Your Favorite Coin in Your Collection

Discussion in 'Ancient Coins' started by altaycoins, Apr 15, 2018.

  1. Orfew

    Orfew Draco dormiens nunquam titillandus

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  3. Caesar_Augustus

    Caesar_Augustus Well-Known Member

    This is my favourite answer. I cannot post my favourite coin anymore. Thank you so much for sharing.
     
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  4. jamesicus

    jamesicus Well-Known Member

    Like so many others, I cannot chose just one favorite. But here is my favorite coin of my favorite British King:

    Charles II 1662 silver Crown

    [​IMG] [​IMG]
    CAROLVS . II DEI GRA ............................... MAG BR FRA ET HIB REX 16 --- 62
    First draped bust - Rose below
    first and third reverse shields have English and French arms quartered

    Edge Inscription: * DECVS ET TVTAMEN * (An Ornament and a Safeguard)

    Diameter: 40mm (first issue large flan)
    Weight: 29.60gm
     
  5. Voulgaroktonou

    Voulgaroktonou Well-Known Member

    You are most welcome. I wish all we Cointalkers could get together in a meeting and get to know one another in person!
     
  6. Voulgaroktonou

    Voulgaroktonou Well-Known Member

    Dougsmit's overstrike is the most dramatic I have seen, but there are 3-4 examples known of Leontius (695-698) half follis overstrikes on tetrarchic radiates. The Spink Num. Circular had a short article on them some years back. Evidently a small hoard of the earlier coins was found and used for blanks. Attached is a photo of my example, somewhat amateurishly enhanced to show the undertype, and following, a better Leontius to show its detail.
    S1335YR1.04o.JPG S1335YR1.04r.JPG
    S1335YR1.03o.JPG S1335YR1.03r.JPG
     
  7. Jwt708

    Jwt708 Well-Known Member

    Well today's favorite is this awesome Postumus. The portrait is just superb and in such high relief. The reverse is...not as nice...

    [​IMG]
    Postumus, AD 260-269
    AE “Double" Sestertius, 33mm, 24.9g, 12h; Colonia Agrippinensis or Treveri mint.
    Obv.: IMP C M CASS LAT POSTVMVS P F AVG; Radiate, draped and cuirassed bust right.
    Rev.: LAETITIA AVG (AVG in exergue); Galley left, four rowers and steersman
     
  8. Theodosius

    Theodosius Fine Style Seeker

    Today's favorite is this one. I just finished moving to a new house this weekend so I can actually post pictures again. :)

    Maroneia Tet 1a.jpg
    Thrace, Maroneia
    AR Stater, 385-360 BC, 12.81g
    Obverse: Horse prancing left with loose rein
    Reverse: Linear square with vine and bunches of grapes, astragalus before M in reverse legend.
    Schönert-Geiss 165, S-1631

    John
     
  9. red_spork

    red_spork Triumvir monetalis

    I've posted my favorite coin and its story several times so rather than posting it again I'll share my second favorite coin in my collection:
    Cr100.3-1200px.jpg
    Roman Republic Æ Triens(20mm, 5.88g, 12h), anonymous("CA" series), 209-195 B.C., Canusium(?) mint. Helmeted head of Minerva right; above, •••• / Prow right; above, ROMA; below, ••••; to right, CA. Crawford 100/3; Sydenham 309c
    Overstruck on Oiniadai, Akarnania Zeus/Acheloüs, cf. BCD Akarnania 345-348 for undertype. For CA triens overstruck on Oiniadai cf. Hersh NC 1953, 14 and cf. Crawford Table XVIII, 91

    Ex @stevex6 Collection via coin.ages, eBay, January 27, 2018, ex RBW Collection, CNG e-auction 364, December 2 2015, lot 90, ex Stacks Coin Galleries, August 20 1986, lot 117, ex Frederick S. Knobloch Collection, Stacks May 4 1978, lot 90

    This coin was my favorite of all from Stevex6's collection: a stunning overstrike of Rome on Oiniadai. These coins are generally believed to have been overstruck on booty captured during the operations of Laevinus on the Greek coast during the First Macedonian War(which, coincidentally, was right smack-dab during the middle of the Second Punic War). Most are fairly haphazardly struck and apparently little care was taken to either obliterate the undertype or get a good overstrike so many are badly struck and just make a mess of the coin entirely.

    This example had been in my photofile and in my sights ever since it went up for auction in December 2015 when Steve bought it. I probably would have bid on it then but there was just so much excellent RR material in that particular CNG sale that I was out of funds before it even crossed the block. When it went back up for sale, I knew I wanted it but it took me a while to finally pull the trigger because the price was high enough that it required more than a month's budget to pull off(though it was absolutely worth every penny). Thankfully this coin waited for me and I was able to bring it home earlier this year.
     
  10. Valentinian

    Valentinian Well-Known Member

    Picking a single favorite is very difficult, but when I think of this one it is hard to think of another that would eclipse it.

    Cr35s1.jpg
    It is not like a normal coin. It is huge at 63 mm and 262 grams. Hold out your hand and it fills your palm. It is a Roman Republican as (cast "aes grave") from c. 225-217 BC, just before Hannibal entered Italy during the Second Punic War (The subsequent financial stress caused the as denomination to become much smaller). The photo cannot do its size justice.

    Janus head/prow right with "I" (for "1") above

    Crawford 35/1. Sear I 570.
     
  11. AngelDeath

    AngelDeath Well-Known Member

  12. Alegandron

    Alegandron "ΤΩΙ ΚΡΑΤΙΣΤΩΙ..." ΜΕΓΑΣ ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΟΣ, June 323 BCE

    LOL, Warren! We are CONVERTING you to the REPUBLIC Dark Side!!! :D

    Coins had a real "feel" to them !

    upload_2018-4-17_13-10-20.png
    upload_2018-4-17_13-10-45.png
    RR 280-276 BCE Anon Aes Grave Triens Thunderbolt-Dolphin Rome Rev-IN HAND Crawford 14-3 Thurlow Vecchi 3
     
  13. 1934 Wreath Crown

    1934 Wreath Crown Well-Known Member

    Well I'm not a serious Ancients collector simply because I just don't know enough about them and don't have the patience to research them thoroughly. But one of my absolute favourites is this Phoenician Byblus Azbaal or Ozbaal Shekel. Why?? Because for a coins that is almost 2500 years old to be in MS 5/5 5/5 has got to be a miracle....and I think its got so much happening in it, especially the lion attacking the bull :D:happy:

    Phoenicia Byblus Ozbal Shekel Obv.jpg



    Phoenicia Byblus Ozbal Shekel Rev.jpg

    OK guys don't shoot me for the coffin please:p
     
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  14. Theodosius

    Theodosius Fine Style Seeker

    Wow, sweet shekel!

    John
     
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  15. Cucumbor

    Cucumbor Well-Known Member

    Am I allowed to show again my all time favourite ?
    Are you all sure you want hear the story behind it again ?

    OK then, here it goes : "My grand father, born 1894, has been lucky enough to be involved in the whole WWI. He eventually found three coins, romans he told me, while digging a trench at Verdun battle (1916). After the end of the war, being in a train, back home with two other "poilus" he decided he would give one coin to each of them and keep the last one for himself. Here it is, a Commodus sestertius (and quite a scarce one but that I dicovered much later) :

    [​IMG]
    Rome mint, AD 192
    L AEL AVREL CO---MM AVG P FEL, Laureate head of Commodusright
    HERCVLI ROMANO AVG, Hercules facing, head left, holding club and lion's skin, resting on trophy. SC in field
    21,01 gr
    Ref : RCV #5752, Cohen #203

    It is the very first roman coin I have ever possessed, as he gave it to me when I was 18 (ahem, that was in 1978) and the only one in the family to collect coins. It's of course the real start of my addiction for ancient coins.

    I can also add this about that coin :

    The following comment is taken from the description of a similar example (in far much better condition) in NAC auction 4, # 477 :

    Few Roman coins excite as much commentary as those of Commodus, which show him possessed of Hercules. Not only do they present an extraordinary image, but they offer incontrovertible support to the literary record. The reports of Commodus’ megalomania and infatuation with Hercules are so alarming and fanciful that if the numismatic record was not there to confirm, modern historians would almost certainly regard the literary record as an absurd version of affairs, much in the way reports of Tiberius’ depraved behaviour on Capri are considered to be callous exaggerations. Faced with such rich and diverse evidence, there can be no question that late in his life Commodus believed that Hercules was his divine patron. Indeed, he worshipped the demigod so intensely that he renamed the month of September after him, and he eventually came to believe himself to be an incarnation of the mythological hero. By tradition, Hercules had fashioned his knotted club from a wild olive tree that he tore from the soil of Mount Helicon and subsequently used to kill the lion of Cithaeron when he was only 18 years old. Probably the most familiar account of his bow and arrows was his shooting of the Stymphalian birds while fulfilling his sixth labour. The reverse inscription HERCVLI ROMANO AVG (‘to the August Roman Hercules’) makes the coin all the more interesting, especially when put into context with those of contemporary coins inscribed HERCVLI COMMODO AVG, which amounts to a dedication ‘to Hercules Commodus Augustus’.

    Q
     
    Last edited: Apr 18, 2018
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  16. PlanoSteve

    PlanoSteve Well-Known Member

    Are you kidding? This coin & the story behind it should be required reading every 6 months or so! Anyone can buy a coin, but stories like this are legend! :happy::happy::happy:
     
  17. Alegandron

    Alegandron "ΤΩΙ ΚΡΑΤΙΣΤΩΙ..." ΜΕΓΑΣ ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΟΣ, June 323 BCE

    I have always enjoyed this story. It is epic.
     
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  18. RAGNAROK

    RAGNAROK Naebody chaws me wi impunitY

    ...just one favorite... :bored: ...errr, o.k., today...

    CRUSADERS, Bohémond III, 1149-1201, AR Denier, Third Crusade, Antioch:

    + BOAMVNDVS, helmeted crusader knight head left (´no jokes face type´); crescent to left, star to right.
    + ANTIOCHIA, crusader cross.

    crus.JPG
     
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  19. PlanoSteve

    PlanoSteve Well-Known Member

    Ouch! That's so nice it hurts!! :D:D:D (Actually, on first glance I thought it was Darth Vader! :smuggrin:)
     
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  20. RAGNAROK

    RAGNAROK Naebody chaws me wi impunitY

    LOL :D
    cruss.jpg
     
  21. Caesar_Augustus

    Caesar_Augustus Well-Known Member

    Here is my current favourite coin! :)

    [​IMG]
     
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