What was your first Ancient coin?

I agree. This is a great coin with this back story to it. And the very reason for my friends interest in Constantine I, which is why I selected the first coin pictured, for him. :smile

 

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A countermark is a design added to a coin separately (usually later) than when the coin was originally made. Sometimes they revalued a coin or certified it for use in another way or even marked it as property of someone. Often we do not know the details. My example here shows a bull in a square countermark with legend naming the god Ba'al. Perhaps the coin was donated or certified for temple use but I really do not know. I did not see a countermark on the bull and will have to ask mat to point it out.

 

Thanks, Doug...

Countermark I am more familiar with.
The term counterpunch seemed like it might be different somehow.
The ancient usage differed a bit from modern coin and token countermarks.

 

My first ancient coin purchase was more than 30 yrs ago. It was a generic Constantine worth about $5.
I was a zit faced teenager with a nominal budget and graduating high school. I saw ads from dealers like Wayne Phillips, Amphora Dave, CNG, and Wayne Sayles, Tom Cederland, etc etc. These guys were nice to me and this was before the internet, in the 1980's. So it was old fashioned letter writting and telephone and mail bidding and fixed price lists in the mail, ha ha.
These guys dealt with $1000 coins, but they gave me good service and because they gave a little kid the time of day on a $5 coin, they now get my better purchases, and this is 30 yrs later. So the inexpensive Constantine coins have a special place in my heart, because at that time, I could afford nothing else and these guys helped me and thirty year later, I still feel nice when I look at a Constantine coin, + 1 for the good guys.

 

my first (and so far only) ancient coin was a maximianus 2nd reign ae follis, trier mint (autumn 307-end of 308 ad)
obv: laureate maximianus facing right, IMP C VAL MAXIMIANUS PF AVG
rev: genius facing left holding patera and cornucopia, GENIO POP ROM, S in left field, A in right field, PTR in exergue (RIC VI 768)

 

My First Ancients...

My first Ancient ever was this Constantine II coin.

AD324-325. Treveri - Trier, Officina 1.

obv: CONSTANTINVS IVN NOB C - Laureate bust right, draped and cuirassed. (frontal).
rev: PROVIDEN TIAE CAESS - PTR -(in exergue) - Two tiered campgate - star above.

I got it for $6 at my local coin shop years back.

My second ancient, and first Silver Ancient coin was this one of Elagabalus. I paid $9 at my coin shop for this one.

Elagabalus AR Denarius
obv: IMP ANTONINUS PIUS AUG - Laureate, draped bust right.
rev: LIBERTAS AUG - Libertas standing, holding pileus and sceptre. Star in right field.
2.1grams

Niether of those two are anything special, but they paved the way for the coins that I now so love to collect.

My third ancient was this very nice Philip I Silver Antoninianus. Which I purchased from Ancient Auction House on ebay for $30 several years ago.... my first higher quality ancient...

Philip I "the Arab" Antoninianus "Felicitas"
"Happy times are here again."
rev: IMP M IVL PHILIPPVS AVG - Radiate bust right, draped and cuirassed.
obv: FELICITAS TEMP - Felicitas standing left, holding caduceus and cornucopia.
Rome mint: AD 246 (5th Issue, 1st Officina) = RIC IViii, 31, page 72 - Cohen 43
Weight: 4.51 g.

 

This is my first:

Emperor Constans
Bronze AE 3
F, 2.493g., 18.6mm., Thessalonica mint, 348-350 C.E.



Got it from Forvm Ancient Coins for $15.00. It's a bit corroded, but it's still rather nice looking I think. I have a fondness for the portrait type of Constantine's dynastic line.

 

Mine:


Septimius Severus (193 - 211 A.D)
AR Denarius
Rome mint, 201 A.D.
O: SEVERVS AVG PART MAX, Laureate head right.
R:RESTITVTOR VRBIS (Restoration of the City), Severus in military attire, spear in left, sacrificing over a tripod altar with right.
RIC 167a RSC 599 BMCRE 202
3.3g

 

i wondered why i missed this thread...from 2010! well, it's a good topic!

here's mine!

 

This was my first dark-side purchase ... the first of 260 (and counting!!)

Valentinian I, AE19

 

Here is my first ancient coin. I received it in abut 1965 but didn’t learn anything about it until I posted it here on CT a few years ago. I understand that it is a bronze prutah ca. 9-11 AD. It was struck under the Roman procurator in Judaea, Marcus Ambibulus. It was given to me by the woman that raised me as a child.

 

Mine from 1981:

 

My first ancient coin was a Mithridates VI 120-63 BC copper coin, with the gorgon design. I got it at a coin shop in 2011 for 3 dollars, I was able to remove the crud.

 

Valens ruled from 364 to 378

 

I know this thread was started in 2010, but since I am new to Coin Talk, I wanted to share the story of my first ancient coin:

Since I love ancient history and art, my husband surprised me with a silver drachm from ancient Athens for my birthday in 1999. 15 years later and I am still collecting! What a wonderful husband I have The coin is still in my collection, and would be the last one I would sell.



Athens, 393-300 BC
AR drachm 3.4gm - 15 mm
Obv: Hd. of Athena r., of more advanced style, the eye seen in true profile; she wears crested helmet ornamented with 3 olive-leaves and floral scroll.
Rx: Owl stg. r, head facing; to r., ΑΦΕ; to l., oliver-twig and crescent; all within incuse square

 

My first ancient coin was purchased in April 2015 and is also my avatar.

 

A Constantine the great follis, trier mint.

 

4 ancients from our good ol' Bing!

 

The first impressive ancient i can remember was this Nero / Victory As from Lyon:



Nero, Lugdunum (Lyon) mint, emission 4, struck 66 (67?) AD.,
Æ As (26-27 mm / 9,51 g), copper, axes about coin alignment ↑↓ (ca. 190°),
Obv.: [IMP] NERO CAESAR AVG P MAX TR PO[T P P ] , his bare-headed head facing left, small globe at point of neck (RIC obverse type 66 F).
Rev.: S - C , Victory flying left, wings open; before, shield inscribed S[PQR].
RIC I 182, 546 (R) ; WCN 589 ; Coh. - ; BMC - ; CBN - . same obverse die as: http://www.acsearch.info/record.html?id=345960 (CGB.fr , Auction MONNAIES 16 (31.12.2002), Lot 425 )

This reverse type, Victory holding a small, round shield, records the awarding of the clupeus virtutis, the shield of valor, to Nero for victories in Armenia won by the able general Corbulo. Late in his reign (67 AD), Nero began to fear Corbulo and ordered him to commit suicide.

Originally coins with the clupeus virtutis were struck in celebration of the Senate's award of the 'clupeus virtutis' of Augustus for the legions' success in Persia and Armenia.
Augustus was given an honorary shield called the clupeus virtutis, the shield of virtue, in 27 BC., a few years after Actium.
On the clupeus virtutis was inscribed the following (original lost, text taken from one of several copies):

SENATUS POPULUSQUE ROMANUS IMP CAESARI DIVI AUGUSTO COS VIII DEDIT CLUPEUM VIRTUTIS CLEMENTIAE IUSTITIAE PIETATIS ERGA DEOS PATRIAMQUE
"The senate and the Roman People dedicated to the emperor Augustus, son of the divine Caesar the shield for virtue, clemency, justice, and piety towards the gods and his native land".

bought 1975 for ca. 35 DM

Maybe i already had some bad preserved and boring late Romans at that time but this coin with it´s impressive Greek style hooked me up for ancient coins.

Regards

 

July of 1999, my first ancient is quite humble and will remain one of my favorite coins not for what it is but because it was my first. They say, you never love a woman coin quite the same way as the first.

Arcadius AD 383-408
AE 20.9mm x 5.89g
Struck.Between 15 May AD 392 and 17 January AD 395
Alexandira, Egypt; Roman Mint
Obv: rosette diademed, draped & cuirassed bust right-DN ARCADIVS P F AVG
Rev: Emperor standing facing, head right, holding labarum & globe-GLORIA ROMANORVM, ALEA in ex.