Christmas gifts

I already have a scale for weighing coins. For years I've been using a clear ruler for measuring diameters. Finally I asked for and got this:



The coin is a tiny VRBS ROMA imitation from Britain with the wolf-and-twins side showing.

 

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I don't celebrate Christmas, but I bought this book for myself today as a "New Year's Eve" present:



It was published in 1990, so I'm sure it doesn't reflect the latest research, but it still looks like exactly the kind of book I would enjoy.

 

I got one of those myself recently

 

Going off on a bit of a tangent, I use a circle stencil to measure diameters:


I record as the coin's diameter the diameter of the first hole (trying them in ascending order of diameter) the coin fits through.

E.g. the jeton above passes through the 25mm hole but not the 24mm hole, so I would record its diameter as 25mm. To be more accurate, I could record it as "Max. diameter 24.5mm +/- 0.5mm" as what I actually have measured is that:

24mm < Max. diameter < 25mm

With ancient coins not being perfectly round, there's little point in quoting diameters to fractions of a mm, unless it's intended to quote minimum and maximum diameters, if it's very non-round.

You can achieve the same with the stencil - e.g. here with the world's worst and cheapest Athens tetradrachm from the period when they were very oval - long axis:


Short axis:


This is about 26mm x 17mm. The calipers reported something similar -
25.XYmm x 16.77mm, IIRC.

Looks like we've all got similar calipers!

ATB,
Aidan.

 

I find it interesting that just about every dealer tells you how many grams a coin weighs, but a substantial percentage simply omit the diameter. I suppose people don't think it's as important, but I still like to know. I confess that even though I bought some calipers a while ago, I haven't actually used them yet: I've continued to use a ruler.

 

Same here! I've had calipers since before I collected coins but I use a clear plastic ruler because it's quicker.

I agree about wanting to know the diameter and am annoyed that it is not standard practice for all coin listings.

Oooh, I like that method!

That looks like it will be quite enjoyable and useful!

That looks like a fun read. Let us know if you like it-- might put it on my buy list.

 

Books for Christmas:

This completes my RCV set.

 

No coining presents this year, but a stash of Wagner CDs and DVDs and some books about the cantankerous and miserable git (to put it nicely). I'm knee deep in Siegfried as I type...

 

...ya know, lQQking back at when i 1st started collecting, i would be mad if the coin i got wasn't 'big' i.e. regular size like a denarius...hehehe....

 

LOL! Awesome truth in Life!

 

ROFL !

 

My wife Judi gave me a coin (she let me win it from N. Genevensis) and a coin book. Other then that it was socks/ clothes/ Merrill running shoes. But also lots of chocolate treats The coin even made my top 10

 

From @ominus1




From one of my Daughters and her Family


Roman Imperial
Galerius
299-303 CE
AE Follis 28mm 9.9g
CARTHAGE mint
O: MAXIMIANVS NOB CAES (Large Head type)
R: Cartago holding fruit SALVIS AGG ET CAESS FEL KART
RIC VI 32b Sear 14411


And from my wife: She made a Glass Sculpture from flat glass, fired and shaped into a cool vase...



And, I dropped a Flickering LED Tea Light in it...

 

that's some art going on there...i like that! ...lQQks like you had a purdy good Christmas Brian..

 

I always hate when they don't say the diameter. 20g could be a 10mm wide coin thats SUPER thick, or a 40mm coin that is thin. Grams only is as good as useless unless the buyer is intimately familiar with the particular coin type.

 

I was very lucky this year and received 4 nice light read books to disappear into...
Last year I read B. Strauss' "The ten Caesars" and thoroughly enjoyed it. I do like the way he writes....My family had obviously taken note of my enthusiasm hence 3 new Titles...Also a fellow collector knows of my interest in Lucius Verus and sent me Bishop's "Roman defender of the East"...What lovely gifts!

 

What no Sox. You got cheated

 

I know! I'm sitting here with freezing cold feet right now!

 

I received a Rogers Hornsby book

 

I fell bad for you. Its going down to -29 here tonight. From past 10 Christmases/ I think I have 100 pairs of still unopened socks in drawers/ I least my feet will be warm. Also helps when you don't have to work outside in Winter. When walking my dog this afternoon, i wore a balaclava to protect face from cold winds....