My Top 10 Favorite Ancients

#7 My very first ancient, yup. This is the coin that started my path into ancients & away from U.S. coinage full time. This coin was again, a coin owned my CT poster Stainless. This board was having a contest with $ earned going to a charity. I saw this coin listed & thought "it would be nice to just have 1 ancient". So I purchased it. After it arrived I was blown away with the detail something so old could have & at a reasonable price. After researching who this fellow was and being intrigued by his history, I decided to get one of his wife, Julia Domna, then his sons…then it was a domino effect that hasn't stopped.


So even though this coin is common to ancient collectors it holds a ton of sentimental value & memories & for that, earns its place in my top 10 & as well as a piece I can't part with, not even for a Athens owl or Portrait Julius Caesar.


Now a Brutus Eid Mar on the other hand..:devil:


Septimius Severus (193 - 211 A.D)
AR Denarius
Rome mint, 201 A.D.
O: SEVERVS AVG PART MAX, Laureate head right.
R:RESTITVTOR VRBIS (Restoration of the City), Severus in military attire, spear in left, sacrificing over a tripod altar with right.
RIC 167a RSC 599 BMCRE 202
3.3g

 

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Nice coin, and even a nicer story.

My first was a larissa 3/4 facing bronze with pretty hard green patina. You can imagine how pretty it is, as I find those Larissa issues pretty to begin with. To be fair, I also bought a Parthian silver the same day, but it was the Larissa that got me hooked on ancients and got me to put my US coins away for good. The little Parthian coin got its revenge, though, since my collecting interests have been more central asian than classical greek.

 

Nice, I dont own any Larissa coins but would love to have some. I agree they are beauties.

 

i think this one may be my fave that you have posted so far... keep em coming!

 

This is one of the more nicer ancient firsts I've seen. I really like style of the portrait on it. Very nice Mat

 

#6 This piece has an interesting story. It all started when fellow CT poster Dougsmit posted in a thread of mine when I mentioned I was on the hunt for a Elagabalus. He mentioned this particular type below. I immediately liked the type he had. One thing mentioned was the "horn" above. Many speculate it could be a petrified bulls penis, but then it could be something else. So I was searching many online outlets for one. Some were priced way too high, others were in pis* poor shape, & some I just narrowly lost by a few $. Then this coin appeared on Vauctions. I loved it's condition, well centering and the weight. I had some extra funds at the time & was gonna put a reasonable amount on it. Needless to say others seemed to have wanted other coins so I ended up winning this coin at a very reasonable price even after "buyers fees". It felt like a weight was off my shoulders to acquire this piece, which was nearly a year from the time it was mentioned in that old thread. I was even happier I didn't have to blow the bank to get it.


It was one of the few times patience worked in my favor, even if it felt like forever.



Elagabalus (218-222 A.D.)
AR Denarius
Struck 220-222 AD.
O: IMP ANTONINVS PIVS AVG, Laureate and draped bust right, horn on head.
R: SACRED DEI SOLIS ELAGAB, Elagabalus standing right, holding branch (?) and sacrificing from patera over lighted altar; star in right field.
RIC IV 131; BMCRE 225 note; RSC 246
Rome mint
19mm
3.5g

 

Patience is easier if you plan to collect these things for the rest of your life. I'm glad that this nice coin came with such a short wait. It is a far above average specimen. In the case of this coin we need to consider not only factors of how unworn, well struck and smooth surfaced the coin under consideration but if the horn is clear. We will each have to decide if we want an EF normal or a VF 'full horn' (just like a collector of buffalo nickels must).

The horn exists on more than one reverse but this one is by far the best because the reverse legend includes ELAGAB which is where we get the nickname applied to this emperor.

 

This is another cool type, I actually planed on getting one but something always came up I needed more I still would like to get one when I get some more spending money

 

That I admit is the fault of my coin, its horn is pretty limp whereas Dougs horn took some Viagra before being used as a horn.

But I am OK with it. I have thought about getting the other reverse type with a strong horn just to have it but its one of those "not in a rush" things.

Still a great example Doug & thanks for the heads up on the type.

 

# 5 The acquisition of this coin came at a time when I was looking for a Denarius of Geta. But not just any run of the mill Geta, but of him as Augustus. Coinage of him as Augustus are much more scarce then him as Caesar. This was another piece that took nearly a year to get. I was about to take a break from searching for an Augustus Geta due to the average cost of getting one. As when I think all hope is lost this popped up on ebay. I immediately fell in love with the reverse of the enemy being speared by the horseman. I also liked the toning. I figured it wouldn't hurt to watch it and see where it goes price wise. As the days went on bids would creep up, but not in the high figures I expected it too. So I decide I will bid a certain amount the last few seconds, so I throw my bid in and boom!, won it. No last second snipe & at way below my max bid.

I was shocked to win it.

To this day this coin remains one of my more popular ones in my collection as well as all time favorite from the Severan dynasty coinage I own.



Geta (209 - c. 211 A.D.)
AR Denarius
O: IMP CAES P SEPT GETA PIVS AVG, Laureate head right.
R: PONTIF TR P COS II, Geta on horseback riding left, spearing enemy beneath.
Rome. A.D. 209
BMC p. 359 17. RIC 68 (Rated Rare), RSC 13
2.7g

 

Sure looks like from an older collection with the nice envelope toning. Nice.

 

A lucky grab! Ebay seems to give us breaks every now and then

 

That's a fabulous thread. And since # 7 I see stunning coins, especially 7 and 5.
I prepare my sun glasses for the upcoming ones...

Q

 

# 4 This coin has the distinction of being my top favorite male emperor in my ancients. One of the major attractions to this piece is the original toning. So often ancients come very bright from past cleanings or spotty toning. This is pretty much as original as it gets outside of the dirt it was buried in.

Not much else to say as I will let the coin speak for itself.


Nerva (96 - 98 A.D.)
AR Denarius
O:IMP NERVA CAES AVG P M TR POT II, Laureate head right.
R: COS III PATER PATRIAE, Priestly implements: simpulum, aspergillum, jug and lituus.
RIC 225, 34. Cohen 51.
18mm
3.1g

 

Nice one.

I always love reverses that aren't some tiny standing guy. Denari are not great media for standing statues, so I love it when something else is portrayed. This reverse with the priestly instruments is very interesting.

 

Nerva does pretty well for a guy with a face only a mother could love.

 

Actually, I was going to say that I probably look more like Nerva than any other Roman emperor. I guess now I won't be saying that......

A dude cannot help the nose he was born with!

 

Great coin Mat. Just got me thinking; I wonder id there are any examples of ancients with finger prints still on them (from antiquity)

 

Never seen one with any to be honest. Wouldnt surprise me if there was and it got cleaned off during the cleaning process.

 

Yeah, are coins are tougher than the wimply little modern coins. Ours take cleaning in stride, still looking fine.