd.V.F. nr.E.F nr.E.1'. nr£F. 53SO 5325 S300 5550 5400 S300 5400 • t)evt HUQ. ~ U fJ«t H(U(!. - Utdetde4 t;'U!d, ;t:?~, ~~, &~ ~~e~adrt~t¥~ ~ t6 t4e ?JtedW.ud fteWJd. C.J.Martin (Coins) Ltd 85, The Vale, Southgate, London N14 6AT. England Established 20 years Tel: (0)81 882 1509 Fax: (0)81 886 5235 Te lephone Visa & Moslercords accepted OU R CATALOGUES INCLUDE ANCIENT GREEK BRON ZE, GREEK SILVER, ROMAN SILVER & BRONZE, BYZAN11N E, CEL11C, ANGLO SAXON, NORMAN, HAMMERED MEDIEVAL, ANCIENT ARTEFACTS" HOARDS & SPECIAL OFFERS Pric:es from £5 . £5,000 March 1991 15 (1620 yards) apart ... Massive gateways opened to the south and to the north through the wall".8 This massive gate way was in fact a tower with a large single doorway that led into a small fort (Fig. 2). This fort held perhaps as many WEDNESDAY 27th MARCH 1991 To be held at the Cavendish Hotel LONDON, SWI at 10.30 a.m. * Impo rtant Scottish gold coins, including many rarities * English hammered gold coins from the Hampton Collection, many rarities in early period * Engl ish mi lled gold * Hammered and milled-silver * T he Lubli ncr Collection, the most complete collection of British and Commonwealth gold sovereigns to be offered at auction * A large and interesting collection of European medals * A highly important oval gold medal of Charles , Prince of Wales, 1616, by Simon Passe * Highly important collection of Etruscan coins * A range of fine Greek silver coins * An ex tensive group of Roman coins, particularly strong in the fi rst cemury, and containing three sels of the 12 Caesars, in gold , silve r and bronze Catalogue aI'ai/able, price $10 S · k • R!!! 5,6 & 7 Ki ~~;;~~~ ;' J ::~~~~~~: n:;~~~~~~ Te l: 071·930 7888. Fax: 071 ·839 4853, Telex: 916711. I·nglllh Pai !l ling~ and Waten;o lour, Siller. jewellery and Pape rlleight> · Oriental. Asian nnd Islamic Art TC'i tik,· ~k dals Co ins Bull ion Ban knOIt"'l o 0 March 1991 19 The Celator announces acquisition and impending merger of Roman Coins and Culture Collectors and scholars with a pri In 1989, an agreement was reached About the acquisition and merger, mary inlerest in coinage of the Roman whereby the publication would be com· Sayles commented, "'We are very pleased world will soon find a new literary di piled and edited in Europe and printed in to be able to continue publication of the mension in this field . Wayne Sayles, the U.S. Three issues were forthcoming kind of articles that made RCC so valu publisherol The Celator, has announced under the new agreement, but the diffi able to collectors. The editorial content the acquisition of Roman Coins and culties continued. and philosophies of the two publications Culture and merger of that publication The recent acquisition of rights to RCC are very compatible and should comple into the editorial content of The Gelator. will result in the incorporation of that ment each other effectively.· RCG was born in 1985 under the joint publication's editorial expertise and high editorship of a group of antiquarians liv· quality research into the pages of The ing in Europe and writing for an English Celator. Subscribers to RCCwill have Ihe lAP offers courses speaking audie nce . Produced in maga u nli lied portion of thei r subscription satis· zine format, and profusely illustrated, the fi ed with an equivalent number of issues in archaeology publication quickly earned a reputation of The Gelator. for qualily articles. Allhough very popu· James Meyer, editor of RCe will serve and related fields lar, the publication met with financial dif· as liaison to The Celalor with contribu Since 1989, the Summer Schools ficulty as a result of the deteriorating U. S. tions anticipated from the entire RCC (originally the "Institute of Archaeology doUar and high cost of printing and dis staff. Meyer will inaugurate the merger Summer Schools") have been incorpo tribution in Germany. Production was with a special editorial in a forthcoming rated into a new educational charity, the suspended in 1987. issue. International Academic Projects ltd. (lAP). tAP aims are to promote education and research in conservation, archaeol· ogy, museums and related fields. Each year about 35 Summer Schools - short 'roflies in intensive courses aimed at conservation professionals and others in the world of archaeology and museums- are offered ~umismdits in England and other parts of Europe. Peter Paul Rubens Courses to be held in June include 1577-1640 Surveying of Archaeological Sites and Computers in Museums. July courses Although famous as an artist, Rubens is sel include Glass Restoration, Archaeologi dom recognized as a numismatist Educated cal Excavation, Metallography of Ancient in a Jesuit school where the classics were Metals, Discovery and Exploration of emphasized, he was exposed to aneienteoins Ancient Egypt, Care of Collecti ons, and and gems as a child. In later life he regularl y Mounting Museum Objects for Display. incorporated the images from classical coins into his artisticcomfX'silions. Beyond Also available from lAP are Distant the appreciation and use o f images on coins, Rubens was il very aclivecolleclor. He Learning Programs for th ose persons was closely associated wi th a g roupor numismatists in Antwerp which includedlan who wish to learn Chemistry for Conser Hemc1acr, Jacobcle Bie, Charles de Croy, Nicholas Rockox and Caspar Gevartius. vation, Materials Science or Prehistoric While liv ing and studying in Rome. he belonged 10 a circle of numismalists Archaeology by correspondence. including Cardina ls Cesi and Famese. Ru bens worked closely with the French lAP is expanding their program to antiquarian Nicholas-Claude Fabri de Peirese on a book of ancient coins and gems include several courses each year in the for which he produced several illustrations. The extent of Rubens' colleclion was U.S. Courses held in 1990 included substant ial, and he traded in the "market" actively. When the Duke of Aershot Climate Control in Museums and Photo (Charles de Croy)decided to liquidate his collection Rubens handled the sale. From graph Conservation Workshops. Rubens' own collection, we know of the sa le of 18,000 ancient coins in one lot. Costs for most Summer School Artists of the 17th century were general ly aware of (he artistic value of ancient coins courses include tu ition , materials, use of as models but few we re as dedicated to th ei r stud y and appreciation as Peter Puul tools and equipment and a course Rubens. handbook. Brochures explaining course contents , costs and dates may be ob This reature is provided co urtesy of tained from James Black, Co·ordinator, The c.n. Byers Corporation, Newport Beach, CA Summer Schools, 31-34 Gordon Square, London WCl H OPY. England. 20 The Cela/or Art and the Market Greek architectural types among lots in CNA XIV Classical Num ismatic Auctions. lid. Demeter on the reverse . This EF speci· Sale XIV, which features over 1 ,450 lots men is estimated at $5,000. of coins and 100 plus lois of numismatic A medallic (4Sm m) bron ze of literature, closes March 20,1991. With Caracalla, issued by the city of Pergamum pre-sale estimates in excess of $350,000, in Mysia (A.D. 214). features an impres' this mail·bid auction claims to oller sive laureate and cuirassed bust of something for everyone. Caracalla on the obverse, with three Strong selections of Greek, Roman temples on the reverse. Estimated at Republican, Roman Imperial, Greek im· $1 ,200, this rare bronze is graded VF. perial, Byzantine. Medieval and English AR tetradrachm from the island of Kos A superb mint state gold aureus of coins are evident, with coi n estimates Tiberius, struck A.D. 14-37, depicts ranging from $45 to $6,500. All coins Tiberius' laureate head on the obverse, offered as individual lots (over 1,250) with a female, thought by many to be have been photographed. livia, on the reverse. This superb aureus Special offerings in this sate include a is estimated at $6,500. wide selection of architectural types on Catalogues lor CNA X IV are available Greek Imperial issues and an important AU aureus of Tiben"us. AD. 14·37 now for $10.00 with prices realized and offering of Medieval Polish coins. Other may be obtained by writing to Classical items of interest include coins of all of the artistic and well struck silvertetradrachm Twelve Caesars and a nice offering of from the island of Kos 011 of mainland Numismatic Group, Inc ., Box 245. Celtic issues. Caria, struck between 357 and 330 B.C. Quarryville, PA 17566 or by calling (7 17) One of the Greek highlights is an depicting Herakles on the obverse and 786-4013 during office hours. Active trading and collector interest highlight HNG show Are you interested in The Holiday Inn - Gateway, in San CHOICE WORLD COINS? Francisco, provided a venue for trading in You should be receiving our publications ancient and medieval coins as the His torical Numismatic Guild met there re o MORE THAN THREE cently. The Guild regularly hosts anum· MAIL BID CATALOGUES ANNUALLY ber of "By Invitation Only" shows around the country. Consisting of some 35 dealers. orga· Featuring RARE and CHOICE gold and silver coins of nized for the purpose of conducting pri· vate bourses, HNG maintains the general the world as well as ancient coinage and world paper format and atmosphere of the private money. A sample catalogue is $15.00 postpaid. shows pioneered by Classical Numismatic Bourse (CNB). The eNB effort ended In eludes Prices Realized last year in th e sale of show rights to Dr. Arnold Saslow who changed the name to Numismatic and Antiquarian Bourse and An annual su bscription is al so available. The cost is $45 opened the shows to the general public. within the U.S. and $60 outside the U.S. HNG hosted approximately 200 col· lectors al Ihe two day event which took place on February t and 2. Trading Ponterio & Associates, Inc. seemed active in spite of economic and 1818 Robinson Ave. political uncertainties and the interest among collectors remained strong. ,_." " .. m,,,,,. San Diego, CA 92103 \ \' ~ l mTl~' For information about the San Fran· ,. C',,- '.,,. . ,. ' 1-800-854-2888 or 619-299-0400 cisco HNG and a list of participating ~ .~ Liccm'cd Allction Company #968 dealers in other parts of the country write P.N.G. #30S to Fran k l. Kovacs, P.O. Box 25300, San Ri chard H. Ponterio - President L.M.1I2163 Mateo, CA 94402 orcaU (415) 574·2028. March 1991 21 Rare Coin Expo to Coming Events •••• be held in St. Paul On March 2nd and 3rd collectors of Mar.1 - 3 ANA Midyear Convention ancient and foreign coins are invited 10 attend the Rare Coin Expo. This show JNFOMART Conference Center, Dallas will be held in the Signal Hills Mall, on Mar_ 2 - 3 Rare Coin Expo South Robert Street in West 51. Paul. Signal Hills Mall, West Sf. Paul, MN MN. Show hours are 10-5 Saturday and 11 ·5 on Sunday. Coins, tokens, paper Mar. 7 - 10 Chicago Int'l Coin Fair money and bullion from the United States Hyatt Regency, Chicago will be represented as well. Mar_ 9 Panteria Auctio n There will be no charge for admission. For further information, contacl Kenn Hyatt Regency, Chicago Hollister al (612) 822-8157. Mar. 15-17 Nort hwest Coin Show Earle Brown Heritage Center, Brooklyn Center, MN Empire Coins Mar. 20 - 21 Glendining's Auction 101 New Bond St., London changes address Dennis Krah, President of Empire Mar_ 27 Spink Auction Coins Inc., of Ormond Beach Florida, has Cavendish Hotel, London announced that the firm has changed Apr. 4 - 5 Sotheby's Auction their mailing address. Empire's new address is P.O. Box 34 -35 New Bond St. , London 2634, Ormond Beach, FL 32175-2634. Apr. 15 -17 Dieter Gorny Au ction Their phone number, (904) 677-7314, Hotel Continental, Munich remains unchanged. Empire publishes six fixed price list May 1 - 4 Greater New YorklAIN A Num. Conv. per year, as well as holding two public Omni Park Central, NYC auctions and conducting a variety of other numismatic services. IMPORTANTNEWREFERENCEBOOK!! "Identifying Coins, Medals and Tokens: Late Antiquity to Modern Times" By Dr. OrcgoIY BruoK "" Identifying Coins. Medals and Token~: ule Antiquity 10 Modem Times" is a comprehensive bibliography of sources published in journals and anthologies over the past two centuries. Arranged geographically, by dynas ties. and by special topics. approximately hair of the 5.000+ source articles ci tcd in this work have IlCvcr before appeared in a numismatic bibliogrnphy. and are NOT listcd cvcn in the ANS Num i ~ma t is: Li tcrnture bibliogrnphies. 111is important new work thus makes reams of previously "lost" num ismati, literature and information available to the modem researcher. eata.loger and collector. Um:cr1aintyabou1 whot ha.~ been published is a se rious problem when cataloging material and al1 emp ting to establish it s rari1y and si gnifi,anec. Whilc it is relm ively ea.'y to detennine if a hook has been pu h l i ~ h e d on any given numisma1ic topic. finding information contained in journal articles and :mthologics ha~ largcly becn a matter or luck ;ll1d 1;,oor. Even 1he besl known periodicals are undcr-utili7.cd due to the lremendous probl em of discovering "wh~t i.~ out thcre:' Dr. Brun k has largely answercd this problem wilh hi s work. which indudes extcnsive listings of artielcs about the issuers or coins. med al ~ and tokens from l~te antiq uity on. The dassical numismatiSi will ranicularly appreciale 1he wealth of information regarding the Byzantine Empire and the SUCceSSOf kingdoms to the Roman Empire, as well as comprehen sive coverage or 1he m:lny medieva l issuers. Similarl y. Dr. Brunk has OTHER BOOKS FROM I.AURlON provided many citations 10 previously forgolleo worts coveri ng b lamie Please add $3.tXJ shipping 10 Ct1ciJ orocr. and Indian lll'misma1i e topl\:5. uTlJc COiDS oE/he TwelJ'e Cilcsars· Comprehensive. well-organized in an over-s it.ed (ormat. full y-indexed 200 pagcs, with 20 plates ...... $1!J.515 and easy 10 usc. Serious numismatists. sc holar5 and professionals will find "ldcn1ifying CoiM. Mcdals and Tokens: u tc Antiquity to Modem "'CoJ/eetiD$ Roman Coins· Times" to be an indispensable addition 10 their reference libraries. Copies 80 pages, wilh 4 plates ...... $1-1.515 are available ror$JS post· paid illlhc U.S.A. (add $5 (or overseas airmail). ~Collcctinr Greek CoIns· 166 pages, with 18 plates ...... $17.515 LAUIlIIlIOj IOjUMISMA TICS MClassical Numismatics 4 Commob Sense- 427-3 Amherst Street, Suite 259 84 pages ...... SJ.f.Jl5 Nashua. NH 03063 22 The Celalor Mai{-'Bid 5tuction Catalog No. 60 April 19, 1991 Featuring: Greek Gold and Electrum; Important Archaic, Classical and Hellenistic Greek Silver and Bronze; Roman Aurei and Solidi, Roman Republic, Roman Imperial Silver (including all 1Welve Caesars), Important Roman Bronzes, Byzantine and Medieval. Visa & MasterCard Catalog $10.00 Phone: (313) 434·3856 March 1991 23 Common coins portray deeds of uncommon men and provide links with great movements in history by Rubert Tye have issued more coin in the thirteenth Popular history has curiously nc Contrary to the popular view, I be· century than all its other centuries put glected these figures. Hollywoodmakes lieve that common coins are far morc together. and re-makes fi lms about the great de in teresting thim rare ones. Rarities are stroyers, such as Ghengis Khan, and likely only to inform us about the minor 3. The modem availability of early coin Henry VIII , but never touches on dccd~ of obscure Tulers, and about long is a fun ction not only of the volume Anushirwan or Edward I. Perhaps this losl causes. Common coins are March 1991 25 JUST FOR BEGINNERS by Wayne G. Sayles Questions Answers If you're lucky, lhe inscription on coins of GaJerius will How can I include GAL VAL or some variant. If not, look for a distinguish between reference 10 the title Caesar (NOB C. etc.) which is a sure coins of Ga/erius and indicator since Ma)(imian was not honored on coinage as ANCIENT Caesar. Some issues provide only the inscription coins of Maximian? MAXIMIANUS PF AVG, and these pose a problem. Don't feel alone In your confusion - Cohen mixed up a lew himself in his monumental study. Sometimes the portrait GREEK and is sufficiently realistic to identify the individual, but this period Is one in which the emerging style was rather severe and not always representative of individual features. The best reference lor anribution is Vo lume Viol Roman Imperial Coinage (RIC). which lists each known type by ruler and mint. This reference, while more authori· tative than most other general references available, is rather expensive lor Ihe beginner 10 acquire. II you have AND narrowed your interesl 10 a particular scope, individual volumes may be purchased when still in prin!. Oot 01 print yolumes are available with some searching. BOOKS ABOUT THEM The confusion over inscrlptions of Galerius and Maximian is not unique in Roman numismatics. Atlributing coins of Caracalta and Elagabalus Of of Constantius II and Conslanlius Gallus can cause the beginner similar con· fusion. There are certain Issues of Constantine t and Constantine tl that are equally perplexing. The best bel lor proper atlribution, al least as lar as modefn scholarship allows, is reference to RIC. Fixed price catalogs 01 top quality coins. Lot 01- SO - '8ed tJ{{e'Z- ! ! ! Buy-bid mail Roman-Byzantine Terracotta Oil Lamps auctions of coins 100· 600 AD - Differellt Styles - from tire Holy Land and books. Lists 01 basic, advanced, and rare, out-ai-print books. Free Sample Catalogs PI MCKENNA P.O. Box 1356-K Fort Collins, CO 80522 303-226-5704 PHOENICIA P.O. Box 692 Gracie Station, NY, NY 10028 - (212) 722·4603 26 The Gelator Hes debuts dealer TRIVIA QUIZ profile database ). ~ __ ,IV 01 the Roman Muses, Hill Communication Strategies (HCS) ~~ those divinities presiding has announced the introduction of ~ ~~~ \\ ~?s over the arts, which is AtheNa!, acomputerdatabase of dealers the Muse of History? in ancienl coins and anliquilies. The '~ ~ . ~ database was introduced to provide a '4;JJ (Answer on page 44) -single, comprehensive source for info r mation on dealers in ancient coins and antiquities," according to James Hill, founder of HCS. AtheNa!, a high-tech menu containing QUOTES FROM THE PAST information on dealers around the world, "Cave ab homlne un/us IIbrl: oHers standardized dealer -profi les· re lating details importanllo collectors, in (Beware the man of one book)" cluding information on dealer specialties, Anonymous: latin experience, types of sales held and catalogue publ ication. The Customer Profile section details the average dollar value purchase made by a dealer's typi r------, cal client. and the Services section lists I Clip & Save I the services offered by a dealer, such as I I bidding agency, appraisals, and profes I I sional consultations. I Coin File I ·Our aim has been to provide a one stop information center for serious col lectors," says Hill. For example, certain ~------~Julia Paula firms specializing in "high-end" coins aren't suitable for young or beginning AR - tetradrachm collectors, whereas those dealers cater A.D. 219/20 ing to the budget-conscious enthusiast Alexandria may be wrong for the advanced collector. Julla/lsls AtheNet can sort through its database, matching each collector's needs with the Koln 2362 appropriate dealers. Julia Cornelia Paula, daughter of the Praetorian prefect Paulus, was A customized search through the da married to the 16 year old emperor Elagabalus in A.D. 219 and coins were tabase, also known as a Five-Category issued in her name d uring that year. She was d ivorced the following year Sort, costs $4. Dealers will receive a and therefore her coinage is relatively scarce. Gold coinage o f Julia Paula special premier rate (good through April is very rare. The tetradrachm of Roman Egypt illustrated here is dated Year 15, 1991) of $49.00 for the first year. Further information on AtheNet ser 3 of the reign of Elagabalus, the year of their marriage. The reverse vices may be obtained by writing to Hill presents a bust of Isis, the Egyptian deity regarded as the goddess of the Communications Strategies, P.O. Box moon. T he headdress is distinctive a nd represents a lotus flower. Julia L ______~ 1135, Charlottesville, VA 22902 or by Paula died a natural death in retirement after her divorce from Elagabalus. phoning (804) 977-5037. ROMULUS AND If' YOU IIAVETO 60 OVTSIP,",- 7#,EN 5"T4NP 7#E PMR AN£' IIOWL / March 1991 27 Coins of the Bible Theory of secret inscriptions on coins is disputed by David Hcndin Dear Mr. Hendin: 1 recently read a short article which deal! with a paper written by Jerry Vardaman of the Cobb Inst itute of Ar chaeologyat Miss issippi State Univer si ty. I quote now to you, pan of that article: "Vardaman also says a coin struc k in Damascus in A.D. 16 contains a reference to ' King Jesus' wh ile:1 coin minted in Palestine in A.D. 44 contains the legend ' Year23 of lesus' death' ... " The paper deals with the year Jesus was born. The reason I am wri ti ng is to ask if you have ever heard of the above-men tioned coins. And if you h,lVC, what coins are they and who minted them. Any infonnation would be apprcci:ucd. Dear Collector: Your leiter was forwarded to me by the cdilorofTheCelalor. Thequestions in your leiter were totally new to meeven though I have been avidly studying an cicnt coins of the Middle East since 1968. My first reaction was to tell you that this is an absolute error - no such coins exist. Out nobody knows everything, so I decided to check all references tocoins of Agrippa I, which would have been those minted in Palestine in the year 44 . Figure 1 All references are negative for the so Drawing of the obverse of a coin of Agrippa I, showing what Dr. Vardaman believes catl ed inscriptions you mention in your to be micro/etters referring to Jesus. Photo used with permission of Dr. Vardaman. leller. In addition to bei ng a numismatist, 1 make a living as a professionaljournul ist chat and he then kindly sent me a copy of script ions. As Dr. Vardaman analyzes (nowudays. alas . it's from behind the his articJeJesus' Life: A New Chronol the m, they also appear to be randomly executive's desk). so I decided to inves ogy, which appeared inChronos,Kairos. scattered over the coin, often fragmen ti gaTe on your behalf. ChrislOS - Nativity and Chronological tary, and in general without order. It 's Before I give you thedetails, J'JIgive Studies Presented 10 Jack Finegan, hard to believe Dr. Vardaman's theory you my answer. Unequivoc;llIy thereare publ ished in 1989 by Eisenbrau ns, that what he reads as irregular and garbled NOCOJNS from the first h"tf of the fi rst Winona Lake, Minnesota. inscriptions came from the hands of the century A.D. with inscriptions refering As part of the proof of his theories same die engravers who created the coins toJesusorthat are dated according to the about the chronology of the life of Jesus on which the microletters supposedly birth dMe or death date of Jesus. As a (who, he believes. was bom in 12 B.c. lIppear. matter of faCT. the fi rst coins known to and died in A .D. 21), Dr. Vardaman Accompanying this article are sev h,we been struck with actual "A.D." date.~ refers to a phenomenon he calls eral of Dr. Vardaman'sdrawings. One is werc not struck unT il the year 1234 at the "rnicroletters", which he s;IYs are "new of a 22-24 mm bronze coin of Agrippa I, Roskilde mint, in today's Denmark. and significant discoveries". struck in A.D. 43-44 and on this drawing Now, here's the story of the reference T o summa rize his theory, Dr. you will see his transcript ions of the to which you refer. This may be the first Vardaman be lieves he has identi fi ed "mieroinseript ions" (Figure I). Blow ti me this has been published in a numis· microieners, which make up significant ups of details from this coin show his m.nic publication. and I have no doubt it inscript ions, on anum ber of anc ient coins reading of legends referring to dating wil l result in;1greilt deal of controversy. from the period of the early fi rst century relative to the death of Jesus. The so 1am going to offer as much infonmnion A.D. The microletters arc often even microletters shown in Figure I a,accord as pos~ible. I telephoned Jerry Vardaman, smaller than the normal inscriptions on ing to Dr. Vardaman, have the Latin a professor of archaeology at the Mis· coins, and, as Dr. Vardaman describes inscription meaning "Year twenty-th ree sissippi State University's Cobb Ins titute them, arc certainly more crude than any of Jesus' death". Elsewhere on this coin of Archaeology. We had a preliminary thing even resembling nomlal coin in- Dr. Vardaman sees thcmicroletters "LZ" 28 The Celator for Year 7, referring to the kind of like doodling. reign of Claudius and trans v ThemicroleUers,however, lating to the year A.D. 43-44. according to Dr. Vardaman. Since44less23equals21, Dr. were inscribed in the dies, Vardaman believes Ihis helps "apparently cut with a dia prove his theory. ( mond". InFigure lb, Dr. Vardaman r Dr. Vardaman also re sees microlettcrs stating that ferred me to other articles "Jesus' REGVNVM started in about "secret" or at least pre the 327th year of the Seleucid viously unnoticed inscriptions era, thus gi\l ing a date of A.D. in unusual places - such as 15 for the beginning of his in the hair - of Greek coins. 'reign'''. These, 100, are we ll known On a 25 mm bronze coin types and the words, letters, of Damascus struck in A.D. or monograms can be seen 16 - while Jesus was still with the naked eye and are i.n alive-Dr. Vardaman reports inscri ption slyles appropriate many hundreds of micro to the rest of the coin. Figure 1a letters including some that Afler reading his article I Inset of Figure 1 showing micro/etters proclaim "REX JESVS". asked Dr. Vardaman two ba One is hard-pressed 10 gi\le sic questions. First. has he much credibility to these ever observed two coins from readings. Sources which refer the same dies with the same to the mini.~try of Jesus do not microletters? refer to his time on earth as a Second, has any other " reign" since he ne\ler al scientist been able to confino tempted to rule any thing other the existence of the same than good will and common microletters that he has seen? sense. Hi storian Michael The answer in both cases Grant notes that "The placard was "no". He added, "None inscribed The King of the of us knows all we need to Jews' which was fixed on the know. Scientific methods cross sounds an authentic piece should certainly be repeatable ofbrulal mockery, since it was on a one to one basis. I can Figure 1b for his alleged claim to this show the microletters, but I Inset of Figure 1 showing micro/etters title that the Romans cru cified can cert ainly understand him." skepticism ... One al so wonders why micro ne\ler before been observed by any other I was very blunt in expressing my inscriptions consist ing of hundreds of num ismatist in history. Dr. Vardaman at personal skepticism to Dr. Vardaman. let/ers on the same side of the same coin one point uses references to his micro He responded: "You can'l summarily (whose actual obverse inscription was leuers interchangeably with references say there's nothing to it until you study comprised of only21 letters) would con to the "graffiti" that a numberofnumis every square millimeter of many coins. tain inscriptions refering to dating sys matists have noticed and published, In I'\le stud ied hundreds of coins in this tems based upon both the death of Jesus the case of the graffiti, names, dates, way." and the better-known Seleucid era (ofthe designs or nonsense inscriptions were Dr. Vardaman finds the microletters Syrian Kings). Incidentlilly, Dr. Yaakov scratched on coins in ancient times for by creating 8 by 10 inch blowups of coins Meshorer, chief curator of archaeology unknown reasons - possibly by indi and studying the photographs carefully and numismatics at The Israel Museum. viduals ki ll ing time and sC r.lt ching words with rear illumination. He then traces the Jerusalem, believes this coin was struck or designs on co; ns with a sharp object- letters he sees on acetate sheets. in A.D. 41-42, also a theory since the coin itself is not actually dated as far as can be determined. This is significant since the coin type Dr. Vardaman is talking about (Hendin 76a, Meshorer 11 .248.5) is i.nvariably found in such poor condition that nobody STEPHEN M . HUSTON Ira.f ever fOllnd one with a complete nor· Cro.ssi~a( 9{ulIIisma t is t mal inscription and thus, according to P.O. Box 193621 Prof. Meshorcr, inscriptions must be "re San Francisco, CA 94119 USA constructed from several specimens". It is inconcei\lablethat hiddcn inscriptions (415) 781·7580 up to eight times smaller (according to Dr. Vardaman's drawings) than the nor 'Evt.ryccin iIIustrattd"actuafsiu. mal inscriptions could even be read. 'WrittforaccP!Jofourn~catafo9u f. As far as we can detennine, the phe nomenon of this sort of microletters has March 1991 29 I examined several coins in Ihis way when use of magnification was, at best, and saw no traces of Ihis phenomenon. limited. f-u rl hcrmo rc, in the last 20 yei.rs I have The question of whether or not mag also studied coins microscopically - nification equipment was even used by nOI by the hundreds but by the thous:lOds. ancient dic engrdvers is itself controver -111 is is cen Say you saw it in %e Cdator 30 The Celator Microletter proponent responds to criticism by Jerry Vardaman clearly that if 1 had the article to do again, case. I would like to see at least a I wish to thank The Celator for I would have enlarged the subject con sprinkling of open-m inded num ismatists sending (0 me the article of Mr. David siderably and stated some things slightly in the audience who have not formed Hendin, to which I am responding. differently. Mr. Hendin,1 might suggest, their opinions beforehand. as Mr. Hendin First of all , I say nowhere (as implied would do well to secure photos of the and Mr. Meshorer have done, appar in Mr. Hendin's 5th paragraph) that A.DJ same coins 1 studied, and examine the ently(?), and to present my case before B.c. dates, as such, are used. r give the same positions of the letters and then them. I dare say that when a vote is taken equivalent A.D./B.C. dates of the kinds make his crilicisms. I am open to go after my presentation, 1 will have more in of dates used in the fust century, etc. anywhere, before any audience, at any the audience agreeing with me, than with such as Seleucid originals. Mr. Hendin is time my schedule permits, and if 1 had them? We will see. quite aware of this ifhe has read carefully the money I would say, "as my purse In closing, by Mr. Hendin's argument the article which I sent to him, mentioned permitted", but 1 will have to say, with that the die maker who placed the formal in the next paragraph, and should have others paying the bills, and present my letters around (he coin's legend could not pointed this fact out to his readers. Next, I was not the first to notice such microletters. In the 1940's an American FOR SALE - 28 BILLON TETRADRACHMS numismatist [Hans Holzer] published two of NERO (A.D. 54-68) minted in Alexandria, Egypt articles on this subject - including one entitled "Secret Letters on Syrian Silver All with radiate hcad ofNero,facing either right or left - reverses as indica/ed below. Coins of the 2nd and I st Centuries BC" aFto F $75@ Augustus (4), Tiberius (2) [Numismatic Review, Volume II, Num aFto F $50@ eagle (2), Alexandria. Hera Argeia (2) ber 4, 1945, pp. 33-341. Also, an article avg. VG $50@ Tiberius (2) in The Numismatist, Volume 55,1942, aVG to VG $37@ eagle (3), Alexandria (2), Apollo, Eirene GtoVG Augustus, eagle (2), Alexandria (2), Apollo (2), pp. 886-890 also discusses microletters. $25@ Serapis Furthermore, I enclose a letter from the late Mr. Ray Hebert, of the Numis Photos al'ai/able: $1 per 3 coins. Full rerum privileges matic Department of the Smithsonian (I did menfion that Mr. Hebert had found Michael & Sandra Wolf - (602) 772-7144 microletters on ancient coins to Mr. P.O. Box 233, Dewey, AZ 86327 Hendin, though he does not say this in his criticism of me; when he quotes me he should state everything I said in reference lolhe facts) in whichhealsoaffirmssuch microletters - on a coin which I iden 5Wcient (jreel0. tified as an ancient coin of Miletus - and apparenTly the microleners read the same thing. Alleast Mr. Hebertaccepled 2?Pman & 'Byzan tine my reading as "'Miletus". [In another letter dated March 20, 1990, Mr. Hebert states that "I did receive from Mrs. COINS Stefanelli the photo enlargement of the Jesus piece but have not yet had the time to examine it on a light box. However. I do see with the naked eye and after a cursory examination the letters ESVS. The feeling here is that the letters were not engraved on the die but rather were scratched on as graffiti at a later time. As one of the staff said, the letters could have been scratched in at any time up to the time the piece entered the British Museum's trays. However, if they are graffiti, 1 do not see why anyone would have gone to that trouble."'] Furthermore, ( Send Today For Free Illustrated List) Mrs. Stefanelli, the Director of the de partment, wrote a long leiter l to me J in which she affirms her belief in such microletters as well, having seen the same TOM CEDERLIND evidence which led Mr. Hebert to be lieve in them. P.o. Box 1963-C, Portland, OR, 97207 [have indicated the positions of such microletters on coins. I will stick by my (503) 228-2746 statements in the article, Though 1 see March 1991 31 possibly have placed sucn crude micro NATIONAL MUSEUM Of A MEIUCAN HISTORY letters on the surface is not convincing. One could use the same process of think ing, and say thaI the kind o f graffiti which he docs accept could not be there either, si nce such letters do not match the H.arch a, 1970 quality of the fonnallegends on ancient Dr. J Ol lY Va, ~..., ,, Hi •• ia',pi S t~ ( e Be . 'If coins! I frequently read in sales ca ta Hi'~'S5 !~pi 39;62 logues. "Small graffiti on reverse" etc .• D~H J ~ I"rY as anyone w ill if he/she goes through such catal ogues, do. however, j oin II [ ' ''1 .dd: SUBSCRIBE TO THIS IMPORTANT NEW PUBLICATION NOW! The Internation al Hi-Monthly Review of Ancienl Arl & Archaeology M INERVA is an illustrated news and review magazine, appearing bi·monthly (6 issues per year), devoted to ancient art. antiquities, archaeological and numismalic discoveries worldwide from prehistory to the 18th century, With regular contributors from around the world, MINERVA, published in England, 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 bi·monthly numismatic column, by Dr. Arnold Saslow, will furnish readers with a li vely review of the ancient coin marketplace, Regular excavation reports will include prehistoric, classical, early Chrislian, medieval, Egyptian, Biblical, Near Eastern, Asian, Oceanic, African and American findings, as well as reports on underwater archaeology. 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, lairs, conferences, meetings, as well as the abstracts and book reviews. Jerome M. Eisenberg, Ph.D .• Editor· in ·Chief Professor Barri Jones and Peter A. Clayton, Editors SUBSCRIPTION RATES Surface Mail Airma il 1 year (6 issues) U,S. $27.00 U.S. $39.00 2 years (12 issues) U,S, $54.00 U.S. $77 ,00 3 years (18 issues) U,S. $76.00 U.S. $11 0.00 Payment may be made by check or by Mastercard, Visa or Access cards (please give account no. and expiration dale). 7 DAVIES STREET LONDON WIY ILL, ENGLAND Telephone: (44) 71-495-2 590 Fax: (44) 7t-491·1595 32 The Gelator Letters Continued from page 4 This is a very belated thank you for Me And, the apparition described by Turkey (December, 1990]. The stone Hendin's excellent article on cleaning Socrates Scholarticus strongly depicts tumulus at Nemrut Dag was built by bronze coins in your July 1990 edition. I what is technically known as a ·sun pil Antiochus I who ru led the Kingdom of was wondering il you could convince Mr. lar". Caused by sun tight scattering off Commagene from his capital Samosata Handin to write a companion piece on the atmospheric ice crystals, this phenom on the Euphrates between 69 and 34 proper cleaning of silver coins? enon (which I have seen) yields a classi B.C. If that is nol possible, could you steer cal Christian cross rather than an "X· Antiochus I Soter was a distant an· me in the right direction so thai I may (Socrates does use the word "pillar"). cestor of the builder who ruled the acquire this information for myself? One Perhaps, as Miller f1Otes, the dust from Seleukid Empire from 280-261 B.C. final question, are 1989copiesof The BasI the marching army induced a secondary As well as his descenl from Seleukos, of the Celators!i II available, and when will effect giving rise to a sunburst of rays one of Alexander's generals, and fa lher the 1990 copy be ready? Thanks again resembling something like the Chi· Rho. of Antiochus I SOler, Antiochus 01 lor you r Ii me and for the truly excellent job Finally, the salient and ironic point is: Commagene claimed descent on his you all do! the sun-gad Sol was responsible for cre father's side from the last Achaemenid ating a Christian symbol that put him out rulers of Persia. Kevin C. Pfeifle of business!! Apart from these few facts little else is New York known of the lite of Antiochus, the builder Michael R. Molnar, PhD. of this memorable pile. (Mr. Hand;n is certainly reading this. What NewJersey sayyouDavid? YeswestillhaveTheBest John O'Farrell 01 The Gelator - 1989 @$6.95postpaid Scolland and '90 is available @$6.95also.) TheJanuaryissueof TheCelatorwas magnificent. I liked the cover photo of the I wanted to write and express my coin very much and found the contents of appreciation for your pubtishi ng th e David I enthusiastically applaud The Celator. the magazine to be very stimulating. Even Sear ad on Ancient Coin Certification The lone of Ihe articles, as well as the Arnold Saslow's letter was more fasci Service in the January issue of The substance is appreciated and eagerly nating than usual. I cannot see any way Gelator. Otherwise. I would probabty received. Even the editorial page is wel to improve the standards set by this is never have known about this service. comed in my household. Mr. Sayles is to sue. II may be time to widen your sub Being a colleclor of Roman Imperial be commended for his reserve and pro scription list by spreading out into Eu coins, I keep probably a dozen good fessionalism. rope. reference books. But, I never seem to Controversies and differences of Marvin Tameanko find the time nor the attributions that I opinion happen, but. I wholeheartedly Canada need. I tried this new service with five concur with the editor that ours is prima coins from my collection and am very rily a hobby, a pasttime, an oasis of peace (We have been doing just that. See the pleased with the David Sear certifica· in a dustbowl of pressures, responsibili announcement (People in the News, page tions. ties, and what amounts to an endless 20J of a major enhancement which should His service was prompt, precise and parade of chaos. I urge The Gelator to lead us to additional subscribers in Eu professional. I was so impressed, I have continue its distinguished efforts to in rope.) sent four more coins for certification. form and educate its readers through an These certifications will allow me to enjoy entertaining. useful and attractive me my collection more. dium. David A. Keithley, Jr. I was interesled to read Mark Edwards' William E. Medinger Texas account of his visit to Nemrut Dag in Connecticut David Miller's in teresting article ROMAN EMPIRE, Hadrian, [January, 19911 raises some points. First, 117-138 A.D .. Orichalcum sestertius, I propose an alternative interpretation of (35 mm & 23.49 g). Obv. the letler "X" on the lollis of Constantine. HADR1ANVS.AVGVSTVS, Placing the Sun-god Sol at ils intersec laureated head of Hadrian to Hon makes this a Mithraic symbol, namely. right Rev. COS.III, SoC. the equinoctial cross. Physically, this is Neptune stg. lefl, resting right foot on prow. hotding the intersection of the zodiac and celes acrostolium & trident. Rome tial equator (the location of the equi mint BMC 1291 & RIC 63 5. noxes). Symbolically, it represents to Brown patina, EF···S3,250 Mithraists divine power and perhaps sal vation quite similar to the Christian cross. William B. Warden, Jr. Citl.<. by Dennis Kroh This is accomplished by utilizing extremely duplicates), Original full seLS arc very rare Thefe art 20 limes mort! reference worh and scanty descriptions on the left pages, with and have brought over 520,000 in auction. OInt'f booh on Ancienl Coins QYai/able loday the photographic illustrations (usually of A 1982 reprint in sevcn hardbound vol umes Ihan Jusl /Wtnty years ago. Very few nUlnis exeellcnt quality) on the righl pages. Most of Ihe tirst 39 parts (Italy to India) is of /TIalislS know how 10 utilize theu references, or of these volumes were published in a Ihin good quality, and is currently available for tVt'n wheft! /0 start looking for urWin iUII'Il. eardeover jolio format (10' x 15"), but around $950. The remaining four volu mes Mflny of {nnt! boob au tsstnlial jar ,he some of the recent ones arc in a smaller (40-43) are supposooly in thc proccss of col/eC/OT 10 own, others worthy of one reading 8'h" ,.. 12" size and arc nicely hardbound. being reprinted in a single volume (ror (and are never again consulted), and SOln-t art! Historical infonnation and indices are (with around S 175), but tec hnical difficulties ha ve obsolete and ponderous uercisn in futility. few exceptions) always lacking, as it is delayed this so far. All original vol umes This motllhly column ap/ort's mosl rtJtrtnClS assumed that the student has access 10 this arc now out of print, and Part 42 (North on Ancient Coins (by city-swlf: or rirM pulod), infonnation elsewhere. My reviews of these Africa - Maureunia) is e)(treme1y rare. and .".'iII ralt! them according 10 Ihdr uulu/ will be in the order of their importanec and nus, darity, iIIus/rafions, and aval/ability, will by necessity be brief so that I can list utilizing a fivt!-star system similar 10 {hm used SNG VOIl Aulock ***** for movies , ftstaurants, and hottls. Prices are and rate all currently available volumes. The Collection Hans von Aulock is a 18 also given ",huevu available. II is highly volume set that was writlen 1957-1968, and rtcommtndtd thai at Itast JO% ojyour colltC/ concentrates solely on the Greek and Greek SNG CopE"n hagell ***** ing budgtf be invesud in rejuenct bocb. The 43 volumes of 17le Danish National Imperial coinage of As ia Minor. The sc holarshi p uti lized is excellent, and this is Museum, Copenhagm was begun in 1942 un ivcrsally recognized as the ultimate A lill iE" inrOrm3tlon about the SNG's: and completed in 1977. It is the largesl and reference for this series. 8,739 coins arc The ~Sylfogt Nllmmorllm Graeeorllm ~ series most complete of all SNG's, and is utilized illustrated on 304 plates, with a very good publishes only Ancient Greek Coins, and extcnsively by bOlh scholars and the trade. German tex\. These coins were afterwards w ~ s bej,;un in 1931 by the British Academy , The coverage is extensive and both the dispersed th ro ughout the tradc, and arc It is a novel and very useful system that was quality of material as well as the research is usually offered only at auction, Original originally intended to assist with die-studies vcry good, An astonishing 583 plates iIIlls scts of this SNG arc very rare and command o f precious-metal coins, and every single trate most ofthc 22,012 coins (Volume 41. S3-4.OOO. A 1987 reprint in four hardbound coin in most of the colleclions arc pictured, Alexandria, picturcs all but th e very worn volumes (wilh plates as good or better than thc originals) is available for S595. A separate Index yolumc (268 pages with 12 A LEXANDER T HE GREAT, 336·323 B.C. fold-oul charts) is around SI00-125. SI LVER TETRADRACHM * * * * Lh Conqueror of the known world and dead The Jean & Marie Delepierre col1eclion was by th e :!ge of33. This is one of the classic bequeathed to the Bibliotheque Nationale in coin s of Ancient Greece and th e emer Paris, and this resulting 1983 hardbound gent'e of Western Civi lization, The bold SNG is the largest single volumc produced ~nd ;!llral;tive male hend. origirwJJy Ileraki es but incrensingly re.~embling to date, 88 plates illustratc 3,130 coins, Al exnnder, represents the best of d:lssic with many useful indices. The text (by Greek arl. On the reverse the figure of H cl~ne Nicolet, in collaboration with the Zeus sented holding an eagle add~ to the deceased collcctors and the noled Georges .<;cnse of nn heroic age. Lc Ridcr) contains much more information A fewhoard softhis issue hnve mnde their th an is usually givcn for this formal, and the w:,y 10 the market in the past few years. coin s arc more o ften than not e)(ceptional as We h;L ve typically selected a few and p:lid wcll as unusual. The French text is one a prem ium price for the pri vile ge ofchoke. reason that this is not utilized more often in Non e orthe enrlier hO:lrds we have seen the U.S. trade. Still in print bUI elusive, it match the quality of this group in terms of costs tb e equivalent of 600 FFr. (about ~ t y1c. execution nnd condition. So. we $100), but il is seldom offered in the U.S, took a deep breath :lnd committed to buy ing the entire group. SNC, l.oc.k('lt S..Jn'/l'.mml'lt'.v fro", (I Jm(lfI h()(lrd The Lockett collection was pub lished** 19**38- 01 high qll,,'if)' millS. 1949 in five parts, and illustrates 3,542 ;o.;.:A 1l F:XTIIEI>U:U ' "'ll'f: $)65: $275 v,.- DAVISSON'S LTD. coin s on 64 fine plates . This was a private S""'l' c!."icl' In!, I'mlllll(l ~ (Alum & M,m. Va.;,,,,.) collection, and the quality is vcry good (I fi.'"' Il'.u"r !,ieas ,,/I()K'u flria$ if'$~ Cold Spring, MN 56320 while the scope focused on artistic style. nl.w (II'oihi/)fe--tlleaJe <1st ~ (612) 685-3835 His cntire col1eetion was sold by Glcndining Sp"" ioll'rieN for 'I"",,'i'), {IUre/m.lfS. & Co, 1955-61, and those catalogues are 2Oy."profw ;,",' . P'"'"" •V • Mtmbc: A,N.;\. A.N,S .. R.N,S. el(cc1lcnt refcrences as well. Long oul of print and quite elusive, this SNG set will COSI $300-400 at lcast, but is wcll worth it. 34 The Celalor SNG ANS rcmarkable for their quality and variety. SNG's from 1940 to 1971. 136 plates The American Numismatic Society**** in New The British Museum later acquired this illuslrate 6,125 coins, covering Spain to York has since 1969 published seven collection intact, and sold off or traded Nabathaea. Parts 1 (Spain - Italy) & II volumes in the SNG series, covering Italy to many of the duplicates in the 1950's. (Sicily - Thrace) wcre reprinted in 1972 , Macedonian Cities and (Part 6) Palestine to Originals are of course vcry rare ($4-500) . and are the only parts currently available (at South Arabia. 9,241 coins are illustrated on A hardbound reprint (of passable but not $25-30 apiece) . The scope of the collection 278 plates in these seven volumes. This great quality) was published by Obol in is quite good, and it features quite a few collection is one of the best in the world, 1979 for $80, but it too is now out of print otherwise unpublished items. It is a pity and both the scope and scholarship of these although sometimes offered for $120-150. that more of the volumes are not available. volumes are excellent. Their usefulness is a bit diminished because the dating criteria SNG A~ hmolean *** SNG Eve-Ipidis was totally avoided in the first four The four volumes published so far (1962- The Collection Rena H. Evelpidis, Alilenes*** volumes, but Part 5 (Syracuse, etc.) is 1981) of the collection of the Ashmolean is the first SNG from modern Greece. The excellent, and contains addenda as well as Museum, Oxford presents 3 ,934 gold, silver main focus of the collection is on the clusive great indices for the first five volumes. All and electrum coins on 82 plates. The first Greek bronzc issues, most of which arc but Part 1 are stiB in print and available for part is out of print, and th e others not easy either unpublished or else illustrations of $75 each (Part 6 is $100). to acquire and wi ll cost about $60 each. Of them have not previously been available. particular merit is Part III (Macedonia), The first two parts cover Italy to Thracc SNG Miinchen which is one of the few deccnt refcrcnces (1970) and Macedonia to Corcyra (1975). The Mun chen Slaalliche Miinzsammlung**** for the large series of Alexander the Great. It was published in Belgium, so the tcxt is in (Munich city coin-collection) is quite vast Frcnch, and it is very well written by Tony SNG Tiihin2en and its publicatio n is wcleomed . Begun in Hackens and the coJlector herself. 2,045 Miinzsammlung der UniversirtJI Tubingen*** 1968, eight volumes have been publi shed so coins are illustrated on 44 exccptionally (the coin-collection of Tubingen University) far (Spain to Moesia, and Phrygia). The clcar plates. Both volumes arc still has published four SNG volumes since 1981 large number of base-metal coins published available, but are quite dear (duc to (Spain to Ionia). The collection is quite rich is a boon to researchers in that area, and the currency fluctuations) at around $1 10 each. in Greck & Greek Imperial bronzes, and scholarship utilized is absolutely first-rate. illustratcs 3,306 coins on 109 cxcellcnt 7,189 coins are illustrated on 165 plates, platcs. All are in print for around $90 each. SNG Manchester and the photos are much clearer than most The Raby and GUlerbock Colleclions al** Ihe other SNG's due to the high-quality glossy SNG Fitzwilliam Manchester University Museum publishes paper used. The first 3 volumes arc now Thc Fitzwilliam Museum: Leake and General*** 1,472 coins on 57 plates. This is the first OOP (Spain to Lueania), the rest are around Collections presented eight volumes of volume to be printed in the hardbound 81h" $80 per volume, but not easy to find. SNG Levante-Ciiicia o,------~O This is by far technically the finest**** product of the entire SNG series, and perhaps the best specialized collection ever published. Spink The Edoardo Lcvante collection consists of 1,861 coins exclusivcly from Cilicia in Asia Minor, and all of the coins arc illustrated on 125 platcs on the finest quality art-paper. The oldest established The text (in English), is excellent and many • • of the coins have von Aulock pedigrees. cOin The many indices make this a pleasure to work with, and it is hardbound in the 81h" in the x 12" format. In print for around $225. SNG Herry ***'h The Burton Y. Berry Collection, published by the ANS in two parts 1961-2, contains Coins from ancient to modern bought and sold , 1,506 coins from Macedonia to Egypt, illus Free verbal valuations ' Expert impartial advice given' trated on 57 fine platcs. Mr. Berry was a Coins bought outright, or sold on commission ' Regular auctions held - please send for details ' lifelong diplomat and a serious collector Publishers and stockists of numismatic books' since the 1920's, and asscmbled an excellent Publishers of T he Numismatic Circular since 1892 · Advice and and varied collection, with many unusual purchase at auction sales on collectors' behalf - all major sales attended. items. Out of print, popular and c\usive, it For further in/onnation on ancient coins contact John Pell or Laura Sheridan. costs around $200-250 when found. Quote The Ccl ator for a free edition of the Numismalic Circula r, our fi xed l'rice list of coins of all serics and a forum of numi~matic debate. Subscripuon $45 (10 Issues). SNG Lioyd The Lloyd Collection is confined to the precious-metal Greek coins of Italy and · k .*~"=C_= ...... ==_ ...... 't..,== = ...... Sicily, and was published in eight parts in S In .. ~Sp;nk& So" Lid. 5.6 & i ~;n ~S t""'1. St r.m ..·,.l.onuu" SW1Y 6QS. four card cover volumes 1933-1937. The 49 o'-______T.I: 071·g30 7SH8. ~."' : 071·839 4853 . Tele" 916711 . -JO plates illustrate 1,687 coins, which are March 1991 35 x 12 " fonnat (1986). Most of the coins arc excellent, and the indices helpful. Both arc the sculptor Hennan Ernst Freund 1818- silver issues in decent conditi on, but not in print, at about $50 and $60 respectively. 1827 while he was living in Rome. To say many arc of significant individual interest. that his pocketbook was slim is an extreme The text is scantier than usual , but there arc SNG Fabridus * 'h understatement, and most of these items decent indices. This is overpriced at 5110. The Knu.d Fabricius Collection is split would today be regarded as "junk". Stil1, it between the Aarhus University and the has excellent cataloging, bibliography, and SNG Swt'den I Danish National Museum , and the record of illustrations. Available at $70--80. This 1974 tome is really two syllogcs** in this collection was published in 1987 . There one. The first part, containing 104 choice are 497 coins illustrated on 21 plates, with SNG Dreer/Klagenfurt silver coins on 4 plates is The Collection of good runs of the ineusii of Magna Graeeia. The 1967 and 1984 parts of Sammlung* His Lale Majesty King Gusta v VI Adolf. The It is principally a general col1ection of DreerlKlagmfurl im Landesmuseum for second part, with 534 silver and bronze average quality. In print, about $60. Ktirntell is a typical record of a collection coins feature The Fred Forbat Collection. fonned with vcry little outlay of funds in the The text is in English, and extremely well SNG Lt'wi~ * 'h early 1800's. The 832 coins on 24 plates written by Ulla Westennark, and there are The Lewis Collection in Corpu.I' Christi are barely ..yorth the effort to publish them. exccllcnt indices. The photography is College, Cambridge, part I, the Greek & Part II (Spain-Gaul-Celtic) is the only one splcndid, but the scope of the material (and Hellenistic coins (with Britain & Parthia) still available, and its 220 badly preserved & therefore its usefulness) is limited to rather was published in 1972. Although the text is printed items aren't worth the $40 asked. A common issues well eovcred elsewhere. In very well written by Martin 1. Price (with third part, published in 1990 covers Thraec, print and available for about 535 . excellent indices), it is a rather unremark Macedonia & PaC()nia, with 676 coins on 27 able collection in average qLJality of 1,212 plates. Projeetcd price is $90. SNG Swt'tlen II coins, all illustrated on 24 plates. The Vila Westermark has done another excellent** forthcoming I'art II, The Grft'k Imperial SNG Milano 'h * job authoring the two volumes (so far, 1976 Coins by the same author shows more This syHoge, begun in 1988, publish the & 1980) of Tile Collee/ion of/he Royal Coin promise, but is as yet still in press and not holdings of Civiche Raccolte M4mismatiche, Cabillel, Na/iollal Museum of Monetary available for review. Part I 540, Part 11 and will when complete consist of 14 parts. His/ory, Siockholm. This more accurately projected $60. So far five of the parts have been issued: should be called SNG Stockholm. 1,452 I-Ill (Gaul-Calabria) and X][[-X1V (Egypt coins arc mostly illustrated on 39 plates. SNG Aarhus Mauretania). Nearly all of these coins The scope and quality of many of the items The Aarhus University. Dellmark CollectiOIl* published arc very common issues, and most so extremely worn or corroded as to be published is rather poor, and vcry few new (1986) illustrates 1,111 coins on 44 plates absolutely useless for comparison. Thick types arc offered. Still, Ihe photos are that were, for the most part, purchased by folio hardcover volumes, about SI20 each. If you aren't seeing this symbol on I have not reviewed a few of the minor SNG volumes. These include some of the first catalogues you are currently receiving ones, SNG Spencer-Churchill and Salting Collections (1931, with 246 coins) and SNG Newham Davis (1936, 490 coins), as these arc very rarely quoted or offered for sale, and SNG Blackburn, The Hart Collection at the Blackburn Museum, (1989) that I have not yet seen. The latter publishes 1,316 coins on 56 plates, and costs about 580. NEXT MONTH: The references for the vast and popular field of BTl.alltine Coil/age will be examined. Dennis Kroh is a full-time dealer of ancient coins and books about them, as well as a free-lance catalogue writer who maintains a very large working /ibrary and utilize.f many coin references every single day. Queries and comments concerning the subject of this column are welcome. Please enclose SASE Write for our membership list and write c/o 'The Celator. Jean-Paul Diva Secretary, I.A.P.N. Writing for The Celator is Liiwenstrasse, 65 easy and fun. Don't be CH-8001 Zurich, Switzerland afraid to give it a try! 36 The Cela/or Professional Directory C~ ____ ~A~n~ti~q~ui~ti~e~s _____) ( Antiquities ) ( Antiquities ) • __v ~ /"'.. ...,. _ .;I. 'It _ ... + ..... __ M_~.. } Andreas Ancient Coins & Antiquities Post Office Box ; EGYPTIAN & CLASSICAL l Greenbelt Buy, Sell & Auction Maryland 20768·0235 ~ . ANTIQUITIES ~ (301) 805-7085 I lie ofTer the collector a varied ~Iec l lon i • A ncient, M edieval & M odem Coins IJ of fine qualily Ancient \\brld Art! lJ. • Pre-Columbian A rt, Rare Books OF THE MIDDLE AGES I I • W eapons, Q rientaJ ia, O ld M aps I I Seeking coins, artifacts, books and • • more for upcoming auction Say you saw it in 71ie Cefator I I • JrWtLRY • SCULPTURe . 8RONZ! It JOEL MALTER & Co. ! C Coins & Bbbks ) • pontRY • W!:APO NS • AI1ULtTS 16661 Ventura Blvd., Suite 518 ,i ,i I, + • FREE: Catalog No. C191 upon request + EnCinO, CA 91 436 USA A.iga; NumismaticJ iJ currently offering the ~ Gallery by Appointment _ (2Ill 724·945.S ~ finesl ancient Greet, Roman and By:antine MAIL: P.O. Box 777 num;l mOl;c art In 11r" martelplau lodoy. Encino, CA 913t6 USA ~ ANCIENT WORLD ARfS, lTD. ~ Brlort you blty. tlrlnt quality and rrmrmber (818) 784-7772 FAX: 784-4726 f 50 West 76th 51 . • Mew York 10023 I .... Quality il our bUII'lrls :h,... -'" .-¥,: .... .:I. '\J _ ~+ ..... __ ¥-~ A IG.AI .. ,,'""""" .... T . (I 20 years serving you.. "-'-- c;;-; $l J ~ TeJIIUtCM /l '..... ~'!.l) ~ i ~ Ancient Artifacts ',t:-...:-- "t::VIN R. <"'&£K • ANCIENT COINS Always Moderarely Priced ' Caralog Free 2800 S. Ullil'("rsi'y 1122 D"""er, CO 802/0 • MEDlEY AL COINS David Carvafho P.O. Box 4093 (213) 544-6399 Torrance, CA 90510 (303) 722-5540 • ANCIENT ART & • Illustrated Price Usts ANTIQUITIES • Want Ust Search Service ,.r:-~ EVENINGS • Auction Representation Write for Free Illustrated ~ (3")87~""o' • Mar1\et Price Comparables Catalogues of the Following : f r"q- HELIO~30 I ) 235·1696 • Ancient Coins llli [ . ··i A.N. i. SAN '. , • Medieval Coins XXII ...... • Ancient Art and Antiquities XIV OM 'WorM 5!ntiquities Ancient Greek. Roman. Egyplian, Etc. = Artifacts. Bronzas. Statuettes, Pottery, Flee List of inexpensive Amulets - Send for 11M list ANCIENT COINS Mtnnber: A nliquilie~ Dealer~ Assoc. MICHAEL & SANDRA WOLF South Salem P.O. Box 2S P.O. Box 233, Dewey, AZ 66327 New York 10590 Westminster, MD 21157 (602) 772-7144 :JI'1{'1J fll3{Cl'E'1{'T Saiigfi (ja{{ery '!ltmpir~ (!loins 'l'!('Ef4S'U'l('E5 5'lncien t 5'lrt Ancient Coin Specialists • Bu yin$ ' Selling · Wanl LislS' Books r\V) MEHRDAD • Appra l~a l s ' Consignmenls' Refcrrals • Ancndancc al all major Shows and Sales /'\~ SADIGH • Ex clusive Auction Bidding Scrvicc • Sound Advice hued on tong experi cnce • Suhscrihcrs receive si x fully illuslraled The Time 303 5th Ave. fixed price calalogucs of ancicnl coins and books abool lhem. and IWO m ~j or Machine Co. Room #1603 aUClion sales peT year. • Periodic reference book lisls & sales Fine Archaeological New York NY Empire Coins, Inc. Art and Coins 10016 C5:i 1'.0. 8 0.1 26)4 P.O. Box 282 - Flushing Sta. O.mond Beld. FL 32t75-2634 USA ~ Queens, NY 11367 800-426-2007 Phone (904) 677_7.114 IJ~"<"'" Office ho"" 9 · ~. M-F 'UIINII" · (71 B) 544-270B Fa. (~ l b77·12.l4 212-725-7537 ~ Ma rch 1991 37 Professional Directory ( Coins & Books ) ( Coins & Books ) ( Coins & Books ) GREEK, ROMAN, CELTIC, Ancient & World Coins V A V/D P. HERMAN BYZANTINE, and BRITISH Classical Numismatist HAMMERED coins. PONTERIO CLASSICAL ANTIQUITIES Attractive coins at reasonablr prices Ovcr 500 itcms per utcn.livc!y & ASSOCIATES,INC. Write /or your sample catalog: ill ustrated Cata logue including II"1lde offeu. With (,ir grading & reasonable prices 1818 Robinson Ave. 1322 35th SI. we are mljor sIIppliers 10 many US dealen. Why nOl try liS? San Diego, CA 92103 Suite 101 PaymCIl1 acccpted hy US dollar cheque. Yin Orlando, Fla. 32809 and MaSlcn;ard. Member.! o( thc Brilish (407) 422 - 5915 Numism31ic Tradc Associalion and Ihc (619) 299·0400 Anliquity Dealers A\s(Jciali on. (800) 854·2888 Please wrile or Iclephooc for your (ree copy. Christian Blom JOHN CUMMINGS LTD., PNG #308 PO Box 38, Grantham. ANA- l M Greek, Roman and lines. NG31 6AA. England. World Coins Telephone 0400·81848 write for free sample list Our unique 2504 N. Quantico St. GREEK mail bid auctions Arlington, VA 22207 allow you to 703-533-3119 ROMAN PAYTHE noon to midnight PRICE YOU and WANTTQ PAY WORLD COINS ROMAN IMPERIAL ow- 1,,1/)' illII, WILLIAM B. WARDEN, JR. P.O. BOX 356 NEW HOPE, PA 18938 (2 15)297·5088 IMPERIAL COINS ANCIENT COINS and ANTIQUITIES AND ANTIQUITIES Harlan Berk, Ltd. • Buy. sell, trade ancient J. coin.<: and ant iquitics Six buy or bid sales per year • All coins and arti fllcts Write or call for free catatogue fully guaranteed 312·609-0016 ~ • Write or call for free c:;;~ 312·609·0017 -ifr.?"" illuSlrated price list 1_"-,,.... .• ~ , . .. . 31 N. Cla,k $1 ...... "!g "';)7~ Ch icago, IL 60602 ./ P.O. Box 1969, Visalia, CA 93279 (2 09) 438·1707 38 The Celalor Professional Directory ( Coins & Books; ,. ) ( Coins & Books ) ( Coins & Books ) J~ ')~ EUROPE'S MAIN Greek, Roman, Byzantine 11' '1\~ SPECIALIST DEALER IN & Medieval Coins ORIENTAL COINAGES f Arthur J. Link '" for the Connoisseur ancient coins Occasional Catalogues Write for illustrated catalog VIKEN M_ HAVANDJIAN R FD 1, Box 240 P.O. BOX 50417 77485 AUSTIN, TX 78763 Wallis, TX Fr~e il/lls/raled sales list (512)250-1931 (409) 478-6796 (lw/i/"hle 011 rcque.,I. R_C. SENIOR LTD_ Glenn Schinke Butleigh Court Tower Fred B. Shore Numismatist Butleigh Glastonbury Somerset BA6 8SA England Classical Numismatics Ancients Tel. 0458 50824 Ancient Greek, Roman and Medieval Parthian coins of/he highest Foreign FRANK STERNBERG quality bought and sold P.O. BoxCH Numismatist PO Box 36 Rosemead, CA 91770 Schanzengasse 1 0, CH-8001 Fort Washington PA 19034 (818) 446-6775 Zurich, Switzerland 215 {275 - 3430 leI. 01/252.30.88 fax. 01/252.40.67 BILL MCDANIELS Ancient and BOllght and Sold Medieval Coins STEPHEN M. HUSTON COINS AND MEDALS (Greek, Roman, Indian, Cw.sical 9\{lWlismatLs t Ancient, Medieval and Modern Islamic, Chinese, P.O. Box 193621 NUM ISMATIC LITERATURE Early European, Etc.) San Francisco, CA 94119 USA GEMS, CAMEOS, JE\\'ELRY (415) 781 -7580 Ancient 10 Modem P.O. Box 2273 Albany, NY 12220 'Jiliu far i£{ustratuf cat4otJlU. AUCTION SALES Smart dealers and ECONOMOPOULOS collectors meet in the ENTERPRISES Professional Directory CLASSICAL NUM/SMA TlSTS Specialists in Greek ~ellicbal & Ancient Coins Roman ~ent1isst1nre I[oins Auctions and Byzantine C:l\alogue XVII now available Price Li sts Bought & Sold with coins of Europe to 1750. Lei us knoll' wll(ll you co /lecl SUPERIOR STAMP & Nicholas T_ or would like /0 sel/. COIN CO., INC. Economopoulos '!Renaissance QJ: oin QJ:o mpal1!' 9478 West Olympic Boulevard P.O. Box 199 P.O. Box 2303 Loop Station Beverly Hills, CA 90212-4236 Holicong. PA 18928 Minneapolis, MN 55402 (213) 203-9855 (215) 794-0406 March 1991 39 Professional Directory ( Coins & Books ) ( Coins & Books ) ( Coins & Books ) Lucien Birkler ILLUSTRATED & Co. PRICELISTS Professional Nlimismatists Greek W rite for our NUivllSMATIK Roman free li st of lANZ Byzantine Greek, MCiNCHEN Roman, Request yours today! Byzantine, Dr. Hubert Lanz Luitpoldb)ock, MllllimiJiansplat7: JO Wayne C. Phillips and Medieval coin s D-8000 MUnchen 2. Germany a-A Village Loop We o/fend mo.st major auction.s A Tel. (49) (89) 29 90 70 ,.•.. .. ~. (lfId will represent you <.'@2"') Fa,,;. (49) (89) 22 0162 ~.'(j~ Suite 125 ....7p ~~ Phillips Ranch, CA 91766 1707 L St. NW Suite 250 (714) 629·0757 Washington D.C. 20036 Send a cop)' of this ad for a FR EE sample 202-833-3770 of 0""" of our 1 ~leSI ~u"'li"" ",al~logs Sen,jng the collector since 1959 and tell us wh~l )'ou arc ",olleeling. Bargain Ancients FRANK L. Free Photographic Catalog AMPHORA Most prices belween wholesale and relall Jewish· Biblical KOVACS Robert Blake, Box 1153 Greek · Roman Ancient Coins Flagstaff, AZ 86002 Coins · Wei ghts & Antiquities Small Antiquities For Serious Collectors ORACLE Pn'c illllstrated lisl ANCIENT COINS (II'ailohle upon r('(II/<'.W ~ <.~> "We wrote the book "?' on Biblical coins!" P.O. Box 25300 Affordable Prices ' Free Lists San Mateo, CA 94402 Conservative Grad ing ~ ~P~?!f ~lJ (4 15) 574·2028 539 ·62 SI. ~N~~~~7~~ FAX (4 15) 574·1995 Brooklyn, NY U220 The Professional Directory For tire finest of islamic, Indian, Baktarian is your window to a variety numismatic art, "d of sources and services write for a Central Asian Coinages complimentary copy ancient & rare coins of O/l r fixed price daude all1<;cllcm catalogue. p.", "u, .IX7. r~ ... n,.', IU~KU ""f\"'~ .k.,kr'. ,,'Ik,,"". """',1,,,. \Ie need 10 bu)' (;reek • n~'zan1ine Write for sample illuslrated list Roman· Judaean P.O. Box 4009 Omar Hamidi W,n" I"" ",,,..I, ,,,,,,,,-,1. I~ .I,,, ,,",," Persic Gallery, P.O. 80x 10317 I~",h:~, All ,,,,,,, ~"."."",'cd ~"""JI": Malibu ""I ... u, """. I",,,, Caliform;190265 Torrance, CA 90505 (213) 540-1855 phone: (91-') 939-2051( m,-mt-.:r: aua lin 1.. 110. un,. Ill.!. i1itt~ 40 The Celalor Professional Directory ( Coins & Books ) ( Coins & Books ) ( Coins & Books ) Aucielll Greek & Roman Coills Specialist in Ancient Coins and books Olbou! them NUMISMATICA olto Slock World Minor Coins. M ~do ls. F,'u S(Jml, l~ ct1lolQgs ARS CLASSIC A AG Cro ... "s. Arfijacls. Booh olld Coin casrs BOK Thomas 1'. McKenna P.O. 1356·E 0..< inv<'1\'<> Write for your GREEK complimentary copy of our: ROMAN • Quarterly illi/s/rafed a!ldem COl%g BYZANTINE • Book Lin &; Accessory Cala/og MEDIEVAL • Ancien/ Barga in Price Li.fl A UCTlONS - PRICE LISTS • Freqllent Ma il Bid Sales In Ih~ ",,$I "''' )'~o .. ~ '~ ho". ~'m,pl~ud fi"~ S~IS 12 Co.so'S I'~ ,old. SENT ON REQUEST • Or of! {if tile abol'e ""It. GEORGE M. BEACH VALUATIONS ~ M&RCoins Numiscellaneous NUMISMATICA ARS CLA SSICA AG 10705 South Roberts Rd. Suite 146 p.o. Box 113. Owosso, M148867 P:dos Hills, IL 60465 NiedocnIorf""' .....l 1001 ZOIl;ICII. SWlT/l",II;U,NO (517) 6)4·5415 T.~O ' ~ ' 1103 F.. O'~'~:z. (708) 430-1445 Visiting: San Francisco? RARE lonathan K. Kern The Si ti con Valley? U:lchelor of Arts Stanford University? COINS Numismatics Specializing in/he Ancient, Medieval, Early American Numismatics TREASURE Coil/age ofJllt/aea Visit. .. ISLAND * Ancient We carry a large inventory of Ancients as well as * Medieval the largest Philatelic slock in the Bay Area. * Modern TREASURE ISLAND William M. Rosenblum 91 Town & Country Vi llage P.O. Box 355 444 S. Ashla nd Palo Allo, CA 94301 Evergreen CO 80439 Lexington, KY 40502 (41 5) 326-7678 (303) 838·4831 (606) 269-1614 ISLAMIC & INDIAN ( W holesale Coins ) Pegasi Coins COINS P.O. Box 4207 From the earliest limes to the present day 1Jionbon Qloin ®nlleries Ann Arbor, MI 48106 Suite 132 Mission Viejo Mall Phone: (313) 434-3856 Mission Vi ejo. CA 92691 C J a~sic"J llumism~lisls ~r\'ing (7t4) 364-0990 or 582·3481 beginners lhru advanced collecTors Classical Greek, Roman, Professional Directory ads Byzantine, and Medieval Price lists issued regularly, just make good sense! Coins, Books & Antiquities auailable upon request For ad vertising rates Free Illustrated catalogs STEPHEN ALBUM write or call: Specify: Ancient or Medieval P.o. BOX 7386 SAl\'TA ROSA. CA. 95407 U.S.A. 'Tfie Cefator Wan/lis/s serviced. Consul/alions available, P.O. Box 123, Lod l, WI 53555 Appraisals and 9s/al" "valuations perlormed. phone: 707-526-3421 Ac/;v" bur'" of all material. fax: 707-526-3266 (608) 592-4684 March 1991 41 Professional Directory ( Equip. & Supplies ) ( Shows & Conventions ) ( Shows & Conventions . ) PHOTOGRAPH GREATER COINS & BILLS NEW YORK BOSTON... Ancient and Foreign Coin • Instant Polaroid Prints @~ NUMISMATIC • Color or Black & White Mecca o/The Northeast! • Same Sile or Enlarged W ~ CONVENTION MAY 1, 2, 3, & 4, 1991 BAY STATE COIN SHOW ~ W OMNI PARK CENTRAL HOTEL June 7, 8, 9,1991 7th Ave. & 56th St., New York City November 22, 23, 24,1991 Call 01 Send lor Hakl . iMu~anel)U.ly with the AMERICAN ISRAEL NUMISMATIC "57" PARK PLAZA HOTEL Free Brochure ASSOCIATION CONVENTION ~" Room reservations: 617-482-1800 P.O. Box 2937 CONVENTION FEA TURES: " Redwood Ci!y, CA 94064 AuotiOM by Stack'•• ancients auctions, "Andent. Over 25 years ... " Arcade', Me 1908 - Be!it: of The Celat:or 04"·,,,,1 of E.;/;",,,,,Ii~a'J d1l",t - The Numismatic Literary Guild 1 9a9 - Best: of The Celat:or 'B"I!l.. ",- (ll{"(d C""''',,, 1 ggO - Be!i~ Df The Celat.or Better Than Everl Besl of 1990 $6.95 postpaid. All three: Best of88. 89 and 90. $15.00 postpaid '11ie Cefator, P.O. Box 123, Lodi, WI 53555 (608) 592-4684 NUMISMATIC VIDEO TAPES l'roJuc«l by David LiS<)! • • n ...... d "';ooi"8 joumah" .,oJ n," I,i·",,-,,]i. ,('O«i. II". he loIIQ"' in~ ,;,Ies 1"""'nLk,,",,,, ~iven .. ANiI Coo'"n';oo. by "f'O"" in • pMticulor field. lo1"'y p"'sentohOOi itKlud< <>col lent oolor . lide ••00 "f"<",n' . n ,,«Ikn' ""y lor r 42 The Celalor Paid AdV9f1is.ament THE BACK PAGE Dear Celator Reader: Of course, the big question that all dealers keep asking at shows, is where are all the coins? Shows used Since I wrote the last Back Page, I have done three to be excellent places to buy ancient coins from the more shows. We did San Jose, Golden State in Pasa collector who had changed his area of collecting or dena, and just finished Long Beach. Atlthe shows were wanted to "trade up" and from the local dealers who really similar in that collectors came out, the shows were well did not know much about ancients but would get them as attended, and coins were sold. Various dealers had "part of a deal". This has simply died. t am not sure what various degrees of success, as what had for sale and you is going on, but hardly anything ever comes into a show the price were of utmost importance in the minds of the anymore. Sure you are shown ancient coins, especially collector. when you advertise at most shows that you will give a I th ink that in the present market, the buyer is being a ~fr e e appraisal~ as 1often do. But what is shown to you bit more cautious than he once was. It used to be, that if is just ju nk. l ow-grade Severan denarii , or barely you had something that the collector wanted, he simply identifiable Constantinian bronzes, or more likely a bunch bought it. Table placement used to be of critical impor of tourist fakes that " Auntlil bought in Egypt years ago". tance at a coin show. If you were near the front or the Where are the nice coins? The auction houses are entrance of the show, you often caught a collector just as certainly not being deluged with coins for auction, and in he came in, he bought what caught his eye, and then he fact some 01 the firms who auction are having a real continued on. The problem was that having spent his problem getting enough decent coins to even hold a sale. money with you, when he came 10 the other tables, he I will leave you with this mystery to ponder. was often "just looking". In the current market, table location is not nearly as important, as the collector now FOR THE MONTH OF MARCH I WILL BE IN wants to look at all the tables, and see who has what, CALIFORNIA & ERIK WILL BE IN N.J. before he makes his purchases. There is much more EXCEPT FOR THE FOLLOWING SHOWS comparison shopping in terms of quality and/orprice than I ca n remember in past years. Upcomina Shows: I have also seen this translate to a collector spending A.N.A.-Dallas-March ' ·3 in the INFOMARTConference almost the whole day at the show, making notes, then Center. Still no idea what my table number is, so look for us going home and checking auction catalogues and price' under Or. Arnold R. Saslow lists, before coming back the next day to make his final C.I .C.F. - Chicago International - March 8-IOth, at the decision. The extreme of this was a local Southern Hyatt Regency on EastWacker Drive in downtown Chicago. California collector who fe ll in love with a magnificent gold We will have a double table #43-43A. This is a Fri.-Sun. 100 litrae of Syracuse that I had in stOCk, at the Golden show with show hours 1 0-7. 10·6. then 10 ·4. Next to the N.Y. State show, and taking two weeks to make up his mind International, this is one of the most important shows for before he finally purchased il at Long Beach. ancient coins in the world with all "the big names" from Of course, there is a risk in thisin thatlhedealermight Europe usually present. Try to make this one if at all possible. only have a single example of the coin that you love, and when you finally make up your mind, or perhaps gird your Metro N. V. Show - N. V.C. -March 21-241h al the Vista Hotel loins to make the purchase, another astute buyer might which is in the Trade Towers in lower Manhattan. This is a have gotten there firs!. I have seen this happen several 3 tl2dayshow, ThurS.-Sun. Show hours are 3-7 on Thurs. , 10·7 on Fri .. 9:30-6 on Sal. & 10:30·4 on Sun. I have no idea times recently. why the hours are so weird. This is a good, solid NVC show. I have also noted that at recent shows we have been but usually is deserted by Sun. I lhink we will be there until selling vast quantities of coins in the $20·$ t 00 range. We around 3 on Sun. unless everyone else has gone by then. usually try not to handle really inexpensive coins, but since Erik has come on board, he has urged me to unload FUTURE EVENTS: some of the safety deposit boxes that I always kept NAB in San Francisco - April 26·27th at the Holiday Inn· "putting stuff away in". So I now have about adozen trays Golden Gateway on Van Ness. Fri. & Sat. 10-7 each day. of "you ·pick·em" deals at every show and the collectors Stay tuned for future details. keep going mad. A good friend remarked to me, that another reason is, that with the war going on in the Middle East. airport and border security has become so tight that Rare Coins & Classical Arts Ltd. very little in the way 01 coins and antiquities are moving ~Specialists in Museum Quafity Coins" about. If you combine this with the reluctance of a lot of people to currently fly over to Europe and pick up coins, Member: ANA, ANS, SAN, AINA, INS, Fellow RNS you can see that a sudden "hoard " of Alexandrian tetra P.O. Bo x 374 P.O. Box 699 drachms which has been "mellowing" for several years in South Orange, NJ 07079 Palm Desert, CA 92261 the bottom of a vault, might suddenly prove very tempting Phone: (201 ) 761·0634 Phone: (619) 345·7161 to the fru strated collector. FA X: (201)761-8406 March 1991 43 INDEX OF Celator Classifieds DISPLAY Rates: ADVERTISERS $5,00 for the first 20 words, 20¢ each additional word. Algal Numismatics 37 Roman Egyptia n tctradrachms -third Hooks Wanted - Original British Mu Album, Stephen Amphora 30, "40 century. 5 different emperors, F or bet seum catalogues of Greek coins from : Amsellem, Claude 30, 40 ter, $60; VF or beuer, $90. 10 different Sicily, Thrace, Seleucid kings, Ancient World Arts, Ltd. 37 Aries Photographic emperors, F+ or better, $170. Bill Macedonia, Ptolemaic kings, Central Bank leu Ltd " Kalmbach, P.O. Box 3442. Austin, TX Greece. Crete. and Part hia. Top prices Bay State Coin Show " 78764. paid. Also want any Greek Imperial Beach, George M . " Belk;, Harlan J. Ltd. Cover, "38 period coins from Cyzicus. Roger L. 8irl ANNOUNCING A Mail Bid Auction Sale of CLASSICAL COINS 1450+ COINS· 100+ BOOKS Greek, Roman Republican , Roman Imperial, Greek Imperial (A nice run of Architecture types), Byzantine, Medieval, British, Foreign, Misc., Large Lots & Related Literature. SALE XIV CLOSING DATE March 20, 1991 $10.00 WITH PRICES REALIZED EXTRA CATALOGUES LIMITED· ORDER AS SOON AS POSSIBLE SU USCRIPTIONINFQRMATION Subscriptions arc available 10 all our publications: 140.00 in Ihe U.S. - SSO.OO elsewhere. Subscriplioo includes public auctions, mail bid auctions. and "ur quar1crly journal and fixed price li sls . the Class ical Numismatic Review. A Qf the Clanical Numismatic Review is , vail.ble upon request. - 4 PM FridaY' ~Piiiiiiiiii - PANTIKAPAION in the CRIMEA SCYTHIAN STYLE 320BC GOLD STATER 8.S3 g Quote lrom G.K. Jenkins "Ancient Greek Coins", New York, 1972. pages 120 and 125 The Black Sea had been an important area of Greek colonization bV Mllesians and others, and numerous Greekc'I,es were ranged around its shores. The importance cllhe agriculture 01 this legion to the Greeks 01 the Aegean has been menloOned above; but there was also goHj . so prominent in the riCh buri al -tre asures of the local Scythian rulers· and this was extracted pe rhaps from as far away as the Urals. anyway Irom a region remote enough tor He/odoles to repeat tha t th e Black Sea gold was pu rloined Irom the gn1fjns by the one·eyed Ar imaspeans. On the gold coins cl lhe city of Pa llti kapaion in the Crimea we see the griff in itself with its horned lion's head, and it stands on a greal ear 01 corn, as il to allude to both Ihe great sources 01 wealth 01 this region, Bul il is the obverses 01the coins which are Ihe truly impressive leature: the head of Pan, used as the punning device for the city's name, as it appears on staters 01 about 350 BC, is of the purest Greek style. with pointed ears, snub nose and unkept hai,. One or these heads is in proMe. the other in a semi-racing view excellently conceived. These staters were first minted on a slandard somewhat heavier than the ,Allie but tater the normal Allic weight came In. We must nole 100 the remarkable way in wh,ch a Scythian artist talles over the Greek design, even adding to the head of wreath 01 vine leaves, but adapting the racial forms 10 the stylization characteristic of the splendid gold objects 01 Scythian art· a fruitful mhcture of styles which is brilliant in a semi-barbaric way. The earlier stalers of Panlikapaion were conspicuous in the hoard found at Prinkipo on the Sea of Marmara, along with gold coins of Philip and of Lampsakos and the ubiquitous electrum of Kyzikos, an eloquent testimony to the great trade routes of the Black Sea area. The only other coin we can lind on the 8,53 weight standard is tho specimen in the British Museum. We believe our spedmen came from the same necklace as the BMC one. "has the same mino, scratches and the same triangular marks Irom mounting. Our eoin came to us 'fom a family thaI imigraled from the Crimea several generatIons ago and brought this coin with them at that tIme. To this point we know only of 2 specimens though it is likely that there are a few more. Fixed Price. Near Mint State . 30,000 J. BERK, LTD. 31 N. Clark Street, Chicago, Illinois 60602 (3 12) 609-0017 FAX: (31 2) 609-1 309 • #178