NGC Certified Slabs

Born in an outpost of the Empire, of common stock, Postumus rose swiftly through the ranks, eventually commanding Roman forces among the Celts a territory that included modern-day France, Belgium, Holland, and England.

Porcius Festus was the Roman procurator of Judea, holding the post from AD59-62. According to Acts of the Apostles, Festus declared St. Paul insane and sent him to Rome for trial.

Fulvia Plautilla was a Roman noblewoman married to emperor Caracalla. Apparently the marriage was short and deeply unhappy, likely never consumated, and ended when Caracalla accused Plautilla's entire family of treason, and she and her brother were...

Roman Silver Antoninianus of Philip II (AD247-249) NGC

Philip I attempted to solidify his position by naming his son Philip II as co-Caesar, but their reign lasted just five years.

The Achaemenid Empire the First Persian Empire is one of the greatest empires of antiquity. From its founding by Cyrus the Great, the Achaemenid dynasty includes such notables as Darius the Great and Xerxes the Great. The fifth century BC includes two of...

Otacilia Severa was the empress of Rome and wife of the emperor Philip the Arab, who reigned over the Roman Empire from 244 to 249 CE. She was a member of the ancient noble Otacilia family, of consular and senatorial rank. Her father was Otacilius...

Numerian, was first appointed Caesar in 282 CE and then in 283 CE co-emperor by his father, the emperor Carus (282-283 CE). He was killed along with his father in an army coup organized by the future emperor Diocletian.

Hunnic drachm NGC certified slab, Kabul region 6th century AD.

Bronze issue of Aretas IV, who ruled a kingdom neighboring Judaea during the life of Jesus Christ. They were famous as traders, centered in the rock-cut city of Petra deep within the desert.

Pontus, Amisus under Mithradates NGC Slab

Widows Mite: Judean Prutah. Bronze prutah of Alexander Janeaus, king of Judaea, minted ca. 100 BCE. The widows mite mentioned in the Gospels of Mark and Luke - Jesus parable about a poor widow who gave two mitesall she had.

Judah the Hammer--Maqqaba in Aramaic; hence Maccabeeled a rebellion against the forces of the Seleucid king Antiochus IV Epiphanes, who had slaughtered thousands of Jerusalem Jews by invading on the Sabbath. Judah and his brave warriors liberated the...

The Tetrarchy was devised by Diocletian as a way to insure the smooth transfer of power when an Emperor died. Instead, it was a recipe for civil war. A nephew of Galerius, Maximinus became Caesar in 305 and Augustus six years later. He was a casualty of...

Maximinus Thrax came to power with the murder of the young Severus Alexander and his mother, whilst on campaign in Germany. He was of Thracian origin, hence the name Thrax and had risen to the position of legionary commander. He is reported as being a...

The second in command to Diocletian, and co-Emperor in the West in the early days of the Tetrarchy, Maximian was a tough general who commanded important battles against the Goths.

Maxentius was a partner in the Tetrarchic system of government, where the empire was ruled by two senior emperors, one in the east and one in the west, each with a junior to assist them. He was the son of former Emperor Maximian and the son-in-law of...

From AD 66 to AD 70, Judaea took up arms against their Roman occupiers. Fueled by patriotism and anger against Emperor Nero's taxation policies, the revolt was initially successful. However, soon the might of Rome fell hard on Judaea, and the revolt...

Marican reversed many of the actions of Theodosius II in the Eastern Roman Empire's relationship with the Huns under Attila and in religious matters. In 452, while Attila was raiding Italy, then a part of the Western Roman Empire, Marcian launched...

Magnentius was a military commander in Gaul who rebelled against the Roman emperor Constantius II, removing and killing his junior colleague Constans, in the west. He appears to have had widescale support in Britain, Gaul and Hispania because he proved...

In 167 BCE, Judah the HammerMaqqaba in Aramaic; hence Maccabeeled a rebellion against the forces of the Seleucid king Antiochus IV Epiphanes, who had slaughtered thousands of Jerusalem Jews by invading on the Sabbath.

Lucius Verus was an adopted heir of the emperor Antoninus Pius, who became co-empeor with Marcus Aurelius in 161 CE. He was married to Lucilla, the daughter of Marcus Aurelius. Said to be a weak man addicted to pleasure, his premature death in 169 CE,...

The second daughter and third child of Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius and Roman Empress Faustina the Younger. Lucilla was the wife of her father's co-ruler and adoptive brother Lucius Verus and an elder sister to later Emperor Commodus. Commodus ordered...

The son of the Eastern Roman Emperor Licinius I and Constantia, the half-sister of Western Emperor Constantine the Great, Licinius the Younger served as Caesar to his father s Augustus. As the nephew of Constantine, he was initially spared when his...

Licinius was a partner and rival to Constantine the Great, serving as the Eastern Emperor of Rome. His marriage to Constantine s half-sister Constantia forestalled civil war. The wedding provided the backdrop for one of Constantine s greatest...

Born in Vienna in 1640, Leopold I reigned as Holy Roman Emperor from 1657 until his death in 1705. A man of great culture and learning, a generous patron of the arts, and an amateur composer, Leopold was more of an aesthete than a general. This did not...

Ruling the Eastern Empire for nearly 20 years, Leo I, "The Greek," proved to be a capable ruler. He oversaw many ambitious political and military plans, aimed mostly at aiding the faltering Western Roman Empire and recovering its former territories, He...

Justinian I, called the Great, was indeed the greatest of the Byzantine Emperors. Reigning from 527 to 565 in tandem with his wife Theodora, he sought an ambitious renovation imperiirestoration of the Empire. His brilliant generals reclaimed lands lost...

Julia Soaemias was the mother of the emperor Elagabalus, a member of the powerful Emesan dynasty along with Julia Mamaea, Julia Maesa and Julia Domna. She helped orchestrate Elagabalus s rise to power and sadly shared his fate, when his unpopular eastern...

Julia Mamaea was the mother of emperor Alexander Severus and served as regent of Rome during his minority, continuing to yield somepower when he reached adulthood. Her son lost the support of the army and whilst on campaign against the Germans, alienated...

Julia Maesa was a very powerful and influential figure in the Severan dynasty. She was the sister of Julia Domna and brother in law to her husband, Septimius Severus. Her father was Gaius Julius Bassianus, the priest of the sun god Elagabal, the patron...

Julia Domna wife, Augusta, and primary advisor to Septimius Severus working in a patriarchal system that officially excluded her from assuming absolute power, nevertheless managed to have her way. Unlike her predecessors, Julia Domna accompanied her...

The son of the commander of Constantius II's bodyguards, Jovian was a general who succeeded Julian the Apostate. He was the last Constantine Dynasty emperor.

One of the last areas of Europe to convert to Christianity, Hungary issued beautiful silver coins featuring the Madonna and Child an enduring image of the Christian faith.

Honorius was the son of Theodosius the Great, the last emperor to rule over both the Eastern and Western Roman Empires. His reign was supported by his principal general, Stilicho, who was successively Honorius's guardian (during his childhood) and his...

Herennia Etruscilla was an Augusta and later regent of the Roman Empire, married to the emperor Trajan Decius, mother of Herennius Etruscus and Hostilian. As with most third-century Roman empresses, very little is known about her. She was probably from...

Herod I is one of the Bible s most complex figures. A brilliant politician and the greatest builder in Jewish history, he was also a paranoid madman who ruthlessly executed anyone he deemed a threat to his absolute power, whether legitimate rivals,...

Helena was the consort to Constantius Chlorus and the mother of Constantine the Great. By 324, Constantine alone ruled the length and breadth of the Empire. Two years later, he dispatched Helena to the Holy Land, to search among the runs for relics. She...

This remarkable coin is the first to feature the Hand without also depicting the beneficiary of the blessing. In its earlier forms, the Manus Dei indicated Gods blessing, appearing above a devotional figure, usually a king. For example, on a...

Born in Spain in 76 CE, Hadrian ascended to the throne upon the death of his adoptive father Trajan. In Rome, he re-built the famed Pantheon, with its distinctively Hellenistic look, and in Britain, the remains of Hadrian s Wall are still a tourist attrac