London Coin Fair Roll Call

I’m hoping they have a catalogue of their Ancient Chinese coin collection

 

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I dont know if its ever been updated. The original is from 1892 and is downloadable as a pdf via Google. If anyone cant find it I can e-mail a copy. If there is an updated version I suppose the museum would be the best place to find out.

 

Have fun, I'm jelly.

 

The Chunnel

 

So I am back from the show. It was a bit different from what I have experienced in the US. I was struck by how many coins were just sitting in open trays where I could physically touch the coins and examine them. Other than junk bins, this is NEVER the case in the US. I would estimate that 50-60% of the coins (excluding junk bins) there were ancient or medieval, also very different. There was very little US to pick through, though I got a nice 1920 dime for less than melt. Surprisingly, I found that prices were quite a bit higher than I could get in the US (even if the price was in dollars), though there were a few dealers with realistic prices (in the areas where I could judge the prices). There was so much there that I had no idea what I was looking at, that I felt overwhelmed. Thus I mainly stuck to junk boxes. There were a couple Roman Republicans I was seriously considering, but my money had already been spent.

There were lots of really nice ancients present, though the nicest were Greek staters, Roman aurii/solidi, Byzantine solidi, and hammered gold. Sorry, I did not take pictures.

My accent appeared to be passible, meaning no one called me out on it and made a fool of me.

Now for the part you have all been waiting for, my buys (which totaled about £105):



Now here are the ones you care about. I saw this coin, and I had to have it. It’s story is too cool to pass up. £55:



I wanted to get an Elizabeth I coin while I was in England, so I got one. I probably overpaid at £24, but meh. It is a 1583 sixpence (I was hoping to get a 1588), but I forgot to make sure it was from the London Mint. I don’t see anything resembling “London” in the legend, so is it? @TheRed



And lastly a Roman ring that is perfectly my size.

 

A very nice looking lot of coins are now yours. Love the roman ring. Sounds like you had a great time.

 

A good haul from the show! I don't think any mint other than the Tower of London produced those sixpences, so it should be London.

ATB,
Aidan.

 

What this kind of signifies to me is how coin collecting is more popular the US than in most European countries, otherwise I would think you would find coins from other than the ancient and medieval types.

 

BTW, are those cartwheels pennies or two-pennies?

 

That is a nice group of coins. @akeady is right, only the Tower mint produced silver coins under the reign of Elizabeth. £24 is a good price for the coin, one I would have paid. Is their a particular reason you were looking for 1588?

 

Sweet pick-ups! Love that denarius! (and that one cash-coin, of course )

 

That's a nice haul! Cool ring and pretty good price good price on the Sergius Silus. I went to the London Coin Fair a few years ago and found the prices to be on the high side as well. After making a couple of rounds, I found one dealer with lower to mid range ancients more within my budget and ended up spending all of my coin cash with him (he offered a 10% discount). Still, being a coin show noob, my purchases were pretty hit and miss. Here's one of them which I pulled out a few days ago to play with that I'm still very fond of.


POSTUMUS
Billon Antoninianus. 3.4g, 23.1mm. Trier mint, AD 260-268. RIC 67; Sear 10946; AGK 27; Mairat 40-4. O: IMP C POSTVMVS P F AVG, radiate, draped & cuirassed bust right. R: HERC PACIFERO, Hercules standing right, holding olive branch & club.

 

I think the main difference is that US collectors mainly know US coins and can’t relate to ancient times since the country they live in only dates back to the early modern Era. I know for a long time, I figured that coins that mattered began in 1652.

One pennies. But I could not pass them up for £5.50 for the lot.

When the English defeated the Spanish Armada.

 

It had been carved into a charm, which is why I bought it.

 

This was more or less my first "proper" show, very excitingly. Highly pleasant atmosphere.

(I had the startling experience, on a few occasions, of speaking to dealers and realising I had no idea how to pronounce certain of the proper nouns I was imminently about to utter -- interesting side-effect of only ever reading about this stuff. (Lysimachos? Sassanian? Carausius?))

Anyway I didn't have the budget for much extravagance but was very pleased to pick up the Trajan below, which represents my first "good" sestertius -- the reverse has perhaps seen better days, but it's a historically interesting type, and there's a nice bold portrait on the obverse, plus a fully legible inscription. Its general largeness and high relief unfortunately don't come through in the photo.


Trajan, 103AD: O: laureate head right, drapery on far shoulder, IMP CAES NERVAE TRAIANO AVG GER DAC P M TR P COS V P P / R: Dacian seated left on armour, trophy to left, SPQR OPTIMO PRINCIPI, S-C

Elsewhere, this Nerva is a crime scene, but I'll confess a guilty fondness for over-cleaned original-surface bronzes (and I feel one tends not to see them so much for earlier emperors like this?). The portrait here I think is actually very good considering the circumstances.

 

Darn, we could have met up.

Nice buys!

 

Nice coin pick ups!

I also like the Roman ring, so cool you can wear it.

Good job!

John