What was your first Ancient coin?

What was everyones first ancient coin? Do you still have it?

 

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I had a constanople commemrative I got as a kid for $6. It didnt have complete legends. I got rid of it last year for $18. I dont miss it nor am I in a rush to replace it.

 

I bought a Roman Imperial Antoninianus, that of Emperor Gallienus. I paid $17 for it. Two days later, I was able to find another Antoninianus of his Queen; Salonina of Ceres. I paid $18 for it, and still have both displayed with information cards as a set in my wall unit.

 

We have already had similar threads here and on other forums, of course, and here is what I wrote in one of them :


"Here is mine. My grand father, born 1894, has been lucky enough to be involved in the whole WWI. He eventually found three coins, romans he told me, digging a trench at Verdun battle. After the end of the war, being in a train, back home with two other poilus he decided to give them one coin each and keep the last one. Here it is, a sestertius of Commodus :

Minted in Rome, AD 192
L AEL AVREL CO---MM AVG P FEL, Laureate head of Commodus right
HERCVLI ROMANO AVG, Hercules facing, head left, holding club and lion's skin, resting on trophy. SC in field
21,01 gr
Ref : RCV #5752, Cohen #203

It is the very first roman coin I have ever possessed, as he gave it to me when I was 18 and the only one in the family to collect coins. It's of course the real start of my addiction for ancient coins.

Cucumbor"

I can also add this about that coin :

The following commentary is taken from the description of a similar example (in far much better condition) in NAC auction 54, # 477 :

Few Roman coins excite as much commentary as those of Commodus, which show him possessed of Hercules. Not only do they present an extraordinary image, but they offer incontrovertible support to the literary record. The reports of Commodus’ megalomania and infatuation with Hercules are so alarming and fanciful that if the numismatic record was not there to confirm, modern historians would almost certainly regard the literary record as an absurd version of affairs, much in the way reports of Tiberius’ depraved behaviour on Capri are considered to be callous exaggerations. Faced with such rich and diverse evidence, there can be no question that late in his life Commodus believed that Hercules was his divine patron. Indeed, he worshipped the demigod so intensely that he renamed the month of September after him, and he eventually came to believe himself to be an incarnation of the mythological hero. By tradition, Hercules had fashioned his knotted club from a wild olive tree that he tore from the soil of Mount Helicon and subsequently used to kill the lion of Cithaeron when he was only 18 years old. Probably the most familiar account of his bow and arrows was his shooting of the Stymphalian birds while fulfilling his sixth labour. The reverse inscription HERCVLI ROMANO AVG (‘to the August Roman Hercules’) makes the coin all the more interesting, especially when put into context with those of contemporary coins inscribed HERCVLI COMMODO AVG, which amounts to a dedication ‘to Hercules Commodus Augustus’.

 

Technically, it was this piece which I selected as a gift for a friend who was interested in both figures: Constantine I & Sol





Stainless hooked me up with the two below, technically the first Ancients in my personal collection:



From the attribution card that came in the 2x2:

Constantine I
AE3, 317, Trier, Officina 1
CONSTANTINVS P F AVG
Laureate, cuirassed bust right
SOLI INVIC_TO COMITI
Sol, radiate, standing facing, head left, nude but for chlamys across left shoulder, right hand raised, globe in left hand which is turned out
T | F across fields
. ATR in exergue
19 mm x 20 mm, 3.13g
RIC VII, 135





I tried to find an attribution for this one, and came up with this possibility:

Ref Hadrian AE Sestertius, RIC 637, Cohen 385, BMC 1305

Hadrian Æ Sestertius. 125-128 AD.

Laureate head right, slight drapery on far shoulder
Aequitas standing left, holding scales & long scepter.
Cohen 385.

 

Krispy - #2 up there was once in my collection, that's my attribution.

This was my first - purchased 2005 in Stratford, UK.

Constantine I, AD 306-337
AE - Follis, 18mm
Trier, Spring 317 AD
laurate cuirassed bust right
IMP CONSTANTINVS PF AVG
Sol standing left with orb and raising right hand
SOLI INVICTO COMITI
RIC VII 97
T|F / BTR in exergue

Wow. I wasn't even actually collecting ancient coins until 2007. Its still hard to believe I'm going on my fourth year.

 

Cool! I guess this was one of the coins I received when I won an Ancient in CT fundraiser in 2009.

 

Mine was a facing head Larissa AE. I was hooked as soon as I bought that coin, (for way too much it turns out, but I still own it). I think it was about 12 years ago, that is when I really stopped buying US material.

Chris

 

Thanks alot for posting all


I got this one of Constantine I 2007/8, but didnt start collecting really til mid 08, when I got my first coin of Augustus.


Constantine the Great
A.D. 308 - 337. minted late in the reign.
obv. CONSTANTINVS MAX AVG, diademe and draped faces right.
rev. GLORIA EXERCITVS (glory of the army)
SMNA

Augustus Æ As. Commemorative by Tiberius. DIVVS AVGVSTVS PATER, radiate head left / Eagle standing on globe facing, wings spread, head right, S C at sides

 

This was my first ancient coin: a denarius of Vitellius (69 a.d) minted in Tarraco or Lugdunum, found on a windy hill-top about 20 years ago. It was the beginning of my Roman coin collection. I still have it of course. It shows some corrosion but still a nice and scarce denarius of this short-lived emperor.

 

Here's mine (well, actually my wife's, but NY is a community property State). Picked this up in Boston at the ANA Convention from .900 Fine and his lovely wife Robin.










Ptolemaic Egypt.
Ptolemy IV,21-204 B.C.AE 40 (48.0 gms)
BMC-6.66,37.
Head of Zeus right/Eagle on thunderbolt

 

Denarius of Trajan

Yes, I still have it.

 

Mine was a bronze coin with a portrait of Valens. Fourth century I think? Later I bought several more of the same coin and gave several away. So I still have one. But I don't think it is the exact first one I bought.

 

I bought this Tiberius Denarius and one of Elagabalus at a coin show
in San Francisco in 1982.



Tiberius Denarius - Livia
Obverse:
Laureate head right
(TI CAESAR DIVI) AVG F AVGVSTVS
Reverse:
Livia as Pax seated right, holding reversed spear and olive branch
PONTIF MAXIM
Catalog: RIC 28 RSC 16a - Struck AD 14-37
Notes: This coin is probably the "Tribute Penny" mentioned in the Bible.
Struck at the Lugdunum (Lyon) mint, the main mint of Rome until
Caligula had it moved to Rome.
The one line beneath chair is a variety

 

My First Ancient Coin

Well this was my first ancient coin, gift from an ebay seller who had sent me a wrong coin.
He refunded my purchase price and told me to keep the coin, and sent this one along in a few days.

I later bought 4 nice higher grade ancient coins from the same seller. : )

I know little about it and would appreciate as accurate an attribution as possible.
Thanks. : )







.

 

Looks like a silver Jital from the Kingdom of Zabul, Samanta Deva, 900-940 A.D, Obv: Humped bull Rx: Horseman riding right carrying long lance Counterpunch on bull.

 

My First Ancient was a First Ancient

I bought this because it comes from the lifetime of Thales of Miletos, father of geometry and philosophy, and a good businessman. Sear 3532v 1.01 grams 10mm x 10mm
Miletos, one-sixth stater or diobol. Lion's head obverse and stellate pattern reverse. c.550 BCE.

 

The Shahi kings seemed to have ruled what is now mostly in Afghanistan and Pakistan in the 9th-11th centuries AD issuing these coins that reflect the interests of their diverse population (horsemen and Hindu). The earlier ones from the mint at Kabul were marked Sri Spalapati Deva (army commander)but when the Moslem armies occupied Kabul around 870 the mint moved to Ohind and the legend changed to Sri Samanta Deva which means feudatory chief. The letters are Devanagari. A very few have specific rulers named and the understanding of the whole business is none to certain. Most of what we know about the Shahis was written by their enemies. They seem to have ruled for a long time before they started issuing coins. The coins are about 70% silver and called jitals. After the fall of the Shahis, similar types were issued by many Islamic rulers of the region since they were the trade coin of choice. It is rather hard to find them in unworn condition but well circulated coins are common. Yours is cataloged as Tye 14 in Robert Tye's book Jitals. Many are poorly struck and off center so your example is rather nice despite the wear. There are several variations including different letters flanking the horseman. My photo shows four coins with the second from the right matching yours.

Later (Islamic period) copies kept the same weight but got thicker and more base alloy so they don't look as good as these earlier ones. They exist by the millions. I like Jitals.

 

I like this coin because of its significance. Constantine I, the first Emperor to aggressively support the Christian movement, still had to pay tribute to a still largely pagan Roman Empire with the reverse of his coin showing an image of the pagan deity Sol. :devil:

The legend on the reverse "SOLI INVIC_TO COMITI" (Commited to the Invincible Sun God) would certainly be a product of someone trying to hedge his bets with the pagan world.

Good history. That's what makes numismatics interesting for me.

guy

 

Thanks, Mat and Doug. Great information, and it's nice to see Doug's better example.

When they mention counterpunch, just exactly what do they mean?