Blake's Top 10 Ancients of 2021

I like #2 and 4 the best
Glad you started into Ancients/ you had a tremendous first year
John

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

Very fond of those two coins myself. I had difficulty putting the Athenian Owl before the Quadrigatus but in the end the owl is a classic and I feel like mine is nice enough to take the #1 spot.

I'm hoping I have a great 2nd year but I think my success this year had to do with COVID. I didn't have much to spend money on. Hopefully it's not like that in 2022 but I hope I have a successful collecting year too.

 

Yes, I was never as busy with work as in 2020/ 2021. Seems no one out there wants to work. I ended up working dawn to dusk/ seven days a week. That leaves lots of $$$ for nice coin additions. Actually, I never thought about COVID/ just work/ and COINS.

 

Nice group, representing several areas. Hard to pick a favorite, but I like the Vespasian denarius. Good style portrait and authentic looking old toning.

 

Exactly. Some of us greatly prefer toned silver to the fully cleaned coins that may even have been polished. The top level NGC slabs recognize this by grading surfaces separately. They also flag some coins as 'fine style' or mention specific faults with a word or two. I know I am in the minority but, to me, the least important thing on that slab label is the letter grade VF and friends. In general, I would prefer a coin they graded F 5/5 5/5 to one MS 3/5 3/5 and am particularly hard on coins with poor surfaces. I may buy anything that is available if I want the coin but people who set prices make it very unlikely I will be buying a MS 5/5 1/5. They do not rate or mention the other feature I find most important but do not have a term that I can apply that defines it. I have gone on record several times as being no fan of coins with a reverse type of 'someone standing (or sitting) there'. Some coins have nothing going for them other than grade (boring!) while others are interesting in some way that may require more explanation than would fit on a slab label. While I like your Hadrian, I would like it more if it had a reverse from the travel series or mentioning his adoption even if the figure was 'just standing there'. From my 2021 top ten, the Trajan only made the cut because of the reference to Trajan's Alimentia program. I bought my Nerva sestertius despite it having a boring reverse, some damage and plenty of wear. I wanted a Nerva sestertius. While I would appreciate any of those features being improved, the one that would be most welcome would be a coin with the grazing mules wishfully retaining the legend regarding the remission of the vehicle tax. Perhaps what I am proposing in a 1/5 world is a 'not boring' scale that would consider the added interest of things like historicity, branch mint ID, legend variations and a hundred other things that show up on coin types. The Brutus EID MAR reverse is as boring as it could be unless you know what those letters and devises commemorate. That elevates it to a 5/5 level in my book. It is worth repeating that you are 100% on target with:

Best wishes for finding whatever it is you seek in 2022.

 

Same case here. I started collecting ancients in October 2020 and in March I bought all the modern coins in my area of collecting, or at least the ones that were not 2 arms and 3 legs.
So had to start something else, had enough time to study, so went for ancients.
Wondering how many people did the same, as it is a very plausible reason for the market trend.

 

#4 and #5 are my favorites (Vespasian, for the portrait/strike/toning and Faustina Jr for the important reverse); a great start to your collection!

 

Great coins, I like #1, #2 and #7.

 

You have a great starting year with ancient coins, @Gam3rBlake.

Coins #1, 2 and 5 are my favorites. I just their portraits.

 

Great selection , I will put the quadrigatus in the first place , was easy to chose the second one , for the third place I think in Domitian for the nice portrait. Congratulations !
#2 Roman Republic Quadrigatus
#1 Athenian Tetradrachm
#6 Denarius of Domitian

 

Great group - The Marcus Aurelius has the odd portrait denarii from this period. I especially like the Domitian, but every coin in the group is beautiful and it is a wonderful collection - it is great to see how personal taste plays out in the wide wide field of ancient coins - you have coins that cover close to a 1000 years!

I really like the feel of ancient coins, so I have become somewhat expert at removing coins from slabs, but that is a purely personal decision.

For those who want to remove coins from slabs: I use one large wrench and one smaller pliers. Hold the slab with the large pliers in one hand, and use the smaller pliers to crack it open - slowly. Goggles are a must since the plastic sometimes goes flying. As soon as there is enough room to take out the coin, do it, but very carefully. The written description is perfect for the flip, the plastic goes in the recycling bin. I have done it many times without harming the coin.

 

You had a great year. No need to add the first year modifier. You did some work to find a diverse group.
I could place your coins on a table and sort them a dozen times and come up with a different order..... except for #1. The Owl has great eye appeal.

 

Great coins, @Gam3rBlake! I think my favorites are the Trajan tet, the Republican Quadrigatus, and the Faustina II with Commodus and his twin on the reverse. I know nothing about Parthian coins, but I really like that one as well. The others are all quite nice too, especially the Owl. Congratulations on a wonderful first year!

 

I need the Vespasian (that is a really nice one) for my collection, and the Owl is on my "List of coins to get someday". But, I have to say, my favorite has to be the Mithradates. The portrait has a cartoonish quality that makes it fascinating to look at, and the dotty text on the reverse is kind of mesmerizing!

Your Trajan is a good example of the type of coin that I would like to start focusing on obtaining. The most important aspect of coins for me is a clearly visible, attractive bust that provides a detailed approximation of what the person looked like. These qualities usually scale with grade, but not always. Obtaining VF coins that meet my criteria (like your Trajan) fulfill my needs really well while leaving a bit of cash to put towards more coins.

I find myself getting stuck on grade sometimes, then I feel disappointed when I have more expensive MS coins that look like crap as opposed to less expensive VF coins that look fantastic!

 

Great coins, congratulations! Difficult to chose a favorite. I'd say the quadrigatus would be my no. 1 choice. After that its a tie between Hadrian, Domitian, Vespasian, Faustina, etcetc

 

Thanks singig!

I’m glad to see some love for the Quadrigatus.

Usually they don’t seem to get the love they deserve for a coin minted so far back in Rome’s history.

The Romans who used the Quadrigatus were the model well disciplined Romans full of civic virtue and with a disdain for luxury that later generations during the Roman Empire idolized and tried to emulate.

Back in those days they still even used the feared & notorious punishment of “decimation”.

If a legion, cohort, etc., was found to have behaved with cowardice or mutinied or deserted or was insubordinate the General would take the unit and pick out every 10th man from among the legion, cohort, etc.. These men were then stabbed, bludgeoned, strangled to death by his fellow soldiers.

Crassus is known to have used it at least once during the war with Spartacus.

Mark Antony used it after his defeat at Media as well.

Julius Caesar threatened to decimate the 9th legion during the war with Pompey but (fortunately) he never did it.

What is especially awful is that there was no individual blame. A Roman legionary could have killed 100 enemy soldiers and been the bravest & most skilled warrior to ever fight for Rome but could still be decimated by random luck of the draw if his unit was punished with decimation.


Oh yeah and the surviving 9 of 10 men would then be forced onto a ration of barley instead of wheat and they had to sleep outside the camp fortifications (aka unprotected).

Fortunately is was eventually banned by Emperor Maurice who rightfully believed that telling soldiers to kill their brothers in arm would lead to a collapse in morale and potential mutiny.

Anyway the reason I say all this is because the Romans of the Republic were tough people (almost like Spartans) and it’s so cool to have a coin they would’ve used.

 

Thanks!

Yeah I tend to flip flop a lot on the time line xD.

I sort of collect coins from times in history that I find interesting and would want to see for myself if I could. Although I wouldn’t want to live that short and brutal life.

 

Thanks! I agree .

Hopefully 2022 is just as great!

 

I know what you mean . I’m sure there are a lot of people who prefer to get lots of lower graded coins than spend all that money on a high grade.

The Vespasian was a total pain to get lol. But I’m glad I got it! I ended up in a bidding war with 2 other people and the price went way above what I expected.

But hey I think it’s got amazing eye appeal and a special place in my collection

 

Yay more love for the Quadrigatus!

I wish they got more love than they do. I don’t see many people collect them.

Personally I think they represent an incredible period of Rome’s history. A time when the Republic was at its peak.

When our (USA) founding fathers were in their carriages traveling to political conventions they read and were inspired by the Greeks & Romans and many of their ideas ended up helping create the USA as it is.

We even call our legislative branch the “Senate” just like the Romans .