A Coin I Waited 13 Years For

That's the first of the type I have come across and it's easy to understand why you hungered for it for so long! Congrats on finally acquiring such a cool,rare coin!

 

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Right now that 'book' only exists in scattered notes and essays I've put together over the years. One day when they are organised, perhaps not a book but a proper website may be the result.

 

That's a great example to contrast the different styles. It's also quite rare - BY mint mark combined with COS III, assigned a R2 frequency in RIC.

 

Good question. A lot of factors were involved: timing, funds, and my deciding whether or not it's an official piece. Sometimes the coin went 'dark' and I had no idea where it was.

I have a habit of printing off the seller's page for each coin I purchase and keeping it for my records. Often I print off pages of 'possible purchases'. I recall printing the page of the original Imperial Coins listing for this coin in 2004 or 2005, but sadly I cannot find it. I wish I had saved it.

 

Be careful. Stalking is a CRIME. 13yrs is way too long. Again, FANTASTIC capture David! And, yes, I have chased some of my coins for several years...

Me: I have a horrible(?) habit of chasing a coin and and "just getting it!" I go into Search and Destroy mode when I want it! I have this deep-seated concern that my target coin will get purchased, then get buried in a collection for a lifetime, never to resurface again... I have to look away when I see the cost sometimes...

 

I thought perhaps you were waiting for the price to come down. Congratulations on the acquisition.

 

The longest I waited to pull the trigger on a coin was like 13 months. I couldn't hold out 13 years if I tried.

 

The price was another motivator. The longer I waited, the more expensive it got. Since 2004 the price went up over 50%. However, I was able to bargain a bit.

 

I haven't waited a long time for any coin but only because I'm relatively new to ancient coin collecting (4 years). There are a few in my collection that took a while to score (coming back on the market), but in the scheme of things that length of time is trivial.

 

First, congratulations. However, I need clarification: was it this particular example you've been tracking for 13 years, or multiple examples of this type?

 

This is the story of my life in coins. When a coin 'times' itself into view, I'm being cheap but when I have extra money, there is nothing I want. I recall seeing a nice liberal As (Aes Grave) for only $1000 but, 30 years ago, $100 was an expensive coin in my book. Now that same coin is over $5k and guess who wishes he had not been so cheap back then. Timing.

 

While answering that question, please consider mine: Have you seen more than one coin of this exact type/dieset or is this coin a discovery specimen and one you needed to buy or not with no possible middle course?

 

David, awesome new coin!

Doug

 

It's this reverse type without a mint mark. The Tyche type is quite common at Ephesus with various mint marks, without one is rare.

I've seen a couple of other specimens of the type without mint marks from different die pairs go up for sale over the years at astronomical prices, so I passed on them. This inferior style die pair is unique (AFAIK) and I believe interesting enough to acquire. Of course, its celebrity is enhanced by RIC II name dropping it in the introduction!

 

Coingrats, great to get something you've been waiting so long for.

I'm waiting for a coin too. But I haven't seen one in the grade and price I want yet. Plus there are so many auction sites I don't know about, only makes it harder to find.

 

Cool coins, David & Doug (congrats => they're obviously both big winners)

Ummm, but we've got no idea what either of those coins are worth, because it's not in my coin-sights ...

$100 ... $1,000 ... $10,000 ... $100,000

=> are those million dollar coins?!

13 years => that's a long fricken time!!

 

OK, I'll lay my cards on the table.

Originally it was listed in 2004 for $400. By 2017 after extensive travels between dealers it had risen to $640. I did not pay $640.

Ephesian denarii are not astronomically expensive, but they are more expensive than those from Rome. And as always, condition is important too.

 

Less than $640 to be COIN STALKER! Where do I sign up???

 

Props to you for your discipline and vigilance. You really earned that coin in more ways than just writing a check for it. And what an enigmatic portrait!

 

Mine was well under the 2004 level when I bought it in November 2016. Part (big part?) of the discount was due to the cracks but I wanted it because of, not in spite of, the mintmark and style. Taken all together, this is not a super rare type but there are specialists like David that know the differences and pay for rarity. There are generalists like me who don't but I suspect I could show a coin of Septimius Severus here that meant every bit as much to me and the only person here who could pick it out of a lineup would be Martin (and he might think I am a fool!). Similarly we have Victor who could slip a Constantine by most of us and Oki who has been known to show an occasional Hadrian that sailed clean over my head. These varieties of people are what makes this place fun.