My first ancient

Discussion in 'Ancient Coins' started by Silver Rider, Jan 24, 2019.

  1. Silver Rider

    Silver Rider Member

    This is the coin that got me started on ancient coins.
    22 mm
    8.5 g image.jpeg image.jpeg Do you remember your first
     
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  3. CoinBlazer

    CoinBlazer Numismatic Enthusiast

    Yes sir. Emperor Valens was my first ancient. Not too long ago
     
  4. Clavdivs

    Clavdivs Well-Known Member

    that is quite an opening!!
    My first was an uncleaned lot of 10 LRB coins...
     
  5. spirityoda

    spirityoda Coin Junky

    What is it, Where is it from ? What is it's value ?
     
  6. medoraman

    medoraman Supporter! Supporter

    Mine was the prettiest coin I had ever seen up until then, (a green patina'ed, Larissa 3/4 facing bust bronze) and a crappy Parthian silver piece. For reasons unknown, the Parthian piece drove me to Persian collecting and I never really followed up with Greek collecting. Sure, now I have a lot of Greek, but its never been my passion as it were. Greek coins are simply bewildering in scope. Parthian or Sassanian, as well as Roman Imperial, are much easier to wrap your arms around for a beginner.
     
  7. Silver Rider

    Silver Rider Member

    Sorry forgot to post this, don't know the value and don't remember
    What I paid for it. That was twenty years ago. image.jpeg
     
  8. Andres2

    Andres2 Well-Known Member

    Can't remember, but here's my Pegasus , pretty much the same as yours.

    P1170764.JPG
     
  9. ancient coin hunter

    ancient coin hunter 3rd Century Usurper

    Gordian III Antoninianus...MARTEM PROPVGNATOREM reverse. I sold it years ago, but here's another of the same type.

    propug.jpg
     
  10. ominus1

    ominus1 Well-Known Member

    i know my 1st coin i bought (i still have it), but my ancient ones were LRB"S, of which i don't know of who exactly now.. my 1st ancient silver was a drachm of Alexander, which i gifted to someone later..here's the one that started it all for me 1st. bought coin 001.JPG ..:)
     
  11. Ocatarinetabellatchitchix

    Ocatarinetabellatchitchix Well-Known Member

    My first coin was a provincial Tiberius from Magnesia ad Sipylum. Got it from a little shop in Germany. I didn’t know at the time that it was quite scarse. That’s the only one I would never sell or trade.

    6B3E82D8-7AF9-4D1B-8B01-DA3282B86CE0.jpeg
     
  12. Nathan P

    Nathan P Well-Known Member

    I didn't pay attention to size and ended up buying an 8mm diameter obol from Miletos (the one with the lion head on the obverse and stellate pattern in incuse square on the reverse). I was so excited when it was delivered. Then I opened the package and couldn't believe how ridiculously tiny the coin was!
     
  13. Blake Davis

    Blake Davis Well-Known Member

    Mine was a Gordian ant - I got it when I was 16, it was a gift - and part of a long long story involving a very old woman living in a bizarre mansion filled with cats, authentic Ming vases, huge solid gold Byzantine crosses, a haunted "witches" room, servants stairs; and a lecherous middle aged man who could levitate objects, along with a bunch of teenagers looking for a place to drink (among other things) and hang out. I didn't find out the coin was real until decades later, and that was all it took to get me hooked.
     
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  14. Fugio1

    Fugio1 Well-Known Member

    Bought my first ancient from Tom McKenna in 1978, along with a book, Seaby Roman Silver Coins Vol I. I still have the coin and the book:
    416-1.jpg
    RRC 416/1, RSC Scribonia 8
    Roman Republican Denarius of L. Scribonius Libo
    Purchase Price $65
     
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  15. Parthicus

    Parthicus Well-Known Member

    My first ancient coin was this AE3 of Constantius II, bought (unattributed) from a local coin store near my college for $3.00 in about 1992/3:
    First ancient.jpg
     
  16. Clavdivs

    Clavdivs Well-Known Member

    That is hilarious.... I can picture that.
    The little Marcian I have was similar - I knew it would be small but I could not wrap my head around it when it arrived.
     
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  17. Marsyas Mike

    Marsyas Mike Well-Known Member

    Septimius Severus denarius, MARS PATER reverse. I bought this from a local dealer in 1987 - I still have it:

    Sept. Severus - Mars Pater rev Mar 1987(1).jpg
     
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  18. octavius

    octavius Well-Known Member

    Way back in 1967 - I was 14yrs old collecting pennies and Buffalo nickels for my Whitman folders. I went to my local coin shop and started rummaging through his "junk" box. I spotted a neat looking large yellowish bronze coin ( which I would now call a "Tiber Patina". What caught my eye was it had the Coliseum on its reverse. I was fascinated by this coin and could make out on the inscription VESP . the owner sold it to me for 50 cents.
    And yes of course it was a fake. Miracles don't happen. But at least for a couple of months I thought I had a real Coliseum sestertius. The obverse was a fantasy with Vespasian's portrait instead of Titus seated on a pile of arms. I later found out it was likely a 19th century tourist souvenir. But I was still smitten with that familiar bug and have never looked back since that day. My penny collection remained incomplete!
     
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  19. Blake Davis

    Blake Davis Well-Known Member

    And all of it was true, including the levitation!
     
  20. How lovely and what a beautiful. My first ancient coin was much more modest, a Roman antionianus of Tetricus I. That was in 1979 when studying biochemistry in university.
     
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  21. A nice buy for a fascinating and tangible piece of ancient history!
     
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