Just got back from the Summer FUN Show in Orlando. Had a good time, met some CoinTalk folks, and picked up some (48) great coins. I apologize for the long and rambling post. My wife saved the day as it turned out. As we were pulling out from the parking garage she noticed she had left her checkbook behind. I told her not to worry about it, she didn't need it. She insisted she wanted to bring it so I stopped and let her go get it. Good thing, I realized on getting to the show I had only 1 check left in mine. Doh! Lesson learned in preparedness. I had everything else I thought I needed. That would have been a real dilemma with at least 6 dealers there I have known many years. I am sure I could have arranged mail payments and shipping but one of the cool things about being at a show in person is carrying your booty home that day. It is also great paying no shipping, no customs, no PayPal or credit card fees, no VCoins or Ebay fees. I find dealers who know you can make you a better deal for the same coin in person than they can through an online venue, unless they own their own website. I usually like to scout out what people have, helped by my wife who knows most Greek and Roman coins and artifacts by now. Then I agonize over what to purchase and go back and do some haggling. Some dealers seem to love to haggle and some have told me they hate it. I try to respect the haters but I still ask them "What are you asking for this?" ignoring whatever they have marked. They usually give me a break. Other dealers seem to get a kick out of it so I like to play along but only if I know I do plan to buy something from them. I was pretty much broke when I got back to James Beach, one of my favorite dealers. I bought my Rhegion tetradrachm and Maroniea tetradrachm from him at past shows. He managed to crack open my wife's long suffering checkbook one more time with a super deal on this coin. I was really surprised what he let it go for, about $800 less than he had marked on it. James does not do vcoins, ebay, internet, so you have to see him at shows. His father was an ancient dealer, and a lot of their former clients are now selling coins back to the son. I love getting coins that are from collections built in the 70s and 80s. These will never be posted online, so its a plus for going to shows. Kingdom of Batria, Eucradatides I, 170-145 BC AR Tetradrachm, 16.91 grams, 34mm Obverse: Helmeted bust right. Reverse: The Dioscuri This coin is a monster 34mm, very impressive in hand. It looks a little shinier than my photo. I think it is interesting how part of the reverse inscription is arched over the horseman and part is straight under their feet. It is a very effective lettering design. I am not sure how many other coins use both curved and straight inscriptions? I ran into @Aidan_() talking to Nick at Pegasi, which was cool to meet him. I really like to see younger ancient collectors, rock on! I bought another tetradrachm from Nick that I have been hunting a while, which I will post later. Nick gave me some killer deals on groups of Alexandria tetradrachms, Caracalla provincials with the Capricorn, some Black Sea bronzes and other assorted goodies. It helps when you have bought something good, most dealers really open up the deals at that point. I was suffering most of the day from a migraine on and off so I did not get to spend as long as I wanted but overall had a great time. I got to handle 100s of coins in person and took home a nice haul. Tell us about your experience if you went to the show. John
Sounds like you had a great show. That's a gorgeous tet - looking forward to seeing the rest of the coins!
That's a beauty!! I'm a long way from the FUN show or any other decent show. Perhaps that is why I only have a very tiny Eukratides! You can still see the bull's horn & ear though... Obol, 11mm 0.7g, caps of the Dioskouroi, each with palm frond; monogram below.
Thanks for the show report... I really do enjoy vicariously attending via these writeups. It sounds like a great show. That Eucratides tet is awesome!
Thank you for your report, Theodosius. It looks like you had a very fruitful visit. I am sorry I missed Summer FUN this year. We normally visit Florida around July every year, and I then take the opportunity to drive from Naples to Orlando to visit the show. This year, however, we shall be going to the US in September or October. I always enjoyed Summer FUN, and always found some U.S coins for my collection. Generally I found there were relatively few dealers offering ancient and non-US coins, (concentrated mostly on the aisles on the right), but what I saw was of good quality if a little pricey.
Congrats on your 'haul'---48 coins WOW!! I really enjoyed your report too and I absolutely LOVE that TET!!! Did I read your post correctly...$800.00 less than marked?? I'm definitely looking forward to the rest of your posts!!!
that's a BEAUTIFUL tet! dang! i'm in florida to visit family every so often, but i've never been there when the big show was going on. if the stars ever align properly i'll make it there some day.
I spent some time talking to Mike Bezayiff, who was sharing a table at the show. Mike is a very knowledgeable dealer who worked with Tom Cederlind for many years before going out on his own. He always has interesting coins and knows a lot about them so I try to meet him when I can. Mike had this fascinating countermarked Greek coin from Dionysopolis. It has the head of Dionysos on the obverse with two very clear countermarks: the head of Athena and the head of Hermes. The reverse (used to ) show a club (of Herakles) between two stars enclosed in a wreath. Mike is an artist and his coin tags are unique and attractive. I included his tag with the photo so you can see what I mean. I have started photographing all the tags that come with coins. It makes it easier to enter the coin's attribution in my catalog later once the coin has gone to the bank. You can see the reverse was pretty much flattened when the two countermarks were applied. This is what the coin looks like without the countermarks. This photo was taken from CNG's excellent research website. Notice the two stars are probably the Vergina Sun, the symbol of Macedon, because Dionysopolis is located in the same general region. See my old thread on the subject. https://www.cointalk.com/threads/the-vergina-sun-symbol-of-the-royal-dynasty-of-macedon.297244/ CNG also lists one example of the same coin with only one countermark and a couple others with the same two. I have searched a little and can't find the reason or time when the countermarks were applied. The coin was minted around 200 BC when the town presumably was under the control of Macedon (The Peguin Historical Atlas of Ancient Greece, page 128 ). These countermarks were applied sometime later using two very Greek symbols. Probably not something done after the Romans conquered Moesia Inferior, who might have used a more Roman symbol or some letters or numbers? Steve had some other interesting countermarked coins which I am kicking myself for not picking up when I had the chance. I find it is hard to make perfect decisions when visiting shows, must be like trading futures in the CBOE pit. Do you all find countermarks interesting? What can you tell us about these Greek countermarks? John
I believe Mike also had a coin with a sharp countermark and the rest of the coin was blank, very nice stuff. Also enjoyed talking with him a little bit yesterday.
I think I was looking at the same one. The mint at Syracuse took an As of Augustus, pounded it flat, and then countermarked it for use in Sicily. You can still see traces of the "S C" on the reverse. Mike had a reference to an article in French about these from a recent journal. Really interesting coin. I doubt Augustus would have been pleased having his portrait pounded flat by Greeks.
I finally bought a coin from Littleton Coin Company. You old timers probably remember their ads from magazines back in the day. I noticed a young kid, who turned out to be 11, trying to sell some ancient coins to the various dealers. None were interested. I asked to see them and bought one just on principle to help young collectors out. I offered $40 which the kid and his father accepted. Here is the flip tag that came with it. Littleton did not bother to identify the reverse deity, who I believe may be Eirene holding an olive branch? The year is off the flan unfortunately. At least Littleton guarantees that it is genuine. That is good to know. I am not so sure these Diocletian Tetradrachms from Alexandria are difficult to find today as they said, because ironically enough, I had just bought a bag of 25 different ones from Pegasi half an hour earlier. John
Last post before going to bed. I picked up two Black Sea area coins from Pegasi as well. Nick let me cherry pick them from a wholesale lot, which was very nice of him. These look original to my eye, i.e. not smoothed or tooled. The first one photographed very nicely. This one was much harder to capture. It has a shiny black surface. I love the portrait of Zeus. Not sure I have the orientation of the reverse correct. $30 each....now I wish I had bought all of both lots. John
Heads I win, heads I win! One of the interesting things about the FUN show in Florida is that the true treasure hunters attend the show with a lot of their finds. My wife and I are friends with Craig Boyd, who salvaged the El Cazador. He likes to say he is the most famous treasure hunter you have never heard of. Craig was there with a number of his friends and fellow hunters and we spent a hour talking to him about his adventures. I have developed a sub-collection of coins that have become stuck together into clumps due to being buried or shipwrecked. Craig had a neat clump of 2 Reales for me that he had partially cleaned up: You can see how they are stuck together, slightly offset so the rim of the other coin is showing. At a previous show I picked up this clump of four 8 Reales from Craig: Craig had cleaned and uncleaned 2, 4, and 8 Reales, plus some clumps from 2 to 20 coins stacked up and encrusted, really cool if you like that kind of thing. We usually buy a few uncleaned 8 Reales and then clean them with our nieces and nephews. If you are interested in treasure hunting or shipwrecks, the FUN show is a good opportunity to talk to some of the most successful people in the US, and buy some of their finds.
What a fantastic coin, @Theodosius! That particular Bactrian tet always surprises me with the relatively modern styling of Eucradatides. Ignoring the bristles, it otherwise looks like a WWII-era pith helmet. He looks a bit like Winston Churchill or any number of soldiers of that era. Given the modern look of Eucradatides combines with your coin's outstanding strike, centering, flan, fabric, and general condition, I bet the average ManOnTheStreet would think your coin was manufactured a century ago rather than two millennia ago!
I agree TIF, it does look very modern. Strange how fashions come and go. The Baktrian version does have the horn and ear (of a bull?) on it which I doubt would be popular now.
