Coin Talk
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A Very Interesting 10 Cent Indent
Apparently, a slightly-curved clip, unstruck 10 cent planchet was laying directly on top of another 10 cent planchet directly and completely inside the collar, and were then struck by dime dies.
I have never seen something like this before, and it almost caused me to question its authenticity.
You can also see some phantom designs from both sides that bled through and appear on the mostly unstruck reverse, albeit slightly.
Notice on the obverse by the date you can tell where the raised details on the other side are. Looks damaged, but it is not (at least not numismatically speaking).
Very cool and a neat find. I guess this would be considered a "full ireverse indent from a curved clip"? Or would it be a "partial indent from a curved clip"? (To me, a "partial indent" means only a portion of the curved clip was struck into it, which is not the case).
My understanding is that "indents" are technically not "strike throughs." Not sure why though.
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Beware: These are making the rounds...
A few sites are selling these, including Etsy, though they state they are copies. But that doesn't mean someone won't then try to resell it as a genuine piece.
In my experience, if you see one that isn't certified, it is a fake unless it is sitting on a well-known error specialist's table. But I imagine even they would want to protect them in a slab. Never saw a genuine raw one in my life.
The problem is many of these are even 90% silver, have the same diameter, and sport some pretty darn good reeding. The same goes for Trade Dollars.
However, I actually recommend acquiring some known fakes to study and compare them for yourself. Reading books is always good, but testing your skills is also important.
Beware and be smart.
~Joe Cronin
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A Roman Provincial from Nisibis in Mesopotamia
Post your coins minted in Nisibis or anything you feel is relevant!
Nisibis (Νίσιβις; modern Nusaybin in southeastern Turkey, along the Syrian border) was ancient even in the Roman period, having been founded as an Aramean settlement before 900 BCE. It is situated in the region of Mygdonia, in northern Mesopotamia, on the frontier between the Greek and Roman empires and the empires of the east: Babylon, Achaemenid Persia, Parthia, and the Sasanians.
The city was conquered by by Alexander the Great in 332 BCE and coin production first began in the Seleucid period, with the first issues struck under Antiochus IV. Being on the crossroads between the great empires of the west and east, Nisibis was often taken and retaken. It was captured by Lucullus in 68 BC; however, this first Roman occupation was exceedingly brief. During the reign of Nero, Corbulo seized Nisibis during his Armenian campaign, but this second Roman occupation was also of short... -
My recent coin show buys
I had mentioned before that I was interested in FEs, and this monthly coin show was my first stop. I first went to a dealer that I have a relationship with, but I knew he likely didn't have the coin since he has a small inventory and seems to be leaning more to selling supplies. Anyway he didn't have it but pointed out two other dealers he said might have one. One didn't have one and the other was busy. While I waited for the one to get freed up, I wandered around and came across this quarter in a half-price bin.
I thought it was a nice off-centered strike, but even though it was going for half the $25 it was marked, I wanted to wait until I knew how much the FE would cost. So when the dealer was free, I asked what he had. He brought out about 15 FE coins from behind the counter and told me to look through them. Out of those, this one was the best as far as having better defined feathers.... -
Chinese Coin Silver Ashtray with a Message
I bought the hand wrought coin silver ashtray pictured below in Santa Barbara, CA in 1971 along with 6 sycee ingots for the melt value of silver . The ashtray was probably made in the 1920s, is 3.875 in. in diameter, & weighs 76.5 gm. It has a one yuan (silver dollar) coin dated 1914, & pictures Yuan Shikai, 1st president of the Republic of China. The reverse has the stamped hallmarks of the silversmith to the left of the coins denomination. Collectors affectionately call these "Fat Man Dollars."
When the Qing Dynasty was overthrown on February 12, 1912, two factions fought for control of the new republic, the Kuomintang (KMT) lead by Sun Yat-sen, & the Nanjing Provisional Senate lead by Yuan Shikai. Yuan managed to gain control & conducted a rigged election making himself 1st president of the republic. Yuan cracked down on the KMT & forced Sun Yat-sen to flee to Japan. Yuan turned out to be the wrong man for the job . He was well known among the public for his... -
Atargatis or Dea Syria, the Great Syrian Goddess
Dear Friends of ancient mythology!
Today I would like to present Atargatis:
1st Coin:
Syria, Cyrrhestica, Hierapolis, Caracalla, AD 198-217
AE 27, 12.8mm, 26.97mm, 135°
Obv.: [AVTOKPATΩP KA]I MAPKOC AVPH ANTΩNINOC CE
Bust, draped and cuirassed, laureate, r.
Rev.: ΘEAC CVPIAC - IEPOΠOΛITΩN
Atargatis, in long garment, std. l. on throne with high back, r. foot set on
footstool, holding with l. hand tympanon on her l. knee, resting with r. arm on
arm of throne; before and behind the throne a lion std. r. with wide open mouth.
Ref.: Butcher, Coinage in Roman Syria, p.451, no.53, pl.27 (same obv. die)
rare, about VF, dark green glossy patina, nice rev., highlighted by sand patina
I was particularly taken with the opened throat of the rear lion!
2nd Coin:
Syria Cyrrhestica, Hierapolis, Severus Alexander, AD 222-235
AE 28, 18.3g, 0°
Obv.: AVT KAI MAP A[VP CE AΛEZANDPOC]
Bust, draped and cuirassed, radiate, r.
Rev.: [ΘEAC CVPIAC IEPAΠO]ΛI / TΩN... -
First coin macro shots. Advice from the experts???
Ok, I’m a complete novice at macro photography of coins, so please be kind (well, you don’t have to – I’m a big boy – I can handle it!)! Up to now, my only coin pics have been either from my cell phone (hand-held) or my point-and-shoot (w/ tripod). Not conducive for really good pics, for sure!
I don’t need to be a professional, but I want to learn to take pretty good pics of my collection. My camera is not the best (Pentax K100D), but it’ll have to do for now. I just bought a new macro lens (Phoenix 100mm F3.5 – didn’t want to spend a ton, since I may end up getting a new camera at some point in the next year or so), as my zoom lenses were not doing the trick at all. I have a copy stand and 2 goose neck lamps, which I set at about 10:00 and 2:00 to the coin. Put the camera on macro mode, with manual focus, and a 2-second delay, auto white balance (could probably do custom white balancing). No other settings, yet. Not sure if I can hook the Pentax K100D up to my laptop with... -
Unbending hammered medieval silver coin (Gros Tournois)
Part of the fun I get with collecting ancient and medieval coinage is attempting to clean encrusted coins, or restore damaged coins. There is a certain learning curve to this, and deciding whether or not a coin actually improves from it beforehand is difficult and, in my opinion, also differs per individual.
This project was something I never tried before: unbending a hammered medieval silver coin. This coin has been posted at CoinTalk before (https://www.cointalk.com/threads/a-fun-lot-of-silver-roman-and-medieval-coinage.343992/). In my opinion, the coin has three issues:
- It's bent quite badly
- There is a deep scratch, probably caused by digging the coin (and thus causing problem 1)
- The patina is uneven and 'spotty'
A high-definition image of the obv/rev (note the deep scratch and the uneven patina)... -
Spes, Goddess of Hope: New Sub-group?
At the beginning of October, I bid on and won a Titus As with SPES reverse. Though it's rough/gone-through-many-hands, it has a simple beauty about it... The flower, the gentle holding of hem.
Titus as Caesar, AE As
Struck by Vespasian in 77-78 AD, Lugdunum Mint
Obverse: T CAES IMP AVG F TR P COS VI CENSOR, Head of Titus, laureate, right; globe at point of neck.
Reverse: Spes standing, left holding flower in right and raising skirt with left (anepigraphic), S-C across field.
References: RIC II (Vespasian) 1273
Size: 28mm, 8.7g
Since then, I've seen a few other coins come up (or now I've just noticed them more), I've bid on most, and won some. I guess this deity reverse type is becoming a collecting sub-group in now into.
The same time I got that Nero I cleaned, I also got this worn Aelius with - you guessed it - Spes reverse.
Aelius as Caesar, AE As
Struck by Hadrian in 137 AD, Rome... -
Daniel Carr Designed 0.999 Silver Washington DC Quarter Found CRH
Took the day off today and went out and bought "$1000" (which turned out to be $900...but that's another story) in CWR all bagged up and ready to deliver to Loomis today. Came home and pulled out another American Memorial "W" quarter and then this came out.
I did a quick google search and found @dcarr 's moonlight mint website and saw that he designed it and it was minted by National Collector's Mint. To make it even cooler, it is the 0.999 Silver version!
I love Daniel Carr's designs but unfortunately they are out of my price range. Glad I was able to find an affordable example for 25 cents
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