What do you think of my idea? It preserves some interest of receiving a mystery coin, but takes most of the downsides out of it. A work friend had enquired what I wanted for my birthday, and I said, "a coin!" The problem: she knows nothing about ancient coins, has never heard of Justinian, etc. I would rather keep it under $75, the approximate value of last year's present. After much thought, I thought that suggesting an AR Antoninianus from Gordian III/Philip I/Gallienus, from a certain reputable dealer might me the easiest route. He has a standalone website, which doesn't require a username to order from. This still offers some thrill of the unknown, while taking most of the risk of the downsides out. Suggesting an AE coin would be even more daunting. This still offers the opportunity to get something halfway decent, without spending a lot. Suggesting one specific coin is a bit boring, but no suggestions at all would be too daunting.
The way @lordmarcovan gifted me was cool and opened doors. He gave me one of the twelve Caesars. So then I had to learn what were the twelve Caesars because I am curious and now I need to know. So I learn a little something about the twelve Caesars and then I had to create my own twelve Caesars set and that was a very fulfilling quest.... Whole point being that the gift was intended to open further doors in my head and it did exactly that.
Cool! I woke up and decided that just narrowing down the suggestion to a Philip Antoninianus would be the best course. The dealer has 100+ of those.