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  1. Winning Losing Won Lost Watching Available in aftersale  
    A42, Lot 228:

    190 Barbarous radiates and 4 Claudian copies.

    A Window into the Dark Ages

    Patrick Zabel pursued “barbarous radiates” with passion and intensity for several decades.

    His collection, each numbered and with gram weight to three decimal points, diameter, an epsilon value (? any insight appreciated) and many with a brief descriptive notation on the front of the holder, notes about find locations, design characteristics, regular issues imitated, metal, etc.— constitutes a meticulous research project on this extensive “local coinage” of the late Roman Empire in Britain and the Continent. (190 pieces plus four Claudian copies.) (His copy of the 1949 ANS , by Philip V. Hill, is included with this lot.)

    Small and often seemingly insignificant knock-offs of regular Roman coinage fueled day-to-day life in Britain and the European continent in the late days of the Roman Empire. “Barbarous radiates” is the somewhat derogatory term applied to these small bits of local coinage that show up in hoards from the fourth and fifth centuries. With Roman control over its empire declining, the imperial coinage that had served day-to-day life became increasingly scarce and local efforts to provide small change filled in for the lack of official currency.

    According to Philip Hill, author of the 1949 ANS monograph on the topic, these pieces were often considered of marginal interest in hoard finds and frequently “thrown aside as useless for the purpose of dating hoards and sites.” But he contends that the design elements of these hastily produced pieces reflected the period in which they were produced. So, despite their crudeness and irregularity, they provide valuable hoard dating information as well as unofficial insight into a period of political disarray.

    A single paragraph in the one volume work on Roman coins by David Sear describe these pieces as sometimes “almost as good as the originals, but most are very crude productions with badly blundered legends and almost unrecognizable types.” Hill talks about the many ways they were made—flans made by “flattening hot globules of metal, by overstriking complete coins, orthodox or barbarous, without first erasing the original types, by filing away types of regular coins, or by cutting them into quarters, or roughly rounded fragments…and by hammering out and cutting up coins of still larger module prior to restriking.”

    This collection generally emphasizes high grade pieces with more recognizable designs on flans that tend to be round. The holders have notations about purchase sources, find locations, design characteristics, regular issues imitated, metal, and occasional other observations. The writing on the holders represents many hours of work and the overall quality makes this a fascinating and highly desirable group of pieces from an era full of uncertainty and mystery.

    The Zabel Collection.

  2. Winning Losing Won Lost Watching Available in aftersale  
    E47, Lot 301:

    12 COINS. THE SEVERAN DYNASTY. An interesting selection of 12 attractive denarii in high grades--Pat Zabel had a good eye for coins and picked for quality. All are fully attributed in pdf attached to listing below. Septimius Severus (1); Julia Domna (1); Caracalla (3); Plautilla (3); Geta (4).

    Septimius Severus was of Punic and Italian ancestry and born into a high ranking senatorial family. He was an extremely capable soldier and spent much of his reign campaigning in far-flung provinces of the Empire. He married the wealthy and beautiful Syrian Julia Donna who had a “royal horoscope” (i.e., she was destined to be a queen). She was known for her great intellect and influenced her husband and later her son the Emperor Caracalla in matters of state. She travelled with her husband on his frequent military campaigns and was awarded the title Mater Castrorum (“mother of the camps’) for sharing in the hardships. She attracted men of culture and learning to her brilliant Imperial court in Rome. Unfortunately she was unsuccessful in overcoming the hostility between her two sons, Caracalla and Geta.

     

    In 208 A.D. the entire family went to Britain to deal with unrest following a great invasion by barbarians of the North. Severus repaired Hadrian’s Wall and launched a campaign into Caledonia without much success. Elderly and stressed by the rigours of the campaign, he died at York in 211.

     

    His elder son Caracalla ruled with extravagance and cruelty, marked by the treacherous murder of his younger brother Geta in their mother’s arms. His one notable action was the granting to all free inhabitants of the Empire the name and privileges of Roman citizens.

     

    * The history of a family in 12 coins:

    (Pat Zabel had an interesting approach to collecting the Severans--as a family.)

    A fairly youthful Severus, and a beautiful young Julia Domna. Three portraits of Caracalla, and four of Geta, each portrayed as a boy, a youth, and a bearded man. Three different portraits of the ill-fated Plautilla, married to Caracalla at age 14, and eventually banished and put to death on his orders. All photographs and full descriptions are online.

     

    Cf. Important related Roman provincial Severan family issues (lots 69-79), particularly two related coins: Choice billon tetradrachms of Caracalla (Lot 79) and of Macrinus (Lot 80), prefect of the Praetorian Guards under Caracalla and party to his murder. (An interesting footnote into the lives of the classics: Mary Beard, a former professor of Classics at the University of Cambridge and author of many books on the era, wrote in the July 3, 2023 New Yorker, “Caracalla was knifed while relieving himself on a military campaign in the East in 217 C.E.” She also recounts how the historian Herodian describes the funeral of Septimius Severus in 211 C.E. in Rome. Though he died in York in northern England and was cremated there, his ashes were brought back to Rome for the elaborate week-long funeral featuring a waxwork of the dead emperor.) (MD).

    The Zabel Collection.

  3. Winning Losing Won Lost Watching Available in aftersale  
    E3, Lot 26:

    Augustus. 27 B.C. - A.D. 14. Æ as. 9.95 gm. 29 mm.

    Fine+; minor corrosion; pleasing dark green patina. Strong portrait.

  4. Winning Losing Won Lost Watching Available in aftersale  
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  7. Winning Losing Won Lost Watching Available in aftersale  
    E3, Lot 29:

    Nerva. A.D. 96-98. AR denarius. 3.41 gm. 17 mm.

    Near Very Fine; well centered.

  8. Winning Losing Won Lost Watching Available in aftersale  
    E3, Lot 30:

    Trajan. A.D. 98-117. AR denarius. 3.07 gm. 19 mm.

    Good Very Fine; toned; some obverse porosity.

  9. Winning Losing Won Lost Watching Available in aftersale  
    E2, Lot 31:

    Antoninus Pius. A.D. 138-161. AR denarius. 2.83 gm. 18 mm.

    Near Very Fine; particularly attractive iridescent toning.

  10. Winning Losing Won Lost Watching Available in aftersale  
  11. Winning Losing Won Lost Watching Available in aftersale  
    E2, Lot 33:

    Elagabalus. A.D. 218-222. AR denarius. 3.21 gm. 19 mm.

    Near Extremely Fine; lustrous minty surfaces; well struck.

  12. Winning Losing Won Lost Watching Available in aftersale  
    E3, Lot 33:

    Antoninus Pius. A.D. 138-161. AR denarius. 3.34 gm. 18 mm.

    Good Very Fine; attractively toned with pleasing iridescence.

  13. Winning Losing Won Lost Watching Available in aftersale  
  14. Winning Losing Won Lost Watching Available in aftersale  
    E3, Lot 34:

    Antoninus Pius. A.D. 138-161. Æ sestertius. 29.54 gm. 33 mm.

    Good Fine; bold bust, glossy green patina.

  15. Winning Losing Won Lost Watching Available in aftersale  
    E2, Lot 36:

    THRACE. Odessos. Gordian III. A.D. 238-244. Æ 28 mm. 12.92 gm.

    Near Extremely Fine; choice glossy black patina.

  16. Winning Losing Won Lost Watching Available in aftersale  
    E3, Lot 37:

    Caracalla. A.D. 198-217. AR denarius. 3.25 gm. 20 mm.

    Good Very Fine; toned. Attractive portrait.

  17. Winning Losing Won Lost Watching Available in aftersale  
    E3, Lot 38:

    Severus Alexander. 222-235. AR denarius. 3.11 gm. 20 mm.

    Good Very Fine; toned; well centered and struck on broad flan.

  18. Winning Losing Won Lost Watching Available in aftersale  
    E2, Lot 39:

    Trajan Decius. A.D. 249-251. Æ sestertius. 21.48 gm. 27 mm.

    Very Fine; golden brown patina. Scarce.

  19. Winning Losing Won Lost Watching Available in aftersale  
    E3, Lot 39:

    Maximinus I. 235-238. AR denarius. 3.11 gm. 19 mm.

    Good Very Fine; well centered and well struck; lightly toned. Bold portrait.

  20. Winning Losing Won Lost Watching Available in aftersale  
  21. Winning Losing Won Lost Watching Available in aftersale  
    E3, Lot 40:

    Gordian III. 238-244. AR antoninianus. 4.63 gm. 22 mm.

    Good Very Fine; lightly toned; well centered and struck on broad flan.

  22. Winning Losing Won Lost Watching Available in aftersale  
    E3, Lot 41:

    Philip I. 244-249. Æ sestertius. 11.09 gm. 29 mm.

    Good Fine; dark green/black patina, striking crack at 9. Scarce.

  23. Winning Losing Won Lost Watching Available in aftersale  
  24. Winning Losing Won Lost Watching Available in aftersale  
  25. Winning Losing Won Lost Watching Available in aftersale  
  26. Winning Losing Won Lost Watching Available in aftersale  
  27. Winning Losing Won Lost Watching Available in aftersale  
  28. Winning Losing Won Lost Watching Available in aftersale  
    E2, Lot 49:

    Licinius I. A.D. 308-324. Æ follis. 3.25 gm. 20 mm.

    Extremely Fine; attractive black patina.

  29. Winning Losing Won Lost Watching Available in aftersale  
    E2, Lot 51:

    Crispus. Caesar, A.D. 316-326. Æ follis. 2.75 gm. 21 mm.

    Near Extremely Fine; pleasing olive brown patina. Sharply struck.

  30. Winning Losing Won Lost Watching Available in aftersale  

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