I know you all have better things to do this time of year, but if you would like to see what I have been doing this year, go here https://collectivecoin.com/Texturn and have a look at my collection. I have just this year gotten into Ancients, and really have no direction to go. Any and all comments and/or criticism welcome. ( Yes I know. My photography skills are horrendous.) Link https://collectivecoin.com/Texturn
Keeping reading threads here and see what you like. You've picked up some nice coins so far. Many people become interested in a particular time or place in history and go from there. John
What a great start! Some nice LRB folles here. Just follow your bliss and budget. I can see a Tetrarchy direction forming, but that might just be by accident.
My favorite is your Hieropolis Philip II with Atargatis reverse. The grade isn't poor though-- its a couple of notches better than that-- probably Good.
purdy good collection just for a year...post them here one at a time to show and tell. it's great fun and inspiration for all
I enjoy your coins, great start! Follow you passions. Follow what is fun. Follow what you know. As you read more, learn more, watch the threads more, you will begin to discover where your collecting paths will be. Over time, you may discover other and more collecting paths... all are fun to pursue. Personally, I collect HISTORICALLY. So I discover key areas of History that are fascinating to me, then capture coins from that era or from their famous people... I love the Roman Republic, Italia, Carthage, Makedon, Egyptian Royal Scarabs, Etruria, Diadochi, etc. Basically BCE... Here is one: First African depicted on a coin, with the Elephant being Asian, so this may be a snub at Rome from the Etrurians... Etruria 3rd C BCE AE 18mm 4.76g Hd African r Elephant r letter below SNG Cop 48 HNI 69 SNG Paris 138-140 SNG Morcom 44 RARE
I like the collection so far. I've been collecting ancients for about 7 months myself now, but only have two so far so you're definitely ahead of me there... lol I did have to do a double take on your Maximus II coin from Antioch with the light blue toning though, when I first scanned the pictures I thought you had a pic of one of my coins in there. I'll post my Constantine I coin with the same toning below... It was the color of the toning that got me.
UNKNOWN Grade Fair? 30 Description OBV: AVG MA ****C**O[EVCA* *= missing letters REV: AT X* A*E*N This is a provincial of Anchialus Thrace by Maximinus I. Start with that and see if you can find a match online. You did not give us a size/denomination but I suspect this is a one assarion coin perhaps about 17mm??? Larger ones from the city usually had the ethnic Ulpian Anchialus like your Gordian and Tranquillina. Overall, dealers would grade your coins much higher than you do. Most are very nice and, with a little work on the photography, would get a lot of rave reviews here. I recommend dropping grades anyway since there are so many very different looking coins that are called 'Fine' that it tells us little about the coin. I suspect the Julia Domna may be a Rome mint coin but the photo is especially terrible so I really am guessing here. Use manual exposure settings to make the shot darker. If the camera has no manual controls, try shooting it on a white background so the dak wood does not fool the camera into overexposure. There is no Maximus II. Your coin is Maximinus II. Every letter counts. It is a lovely coin. I am embarassed that more than one here complimented the coin without mentioning the ID. Your starter group has more correct ID, etc. that we usually see from beginner posts. I look forward to more posts from you as your collection grows but practice with the photography. Please!
For anyone interested: Anchialus is a town with Greek name that was considerably changed when Latinized. The second letter is gamma or G but Greek rules of euphonics would not allow a G sound before a ch (chi=X) so they pronounced it ng. Ancient Greek was a poetic language and simply did not allow letter combinations that sounded nasty.
