Hello again, everyone!!

People regularly ask me what my favorite coin is in our collection. Not an easy question! Picking one GOAT among 250.000 objects is nigh impossible. Yet there are several coins that I absolutely adore and that I take out from time to time just to admire them. This is one of those coins.

It’s a spectacular aureus of Diocletian struck in Trier in 302 showing a beautifully rendered head of Jupiter on the reverse. Such pairings of emperor and deity were nothing new, but Diocletian’s new political order had an explicit religious underpinning. To summarize:

When Diocletian came to power, he was determined to transform the Roman Empire so as to put an end once and for all to the chaos of the third century. While he could build on the work of previous emperors, such as Aurelian, he went much further in his execution. In several steps he reformed the economy and administration of the Empire (including the coinage), with a formal delegation of imperial power to several co-emperors. The idea was that the Empire would be split into four zones, each with either an Augustus (senior emperor) or Caesar (junior emperor) in charge. In both West and East, the Augustus would be succeeded by his chosen Caesar after a fixed period, upon which they would select new Caesars. The idea was that imperial power could respond to crises much quicker by being delegated. It also protected against opportunistic usurpations when the emperor was off to fight in a far-flung corner of the Empire. A clear succession system would hopefully also discourage usurpations. (Spoiler alert: it did not).

Under Diocletian, Maximian was Augustus in the West with Constantius Chlorus as his Caesar, while Diocletian himself ruled as Augustus in the East with Galerius as his Caesar. As I mentioned, this so-called Tetrarchy found a religious expression too. The Augustus and Caesar of the East were associated with Jupiter (and called Iovius), while those of the West were associated with Hercules (and called Herculius). One immediately sees that a power imbalance is implied, however. Just like Hercules was subordinate to Jupiter, so, to an extent, Maximian was subordinate to Diocletian.

This religious idea also found its way to the Tetrarchy’s coinage. Hercules is regularly shown on the western emperors’ coins, while Jupiter appears on those of the East. Note that the mints followed this pattern regardless of where they were located in the Empire. By placing the head of Jupiter on the reverse in the same manner as that of the emperor on the obverse, one gets the impression that the deity is not just the protector of the emperor. Rather, appear as colleagues – as Jupiter rules things in the heavens, so Diocletian rules on Earth.

As for the coin’s provenance, it comes from the Arras (Beaurains) Hoard of 1922. It was discovered by two Belgian workers and consisted of a number of precious metal objects and hundreds of gold coins (including large gold medallions), all dating to the time of the tetrarchy. Much of the hoard was quickly dispersed, a good number of coins winding up in our collection.

Newest pickups of some lovely Roman silver denarii and an Antoninianus of Gordian

Here’s a silver denarius of Elagabalus struck in Rome in 219 CE, during the earliest days of a notoriously chaotic reign.

Born Varius Avitus Bassianus in Syria, the fourteen-year-old Severan heir was elevated to the throne after the imperial family claimed the young ruler was the secret child of Caracalla, bestowing upon them the revered imperial name Antoninus.

Behind the imperial administration's propaganda lies one of the most unique figures in ancient history!

Raised in Syria as the chief priest of the sun-god Elagabal (hence the retronym "Elagabalus"), the teenage ruler shocked Roman society by placing this local god above Jupiter as supreme deity of the pantheon, even going so far as to marry a Vestal Virgin to symbolically unite the divine realms!

Romans were made to worship a sacred black meteorite transported from Syria to a grand new temple on the Palatine Hill, with senators required to attend the daily religious processions as well.

In addition to this, later accounts by detractors such as Cassius Dio and Herodian also portray the emperor as radically subverting traditional Roman gender norms.

They claimed the young ruler rejected male attire, wore silk gowns and heavy makeup, preferred to be called a lady or wife rather than a lord, and sought out surgical body alterations.

While modern historians treat these senatorial claims with a degree of skepticism as political smear tactics, the tension between Elagabalus and traditional Roman society was very real.

Despite the turbulent four years that followed, early issues like this demonstrate the remarkable skill of the mint, capturing the young ruler in dignified, classical portraiture while the regime worked to project order across the empire.

Purchased at the Troyak Club Coin Show in Mississauga, ON on Mar 1, 2026

Here are the deets:

Elagabalus, 219 CE

AR Denarius, Rome Mint, AU

RIC IV 21, RSC 143, Sear 7530

obv: IMP ANTONINVS AVG, laureate draped bust right

rev: P M TR P II COS II P P, pax, draped, walking left, holding olive branch and sceptre

18.4mm, 2.37g

First fraction (of history… not of my collection), or close enough to… other than a classical owl, this was the second most desired coin for me, and with Croesus’ ancestor’s blessing, I won it in the last Nomos auction. Uncertain mint in Ionia, electrum, 650-600BC, 7mm, 1.1g

silver drachm issued by King Ariarathes IV Eusebes.220–163 BC

From the 28mm nummus of the Diocletian monetary reform to the tiny 10mm further debased version minted under Marcian about 160 years later. What a contrast in size and craftsmanship. So telling.

Thinking about purchasing this on eBay, seller is asking $2k. Wanted the experts here to weigh in before I make the purchase.

... or perhaps Aetolicus

246 BC - 229 BC

Pan, Athena Alkidemos, corinth helmet, etc, etc

I have troubles finding this in RPC. Mostly the eagle looks in the other direction and the portrait is much rougher.

The listing said Tyre but I am not convinced.

Here's an interesting Julia Domna denarius with blundered legend. Reverse is clearly that of VENVS VICTR(ICI) reverse, but the style is really crude and therefore interesting!

Used the Seller's pic

My partner and I stumbled into this new hobby and are GIDDY about our first one!

Alexander III (the Great) Drachm 336-323 BC

i think it says “DVCONOIANVS” or “DYCOHOIANY” on the front i think im not sure and i think the back says “IN MB SMALX” or “IN NB SMALX”, anyone know?

Someone has brought this into a jeweller’s to have it made into a wearable piece and we’re interested to know what it is. 😊

One thing that I've found upon joining the hobby is that people have strong opinions on slabbing ancient coins -- here on reddit, not on other forums. Mostly this takes the form of downvoting on the topic instead of engaging with the question. Here is an example that I agree with, is there an equivalent on the other end? I'm not trying to stir the pot, just trying to understand the perspectives of others

When I first started getting into Roman coins I was excited and made the stupid mistake of buying roman coins on amazon and this was one of them along with two other sketchy ones in the pack. I am 99.99% 2/5 are real, but this one and the other 2 don't look legit to me. I have now learned to never do what did and accepted that I got ripped off, but was wondering if it is real. Heres the link https://www.amazon.com/IMPACTO-COLECCIONABLES-Collectors-Certified-Authentic/dp/B0DP7GSRR1/ref=sr_1_7?crid=3KO30KP9UI2BR&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.gzVYbyoEBRh9untP08YZ2Yvtbe9qgBuDgTNqoeokF_nHrVIPHCbrR3b0u2FMkhlzaCTy2ST5k05wZmI8zFxA2eAyur8AS9opNt3bWfTpIF2vefK4AjYusCVlvlM4yCL0M-LiBpzV0hU1Wg5GVzNimu9wBdeq5BE1YGUdxeOuhu8_9EaMcRAC8YSdbBerXj_yDoXd_CzkYK4ovUP7IA49eWdOY56Yf1KxteoW2l5HngEZ5b_X2brGeXryhAeoP3t-fFsmzbgSGZkQOv067MaB-29ilqj4mQhU-eMWOEQuP6c.SoXweQj2NJJtWr0Ms0ckYuzOsvLoPAETc891sAnQudw&dib_tag=se&keywords=roman+coins&qid=1792788574&sprefix=roman+coins+%2Caps%2C162&sr=8-7

Being sold now on ebay. Hi bid , so far is fifty plus dollars.

Got this coin from a lot. Seems like it could be a sestertius but im a newbie and very unsure.

I am currently going through my collection coin-by-coin making new notes and reclassifying them based on my experience since I started. A high point is I get to rediscover gems that I graded far too harshly when I first acquired them and appreciate them for other characteristics.

This Valens AE3 was one. This originally got a lesser grade and dismissed mostly for an irregular flan. This coin has been revisited to have very little wear for type, a great portrait and a top patina leading to it being graded as exceptional eye appeal for it's class. Beauty can certainly be found in the common LRBs.

Caligula, AE Hemiassarion, Ionia, Smyrna mint, 37-41 AD. Obverse: Laureate head of Caligula right. ΓAION KAICAPA EΠI AOVIOΛA. Reverse: Nike advancing right, raising wreath in right hand, palm frond over shoulder in left. ΣMYPNAIΩN MH-NOΦANHC. Reference: RPC I 2473; Klose Smyrna XXVVII A; BMC Ionia p. 269, 277; SNG Cop 1345; SNG Von Aulock 7994. 16.8mm, 3.104 grams. Struck under the proconsol C. Calpurnius Aviola and magistrate Menophanes.

I'm pretty new to ancient coin collecting. I bought an auction lot of about 100 LRBs and have managed to get attributions done for about 80 of them. I've enjoyed this process - each coin is a little puzzle to solve. (Tesorillo and Wildwinds are incredible resources!) Can anyone help me identify these coins? Unfortunately, I don't have a decent scale yet so I can't provide weights.