SCOTVS CAPITIS

Semi-autonomous - Syria, Antioch ad Orontem
AE 7.32g / 20mm / -
Ob: Zeus' laureate head right
Rv: ΕΠΙ ΣΙΛΑΝΟV ΑΝΤΙΟΧΕΩΝ - Aries the Ram, head reverted running right, star above, ΔΜ (year 44) below
Notes: Silanus, Legatus Augusti pro praetore, 12 - 14 A.D.
Ref: RPC I 4269; BMC Galatiaia pg 159, 65

Previously this year, I posted about Michael Molnar's book, The Star of Bethlehem: The Legacy of the Magi and the coin type in question. Intrigued after reading the book, I began looking for better examples of this coin. My coin featured in the previous post is certainly identifiable, but I kept my eyes open for good deals on better condition coins. I spied the finest example of this coin I had ever seen at Holy Land Coins, a Vcoins shop run by a friendly fellow who seems to always score the finest hoards and lots I've ever seen. Most of his "Star of Bethlehem" coins were fine examples, and prices accordingly. Among the finest was this coin, this one, this example, and this one. Obviously, fine condition coins like these are out of my budget. However, keeping an eye on one of my favorite middle eastern sources, I finally found a pair of these coins that rivals any I have seen, and they are the two depicted in this post.

Mr. Molnar's book makes a compelling and very strong case for the Star of Bethlehem coins being depictions of the Biblical event, and apparently his book has generated a more active market for these coins, for they have risen dramatically in price since his book was published. If you look carefully, however, you can still find them at reasonable prices.

Semi-autonomous - Syria, Antioch ad Orontem
AE 6.22g / 20mm / -
Ob: Zeus' laureate head right
Rv: ΕΠΙ ΣΙΛΑΝΟV ΑΝΤΙΟΧΕΩΝ - Aries the Ram, head reverted running right, star above, ΔΜ (year 44) below
Notes: Silanus, Legatus Augusti pro praetore, 12 - 14 A.D.
Ref: RPC I 4269; BMC Galatiaia pg 159, 65

Here's a look at an in progress coin. A week ago I began cleaning this antoninianus of Volusian while sick with terrible fever. It was a dumb move, for I was rather delirious and not thinking straight due to being sick. I was thinking that the coin sounded very much like full out silver when rung on the table, and I was going to do a very brief lemon juice scrub on the coin, which is fine for a denarius of fairly high silver content. However, for billon, this method can be disastrous. I exercised enough restraint to dump it in a distilled water bath until i could get over the fever, and finally came back to it after a couple of days. A rather out of character post on FORVM asking for billon cleaning advice also helped snap me back into reality, and was somewhat embarrassing considering that this week I was nominated for, and granted, the honorary title Conservator Princeps! (Thanks again, Chris!)

Its a good thing I waited, for the foolishness of quickly acting with harsh methods like lemon juice would have been quickly evident. Billon is a very debased silver-bronze alloy, and citric acid, or any acid, will quickly eat, etch and errode bronze. On billon coin, the result would have been a seriously compromised coin that was porous and gray. Instead, this coin is a good example of the power of distilled water cleaning.

Uncleaned

After first cleaning

After a couple of days in distilled water, the brown, hard dirt covering the coin in a thin, glossy layer was easily scrubbed off with a trimmed toothbrush, and the red sand deposits were reduced greatly. Under the sand was a mixture of sand and bronze patina on top of the silver, and a plastic for tine was used to pick at this mess until I had removed most of it. The coin looks much brighter now, and will need just a few more picking sessions and soaks to remove the last remaining traces of dirt.

Once done, I am left with a typical antoninianus of the era, albeit on an ugly oblong flan, and it is typically rough due to natural erosion and corrosion of the bronze on the surface layer. What remains on the surface is silver, and it can be improved a little with some effort. I am not sure that I want to invest that effort for a couple of reasons.

What has been suggested by my friend Kevin at Noble Roman Coins is that the fields and flats be burnished a bit with a smooth stone tool. He's got a method I have not used since I usually work with either bronze or silver, rarely billon. It would improve the roughness of the coin, but I would want to practice on some junkers first.

The idea of smoothing or burnishing a coin turns off a lot of collectors, and in general it should. Its a close cousin to full blown 'tooling' which is a frowned upon method of re-cutting detail into the coin. Tooling is most often used deceptively to improve a lesser grade coin or to add or remove detail to make a coin more desired and valuable. Tooling can be difficult to identify if done by a skilled craftsman, and these are the most dangerous toolers. Some tooling is laughably crude, which makes the deception easy to spot. Part of the tooling process is indeed smoothing, but looking at high dollar coins that have been professionally cleaned, on will notice that many indeed have been smoothed, more than dealers would want to admit. Smoothing, if done in moderation and without intent to deceive, is an acceptable practice in my opinion, but only one to be used in very few cases. This coin might be one of them, I will need to evaluate further. While tooling includes smoothing, smoothing is not necessarily tooling.

Julia Domna
AE As 14.43g / 26mm / -
Ob: IVLIA AVGVSTA - Draped bust of Julia Domna right, hair in braids brought back behind head
Rv: CERES - Ceres upright on the left, holding two ears of corn in right hand and torch in left; modius at feet, S - C
Mint: Rome (193-211 AD)
Ref: RIC 870; Cohen 19 (4f.); BMC 781; H.2/346; RC.1862

This bronze As is a chunky coin and happens to have one of those fine glossy patinas that makes it nearly impossible to photograph or scan nicely, it looks best in had and in light. This is one of the better Imperial portraits of Domna, from the hair style it comes from the earlier part of her public life, and because of the obverse legend, it comes from before her husband, Septimius Severus, died.

I believe that the best portraits of Domna are provincial portraits or jewelry portraits, but this coin's obverse is very nicely engraved. Surely a different die maker engraved the reverse, for it is typically clunky and rather uninspired.

As a beginning ancient coin conservator and collector, one of the more challenging aspects of the hobby is identification of the coins you have cleaned. Hopefully this article will help beginners with the identification process. There are ample resources for the seasoned veteran, but since most collectors begin with late Roman bronzes, we'll use them as our example. Learning with late Roman bronze coins will also teach the vital terminology necessary to identify almost any coin, and will teach the beginner how to look and actually see something meaningful among the scribbles and marks often found on ancient coins.

When you have cleaned and conserved your coins successfully, sometimes you will find there is little evidence of a design present at all. Some are off-centered strikes where the coin design is half way off the flan or more. Occasionally a broken edge might remove part of the design, or crust, corrosion and wear may have made the coin relief a mere ghost on an otherwise smooth disc. These coins can usually be attributed to one degree or another with a little practice.

Once your difficult coins are conserved and ready to be identified, here are several tips that should be useful, especially for new collectors. Use the visual cues and assets you have available and note them all, even slight clues. This is detective work and sometimes the smallest detail will be the key to a proper, full attribution.

Once you have positively identified those obvious elements, you can use the process of elimination to narrow the scope of your search. For example, if you have a small bronze coin with a faint portrait on one side and some partially recognizable shapes on the other, you can make note whether the portrait is male or female, which way the portrait is facing, and if there is any portion of the legend visible on either side. You can measure and weigh the coin, and examine the design on the reverse for details that might be clear. Here is an example of a coin that could be considered difficult, we will use the clues available to identify this coin:

From this coin, I would first note that there is a male bust on the obverse with a diadem (it is dotted, not a laurel wreath), the bust appears to be draped (he's wearing something) and there is a portion of the legend present on the right side. On the reverse, I can see what looks like a figure moving to the left with one arm back. In front of the figure is a cross-like mark, there are many worn remnants of the legend around the coin's circumference and at the bottom appears to be a few letters of a mint mark. The coin is bronze and is 13mm in diameter, a very small coin, and is presumably Roman because it was part of a lot purchased as 'uncleaned Roman coins'.

This is my initial data, and it should be sufficient to give the coin a rough identification. How do we proceed to attribute this coin fully?

We will take this step by step, using online resources to identify the basic type of coin, and then we will use Helvetica's Spreadsheets to identify the coins further.

This is where a little bit of initial knowledge comes in handy. For a beginner, there is no better experience than to browse basic primers on Roman Coin identification to get familiar with the major design motifs and reverse types. This is the key to knowing where to begin looking. A good basic online primer is the FORVM Coin Attribution Toolkit, another is the visual index of Helvetica's RIC Lists site where you can look at the coins represented and determine if your coin matches. One exceptional resource is "Identifying Late Roman Bronze Coins" at Tesorillo.com, where you can walk through several identification aids. We will use the Tesorrillo.com tool first, in order to find out what kind of coin we have in this exercise. That will give us enough of a positive identification to then use Helvetica's RIC lists for a proper attribution.

Step by Step
Getting to know the reverse designs that are likely to be encountered by collectors will come with experience and study. Looking at the example coin, I can see that it looks much like a Victory dragging a captive (Fig 1). I used the "Types of Reverses" feature at Tesorillo.com and clicked on the first design sample image in the table labeled "Victory with captive, emperor, etc.", for our reverse image looks much like that illustration. This led to a page that lists the emperors that used this type of reverse on their coins. It also told us the reverse legend of such coins, and we can note that legend and compare it to the one on our coin and see if it is a match.


Fig 1 - Major design element - Victory dragging captive
The legend provided is SALVSREI PVBLICAE, and make note of the break. We will look on our coin, we see that indeed, it looks like SALV is visible on the reverse (Fig. 2).

Now that we know this coin is likely a SALVSREI PVBLICAE type, here is how I would go about attributing this coin using the excellent tools at Helvetica's RIC Lists site After downloading the spreadsheet for the SALVSREI PVBLICAE from Helvetica (it is currently the fourth from the bottom), open it and make sure to scroll to the top of the spreadsheet so that you can see the column headers, which are drop down menu filters. We will use the filters at the top of each row, this is the process of elimination that should properly identify this coin. (Tip - download and keep these spreadsheets handy, but never save when you close them!)


Fig.2 - SALV is evident in the reverse legend

We know a few things from the initial exam - the coin reverse legend begins with SALV. (Fig. 2) In the column labeled Reverse Legend, we click and the drop down shows us all the options, and yes, there among a half dozen options is SALVS REI-PVBLICA, but also SALVS REI-PVBLICAE with the extra E at the end. In some cases we could count the lumps that represent letters in our coin legend and determine if our legend has the E at the end, but on this coin, it is difficult to tell where the letters are at the top of the design, so we will move to another possible design element to help filter our many options. On the obverse, it is clear that the emperor has a pearl diadem (Fig. 3), and not a roseate diadem, so we can use that to filter the bust type column to knock out all other types. Helvetica's spreadsheet contains a sheet describing the different bust types if you are confused, just click the tab at the bottom for the "Bust Types" sheet. We filter out every coin that doesn't have a pearl diadem by selecting PDC, for "pearl diadem, draped, cuirassed".


Fig.3- Pearl Diadem on emperor
The next step I would take is to note the design in the reverse field, to the left of the Victory. It is a Chi-Rho (Fig. 4), and it is a common device on these coins, so I would click "left field" and select "Chi-Rho" This has narrowed our search a bit, but still, we have multiple emperors to choose from. Look at the obverse legend, what we can see of it.


Fig.4- Chi Rho in right field
All that is readily legible of the obverse legend, with a little effort and the aid of magnification, is "SIVS" and maybe part of what could be a P (Fig. 5). This is good news, because there is only one emperor with a legend that contains SIVSP for this type of coin, so we can look in the drop down menu of obverse legends, search for the legends that contain SIVSP and see there are two to choose from: DN THEODO-SIVS PF AVG and DN THEODOSI-VS PF AVG. The dash represents the break in the legend, that is the area where the legend is broken to make room for the emperor's head. Ours clearly has the SIVS after the emperor's head , so we will select DN THEODO - SIVS PF AVG. This tells us now that our emperor is Theodosius I. Now we are getting somewhere. The list of possible attributions now fits on one screen without scrolling.


Fig.5- Obverse Legend
At this point we move to the mint mark, as it is the most unique identifier once the emperor and legends have been positively chosen. My mint mark is very worn, but I can see it begins with an A (Fig. 6). Indeed there are mint marks beginning with A in the list from three different mints, Alexandria, Aquilea and Antioch. I will need to determine what the next letter is to distinguish the mint. On my coin, the scan doesn't show off the letters well, but in hand and under magnification and in good light, I can see that the second letter is not a Q nor an N, so it can only be an L. Referring back to the spreadsheet, that makes the mint city Alexandria, and all Alexandria mintmarks for this type have a letter E after the L. On this coin, it indeed appears to have the strong upright of the E visible, and a large lump to the right in the place of the fourth letter. I can't identify this fourth letter positively, but as you get experience looking at mint marks, you can see it resembles a B. The mint mark then can only be ALEB. When I choose ALEB from the mint mark selection I am left with only two coins, identical in all attributes but each has a different reference number cited - RIC IX Alexandria 23a and RIC IX Alexandria 20b. This could be, as suggested by the dates given in the spreadsheet, two different emissions of the same coin design. However, for our purposes, we do not have enough information on the coin to determine this, and we find further that in the notes section of the spreadsheet that RIC IX Alexandria 23a and RIC IX Alexandria 20b are identical. So, we can attribute our coin as either one.


Fig.6- Mint Mark
We will also note that the process of elimination has confirmed that our coin's reverse legend is likely SALVS REI-PVBLICAE and not SALVS REI-PVBLICA. We have confirmed, within a reasonable doubt, the obverse legend break. We now have a full attribution and a reference. I write my attributions like this:


Helvetica's RIC lists are an exceptionally good tool for collectors, and Dane (the person behind the work) has done a great service to the collecting community by building these spreadsheets. Her labor is selfless and we who benefit ought to be grateful. For coins that do not fall into the types listed in Helvetica's RIC lists, similar strategies of elimination can be used while searching various databases, books and references. The process is it's own teacher, and experience is the reward.

Some generic tips

Look for major design motifs that identify the type of coin. There are many types of late Roman bronze coins, but generally the collector can get familiar with all of them rather quickly. A pair of people with uprights between them is common and will be easily identified after seeing only a few. Likewise, a "happy face" motif on the reverse of some coins is likely to be the crescent moon and three stars, common on some provincial coins. Even on worn coins, knowing a little of the major design elemets makes quick work of attribution.

Details give clues - sometimes a specific detail can give a vital clue. A field mark on a FEL TEMP fallen horseman type might be the key to a precise attribution, or the design on a banner. Pay attention to any detail that seems clear.

Learn about legends and type - looking at Roman legends illustrates that letter forms are not always represented in the same manner. During certain periods of time, letters can be rendered quite differently than we would expect. During the military emperor period, a letter M on coins of Claudius II and Gallienus might be rendered as three vertical lines, or a letter a might look more like two sticks leaning toward one another with an open apex and no cross bar. Letters during the Constantinian dynasty often have exaggerated serifs, occasionally closing the tops and bottoms of letters where we would expect them to be open. Letters such as A, M, N and S often look radically different. Getting familiar with type is good practice. Browse the coins on display at the Wildwinds database for a good selection of coins to study.

Learn a little Greek - Get to know the Greek alphabet of antiquity, besides being the most common language for Roman provincial coins and Greek coins, it is often found in Roman Imperial mint marks.

Begin to recognize personalities, personifications, and things often common on coins - Knowing the profile of an emperor or empress will help, as well as a little knowledge of personalities associated with the deities often depicted on coins. For example - if you had a well-worn coin that was unclear, but you could see on the reverse a figure advancing forward, one arm raised above its head and the other thrust forward holding something, along with a dog running at its feet - this person will almost always be Artemis the huntress. This narrows a search down immediately.

Weight, material and size - the material of the coin (bronze, orichalcum/brass, billon, etc.) will often be an aid to identity, especially with larger coins.

Hopefully this is useful, especially to new collectors. I always welcome suggestions and corrections!

Phillip II
Macedon, AE 4.10g / 18mm / -
Ob: Young male head right bound with taenia
Rv: Horseman galloping right
Mint: Macedon, 359-336BC
Ref: Lindgren II, 1268

I've been cleaning some Greek coins lately, most of which are pretty tough. These Balkans-area coins are not in really good shape, heavily corroded and what patina they have is soft and porous. Often the line between dirt, corrosion and patina is gradual, if any, and coins of this nature are difficult to clean.

This one was one of the better ones of a 10 coin batch. While the patina is cracked, it is hard and dark green-brown, the details of the coin are largely preserved. Greek coins are not my main interest, but I find them challenging and the craftsmanship of the die makers is clearly evident on many Greek issues.

Philip II was of course the father of Alexander the Great, and no slouch himself in terms of historical notoriety.

This coin came from and uncleaned lot in 2008.

After several abortive attempts, I have finally managed to get an entry into the FORVM Ancient Coins Never Ending Contest. This is an ongoing contest that is geared toward teaching people how to clean coins without destroying them. Entrants are generally also active members of the FORVM discussion board and presumed to spend time in the Uncleaned Coin Discussion Forum which is filled with advice, experts, and loads of help when cleaning coins. FORVM officially advocates a conservative cleaning approach, so it follows that the contest looks for non-destructive success, gentle methods and cleaning regiments that practice patient, slow methods and a cautious, 'gradual escalation of force'. Its a great way to learn and have some fun, plus, the winner actually gets a little prize at the end.

I ordered a contest entry and received my coins promptly. Once received, they were scanned according to the rules and posted, this is how they looked when I got them:

Contest coins as received

These coins appeared to provide few serious challenges, most of the dirt appeared to be typical clays with little encrustation or mineral deposits. The challenges, if any, would appear after the majority of the dirt was removed. I had planned to clean the largest coin with dry methods since the dirt was fairly light colored and sandy. While not desert sand, this dirt appeared to be a good candidate for that sandy patina look. I began working this one with a dry cut-down nylon brush, and a curved scalpel to remove thicker dirt and stubborn deposits. The obverse was working out as planned, but the reverse never showed any detail, the relief of the design was such that it would not easily lend itself to this kind of cleaning. I abandoned the sandy look in order to see what the reverse details were since part of the contest is providing an accurate and detailed attribution. In order to do that I had to see what the design was in detail.

The rest of the coins, and later the large coin, went into a boil of Gringott's Conservator mix for a while and I cleaned the lot as I describe in my article "Step by Step: Cleaning and Attributing Uncleaned Ancient Coins". Slowly brushing after extended distilled water soaks with a cut down tooth brush removed most of the dirt. I used a brass poker tool to get the stubborn dirt out of the detail areas, and a diamond dusted dental pick was used to work down a calcium-like deposit covering the mint mark and part of the obverse on coin number 1. The last coin had such a thick and glossy patina that I needed to reduce it a bit in order to bring out detail. This is a delicate and time consuming process that only works on coins with a particular type of patina generally only found on coins with a high brass content, in my experience. I used a soft brass brush for the first several light scrubbings and then a stiff nylon brush to work the surface after soaking in distilled water. Once I was able to attribute the coin fully, I stopped.

Coin 4 and 5 were troublesome. Coin 4 has serious corrosion under the patina and is compromised badly, I treated it for bronze disease and it probably is still active somewhere under the patina, there's nothing to be done for this coin but wait and watch. It has nice detail, very crisp, but as with many coins the detail is preserved IN the patina, not under it, so when the corrosion breaks the surface of the patina, the bare metal underneath is lumpy and poor. The mint mark is one of the areas where the patina had given way and broken off, so I can't identify the coin fully. There is enough data on the coin to narrow it down to one of three references, all sub types of one RIC number. Coin 5 was just too weakly struck and corroded to produce a nice coin. While identifiable, it is ugly and ragged.

Out of my six contest coins, I successfully cleaned them all, and all were identified as much as they could. I had a GLORIA EXERCITVS of Constans from Cyzicus, a FEL TEMP of Constantius Gallus minted at Thessalonica, GLORIA EXERCITVS of Constantius II as Caesar from Thessalonica, a SECVRITAS-REIPVBLICAE of Valentinian I Siscia, a GLORIA EXERCITVS of Constantius II as Caesar from an unknown mint, and my favorite of this batch, a provincial from Nikopolis ad Istrum for Septimius Severus.

Contest entry after cleaning


My coins, comments, attributions and such are posted in this thread awaiting the next round of judging. If you clean coins, this is a fun project and will at the very least net you some decent uncleaned coins, fun and camaraderie.

Thrace, Thasos
AR Tetradrachm 16.50g / 30mm / -
Ob: Head of young Dionysos right, wearing band across forehead and ivy-wreath
Rv: Herakles, naked standing left holding club downwards in right hand, lion skin over left arm, lions scalp over left shoulder, M between leg and club
Mint: after 148 BC
Ref: SNG Copenhagen 1040; SG-1759; SNG Ashmolean 3689; Le Rider, Thasos 51

The island of Thasos lies in the extreme northern Aegean Sea and has factored in history since first exploited by the Phoenicians and then later inhabited by various aggressive Thracian tribes between 2000 and 1600 B.C. It passed through many hands and allegiances in the Ancient, Hellenistic and Classical eras before being a "free state" under Roman rule. Thasos is steeped in history and myth and is well known for its Gold mines, which is certainly a major factor in its notoriety.

This is a common enough tetradrachm of Thasos, minted after 148 B.C. The portrait is a young Dionysus and demonstrates good style - some of these coins are poorly exectued and some ancient copies are utterly hideous. The coin is pleasantly toned, which tends to bring out the detail. These tetradrachms are huge by ancient standards, almost the size of a U.S. Half dollar and surprisingly pure in silver content. The ancients had metallurgy and refining down to a well-practiced art.

While I am not a big fan of Hellenistic culture or art, there are certain iconic coins and designs that are attractive pieces in a collection. Since I'm not a Greek collector primarily, I only acquire those Greek which are either pleasing and personally attractive, or are "low hanging fruit" and turn up in uncleaned lots or at great prices. This is one of those that I find attractive.

AE As Ancient Forgery
Time of Augustus
Ob: Imitating characters, TRIBVVVCPOTESTCA.. - Bust right, legend around, counterstamp
Rv: Imitating characters, TIV??VEVCIIIC inverse A - Retrograde S and C, legend around
Ref: Imitating RIC 427, BMC 209, and Cohen 445

Ancient forgeries turn up often in uncleaned lots. This one was discovered in one of my first lots of large uncleaned coins back when large uncleaned coin lots that were not all junk could still be found. This is a rather interesting coin. The engraver made no efforts to be particularly accurate, the legends themselves are largely gibberish. The portrait is well executed for a "barbarous forgery" but bears no resemblance to anything remotely Roman. Some have postulated that this type of "barbarous" coin was likely minted to be used on the fringes of the empire, where it was not so important to deceive and replicate.

There is also a counter stamp on the obverse of the coin, a clue that informs us that this coin was probably "officialized" at some point and authorized as currency in the empire by an official representative of the imperial government.

This coin attempts to replicate a coin of this official issue, an Augustus moneyer issue, most likely P. Lurius Agrippa. Circa 27 BC-14 AD.

Julia Domna (Augusta)

VF AR Antoninianus 4.36g / 25mm / -
Ob: IVLIA PIA FELIX AVG - Draped and diademed bust r., on crescent.
Rv: VENVS GENETRIX - Venus seated l., extending r. hand and holding sceptre.
Mint: Rome (215-217 AD)
Ref: RIC IV 388a; RSC III 211

Here is one of the earliest of this denomination. It is thought to have been valued at somewhere between 1.5 and 2 denarii and was introduced by Caracalla around 215 AD. Julia Domna, Caracalla's mother and widow of Septimius Severus, died in 217 AD, so this coin can be dated to approximately 215-217 AD, if all the assumptions about the issue date of the Antoninianus are correct.

The Antoninianus was named after Caracalla (his full title and name at the time of the new currency was "Caesar Marcus Aurelius Severus Antoninus Pius Augustus"). It was inherently lower valued than the denarius due to lower silver content, and over time it degraded to virtually no silver content at all. It is supposed to have also kicked off a wave of inflation and during several subsequent imperial reigns was not minted for a period of time.

Being one of the later issues of Domna, it features her iconic, rather extreme hair style. Evidence points to this style being a wig, but wig or natural, it is a common feature of Domna's later issues. The obverse legend is also a time marker, IVLIA PIA FELIX AVG being the legend that this Augusta assumed after her husband died.

If collecting coins of Domna, this is one of only a small handful of general types of Antoninianus that were minted in her name.

Here's a pretty interesting numismatic adventure. I was recently researching coins of the city of Antioch while considering trimming down my collection of provincials to only those cities that were visited by the Apostle Paul during his missionary trips. Syrian Antioch, being an important city to the Romans and later to Christianity, happened to also be represented pretty well in my collection of provincial issues and imperial issues from the Antioch mint. I discovered quite by accident that a particular coin had become quite famous, having been deemed the "Star of Bethlehem" coin. Not being one to pass up a anything that might be related to my faith manifesting itself in historical tangibility, I purchased Michael Molnar's book, The Star of Bethlehem: The Legacy of the Magi.

As I read the first few chapters, I discovered that many of the accolades that Mr. Molnar has received from both the academic community and the Christian community are well deserved. He has done some seriously context-rich research that illuminates the Magi and Star story found in the gospel of Matthew by investigating data that would be of key importance to the eastern Magi. Over the centuries, attempts to explain the Star from a natural point of view have been carried out from the perspective of science in context of modern presuppositions. A supernova, comet or highly visual celestial event is a spectacular to astronomers today, newsworthy events to be studied and highly anticipated. But Mr. Molnar shows that the Magi, and ancient culture in general, did not regard these events in like manner.

Previous attempts to show the Star of Bethlehem as a literal, natural astronomical event have assumed the star must have been a comet, a nova or a phenomenon that would be considered extraordinary. However, Molnar shows from history that astronomy and astrology were one in the same, and extraordinary visible celestial events such as comets and novae were in fact feared, loathed, not regarded as portents of Kings or positive things to come. Rather, those events that were tracked carefully and watched closely were astrological, and are virtually unnoticed today or disregarded as insignificant coincidences. Assuming the event described in the gospel of Matthew was natural, it would not have raised the attention of the Magi of the east if it was not astrological in nature.

Molnar relates how the clue to all of this was a coin like this one:

Syria, Antioch ad Orontem
AE 6.21g / 19.5mm / -
Ob: Zeus' laureate head right
Rv: ΕΠΙ ΣΙΛΑΝΟV ΑΝΤΙΟΧΕΩΝ - Aries the Ram, head reverted running right, star above, ΓΜ (year 43) below
Mint: 13-14 AD
Ref:RPC I 4269; BMC Galatiaia pg 159, 6
Notes: The "Star of Bethlehem Coin" Roman Syria, Silanus, Legatus Augusti pro praetore, 12 - 14 A.D.

The event he goes on to describe is a rather meaningless event to us today - a double occulation of the "regal star" Jupiter by the moon in the constellation of Aries in the year 6 BC. While not significant to us, to the Magi this event was highly significant. To the Magi, Aries was the sign of Judea, and this event signaled the birth of a King.

One could go on and debate the theological implications of such a theory. Christians who feel threatened by the idea of their God using astrology to hail the birth of the Messiah to the Gentile world may squirm a bit, but from my perspective as a Christian pastor, we need not worry too much if we maintain a proper perspective on God and His character. Indeed we have examples of God speaking through other, similarly non-conventional means as He makes the profane things of the world demonstrate His own will in an act of exercising His sovereignty. Yet at the same time we have to compare scripture to scripture to come to a clear understanding of how this apparent demonstration of His sovereignty is in fact in line with His character as revealed in scripture. From the Christian perspective, the event Mr. Molnar may or may not have properly identified as the 'Star of Bethlehem' sure does seem like a strong case, but it can't be dogmatically stated as such if it flies in the face of the character of God. The story in scripture seems supernatural, which is fully possible and some Christians might justly claim more probable. We believers cannot presume upon God, but can merely interpret what we see and can deduce in light of what God has revealed. But from my personal perspective how much more amazing would it be had God Himself orchestrated through natural history such an event to display His wisdom, omnipotence and careful providence? After all, scripture states that the stars were given as "signs". This is the study I am planning to embark on soon.

Whatever the case, a double occulation can be demonstrated to have literally occurred in 6 BC and would have been of great significance to the astrologically focused Magi. The fact that such an even was memorialized on a coin issued in the city of Antioch certainly demonstrates that the event was significant, even within the Roman empire. Shown below is my coin with outlines to illustrate the star and the Aries ram clearly, along with partial legends.

The mint location on at least some denarii of Domna can be distinguished by style and sometimes by distinguishing marks. Coins of Laodicea feature a small curl or loop on the drapery of the shoulder area.

Doug Smith has a good page on the Syrian mint Domna denarii.

Julia Domna (Augusta)
AR Denarius 2.37g / 18mm / -
Ob: IVLIA AVGVSTA - Draped bust right
Rv: SAECVLI FELICITAS - Isis wearing polos, standing l., holding Horus; behind, rudder resting on altar.
Mint: Laodicea ad Mare (196-211)
Ref: RIC IV 645; RSC III 174

This website is amazing in its scope and effort. It is well worth your time if you are identifying any late Roman bronze. The scope of this work covers 317-498 A.D., so pretty much everything from the era of Constantine onward to Anastasius.

Please view "Identifying Late Roman Bronze Coins", and note the site has been added to the blog roll.

Aurelian was a strong and successful reformer and unifier of a fractured and chaotic empire. His reforms were sweeping, his legacy ran deep. He reigned from September of 270 to the latter part of 275, but even in that short period accomplished much.

Personally, I am not so enthralled with his accomplishments as I am the number of various coins struck during his brief reign, and the variety. Aurelian reformed the currency, which (aside from its economic and cultural implications) is a good thing for a collector 1700 years later!

This is a post-reform 'antoninianus', a highly debased version of the original denomination introduced by Caracalla.

Aurelian (Augustus)
AE Antoninianus
Ob: IMP C AVRELIANVS AVG - Radiate, cuirassed bust right
Rv: CONCORDIA MILITVM - Emperor facing right clasping hands with Concordia
Ex: XXIV
Mint: Siscia (270-275)
Ref: RIC V-1, 244; Cohen 60

Alexandria was one of the greatest cities of Antiquity, being dubbed "Pearl of the Mediterranean". It was home to the Lighthouse of Alexandria (one of the Seven Wonders of the World) and the famous Library of Alexandria.

In Ancient days, Alexandria was one of the centers of Hellenism, and in stark contrast, the home to the largest Jewish community in the world with the radically different Hebrew worldview. The Septuagint, that foundational Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible, was produced in Alexandria.

Alexandria came under Roman rule in 80 B.C. but according to tradition had been under Roman influence due to Ptolemaic rule for more than a century. Its history is long and colorful, filled with both glories and horrors.

There has been a great influx of these attractive Potin tetradrachms of the great city of Alexandria, Egypt, in the last couple of years. Some of the more common ones can be found in decent shape for very little cost. These four represent tetradrachms from the era of the military rulers of Rome.

Diocletian (Augustus), Egypt, Alexandria Potin Tetradrachm - / 17.5mm / - Ob: A K GOYA DIOKLHTIANOC CEB - Laureate, draped and cuirassed bust right, seen from behind Rv: Eusebeia sacrificing over lighted altar, L | Epsilon Mint: Year 5 = 288/289 AD Ref: Koln 3246; Milne 4897; Dattari 5693; Curtis 1995; Emmett 4052	Maximianus (Augustus), Egypt, Alexandria Potin Tetradrachm - / 20mm / - Ob: MAXIMIANOC CEB - Laureate draped bust right Rv: L-B, eagle standing left, head right with wreath in its beak, star to right Mint: Year 2 = 287-288 AD
Maximianus (Augustus), Egypt, Alexandria Potin Tetradrachm - / 18.5mm / - Ob: A K M OVA MAXIMIANOC CEB - Laureate, draped & cuirassed bust right Rv: L-B, eagle standing left, head right with wreath in its beak, star to right Mint: Year 4= 289-290 AD Ref: Milne 4818	Probus (Augustus), Egypt, Alexandria Potin Tetradrachm - / 17.5mm / - Ob: A K M AVP PP-OBOC CEB - Laureate, cuirassed bust right Rv: L-Z, eagle standing right with wreath in its beak Mint: Year 7 = 281-282 AD Ref: Milne 4649; Curtis 1864

At Biblical Coins you can get a good overview of the 'Widow's Mite' coin mentioned in the Bible. Be sure to read the summary, but also scroll through the various posts on the individual possibilities for the widow's mite. You can never be too dogmatic about assigning a particular coin to a story in scripture, but with this excellent overview, you will almost certainly have an authentic coin that Jesus had in mind when speaking of a "certain poor widow casting in thither two mites" (Luke 21:2)

One has only to look at a few coins of the Constantinian Dynasty to realize that a wide array of both skill and craftsmanship were the norm in the late Roman empire's mints. Here are three different coins from three different mints, each of the same general design. The only difference between these three are the details in the head adornment of the junior emperor and the clothing. In general, however, these three coins are of the same type - GLORIA EXERCITVS - of 'for the glory of the army'. Each features the same legends on both sides, the same design motif of two soldiers standing with a pair of military standards between them, and each one is issued for the same person, Constantius II as Caesar.

Look at the wild divergence in the portrait rendering. The first coin is very much the finest artistic quality that can be found in this period, a very pleasing and artistically accomplished portrait. It is stylized, yes, and idealized to a large degree, but the subtle contours of the face and the skill of the die maker are clearly shown. This coin is a beautiful piece of work from the Antioch mint that has a warmth and life-like quality. The portrait retains the stylized Constantinian family traits such as the enlarged eyes and distinctive hair style. This is my favorite coin of the 'Soldiers with Standards' issue in my collection because of its pleasing aesthetics.

Constantius II (Caesar)
Ob: FL IVL CONSTANTIVS NOB C - Laureate, cuirassed bust right
Rv: GLOR-IA EXERC-ITVS - Two soliders with two standards between
Ex: SMANH
Mint: Antioch (333-335 AD)
Ref: RIC VII Antioch 88

Looking at the second coin, minted in the Imperial capital of Constantinople, we see a nice piece of work, though clearly more of a generic Constantine family stylized look. The head is enlarged and though well executed, still much less subtle and crafted as the first coin. This portrait has some life in it, and it is likely no accident that the pupil gazes upward slightly. While not a life-like portrait, it certainly does have a little more character than the next coin.

Constantius II (Caesar)
Ob: FL IVL CONSTANTIVS NOB C - Laureate, draped, cuirassed bust right
Rv: GLOR-IA EXERC-ITVS - Two soliders with two standards between
Ex: CONSI dot
Mint: Constantinople (333-335 AD)
Ref: RIC VII Constantinople 75

And finally, a sorry piece of work from Cyzicus. With an undersized portrait carried out mostly with bulky linear strokes and with a rather basic style, this portrait is a far cry fro the Antioch portrait. With a lifeless likeness, this portrait is dead and merely a symbol of the imperial office.

Constantius II (Caesar)
Ob: FL IVL CONSTANTIVS NOB C - Pearl diademed, draped, cuirassed bust right
Rv: GLOR-IA EXERC-ITVS - Two soliders with two standards between
Ex: SMKR
Mint: Cyzicus (330-348 AD)
Ref: RIC VII Cyzicus 86

These common late Roman bronzes are certainly carrying a message attached to some local context. With the varety in portraits, the varying quaity of the images on the coins, and the multitude of mints, collecting even these can offer endless options.

All of these coins were conserved from uncleaned lots.

I've been searching for a coin of Tranquillina for a long time. There are plenty for sale, many are out there, but I just can't afford most of them. Tranquillina's coins are not cheap, she is a rather rare empress. Imperial issues are especially expensive, and provincials are usually above the average price of a provincial empress coin as well.

This one, however, was dirt cheap because of the condition of the reverse. Granted, its ugly, but there is enough information there to attribute the coin. The seller didn't want to mess with it, apparently, and listed it as an unattributed provincial of Tranquillina.

I bought the coin for the unique style of the obverse portrait, I think it is a very attractive style, and not very common even among provincials. I hoped also that this style would be key to attributing the coin. With a little research, I found the style was indeed a key. I searched Coin Archives and several online databases for Tranquillina, and narrowed my searching to coins of the empress with the crescent. The distinctive style helped narrow the search to coins of Pisidia, and I managed to locate a reverse design that matched. On the reverse, I could see a single standing figure with a short, soldier-like garb, and a cape. He had a high crested helmet, part of that crest is visible on my coin, and he held a spear-like object with his left arm downward. These clues matched this coin, and I was able to confirm the remaining details and match up what's left of the reverse legend to the coin in the G&M auction records.

Apparently this is a very rare coin, not listed in any well-known catalogs or references. The auction listing is the only reference online, and until I can find this coin listed in a published reference, I will have to attribute the coin using the auction as a reference.

While this coin features a rather ugly reverse, the obverse is one of my favorite in terms of appeal. Yes, it has no patina; yes, it was harshly cleaned; yes, by all collector standards, the eye appeal is low. But I am not out to please fellow hobbyists, I am collecting because I enjoy it.

Furia Sabinia Tranquillina was the wife of Gordian III, she was apparently known as a lovely and virtuous woman and her marriage to Gordian III was one of those rare cases in imperial matrimony that the pair truly loved one another.

Sagalassos in the province of Pisidia was an urban center in modern southwestern Turkey, it is currently the subject of a pretty interesting archaeological excavation.

Addendum: Sagalassos is in the news. Among other items, a 'colossal' stone head was discovered there this month in the rubble bearing a canny resemblance to Faustina II, wife of Marcus Aurelius. Lots of news stories hit the wire last week, including there two here, and here.

Tranquillina (Augusta)
Pisidia, Sagalassos, AE - / 25mm / -
Ob: CAΒΙ ΤΡAΝΚVΛΛΙA - Diademed bust right on crescent
Rv: CΑΓΑΛΑC CЄΩΝ - Nike or warrior (ΛΑΚЄΔΑΙΜΩΝ / Lakedaimon) with spear and phiale
Mint: 244AD, Sagalassos
Ref: Gorny & Mosch Giessener Münzhandlung Auction 126, 10/14/03, Lot 1988

Here is an interesting coin featuring a mismatched obverse and reverse design. The obverse is clearly a denarius of Gordian III, and the reverse design is of a type usually only found on coins issued in the name of female personalities. This one, a VENVS GENETRIX design, is a motherly design seeking the favor of Venus in the area of childbearing and domesticity - not something one would expect to find on a coin of a manly military emperor. This particular reverse, with a cupid at the feet of Venus, belongs specifically to empress Julia Domna.

The mismatching of obverse and reverse dies and designs is not uncommon among ancient coins. While certainly not abundant, they turn up regularly enough not to be considered rare. When the obverse design of one ruler is mistakenly paired with the reverse design of another ruler, the coin is termed a mule. Mules are often discovered because the reverse and obverse designs don't seem to make sense from the perspective of gender. This coin is a good example. Emperors don't generally associate themselves with motherly and domestic goddesses, while empresses often do.

The second curious feature of this denarius is that it is not made of silver as an official denarius is made. This is a bronze coin that has remnants of a silver wash. The style is clearly official and well rendered, meaning the coin is likely made from official dies, but the coin was not made from the official material. This type of denarius has often been called a limes denarius or a contemporary forgery. These are thought to be coins minted either officially or pseudo-officially on the fringes of the empire out of necessity. Perhaps they were used to pay soldiers on the extreme frontiers of the Roman territories or maybe to bolster the economy of regions far from the normal means of monetary distribution. Whatever the reason, many of these coins exist.

According to Doug Smith's postscript to The Vocabulary of Classical Numismatics, many Roman coins can be classified as "coins of necessity":

Of uncertain status are thousands (millions?) of surviving bronze coins of the Severan era that copy silver denarii. Some examples still bear traces of a very thin silver wash... Termed Limes (Lim-ace) or coins of the borders, these may be another example of coins of necessity. They may also be officially sanctioned issues for use in regions where political unrest made it hazardous to ship large amounts of silver. These low value issues could have served troops on the front and been redeemable for good coinage when they returned to the stable regions.

My particular example of both a mule and a limes denarius in one was found in a recent uncleaned lot from Lee Johnson, a.k.a. Oldcoinman, one of the few respectable sellers of uncleaned coins on ebay that I can heartily recommend. While the vast majority of most uncleaned coin lot today are going to be made up mostly of very common late Roman bronzes (fallen horsemen, standards, VOT issues, etc), most good dealers try to mix it up a bit grabbing different sizes and weights as they count out a lot for the customer. Mr. Johnson has proven to be good at this, I am never disappointed in the variety of sizes and weights of coins. This lot featured mostly common coins that are destined to be cleaned and re-sold or donated, but this one was an enjoyable surprise.

Gordian III (Augustus)
AE Denarius 3.14g / 18mm / -
Ob: IMP GORDIANVS PIVS FEL AVG - Laureate, draped bust right
Rv: VENVS GE-NETRIX - Venus seated left holding scepter & apple, Cupid standing right before
Ref: Contemporary forgery and Mule of Gordian III denarius obverse plus Reverse is Julia Domna: RSC 205; RIC 389 (Caracalla)

This coin came from and uncleaned lot in 2008.

Gordian III (Augustus)
Provincial of Bithynia, Nicaea
AE 2.43g / 19mm / -; 238-244AD
Ob: Μ ΑΝΤ ΓΟΡΔΙΑΝΟC ΑVΓ - Radiate, draped bust right
Rv: Ν-Ι-Κ-Α-Ι - Two legionary standards topped by capricorns, flanked by two standards topped with wreathes on either side
Ex: ΕΩΝ
Ref: SNG Copenhagen 526var; SNG Von Aulock 653var.; SGI 3671 var

If you have cleaned Roman coins for any length of time, you have probably come across the provincial issues of Nicaea that feature military standards on the reverse. These are very common coins. What makes these coins interesting is the very wide range of quality, for some are crude and clunky aesthetically, and some are absolutely beautiful. They have been largely overlooked by most collectors because of their large numbers, but recently a discussion on the FORVM message board indicates that at least some folks are paying attention to this type. Because there are so many of them, they can be fascinating due to minor variations. Like the Imperial "FEL TEMP" fallen horseman types or any other common late Roman bronze, these provincial issues possess the key ingredient for sub-type variation: sheer quantity.

As an example, this coin of Gordian III was recently cleaned. It features the 'military standards' reverse design so common and familiar, but a small detail caught my eye. Usually these have some combination of wreath or eagle atop the standard, but the two central standards on this coin feature capricorns. While researching the capricorn, I discovered that this variety does not appear to be particularly rare, but due to its lesser occurrence, seems to have slipped by the authors of several references.

The capricorn atop the standard is interesting. A respected member of FORVM, Jochen, stated that "the capricorn was the well-known symbol of Augustus and several of his legions got these signs in honour." He gives the example that "Severus was the commander of the legio XIIII Gemina Martia Victrix in Pannonia...", and that that legion used the capricorn symbol.

I find small details like this fascinating, and to see them on a fairly nice example of this type of coin is even more pleasing.

This coin was part of an uncleaned lot of provincial coins, this one took a long time to clean and I am quite surprised that it came out as well as it did considering the encrustation that covered it. The coin is orichalcum, a brass-like alloy with a yellow color.


This coin came from and uncleaned lot in 2008.

I received this follis of Maximinus II, a nice one overall, in a small lot of uncleaned coins that had clearly been cleaned by the chemical method so many coin suppliers use. But this particular follis was over-cleaned and had bare bronze showing. Most of the patina had been stripped and an otherwise attractive coin was rather pitted and rough. This is a perfect job for Jax re-patinating solution.

I sometimes use this chemical treatment on coins that have been cleaned by electrolysis, generally those coins which could not be cleaned by some other, less risky method. Jax is not too difficult to master, and fast. It creates not just a coating of fake patina, but acts as a catalysts that puts a real, though thin, patina on the coin. A true, natural, time-formed patina is thicker than Jax and a good one is smooth and deeply rich in color. It seems to me that the difference between a true, natural patina and a Jax patina is like the difference between old rust and flash rust. Leave a piece of untreated steel outdoors in the humidity and by the morning it will have a thin layer of rust over it. This is flash rust, and can be removed easily, for it has yet to truly penetrate the metal and is only a surface costing, but it is still truly rust. Likewise, Jax is a surface coating, a true patina develops with Jax along with an applied coloring agent, but it is only a surface patina. Given some decades or centuries, a more natural patina will develop, kicked off by Jax.

If you use such products, please note so on your flip card that is stored with the coin. Its just good practice for those who will own your coins when you are long gone to know that it has been re-patinated at some time. In reality, most collectors figure that more than half of the coins sold on ebay and in most dealer's stores are repatinated. One can develop and eye for the various methods of re-aging a coin. Dealers, of course, don't like to admit it because the finicky collector will not pay as much for a re-patinated coin, for toolers, fakers and frauds always use some form of artificial aging on their dubious forgeries.

For the coin cleaner, these products have their place. This coin was unattractive prior to treating with Jax, but now it has a nice green that evens out the appearance. Jax has some tricks to use it properly, you will want to browse the topics on the uncleaned coin message boards and review Kevin's free How-To PDF at Noble Roman Coins.

I treated this coin with three brief soaks in Jax Green, brushing in between each one with a nylon brush. After the final soak I let it sit for a few days to cure and darken a bit, and waxed it. Sometimes it is helpful to use combinations of the various Jax colors, but never mix them together, use them each in different dips of the same coin.

Maximinus II Daia is described by ancient historians as a vicious, boorish, uneducated tyrant (source). He was particularly known for his brutal persecution of Christians until he reluctantly ceased at the order of Constantine in 312/313. It was Licinius who forced Maximinus II to his end, prior to himself coming to an end. He died under siege, either by sever disease or by his own, cowardly hand.

Maximinus II AE 20mm Follis
Ob: IMP C GAL VAL MAXIMINVS P F AVG - Laureate head right
Rv: HERCVLI VICTORI - Hercules standing right, holding club & lion's skin, A to left
Ex: MKV (Cyzicus, 310-131AD)
Ref: RIC VI 89a

This coin came from and uncleaned lot in 2008.

Constantine I
Ob: CONSTAN-TINVS AVG, Pearl diademed head right
Rv: PROVIDEN-TIAE AVGG, 2 turret camp gate, 6 layers, star above, no door
Ex: SMN delta (Nicomedia)
Ref: RIC VII Nicomedia 153

I am finishing up a batch of 20 uncleaned coins that are all late Roman bronzes, these have been a great lot, really solid stuff, with no lost causes, but some that are difficult. This one is very nice in hand, glossy and smooth, with silvering left that in the scan looks like sand.

This is a "campgate" issue of Constantine I. As I said in a previous post, the nature of the so-called 'camp gate' on the reverse of these issues is debated - some call them city gates, since they resemble the gated tower of a walled and fortified city. Some have postulated that they are signal towers, or that they are watch towers found in Roman military camps. Whatever they are, the name 'camp gate' h