HCR 60707

I’m struck by how Brutus’  name is written with serifs and Lentulus’ is not.  I want to keep an eye on serifs. and think more about it as a stylistic feature.  RRC 500/7

HCR 60701 (RRC 500/5) seems to suggest that is is just engravers choice?

This is another working post attempting to respond to user queries and keep a record for myself that can eventually be integrated into an official finding aid on the ANS RRDP website.  Want to know more about RRDP?  Go to our most recent blog post!

(I thank Donna Levinsohn for first raising these questions. PLEASE email me at yarrow [at] brooklyn [dot] cuny [dot] edu if you cannot find an issue in Schaefer’s binders or the index and I will updated this post.)

ODEC = One Die for Each Control-Mark

Status of  release for issues not (yet) linked to CRRO

316– not indexing correctly, must troubleshoot and update data; for now this this issue can be found in Binder 2, on pages 50, 51, 54, 55, 58, 59, 64, 65, 68, 70, 71, 74, 76, 77, 80, 81, 84, 85, 88, 89, 92, 93, 96, 97 100, 101, 104, 105, 112, 113, 115; there are also seventeen (!) clippings images that have not yet been released, but those will contain no new dies.

378 –  part of ODEC, likely to be released by September 2020

394 – disambiguation of sub-types in underlying data is required before the online indexing will reflect location, for now this this issue can be found in Binder 6, on pages 104, 106, 107, 112, 113; there is also one clippings image that has not yet been released, but that will contain no new dies.

442– disambiguation of sub-types in underlying data is required before the online indexing will reflect location, for now this this issue can be found in Binder 9, on pages 2, 3, 6, 7, 10, 11, 14, 15, 20; there are also four clippings images that have not yet been released, but those will contain no new dies.

453 – disambiguation of sub-types in underlying data is required before the online indexing will reflect location, for now this this issue can be found in Binder 9, on pages 178, 179, 182, 184, 185, 190, 191; there are also three clippings images that have not yet been released, but those will contain no new dies.

The poor coin copiers of yesteryear how could they ever imagine  we would now be able to share information so well!  I really never suspected a thing either until I asked what I thought was just an ignorant question to some lovely twitter friends.

This RRC 513/2 specimen in the Ashmolean has an odd punch mark.  I’d not seen anything like it exactly on a Roman Republican specimen so I wanted to know more about the phenomenon.  An ancient counter-mark of some type seems to be consensus. (Do you know of similar counter-marks on RR coins?  Please do let me know!)

But in the course of conversation the eagle-eyed anonymous (on twitter) numismatist known as “Nero Claudius Drusus” observed  that a similar mark was on a Paris specimen.  Even before this Andrew McCabe had observed that the Oxford specimen “has funny surfaces, wavy, thick devices e.g. lettering, odd patina that looks artificial”.

So now we do some side by sides with the aid of Michael Davis:

And for me it is even clearer on the obverse because I can stop staring at that weird S and actually think about the comparison (Paris left, Oxford Right).

The reverse die is “Die A” in Schaefer’s archive (RRDP).  He records 4 specimens.  Other examples of this reverse die are known in Berlin and the BM:

The beaded border on the Oxford specimen is clearly too large for the impress made by the die and must be the result of tooling.

So someone in the 18th century sold the Reverend Charles Godwyn a cast of the Paris specimen (when did that specimen arrive in Paris? That is one piece of the puzzle not yet answered).  He then bequested to the Ashmolean and now as the collection is being digitized and references attached to each digital record we now see the fraud.  Or perhaps Godwyn knew and just wanted a copy for his collection of a rare type and then in the bequest the knowledge of its status as a copy was lost.

I’m not certain as I’ve not held this coin, but certainly an interesting specimen I’d like to examine in person.  RRC 517.8.  Struck in the East by Antony.  The young Caesar (Octavian) side the marred side. HRC 60789

THIS POST IS SUPERSEDED BY A NEW PAGE.

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Some conversations I’m seeing linking to my earlier blog post (now superseded by our ANS blog post) on various discussion boards are expressing confusion over how to read Schaefer’s work.  Here’s a quick guide to those new to his project and it will give you some idea of what is ahead for the work of the RRDP project as we engage in transcription and number crunching.  We’ve erred on releasing as much data as soon as possible rather than holding back until it is “complete” as that work may take a very long time indeed.

1. These are die names assigned by Schaefer
2. These parallel lines record a die link
3. Often on the pages you will see drawings or verbal descriptions of Schaefer’s observations of key die features
4. If the image source recorded a weight it is noted on the bottom of the image between reverse and obverse: look for the g.
5. If the image source recorded a die axis it will be represented by an arrow near the weight.
6. The image source is recorded in abbreviated form at the top center of the image.  These abbreviations are sometimes obvious at least to some of us more experienced numismatists but some are really puzzles.  We’re working with Schaefer to develop a key (see below), but this is still incomplete.  So above BMCRR 1287 is easily found in the BM online collection. Likewise NAC 61, lot 1145 is easily found on coin archives.  MacCabe’s collection is on Flickr.  Rauch is another auction and the A stands for Ailly so that’s in Paris….

This is a really rough guide.  As we get more questions and start to know what our users need Dr. Carbone and I will develop a proper finding aid and guidelines for the ANS site.  MY personal website is always just a sandbox, not an authoritative resource.

This post also has a sequel in which I answer questions about specific RRC types for which individuals have not been able to easily find.

Working list of Schaefer’s common abbreviations

If an abbreviation is NOT on this list and you cannot decode it please send me a hi res screen shot and link to specific page and I will investigate and try to help.  Your asking will improve this list for future generations.  yarrow [at] brooklyn [dot] cuny [dot] edu.

Axx = Auctiones auction xx(run by M&M, Basel)

AB = Peus 322(1Nov88) Coll. A. Banti

AM = McCabe Coll.

A+C = Aureo + Calico

ANE = Asociacion Numismatica Española

Arte = Artemide

ASIN = Asociacion Iberica de Numismatica

ASR = asta senza riservata

Aurelia = McKenna + Barton FPL(Aurelia Coll. Nov1980)

B = Berlin State Museum

Bald = Baldwin’s

Bara = Baranowsky

Benz = Lanz88(23Nov98)

BM = British Museum

BMFA = Boston Museum of Fine Arts

BNF = Bibliothèque Nationale Française

Boll. Num. = Bolletino di Numimatica

Br=Brock= Brockage

CAD = caduceus

CAMB = Cambridge University

CCCH = Coin Collections and Coin Hoards from Bulgaria

CGB(or CGF) = CGB Numismatique(Paris)

CNG = Classical Numismatic Group

CrDeLaBourse = Crédit de la Bourse

CRRR = CSRR = Crédit de la Bourse 19Apr95

DH =  Museo Taranto

DNW = Dix, Noonan and Webb

Doro = Dorotheum

e before xxx = part of multiple lot xxx

e after xxx = xxxth electronic auction

EH = Emporium Hamburg

Epi = wheatear

F = Firenze

F+S = Freeman + Sear

Fab = Fabretti(Museo Torino catalogo)

Frasc = Frascatius(online seller)

G = Gorny

G+M = Gorny + Mosch

G+N = Gitbud + Naumann

G1,2,3,4,5 = CNG43,44,45,46,47 respectively

Germ Inf = Germania Inferiore(online)

Glasgow = Hunterian Collection in Glasgow

Hersh = Hersh Collection in the British Museum

H = Gerhard Hirsch Mzhg

K = Kuenker

KHM = Kunsthistorisches Museum(Vienna)

KN=KB=Knob = Knobloch Coll.(Stack’s 3May78)

Kolnmzkab = Kölner MünzKabinett

Krich = Kricheldorf

Lejeune = Peus 250

Leu = Bank Leu(<2010);

Leu Numismatics(>2010)

LGH = Lead Ground Hoof

MAH = Musée d’Art et d’Histoire, Geneve

M&M = Muenzen und Medaillen(Basel)

M&M-Deut = Muenzen und Medaillen Deutschland

MC = Museo Correr

MOV = mark of value

Mus. Civ. = Museo Civico

Mus. Naz. = Museo Nazionale

MV(monogram) = Müller(Solingen)

MvB = Max von Bahrfeldt

MZ = Muenzzentrum

n.s. = new series

N Circ = Spink’s Numismatic Circular

N+A = Nummis et Ars

NAC = Numismatica Ars Classica

NIC = Leu 17(Nicolas Coll.)

Num Gen = Numismatique Genevensis

O-L = online

Off Die = official die

ONT = Roman Republican Coins in the Royal Ontario Museum, 1998

Peus = Busso Peus

Qd – quadrans

QDG = quadrigatus

QU = quartuncia

RRC = Roman Republican Coinage

RRCH = Roman Republican Coin Hoards

S = Signorelli Coll.;

Santamaria Auct. 4Jun1952

SCMB = Seaby’s Coin and Medal Bulletin

Sobo = St. Omer et Boulogne-sur-Mer

SS = superstructure

Stax = Stack’s

SU = semuncia

Sx = sextans

Sy = Syd = Sydenham 1952 RR catalogue

Syd Coll = Ratto Auction7Feb28

T = Titano

Torino = Turin

Tr = triens

TRI = trident

U = uncia

U PA = Univ. of Pennsylvania

V = Varesi

Vat = Vatican

VE = Victor England (which became CNG) – Thx DS for query leading to this addition!

VICT = victoriatus

VR(ligate)= Voirol Coll.(Leu+M&M 6Dec1968)

WAG = num. company in Arnsberg,Germany

WCN = Warsaw Numismatic Center

WP = Wayne Phillips

Z = Zeno sales by Dorotheum(13Jun55, 8Jun56 and 26Mar57)

I’m doing some volunteering and professional development remotely with the Ashmolean’s Heberdeen Coin Room.  All of their republican coins are photographed and online BUT the data is not validated and all RRC references are not yet in the database.  To see all the lovely pictures, go to their search page, and select Roman republican as the period and make sure under status “uploaded”, “for review” and “validated” are all checked. Of the some 3500+ coins, just under half have a Crawford number so far.  To look for a specific type enter under reference value the RRC number (without RRC).  At this time, you’ll need to try  a variety of formats, e.g. 123, 123/1, and 123.1 as the data is not cleaned up or standardized.  I’m adding reference numbers as my good deed. So the number of specimens with reference numbers is rapidly growing.  Once they all have some reference number I’ll use a spreadsheet to clean the data and add type info etc…

Why am I doing this.  1) so Schaefer can access the material and continue his work on RRDP sooner; 2) because it is intensely soothing and interesting to me; 3) I hope it will be of use to many of you.  It’s a beautiful collection AND Jerome Mairat has build a really lovely interface especially for stream lining and collaborating on data entry.  Working with his system is teaching me about how I might want to design numismatic databases in future.

But I promised you an OVER STRIKE and indeed I have one to share.  Any one want to tell me what the under type is?  It should be an that has the denomination mark above the prow.

RRC 535/1, HCR60856:

Another over struck specimen.

HCR60820

These are some notes of mine from reading this article and a reading group convo.  Apologies for any errors/misrepresentations: I learn by writing this type of note.

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Mineralization associated with detachment faults because change in pressure creates conditions for minerals to rise.

Isothermal fluid: minerals in solution from the magma

Northern Greece has both Placer Au and supergene Au-bearing iron oxides.

Pangaeon mountain (hills) discussed for precious metal wealth in ancient Greek authors, e.g. Herodotus, Thucydides.  Evidence of both underground and surface mining at 25 sites and 12 smelting sites.

On the island of Thasos directly off-shore likewise significant deposits accesses in antiquity.  The mineral wealth takes the form of Ag-rich Pb-Zn carbonate replacement and Au-rich Cu-Fe-Mn deposits in veins and lenses of mostly oxidised massive and disseminated ore in marble and schists.  In the classical-Roman period at least 5 Ag mines are known and two Au.

In an area of about 100 km2 extending from ancient Philippoi to Palea Kavala and Petropigi there are more than 150 ore occurrences rich in Fe, Mn, Pb, Zn, Cu, Ag, and Au, and numerous underground galleries are believed to have operated between 6th century BC and the Ottoman period.  Perhaps same as that discussion in Herodotus 6.46, Theophrastus On stones 17, Lucretius 6.810, and Plutarch Cimon 4.2.

Metangitsi shows evidence of Mining from the 5th century through Middle ages and Ottoman period.  This region’s mineralization includes: Cu-Au porphyry, Pb-Zn-Ag-Au carbonate replacement, Cu-skarn and oxidized Mn.

Different mines even on a smallish island like Thasos all have different Isotopic signatures.  This is because of different timing of events and slightly different creation conditions (if I understood discussion correctly!).  But no tracer is 100% indication of origin.  The more isotopes/ionization you use the better your identification.  Zinc is perhaps too volatile.  Copper can be misleading because it may be added from a different source, ditto lead, at least in some historical contexts.  Copper is less distinctive of the environment.  Tin isotopes not fully understood.    Trace elements, e.g. arsenic.  antimony isotopes might be a potential tracer.  Volatile at v high temps.  Could you sample it given minuscule amount in coin?  Raises question of destructive testing processes.

Recycling of brass might explain zinc in Eastern Roman coins.  ?  Check Haim Gitler’s work on Severan Silver checking Mattingly’s categorization.

Brass complicated process because of Zinc only mastered by Romans in 1st Cent BCE.  (Check)

Forthcoming work from Gil Davis and Ken Sheehy discussion when in 6th century BCE Athens began removing all gold from silver.

In about 2 weeks Metallurgy in Numismatics (Royal Numismatic Society) will be out! Must purchase ASAP.

Vaxevanpoulos – fame in antiquity doesn’t translate it scale of mining.  Forthcoming work on this.

I have an old unpublished paper I’m thinking about getting ready for publication as a short article.  This is a little investigation into what I’ve missed since I last worked on the topic.

Sánchez Madrid, Nuria. “Democracia, concordia y deliberación pública en la « Política » de Aristóteles.” Logos 51 (2018): 35-56. Doi: 10.5209/ASEM.61642

Probably not relevant for my little article project, but as I’m supposed to be a leading expert on Trogus and his contemporaneous views of history I should read this and have a professional opinion.   Ah, she’s written a book and seems to focus on Trogus for her work.  Good stuff.  I’m not sure I have much more I want to say on the topic, but glad it is being worked on.

Ridiculously excited to read this well illustrated article on the Belgammel Ram, esp. because of how different the metallurgical profile is from preliminary tests of the Egadi Rams.  LOW LEAD only 8%.

Adams, J.R., Antoniadou, A., Hunt, C.O., Bennett, P., Croudace, I.W., Taylor, R.N., Pearce, R.B., Earl, G.P., Flemming, N.C., Moggeridge, J., Whiteside, T., Oliver, K. and Parker, A.J. (2013), Analysis of the Hellenistic‐Roman Belgammel R am, from Libya. International Journal of Nautical Archaeology, 42: 60-75. doi:10.1111/1095-9270.12001