I actually have several "dream" coins in my possession. First was a lifetime portrait denarius of Julius Caesar. Next was a nice Otho denarius Then a very rare dynastic Vitellius with the father of the emperor on the reverse. Because I already owned a Tiberius quadriga reverse I finally found the Augustus version with Tiberius mentioned and pictured on the reverse. It took a few years to grab one of these. Please note the 2 horses on the reverse looking backward. This makes the coin RIC 224 instead of 222 without the horses looking back. There are only 2 denarii types of Vespasian that feature a left bare headed bust. One is RIC 853. I know of the existence of 8 of these so far. Then there is my coin. It is RIC 773. I know of only 2 of these. I have one and @David Atherton has the other. My coin is the RIC reference coin. I would have said plate coin but there is no image of this coin in the RIC plates. And last but definitely not least is this next coin. It is a secular games issue but a very rare one. This coin is the 6th or 7th known. For unknown reasons left facing portraits are exceedingly rare on the denarii of Domitian. They exist on the bronze issues with some regularity but not the denarii. I count myself extremely lucky that i have 3 such denarii in my collection. This one is extra special because it is the RIC plate coin. It is pictured in the plates at the end of RIC II Part 1. This one is a once in a lifetime coin for me or a White Whale so to speak. As for the next coin to join this group? I will keep that to myself until I own it.
Since I just got my Provincial of Clodius Albinus, I need to get one of Pescennius Niger. Of course I don't have Pertinax either and really don't care a lot about Didius. I like Provincials. You can find a terrible looking one that turns out to be better than most. When I think of Perseus, I think of the Mithradates VI series showing the decapitation scene. Trashy ones are not expensive; nice ones are hard to find. They come from several cities. This AE28 is Amastris.
@TIF's alluding to Harl's recent visit to my neck of the woods... I actually did get to have beers with the guy and it was indeed outta sight, @Ryro!! I've listened to his Great Courses lectures for decades and it was surreal to have that great voice addressing me in person, regaling us with stories of getting lost in the middle of rural Anatolia. He was incredibly generous with his time and we hung out quite a bit over the course of a couple of days, and we've continued to correspond since. Right now he's working on a popular book on the people of the Steppe (he has a Great Courses series on this which is fabulous). While he was here he gave a fantastic talk on Roman coins at our local university, illustrating it with many of his own pieces. Like this coin for example: OK, I'll pick that one as my dream coin then! Though there were a dozen others that would have served just as well. Wowzers. My own contribution to the events was a bit of a coin exhibition that they put up in the university's archival display room. I was pretty pleased with it. I designed posters for my coins to peek through, which were taped onto the inside of the glass display cabinets so you could get within millimetres of the coins. (Magnifiers were made available.) Here are a couple of the posters in situ: Sadly COVID-19 shut everything down before the full exhibit was even on display, after Ken had returned to New Orleans. (Luckily he missed the Mardi Gras coronavirus-fest because he was visiting us!) Hopefully it will be remounted sometime, at which point I may post about it on CoinTalk.
I was gonna repeat my "Mmm, yes please" schtick in response to some of the more recent postings, but realized I will have the same reaction to most of everyone else's dream coins. So I shall refrain. This could end up becoming quite a long thread with a very high eyecandy quotient.
Ah yes, who doesn't like a good dream...!! How about a distinction between dreams? My good dream is the one where the kids left the house and i am able to afford the Claudius IMPER RECEPT denarius, expand my Severan dynastic denarii collection and further my Hadrian travel coins including sestertii. Lovely! My better dream is when my kids - or one of them- is rich and generously awards the father aureii of the 12 caesars as compensation for all those sleepless night.... ;-) The best dream is where i win the lottery ticket and can start my own museum with the most exclusive ancient coins out there. Just kidding of course. Im already living the best dream! Amazing wife, beautiful kids, all healthy and i can afford ancient coins to a certain extend. Most of the world's population is worse off unfortunately :-( My current wishlist however is pretty straightforward: an owl, a Trajan sestertius, verus Vic Par, and some more...
Pie in the sky coins are not realistic, are they? So I shouldn't mention Akragas dekadrachms, etc. My somewhat obtainable goal (in a good economy, job security, and with the credit card paid off) would be a Philip of Macedon gold stater. Great design, looks amazing when properly struck and it is gold after all! https://www.wildwinds.com/coins/greece/macedonia/kings/philip_II/LeRider_189.jpg
You beat me to it by just a few minutes. I would love to be able (to afford) to add the Akragas Deca to my collection. The younger sibling, my Tetradrachm, must be feeling a bit lonely But realistically, any nice Alexander Decadrachm would do nicely, thanks. AND of course a nice lifetime portrait of Julius Caesar (not necessarily an Eid-Mar denarius) and a JC aureus. Good grief @Ryro you've got me daydreaming now
My Nr.1 dream coin right now is a handsome Sestertius of Aemilian, the last Emperor missing from my Sestertius collection: Nr. 2 would be a Bronze Medallion of Claudius Gothicus to extend the scope beyond Gallienus: Runners up are Sestertii of the imperial ladies still absent from my portrait gallery. My dream coin Nr.3 is a Manlia Scantilla to accompany my Didius Julianus: Nr. 4 would be their daughter Didia Clara: Then I would turn to the wives of Elagabalus. First Julia Paula: Next Aquilia Severa: These dreams I will make come true over the next years (maybe with the exception of Claudius), but from here on it will get much harder, as I would move on to the ladies of Hadrian: Nr. 7: Plotina Nr.8: Matidia Nr.9: Marciana Next would be a Sestertius of Agrippina Junior. Sigh...
I've been fortunate to be able to cross off many of my dream coins but the top one which will likely never be acquired is this Colosseum aureus from the Millennium collection: And, while we're at it, I'll add in a nice Athens stater: And this Skylla tetradrachm for good measure:
This was my dream coin for a long time as well - I own the second example in your post although it's barely recognizable from the horrible picture Heritage took. If I hadn't have viewed it in hand, I wouldn't have bid on it as it looks like toothpaste to me in their picture: I've since reconnected it with its pedigree: Ex Collection Dr. Paul Hartwig, Auction MM P&P Santamaria, Rome 07.03.1910, Lot 1215
I raise this philosophical question with myself fairly often: if the value is the same and if you would be able to slowly buy your current coins back over a longer stretch of time (i.e. they aren't unique or excessively rare), would you be willing to trade your collection of some hundreds of coins for your top 20 or so "dream" coins available now? There are several posts in this thread where that would be possible after seeing other coins people have posted previously. Our own @lordmarcovan has been a major influence in the "Box of 20" mentality for me and while I probably can't trim myself back that far (I have too broad of interests), it's an interesting thought experiment and something that I've done in a lesser extent in the past in various iterations of trimming/refining my focus.
The old "quantity versus quality" conundrum (you know what I mean) is a difficult set of scales to balance. Yes, focus. It's hard. I finally had to go "freestyle". I myself gave up on the "Box of 20" limitation in 2016. It is too difficult to stick to in the long term. I was at a "Box of fifty-something" as of the last collection update I posted, and in the next it will surely be a "Box of seventy-something." Since the topic is "dream coins", I will mention that for the last year, I've set a budget cap on my purchases. ($500 in my case.) That has worked OK, and still allows for some nice stuff, but it certainly takes a lot of the dream coins off the table. And I'm not sure I'll be able to stick to it. Why the limitation? Why can't I buy a four-figure coin someday, if I save up? This is my present dilemma. I'm always making rules and then breaking them. But it's all part of the growing process.
I am limiting myself to the “Theory of My Box of One Million”. It gives me a little flexibility, but helps me focus. Here is one minted after the First Punic War but during Carthage's nasty war with their OWN Mercenary Army over pay. Carthage could not afford to PAY their Mercenary Army due to Rome's cumbersome indemnities... Carthage Zeugitania after 241 DIshekel AE 27 10.8g Libyan Revolt Tanit- Horse r palm MAA 45 SNG Cop 253 scarce
Oh heck yes I love this issue. It is one of my three Seleucid dream coins. I loved this one that CNG auctioned off a while ago. Another is a tetradrachm of Seleukos minted in Ecbatana that features Alexander riding Bucephalus. The last time I saw one at auction it went for 105K CHF. Lastly, I would loveto one day own a tetradrachm from the Lampsakos mint that features a horned horse and elephant. It has been speculated that these tets were minted to commemorate the victory at Corupedium. There are only around 10 of them and a heck of a lot more than ten people that want to own one so I'll never have one unless Bill Gates adoptes me as his son.
That last one is really something special. I believe it was minted to commemorate the last battle of the Diadochi! ...speaking of Seleucid dream coins. It is surprising to me that no one has brought up this beauty...The helmeted ATG (or possibly Seleukos)! Easily one to cut off your left arm for Anti-armless-onus Mono-127hours-thalymus! Seleukid Kingdom. Seleukos I Nikator. Silver Tetradrachm (17.20 g), 312-281 BC. Susa, ca. 305/4-295 BC. Head of hero right (assimilating Seleukos I, Alexander the Great and Dionysos), wearing helmet covered with panther's skin and adorned with bull's horns and ears. Reverse: BAΣIΛEΩΣ ΣEΛEYKOY, Nike standing right, crowning trophy with wreath; below wings, AP and ΠA monogram respectively; between Nike and trophy, radiate head of Helios facing. SC 173.16; HGC 9, 20. Untoned and lusterous. A numismatic masterpiece! Mint State. Estimate Value $20,000 - UP It is readily apparent that the reverse design of this coin showing Nike placing a wreath upon a trophy she has erected commemorates Seleukos' recent victories in the Upper Satrapies and his assumption of the royal title in 305 BC. What is less certain is the identification of the head on the obverse. Hadley argues for an assimilation of Alexander the Great with Dionysos, while Hoover sees a portrait of Seleukos himself, with the divine attributes of Dionysos. For full discussion, see R. A. Hadley, "Seleucus, Dionysus, or Alexander?"
Well, since you're asking... I've always liked these by Eukleidas: Syracuse tetradrachm. (picture Flickr) I love the Arethusa's 'underwater' hair on them: goes together beautifully with the dolphins and the myth. But they rarely show up in budget auctions these days... And since you're so kind to remove both the financial ánd the physical obtacles, I'd like to dig this one up myself in a hoard I've personally uncovered. And I would't mind finding a dekadrachm from Akragas in the hoard as well, hey, I'll even settle for a tet. And I'd throw in Athenian emergency gold stater from the Peleponesian War to top it off. Sweet dreams.... In the meantime I'll settle for one of these, at least they're affordable: Gela, tetras. (picture CNG archives). At least you get the hair... I've got my eye on one in an upcoming auction. Hope it works out... And Ryro, I see you've updated your avatar to your newly acquired Macedonian shield. Congrats!
