This has been something I've been wanting to post for a long time, but I wanted to do it right (posting my templates etc), but spare time has been an ongoing issue. However, following @Deacon Ray 's post, I decided to keep it simple, and just scan some pages from my collection. The idea is that the "cover page" (on the left hand side when opened up) gives a bit of a taste of the art/style/culture. Then, when looking at the coins themselves, the front/obverse information side gives the specifications of the coins, while the reverse provides some history (very succinctly). I've found that my friends and family much prefer to look at coins in this style, as they don't need to know anything about the coins - they can just read like they're in a museum. So, this is how I present my coins - I've essentially just done a scan of an (incomplete) section of my coin collection. Concave coins don't help and come out blurry, but hopefully you get the idea. How do you present your coins?
I like that. @Collect89 does something similar but with the addition of printed maps-- a very nice touch, especially when showing the coins to someone unfamiliar with the ancient world. @Alegandron also has a similar system but uses a different size pocket page which accommodates open flips. @panzerman and others use the same system as you. @zumbly's old system is worth a look (for the laugh ). As for my collection, I present it online (website + CoinTalk), only occasionally showing a few coins to others. There are no other ancient coin collectors in my neck of the woods and few people are interested in my coins. That's fine-- I'd rather in my area didn't know lest they mistakenly think I'm a good target for burglary. So, for me keeping coins in their flips in coin boxes is the most spatially economical means. I'd love to have a tray system someday. SteveX6 kept his collection well organized in binders but he preferred one coin per page. A separate single-pocket plastic sheet behind the coin held printed information such as the receipt, a copy of the auction or sales listing, etc. Steve's old system: https://www.cointalk.com/threads/an...ent-coins-this-way.279667/page-2#post-2439615 https://www.cointalk.com/threads/ancients-organization-and-attribution-at-work.250251/#post-1968612
I think there are more than a few here that can relate to that! Online sites like CoinTalk are an oasis in a desert of ambivalence. Pre-internet ancient coin collecting would've been very lonely for many of us.
I'm boring. I just have them in 2x2 archival flips in archival pages with pockets for the 2x2 holders and then put in 3-ring binders. Smaller coins I put inside half of a 1.5 x 1.5 holder so they don't roll around inside the 2x2. I have them arranged (by and large) by BMCRE number up through the Severan period and then by Sear number after that.
I don't yet, but appreciate seeing how y'all do it. I've been looking for a nice clean antique "Machinist's" or "Watchmaker's" tool/storage chest of drawers to modify into an old-school coin cabinet. I'd like a proper purpose-built Victorian coin cabinet but the half grand or so they go for is better spent on more coins and artifacts in my opinion.
Abafil trays for me. They rest inside a briefcase. This was arranged to show a complete 12 Caesars collection. Each coin has it own compartment. My collection has changed quite a bit since I took this photos because I have added a number of 12 Caesars coins. I have 4 trays in the case...not quite full yet.
Given the phenomenon cited above - ie: a distinct lack of folks with whom one can easily share "face time" over ancient coins (and also not really wanting to advertise to the whole apt complex) - I don't really "present" my collection, per-se. I do try to make neat and attractive flip-tickets (computer printing really helped with that - I used to painfully peck them out on a manual typewriter) since my "penmanship" has never run to calligraphy or even common legibility/readability. Those are mainly a help for me in keeping the 20-hole pages in the 3-ring binders in some sort of logically organized order. The closest to "presentation" I come (anymore at least, alas my old Allstate coin show display cases are gathering dust, piled atop the safe, but exhibiting/selling at shows was hard enough to do even before I reached my current level of disability) is to try to keep up with acquisitions and changes on my gallery/website - which I am a couple years behind on full update maintenance at this point, but is still of great utility to me - it's an amazing convenience to have photos of (nearly) all your coins at your fingertips, ready at a moment's notice to illustrate your online communications. http://www.stoa.org/gallery/Redactor
I just took a look at the link you posted. That's a nice setup IMHO. I tried once to set up a web page and found I don't have the patience or intelligence to do so. I just keep my gallery page at FAC up to date as well as a spreadsheet with each coins attribution and image. It works for me anyway.
..i just present mine purdy much one at a time here at CTA with a couple of pics, then toss it on "the dining table of coins & stuff" with the intention of perhaps organinsing them at a later date....i have never met another coin collector of ancients in person in my life..so i ain't really too worried about it
Thanks Bing - I wish I could take more credit for the site - it is part of the U of Kentucky Classics Dept's website and the gallery software (shareware, I think) was a off-the-shelf type they had available at the time (15-25 years ago?) when they created the larger gallery section - try navigating "up" a couple levels, there are some amazing collections of photos of classical sites and museum displays on this site, not just my coins. The really great feature of this gallery software is the ability to create folders nested within folders within folders, etc, ad infinitim, so that logical organizational "trees" can easily be created, none of the limbs of which must be too large to be useful like some endless and often unorganized website pages with a gazilion entries, one after the other .
I love the Abafil trays, even if I’m the only one who sees them. Greek and Republican here. Still not sure how best to keep associated tags with them, though.
I place my coins in archival quality (pH neutral) white paper coin envelopes along with any attribution cards (I also test them for pH neutrality). I write a very general description of each coin on the outside of the envelope and then place it in a (tested) clear vinyl binder page that I use for transporting my coins. If I wish to display them in a formal setting I place each coin in an Abafil case accompanied by a hand lettered attribution card.
Flickr: my coin collection is illustrated here, along with some coins of friends where I miss the type. https://www.flickr.com/photos/ahala_rome/collections/72157651148771015/ Been doing this for a decade or more. Those who have acquired coins from my collection can often spot my photos of their coins here. Though sometimes if I have a major upgrade of an identical variety I might drop the old pic. I also use this presentation as the means to finding pics of my own coins. I do not keep any offline backup pics. My reasoning is since all my photos are public there's no risk of losing them. Physically my coins are kept in Abafils in the exact same order as above photos. Rather than mixed size Abafils, I go for uniform 40mm (8x5) format trays so I can mix huge struck bronzes with tiny silver coins of the same series. My aes grave are however separately kept - also in Abafils.
sometimes I display my aes grave in bag format. Here they are, threw them in a sack a while back for display. Not bad. Quite like this layout.
Thanks for sharing everyone. Getting some great info here. From archival flips, to Abafil trays, to interwebz presentation, to envelopes, to my personal favourite - aes grave in bag format @Andrew McCabe Hey, that is a nice touch! At the moment the 'back page' of each section in my collection is blank - so a map of the empire/state/kingdom would be perfect. Yea, there aren't any ancient coin collectors near me either. But what I DO have is people interested in history. Hence, the presentation of the coins within their historical context. Friends and family will generally at least feign interest if the coin is linked to something interesting in history. I have one friend who even tries to read the ancient Greek on the coin. But yes, I tend to agree, overall its slim pickings, and CT is an oasis in an otherwise dry and lonely desert.