Today I attended the Virginia Numismatic Assn, show in Fredericksburg and saw the usual crowd of dealers that do Virginia shows. Two of them contributed to my poverty to the point of supplying 25 Romans, 4 Greeks and 3 others. Getting home and looking at what I bought I found that two were duplicates of coins I already had. I suspected one was but I completely forgot having the other (for over 20 years). This is part of the game when you have too many coins. I'm way too tired to work up and photograph all of them tonight but will show three (including one of the duplicates). You see different things at shows than at home in better light. I think I may admit my age and start carrying a lighted magnifier. I did not see some of the stray marks on the Trajans. The Partaos tetradrachm is something I always wanted but never found one I could afford that 'spoke' to me. This one is pretty much a one sided coin but the reverse is nicer than many with the wide spread flan allowing the whole scene to fit. I have quite a few coins with test cuts simply because it is the only way you can get a Greek tetradrachm in my price range. The Trajan with Dacian captive has surface deposits I am afraid to clean off because it has decent tone and you never know what lurks beneath such deposits. The Trajan with camel and ARAB ADQ has some field scratches I did not see but it is a pretty coin in hand so I guess the answer is not to look at the large pictures where they are easy to see. The Republican of L. Roscius Fabatus has always been a favorite of mine but, again, usually priced over my bracket if in decent shape. This one is a little porous but, as they say, better in hand than in the photo. This type has sets of control marks (this is a lyre and a lyre key) which are related to each other in some way. I really wanted one with the jellyfish but the lyre is not bad. I won't ever be tempted to build the complete set. There are at least 155 different pairs. The other coin are mostly nice looking but ordinary Romans of the later variety but had something to recommend them so they followed me home. It will take a week to get them all cataloged and photographed but I only get to go to a show 3-4 times a year and it is by far my favorite way of buying coins. I always hate it when I return from a show kicking myself for not buying a coin I left behind and buying a couple of the ones I did. I saw three coins I really liked but each was $300+ so they are still there for you if you go tomorrow.
Always enjoy your reports. Despite the rough reverse on the Trajan/Arabia, I still like it. Almost bought one for $66 over my current one but the current was cheaper & the circulated cameo won out. Very nice roman republic. I like the lyre also. Dunno why some collectors dislike porous so much, I think it can be attractive & usually they are priced right. My Severus Alexander is pretty porous but I would take it over a EF one. $300 each, which coins were they to command that much? Greek Tet.? All nice additions, hopefully you share some others you got in time.
Even for a young guy with good eyes, buying coins at shows can be tough. The lighting is usually poor. There have been many times that I bought a coin at a show, and found marks I hadn't seen as soon as I got in the car and looked at them in sunlight. Thanks for the report.
