Coin Talk

Before there were slabs, there were Capital Plastics holders. They provided excellent protection for the coin. There were open stock items and custom made holders. The custom holders could be ordered with specific sizes for the openings and custom lettering. I used to have custom made holders all of my top coins.

Here are a couple of "open stock" holders for Morgan dollars. The first was for the varieties of 1878. It in interesting to note that the 1878, Reverse of '79 dollar was included in this set.



Here is the 1878, Reverse of 1879 dollar, which should have been included in this set.



Here is an "All Mints" collection. An extra spot was added to show the obverse.



I have never been a big Morgan Dollar collector. I have a Proof for my type set, these two sets and that's it. These sets provde a bit...

The role of medieval Scandinavia in international trade has become more clear in recent decades through archaeological studies, in addition to examining numismatics. In early Scandinavian History, coins would be used primarily as bullion, and payments made through weight rather than the number of coins. This is clear due to the number of Viking hoards that have been found containing silver coins along with other precious metals folded and mutilated. In the early Middle Ages, large numbers of Abbasid Dirhams have been found in Scandinavian hoards. There have been some records of contact between Muslims and Scandinavians, particularly the account of Ibn Fadlan who spent some time with a people called the Rus (the fore-bearers to the Russians, which some believe to be Scandinavian, but could possibly be Slavs). Ibn Fadlan describes many aspects of the Rus’ lives, most famously the burial ritual surrounding one of their chieftains. In addition, he describes the women of the Rus...

I became a collector in the mid-1990’s, but before that I was a voracious reader so it was a natural progression to colleting books. Only after a number of years did I gain a focus in the book collecting field: Fakes, Frauds, Forgers & Hoaxes. Curious and limited as such a specialized field may sound the material is quite available, for almost as long as the word has been written there have been available works made with the intention of deceiving as to authorship, origin, date, age, period, culture or source.


To the consternation of many of my biblio-friends I took up coin collecting about 5 years ago after the rediscovery of my childhood collections that had survived intact in my mother’s attic. The thought that two collections, two intense interests, could coexist seemed...

The Eid Mar coin was voted the most famous coin of all time. In Harlan J. Berks book’s « 100 greatest Ancient coins », the denarius is rated number one in his category. Why ? First it openly celebrates an act of murder ; the bloody execution of the dictator Julius Caesar in the Senate house on the Ides of March of 44 BC. It is one of the most important event in the history of the western world. Secondly it is the only and unique Roman coin to mention a specific date. And thirdly it is one of the rare specific coin to has been mentioned by an ancient authority : Cassius Dio, the Roman historian ( 155-235 AD ) wrote about it in Historia Romana ( XLVII.25, 3 ) :

Now let’s analyse what’s on the denarius. The obverse of the coin features a portrait of Brutus, himself, and the legend : L PLAET CEST BRUT IMP. L Plaetorius Cestianus is the name of the moneyer who minted the coin ; Brutus...

Dear Friends of ancient mythology!

Another article about a Republican coin.

The Coin:
Roman Republic, R. Renius, gens Renia
AR - denarius, 3.92g, 15.33mm
Rome, 138 BC
Obv.: Head of Roma,wearing decorated and winged Attic helmet, r.
X behind
Rev.: Juno Caprotina in goats biga galloping r., holding reigns and sceptre in l. hand
and whip in r. hand.
beneath C.REN
in ex. ROMA
Ref.: Crawford 231/1; Sydenham 432; Renia 1
VF, toned, small, struck on small flan

Caprotina (= wearing goat's skin) is an epithet of Juno in her aspect as a fertility goddess. As Juno Caprotina she is associated with goats (Latin capra, "she-goat", caper, "he-goat") and with figs, both of which are symbolic of fertility: the fig fruit bears many seeds (and the well-known obscene meaning of fica), and goats are well-known for their randiness. Her festival was called the Nonae Caprotinae, or the "Nones of Caprotina", held on the nones or 7th day of July, and it...

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The clothing of the Roman matron remained remarkably constant, remaining essentially unchanged from the Republican period until well into the fourth century, when the stola and palla were supplanted by the dalmatica, a tunic with sleeves worn by both men and women.

The Roman woman's costume began with a tunica intima, a simple chemise undergarment with or without sleeves, depending on the weather or fashion statement desired. Over this, she wore a stola, the feminine equivalent of the toga. The stola was typically made of wool or linen and was longer than the body, and was slit at the top on both sides so it could be placed over the head. The stola was often white, but could be dyed or have colorful borders along the neck and around the edge for decoration. Coins sometimes depict stolae with decorations over the breasts. Clasps called fibulae...

I have had a fascination with the early half dimes since I was in high school. I could not get over the fact that the same beautiful Draped Bust design that appeared on the Bust Dollar was also on such a tiny coin. The trouble these coins are so scarce, as a group, that I didn’t see my first one until I was a junior in college. A coin dealer, who had a shop in northern Delaware had an 1800, the most common Draped Bust, Large Eagle date, in what I remember to be VF. The asked price was $300. I added up all the money I had, as a college student, and could have bought it … if I decided that I didn’t want to eat.

After I graduated from college and landed my first job, I got my first early half dime, an 1800 “LIBEKTY.” This Red Book variety was created when Robert Scott, who probably made the dies, used a broken letter punch for the "R" in "LIBERTY" that had an open spot at the top. It is moderately scarce with perhaps 275 to 325 examples known. Here it is....

The traditional interpretation of one of the major works of Greek statuary, the so-called Apollo Sauroktonos, is that it depicts a young Apollo about to slay a lizard climbing on a tree. The earliest reference to the sculpture is by Pliny, who attributes it to the Athenian sculptor Praxiteles, and describes what the piece looked like: “[Praxiletes] also made a pubescent Apollo with an arrow watching a lizard as it creeps up with the intent to kill it; this is known as the Sauroktonos.”[1] Sauroktonos is typically translated as “lizard-slayer.” Art historians date the work to c.350-340 BC.

The sculpture was well-known by Roman times and numerous copies and variants in virtually all media are known. The most famous are the Roman copies in the Louvre and the...

I read many post talking about the famous forger Becker lately. Was he a skilled artist or a crook ? Before you answer, let’s examine who he was and what he did.

THE CROOK
Carl Wilhem Becker is born June 28 1772 in Speyer , a town located beside the river Rhine. Founded by the Romans, It is one of Germany’s oldest city . His father owned a vineyard and was in the wine business, and also occupied the position of Syndic, probably similar to what we call a mayor today. In his youth, Carl was not interested in wine trade, but would rater study in art and become a sculptor. He was sent at Bordeaux for his training in the wine making profession. He married a woman of Mannheim in May 1795 and opened his own wineshop in this city. From 1798 to 1803 he set up there as a draper but became bankrupt. His personal diary indicates that by 1796 at the latest he dealt with coinage. There is a (...