A big milestone: my first ever gold coin!

I have a libius severus! And I hear ya abot the college thing. That and having a part-time job restrict my budget. But the good thing is that I hardly have any expenses.

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

Thanks for the additional comments!

 

In college, you have no money to spend on coins, but should have easy access to any reference book you can imagine. I used, nay, abused the inter-library loan system when I was in school.

 

It's a shame I didn't really think to do that...

 

College ... man, that seems like such a long time ago!!

=> yah, all I remember is trying to skid-by and pass all of my engineering exams ... oh, and spend every other spare-minute tryin' to wheel tail!! (ah, the good ol' daze!!)

=> oh, and just for the rercord, I hardly had enough cash to buy my cigs and still have enough for Kraft dinner (yup, I'm sure glad that I finally ended-up kicking the ol' cig-habit => man, that's certainly a money grabber, eh?) ... so maybe one gold coin and the rest on Kraft dinner?

... good luck at college!!

:thumb:

 

Very nice!!

Thanks for sharing!

 

That is more money than ill ever put into any coin.
Nice coin and if you wanted it i am glad you got it.

 

They sell that (Kraft) crap in Canada, Steve? It's bad enough that they offer it here in the States but I thought you Canadian guys had more sense........:devil:

 

Good one lol. Had soda come out my nose when I read that.

 

Oh, and another thing........is that Mr. Bean in drag?

[gonna take my lumps for that one :devil:]

 

How to store ancient gold coins:

Remember that most genuine ancient coins have been underground for hundreds of years.

I bought this little fellow after a visit to Istanbul:



Justinian - AU Solidus
Obverse: Helmeted and cuirassed bust facing three-quarters to right,
holding spear over shoulder and shield
DN IVSTINI-ANVS PP AVG
Reverse: Angel standing facing, holding jewelled cross and cross on globe,
star in right field
VICTORI - A AVCCC B (Oficina B)
CONOB in exergue (Constantinople mint)
Struck: AD 527-537
Size: 21mm
Weight: 4.43gm
Catalog: Sear 137

 

I find gold the easiest to store. Much less reactive than the other metals. If your storage conditions are fine for silver and copper, gold is in good shape. Gold itself will never tarnish, but alloyed metals can.

 

willieboyd: Did you buy that in Turkey? I was under the impression it was illegal to buy and sell these there.

 

Said he bought it in Istanbul (Constantinople)..........

 

He said he bought AFTER a trip there. Do not even think of buying a coin there, but somehow many coins struck in Constantinople end up in German markets.

 

I bought the coin after I returned to the United States.

The only coins of any kind that I saw for sale in Istanbul were bullion coins and recent coins made into jewelry.

 

I have read that you might get offered ancients in Turkey, but many of them are fakes. If you get caught with them at customs, you will WISH they are fake, since going to a Turkish jail for coins is not my idea of a good time.

Always buy coins where they are legal to purchase.

I have a story not about Turkey but about Egypt. A friend, (well known numismatist), went to Egypt once. He was part of a large group from his church. Out of 100 tourists someone came up to him at a site, pulled him aside, and offered him coins. He looked at them, saw they were fakes, and declined. Two days later same thing, only he was pulled aside and taken to a place to look at coins. This time they were real. He declined a second time. Then when leaving the country, he was pulled into an office at the airport and all of his luggage was gone through with a fine tooth comb, looking for hiden compartments, xrayed over and over, and he was strip searched. I do not think this was a coincidence. While we are not famous numismatists, (maybe Bill and Doug are), be very careful and don't even think of buying coins when in such countries.

 

Yeah, I thought Turkey has some of the strongest laws regarding the sales of antiquities. I have been warned that any ancient coins for sale at the markets there are all fake. The government there doesn't care if tourists are swindled. I can only imagine the coins making their way to Germany are being hand carried by Turkish citizens to relatives living in other parts of the EU. When I lived in Germany, the Germans called the Turks Gastarbeiters (literally translated means guest worker but the meaning is migrant workers).

 

Oops........:foot-mouth:

 

amazing coin! Congratulations!