Dreaded Calculation

It's a lot cheaper if you go digital. I've built quite a sizable Kindle book collection, and also quite a sizable audiobook collection. Physical books are so 20th century

 

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"Physical books are so 20th century "
I suppose one could collect pictures of coins, instead of coins. Then you could have a beautiful electronic collection. However, some of us prefer coins to images of coins, and some of us prefer books to images of books.

 

Eh-heh-heh ...

Ummm Bing, apparently I wasn't quite as thrifty as you (go figure, eh?) ...

In 2015, I bought 52 coins at an average of exactly $200/each = one big fricken 5-digit number!! (*yikes*)

=> the two least expensive coins were these two babies:

NABATAEAN, ARETAS IV & SHUQAILAT, AE17


Julian II AE3



... and the two most expensive examples were these two beauties:


LUCANIA, VELIA, AR NOMOS


Roman Republic, Anonymous AR "Victoriatus"


Oh well, Bing ... all-in-all, it was an absolutely awesome year of ancient coin collecting, eh?!! (thanks for all of your comments ... and thanks for a really fun year!!)

 

Hmmm? ... thinking-back on the cash that I spent in 2015, it raises the good ol' coin collecting question => what would you rather collect:

"A" => 50 x $200 coins

or

"B" => 2 x $5,000 coins

obviously I'm a fan of option "A" (ummm, not that I could ever sit-on-my-hands and save-up enough cash to buy only 2 coins!!)



However => I'm sure that there are those who would prefer option "B"

 

I lean more towards 200 x $50 (which kind of makes us mirror-twins??), but I have many coins that fall far from the $50 average at both ends.

 

I will promptly answer A + B as it gies a good look to the bulk to have some outstanding items

Q

 

Yup, that's me. It requires patience and discipline. Two things I lacked as a youth. It is sort of a mental exercise regimen for me. Sort of like running a marathon as opposed to a string of 100 yard dashes. The result is that I have become far more patient and disciplined in my purchases.

I still end up spending far too much money.........................but that's ok.

 

I'm up early here in SFO since I usually sleep in the mid-west and I will be going to the Historical Bourse in a few hours and all this talk about money spent on coins makes me think that perhaps I should give the wad of cash in my pocket to some homeless person or.........what? No way, Jose Wales I'm buying some coins!!

Here is my target list:
Sikyon hemidrachma w Chimera and Dove in the wreath
Pantikapaion Cimmerian Bosporos Ae 21
The double siglos lion scalp coin from Samos
The Bee Stag drachm from Ephesos


And a personal "must have" target the drachm issue by Demetrius I Poliorketes after whipping Pyolemy's fleet at Cyprus with Nike on the prow and Posiedon throwing the trident. Photos below not in the proper order.

 

I believe the Triton coins are going to be there for viewing. If so, could you send me a message. I have a favor to ask you if possible.

 

I fear you may have trouble finding the hemidrachm with wreath. The wreath is commonly on the stater. Keep an open mind to a plain dove in hemidrachm size. It may just be my inexperience but I have seen more nice staters. Hemidrachms seemed to have circulated a lot so many are worn.


In the opposite regard, I like the Polioketes drachm but the one that came my way is a tetradrachm. Of course in the grade that the high class dealers doing the SF show would carry, a tetradrachm will not be cheap. Mine is beat up but still quite a handful. I wonder if the thing would fit in a slab. It is very thick due to the high relief ship.


For the bargain hunters among us, the type comes in bronze also.

 

It seems you have my "NEW" 2016 budget listed.......and so I'm going to choose the 'split the options' choice----purchasing about 2 or three a month within a budget varying between $600-$1,000 a month depending upon unforeseen developments.

But this month I still have a few 'budget types pending, hopefully at a bargain price or LOW retail for the grade and type----We'll see

 

Grasshopper - The books you need to hone your ancient coin-fu don't come on the Kindle.

You have much to learn, and much of it is printed on, ahem, paper.

 

their hemiobol has a wreath but not a chimera


These 2 are kinda expansive for how common they are, esp the bee, so tiny...
ephesos1
ephesos2
poliopketes1
poliopketes2
poliopketes3

 

the hemidrachm without a wreath is common too, and sometimes in good form, but again expansive for its size.
sikyonia

 

As much as I enjoy physical books, I really hate that most numismatic works don't have a digital option. I much prefer my kindle or my laptop to a huge stack of books when I'm doing research and shipping for big heavy numismatic books isn't cheap.

 

Oh yeah! I didn't acquire any of my target coins primarily because of the price tags. The Ephesos Bee/Stag coins were very pricey but pretty. There were many Poliorketes portrait type coins but not one Nike on Prow coins at all. Shanna Berk may have one in Chicago so maybe I'll pick this one up although she casually let me know it wouldn't be a great grade and still $600.

I bought 3 coins and met a lot of interesting CNG and San Francisco Ancients Numismatics Society folks and now I am one since I joined this group and it only cost me $10 (the only reral bargain of this trip).