To the Members of the Ancients Forum - From FFIVN

Discussion in 'Ancient Coins' started by furryfrog02, Jan 27, 2020.

  1. furryfrog02

    furryfrog02 Well-Known Member

    FFIVN received a letter in the mail from Canada today. He was not expecting it at all and was so excited when he went to the mailbox and saw a letter addressed to him. When he opened it up, his eyes lit up and the first thing he said was "I feel like the most loved kid on CoinTalk!". Inside were two beautiful Roman coins. They are unidentified but we will be working on that in the next day or two. He already has a pretty good idea of who they are but still needs to work out the details. Unfortunately, homework trumps coin identification.

    He told me that he wanted to thank everyone and let you all know how special you make him feel. As a dad, this is pretty awesome to see just how much support your kid gets from complete strangers. I am a realist (some say pessimist) and it honestly makes me rethink my views about humanity when dealing with the people on this forum. I hope that wasn't too sappy... Perhaps if everyone in the world collected ancients, the world would be a better place! :)

    We worked on a sign, trying to pick out some pictures of coins he really likes. I hope you all don't mind, but he used some images from some of the member's personal sites.

    Without further ado, here is his message to all you Ancients folks here on CT, as well as the two as of yet unidentified coins he received today. I will be sure to post his identifications here in the next few days as he gets them sorted.

    IMG-6018.JPG IMG-6021-removebg-preview.png IMG-6019-removebg-preview.png
     
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  3. TIF

    TIF Always learning.

    Wow, I love these feel-good stories! We're having quite a lovefest here on CT Ancients lately, huh?

    Group hug :D
     
  4. furryfrog02

    furryfrog02 Well-Known Member

    It's like one big happy family haha.
    PS - Hope you don't mind that he picked one of your pictures for his sign ;)
     
    Justin Lee, Johndakerftw, TIF and 2 others like this.
  5. Luke B

    Luke B Active Member

    Wish I started when I was as young as he is! He will have plenty of fun identifying those two coins.
     
  6. otlichnik

    otlichnik Well-Known Member

    Looking forward to hearing about FFIVN's adventures in coin identification when he is done (and done the homework). What is his conclusion? How did he figure it out? What is the most interesting thing he learned about each coin?

    SC
     
  7. dadams

    dadams Well-Known Member

    Great bunch of peeps here! Wish I could get my 12 year old daughter interested.
    -d
     
  8. furryfrog02

    furryfrog02 Well-Known Member

    I'm working on my 3 year old daughter right now. Anything her big brother does is the coolest thing ever. Hopefully that means we can get her turned over to the dark side before long :)
     
  9. dougsmit

    dougsmit Member

    This is a big point. Getting an ID by guessing sometimes works but being able to walk someone else through the process takes a more solid base. Most kids ask why; some prefer to figure it out.
     
    Justin Lee, Orfew and furryfrog02 like this.
  10. ominus1

    ominus1 Well-Known Member

    ..that is too kool FF02...:)...and i'm sure she's interested in coins @dadams ..but it be those she can spend..^^(keep the tribble full :D)
     
    Orfew, furryfrog02 and dadams like this.
  11. furryfrog02

    furryfrog02 Well-Known Member

    We spent a little bit on them tonight. Not a whole lot. Going over the legends that he could make out and splitting the names from all of the superfluous fluff. "DN, PF, AVG, etc". That is how we try to start. Get a good idea of who the man (or woman) is and then work from there.

    Usually the reverses are a bit more challenging. Especially with the older coins like this denarius where they have all of the TRP, COS, etc... LRBs are easier because of the (mostly) straight forward reverses. I like these older coins that give FFIVN a bit of a challenge. Keeps him on his toes. :)

    Speaking of challenges...time to get him and his sister to sleep. Wish me luck haha.
     
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  12. Al Kowsky

    Al Kowsky Well-Known Member

    FF02, That's a cute looking kid, love that smile :D. My addiction to ancient coins started with an ancient coin gift at a very young age & I've found no cure for it :rolleyes:.
     
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  13. Cucumbor

    Cucumbor Well-Known Member

    Glad to see FFIVN smiling face
    Big hug from France big boy !!!

    Q
     
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  14. Alegandron

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

    FANNNTASTIC!!!
     
    furryfrog02 likes this.
  15. furryfrog02

    furryfrog02 Well-Known Member

    We finished the first coin after dinner before chores. He decided to start with the LRB since he could easily read the legends on both sides.



    Theodosius I
    AE3
    379-383 AD
    Obverse: DN THEODOSIVS PF AVG, pearl diademed, draped and cuirassed bust right
    Reverse: CONCOR-DIA AVGGG, Constantinopolis seated front, looking left, holding globe and sceptre. O in left field.
    Mintmark CONSB
    IMG-6021-removebg-preview.png

    Fun fact we learned about Theodosius I: He was the last Roman Emperor to rule over both the Eastern and Western halves of the Roman Empire. It was all down hill after him.
     
  16. dougsmit

    dougsmit Member

    Much depends on how you view his actions and your religious views. Was he a hero or a villain? From the Wikipedia article on Theodosius:
    "He issued decrees that effectively made Nicene Christianity the official state church of the Roman Empire.[2][3] He neither prevented nor punished the destruction of prominent Hellenistic temples of classical antiquity, including the Temple of Apollo in Delphi and the Serapeum in Alexandria. He dissolved the Order of the Vestal Virgins in Rome. In 393, he banned the pagan rituals of the Olympics in Ancient Greece."

    This is an Olympic year. They resumed in 1896 despite Theodosius' order.
     
  17. furryfrog02

    furryfrog02 Well-Known Member

    Being that FFIVN is not quite 9, we went with the easier to grasp facts ;)
    I will be sure to mention the Olympics to him though. He will like that! :)
     
    Roman Collector likes this.
  18. furryfrog02

    furryfrog02 Well-Known Member

    FFIVN came home off the bus a bit ago and after showing me how to build a small lego set he made this morning, we sat down to figure out his last coin.

    He was able to easily read the obverse and therefore narrow it down to Commodus who is not an emperor we are really familiar with - only having one extremely beat up denarius that was purchased when we first got interested in ancients.

    There was a bit of difficulty on the reverse since he wasn't 100% sure what all the different shortened legends were. We don't have a lot of experience with older Roman coins with legends like that. After a bit of scrolling through wildwinds though, led him to RIC 67. I explained to him how each of those legends made it possible to date the coin to an exact year. In this case, 187. He thought that was really cool that you could tell the year the coin it was minted without there being the date on the coin.

    Then we went over to wikipedia and read a bit about Commodus. He couldn't believe how awful he was and how the people put up with him for so long. The straw that broke the camel's back for him though, was when we read that Commodus once killed a giraffe in the arena. He can't fathom why anyone would want to kill a giraffe.

    Needless to say, he was happy when Commodus got his comeuppance :)

    Now we are looking forward to March when the Baltimore Whitman show comes back to town so we can hopefully find something new and interesting to add to the collection and of course share here with you all!

    Commodus
    Denarius
    183 AD
    Obverse: M COMMODVS ANTON AVG PIVS, laureate head right
    Reverse: TR P VIII IMP VI COS IIII P P, Victory standing right, naked to waist, writing on shield set on palm
    IMG-6019-removebg-preview.png
     
  19. otlichnik

    otlichnik Well-Known Member

    When he is older, the 2000 Russel Crowe film Gladiator is a must. Bad history but great movie. Commodus get's his comeuppance (albeit several years earlier and more bloody but drier than in real life).

    For now, being able to attribute to an exact year is very cool. You know that coin was minted 1,837 years ago.....

    SC
     
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  20. furryfrog02

    furryfrog02 Well-Known Member

    I asked Mrs FF if we could have a movie night on Friday...she vetoed that real fast haha.
     
    Last edited: Jan 29, 2020
  21. zumbly

    zumbly Ha'ina 'ia mai ana ka puana

    These dated types are pretty cool that way, especially when they can corroborate or shed light on specific historical events. For example, for the issues of AD 183, RIC notes that, "The military note rings clearer in the coinage of this year. Types of Minerva fighting, of Commodus as 'triumphator' and peace-bringer, of Victory bearing trophy, of Jupiter Victor, of Pax and Roma, no doubt look primarily to the outbreak of war in Britain and the successes of Ulpius Marcellus."

    For me, it's the stories about him shooting off the heads of ostriches as they ran about the arena. What a jerk!
     
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