The first 'Ancient' I bought was a 1937 Austin 7 'Ruby'. It was common-place in 1965 for 30y.o. cars to be seen on our roads, because, way back then, things were built to last. (Imagine, going to the 'drags' with 7 Hp. under the bonnet.) What's that? 'Coins', not 'Cars'. . . . . Ooops - Sorry. The first ancient 'Coin' I purchased was a 'Tiberius' from 22A.D., (key date), and was 'found' in Syria. I liked the 'stretch' that it could have been on the tables, in the Temple, when a young 'upstart' came in and 'wrecked' the place. (Just joking - don't anybody get offended, please.) This coin fitted in with my collection of all things old from 'wherever', that goes back to a meteorite, that is, (porportedly), older than the earth. (I don't think that I can go much further back from then.) This coin sits in a cabinet with my Indian artefacts, my Aboriginal artefacts, my Indus Valley artefacts, my Luristan artefacts, my Egyptian artefacts, my Megalodon tooth, my Mammoth hair, my Mosasur tooth, my Trilobyte fossil, and many, many, more items. Then I wanted coins from every 100 years back, from 'today'. On this journey, I came to the Greek/Roman times, and because of the nice, helpful, people I 'met' doing this, on this forum, (I won't name you all because if I omitted to mention one, I would be devastated), I got stuck in the Greek/Roman period, and, in my collection, coins from this period far outweigh, (in number), coins from any other period. Here is that 'Tiberius'. AE28mm., 7.5 gm., RIC I Rome 52 What was your first (Ancient) coin purchase? When, and why?
I was collecting Bust half dollars when I went to the ANA Mid-Winter in Salt Lake City in 1986. Suddenly I saw a silver coin with an elephant trampling a snake on one side and some strange-looking tools on the other. The label said "mint traveling with Julius Caesar." I bought it and was instantly hooked...
Nothing fancy. Just an Alexander III Tetradrachm from 302-286BCE, minted in Babylon. It got me completely hooked on ancients. I placed it next to a Morgan Dollar and I knew then and there that the Morgan, and all other moderns, had to go. From now on it was ancients for me.
Way cool @Topcat7 ! Fun. I collect eclectic also, due to my travels. But, man, a meteorite older than the planet is VERY nice! Hats off to you! My first were actually 5. 4 Athena Tets and an Alexander III Drachm. I purchased them from a friend back in the early '90's who owned a Stained Glass Shop with a few ancients in his cabinet. We talked a lot about ancient histories, and came to learn he had a very extensive collection of ancients. He was about my age, and had been collecting for years. He let me buy these, and several others for a "song", because of our friendship. Sad to say, he passed a couple years later from a very painful and debilitating bone disease. They aren't "super" by most Ancient collectors standards, but they mean a lot to me. It helped me really understand that the coins carry an enormous amount of history, both because of its mintage and because of the wear and tear. The wear of people transacting them in trade and exchange... trade is the vitality of humans.
I've told this before. When I was young, I belonged to a Sheakspearian acting troupe. I was lucky enough to be chosen for the roles of Rosencrantz in Macbeth, Hamlet in the play by the same name, and Mark Anthony in the Death of Julius Caesar. As much as I enjoyed my role as Hamlet, my role as Mark Anthony was my favorite. In 1981, when a friend gave me an Ancient coin catalog with this coin, I just had to have it. I don't remember what I paid, but I remember it was expensive for the time.
@Bing Very ironic as I played Octavian in the tenth grade school play "Julius Caesar" by Shakespeare, and that sparked my interest in Roman history. My grandmother saw how interested I was in Roman culture and history and bought this coin a year later. Looks like we are eternal rivals!!! Gordian III AR Denarius Rome mint 239/40 CE
We had this thread last month https://www.cointalk.com/threads/your-first-ancient.279020/ Septimius Severus (193 - 211 A.D) AR Denarius 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. Rome mint, 201 A.D. 3.3g 18mm RIC 167a, RSC 599, BMCRE 202
Fittingly, my first ancient coin was a Vespasian denarius. Purchased from Henri Delger of Old Roman Coins. Vespasian AR Denarius Rome Mint, 75 AD RIC 772 (C3), BMC 161, RSC 366 Obv: IMP CAESAR VESPASIANVS AVG; Head of Vespasian, laureate, r. Rev: PON MAX TR P COS VI; Pax, bare to the waist, seated l., holding branch extended in r. hand, l. hand on lap I couldn't contain my excitement when it arrived!
I keep not only my first coin since 1992, also the tag!... Its a Magnus Maximus AE2, REPARATIO REIPVBLICAE type grom Lugdunum, 2nd officinae: The tag is obviously completely incorrect: It reads (in english): ANCIENT ROMAN, 100 AD
You have good tastes' in coins! Remind me to elevate you to the post of Comes Britanniarum, for your show of loyalty to your Emperor.
In middle school I became interested in Shakespeare and read many of his plays and sonnets. Never was interested in acting though. Think the Tempest is probably my favorite of the ones I've read. As a freshman I was checking out his collected works from the school library one morning and the senior honors English teacher saw me and invited me to attend her senior class's field trip to Chicago to watch a performance of A Mid Summer's Night Dream. Very cool experience and the only play I've ever seen. My first ancient was a lot of twelve bought in 2013: I've shown these guys plenty of times though. How about my latest addition that is in my possession that I haven't shown? Seleucid Kingdom, Alexander Balas, 150-146 BC AE18, 5g, 12h; Antioch mint. Obv.: Head of Alexander right, in lion skin headdress. Rev.: BAΣIΛEΩΣ AΛEΞANΔΡOY; Apollo standing left, holding bow and arrows, palm branch in left field, monogram below. Word is he usurped power from Demetrius I Soter and lived a life of debauchery afterwards. Seleucid Kingdom, Demetrios I Soter, 162-150 BC AR tetradrachm, 16g, 32mm; Antioch mint, 162-155 BC Obv.: Diademed head of Demetrios I right within wreath. Rev.: Tyche, holding scepter and cornucopia, seated left on throne supported by tritonesses right, monogram to outer left. In two vertical lines, BAΣIΛEΩΣ ΔHMHTPIOY (King Demetrios).
