[Poll] Do You Carry a Coin as a Lucky Token? If so Post It!

I acquired this coin as a replacement for a coin that never arrived. I sometimes like to carry new purchases with me to work/travel so that I can admire them when I am not home. The first day I carried this coin the following happened.

• My least favorite project at work got dropped off the long term plan… cool.
• I was able to focus enough to wrap up a difficult project I had been avoiding for the last two weeks… go me!
  
• My fiancé failed to notice that I left a bunch of dishes in the sink and my morning shower towel on the floor… what is going on!
  
• I was in such a good mood we went out for a nice dinner… Fun!
  
• …on the way home I found an Eid Mar on the sidewalk.

Okay, maybe not that last thing but the other ones were enough to convince me. This new coin was going to be my travelling companion for a while. Without further ado;


Byzantine Empire
Justin II AE Follis, Nicomedia mint, Ca. AD 576-577
Wt.: 13.76 g
Dia.: 31 mm
Obv.: DN IVSTINVS PP AVG Justin II and Sophia, seated, facing
Rev.: ANNO XI, M in center; A below; cross above; NIKO in exergue
SB 369 MIB 46a (vine)

Justin II was Byzantine Emperor from 565 to 578. He inherited a militarily overstretched and financially bankrupt empire from his uncle Justinian. As a consequence of his decision to abandon the strategy of paying tribute to potential enemies he quickly lost huge amounts of territory in Italy and the west to barbarian tribes and even lost parts of Syria to the Persians. After the fall of the fortress of Dara on the Persian border it is said that Justin began to lose his sanity. He had to be pulled around the palace in a wheeled throne and is said to have tried to bite anyone who got too close. He adopted Tiberius II as his son in 574 and receded into his madness with his wife Empress Sophia and Tiberius acting as regents in his stead.

This coin is cool because it dates from the time of Justin’s madness and is the first Byzantine coin type to show a Byzantine Emperor and Empress on equal terms. The fact that this is a bronze piece that was likely to see wide circulation is even more remarkable. To be fair to Sophia this coin should probably show her towering over Justin as by this time he was completely insane and utterly helpless and it was The Empress who wielded true power.


So what about you all? Do you carry a lucky coin (or just one you like)? Please post it if you do!

Even if you don't feel free to post your Byzantine or Justin II coins

 

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Sometimes I put a coin in my pocket and forget that it's in there. Does that count?

Oh, I voted keep all the coins underground with the dragon.

 

Hmm, my pocket piece hasn't brought me any noticeable improvement in luck. Ol' A-Pi is letting me down! Perhaps I should try a different coin .


EGYPT, Alexandria. Antoninus Pius
year 17, CE 153/4
AE drachm
Obv: [AVTKTAIΛAΔPANTωNINOCCEBEVC]; laureate bust right
Rev: eagle standing facing, head left (wreath in beak?); L IZ
Ref: Emmett 1496(17), R1; Dattari 3094

 

LOL

My wife gave me an Alexander III Drachm years ago... carried it for years.


Makedon Alexander III 336-323 BC AR Drachm

 

No, I would probably lose it, or worse yet, spend it (denarii-dime size, etc.)

 

I wish dragon vault was a real thing

 

No. As ancient coins are well, ancient, I think it would be a disservice to future collectors to damage a perfectly good coin or two by carrying them in the pocket and getting them worn out. I might feel better about the whole thing if the coin was already damaged/severely worn beforehand.

I do carry a military challenge coin from Guantanamo Bay, Cuba on occasion. I'll see about taking a picture of it tonight and posting it. I got it back in 1995 in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. I was a refugee there for 9 months. The coin was given to me by a U.S. Army Captain (pictured below next to me) who made me promise before giving me the coin that I would always be kind to others no matter what.

I carry that challenge coin when I'm stressed and in a bad mood, as a reminder of my promise to always be kind to others.

In the meantime, until I'm able to post the picture of the coin tonight, here is a picture of me in Guantanamo next to then Captain Menegon, now a retired U.S. Army colonel. A very good man who made our lives a lot easier in the middle of all that mess that was Guantanamo at the time.

 

Fascinating story!

Have you shown me the challenge coin before? I would love to see it. (PM, exonumia thread, etc.)

 

I don't think so, but I'll take a picture of it this evening and post it here.

 

I should clarify. My "pocket piece" is in a protective flip and resides in a zippered compartment in my purse. I suspect other people's ancient coin "pocket pieces" are similarly protected.

 

Precisely! Mine is in a protective flip that lives in my wallet. I really like your A-Pius AE TIF. It looks like it's got some heft to it too.

Great coin as always Brian! Your wife has great tastes... well in coins anyway just jokes, you're awesome.

I look forward to seeing your challenge coin this evening @Sallent!

 

I am very absent minded and tend to leave things where they lay...I have lost my purse, keys, laptop, etc. all too often. Since I love my ancients and would be devastated if I lost any of them, I don't carry one around as a lucky token.

 

I carry a lucky eggplant in my pocket

 

I have an 1884 Morgan that is attached as a key fob, so it goes everywhere.

 

I used to carry an antoninianus of Aurelian until I lost it in a super market parking lot one rainy night. It must've fell out of my pocket when I was getting my car keys. After I got home and realised it was missing I went back to the parking lot, flashlight in hand, and searched for it. Against all odds, I found the coin near the parking space I had parked my car! After that, I stopped carrying the piece and eventually gifted it to my nephew.

 

I sometimes carry around a coin, in a flip. I haven't lost any, but some have been temporarily mislaid - a Titus denarius survived a washing cycle and an Augustus denarius fell out of a pyjamas pocket just before going into the machine. This Hadrian dupondius (RIC 828) is probably the one I've carried around the most - it was part of a CGB group lot:
ATB,
Aidan.

 

When I was in college, I had a holed and very rough, featureless Roman, probably a Provincial judging from the fabric, on my key chain. After about 20 years it had worn enough I could make out an outline of a right facing head that might (!) have been Septimius. After another 5 years or so the outline all but disappeared. I stopped carrying it and it has been in a drawer with tie tacks and the like for the duration.

 

This M. Plaetorius once accompanied me on a casino visit. Bonus Eventus personified an undertaking's good outcome, but the outcome wasn't so good that time... wrong deity, perhaps.


Gallienus Fortuna Redux which has been a lucky wallet coin on a few trips abroad.


For the past few years this Aurelian antoninianus on my car key chain has spent some time in my pocket practically every day. I didn't make the hole but have certainly been contributing to the wear .

 

@Jwt708 Here is the Guantanamo Bay, Cuba Challenge Coin I received 22 years ago from Captain Menegon while I was a refugee at the base.

Have you ever seen another Challenge coin like this? I certainly haven't, so it must be pretty unusual or rare. I've seen other types of challenge coins from Guantanamo, but other than this one given to me 22 years ago, and another which I saw in the hands of a guard at one of the camps, I've never seen another like this one.

Either way, rare or not, it's priceless to me. I've kept it for 22 years, from refugee to citizen, and carried it with me on occasion throughout those 22 years to remind me of the promise I made. I wouldn't part with it for anything. It has a great deal of sentimental value to me.