Are you a "Hole filling" collector?

I know that I’ve shown my Judaean collection a number of times...

...but several more coins have been added since last time and there are more on the way. Mr. @Johnnie Black used an expression when discussing my post about “The Five Good Emperors”. He said (referring to himself): “Generally I’m not a filling holes kind of collector…” Anyway, that expression has haunted me all week. I think his phrase is an excellent one (thank you Mr. Black!) I too thought that I did not approach ancient coin collecting as someone who has to obtain an example of every type of coin ever made by a specific kingdom, emperor, mint, or...whatever. I was wrong because I have been filling holes in my Judaean collection all week and I’m far from being finished. The more coins that I collect the more I realize how far I am from having them all. And, how far I am from filling all of the holes.

Here's the latest. The recent additions have red captions. I don't like to show coins that I don't yet have in hand but two of these are still in the mail. I've got five more on the way and I'll have an updated poster to show you next week also. A couple of these, I already had but didn't know it. The coins are not in order by date but by Hendin number.

 

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The Prutah of Porcius Festus says it was under Tiberius, when Festus was procurator under Nero.

 

Man O man, another beautiful and inspiring grip of coins right there! (Love the presentation as always Deacon Ray).
And YES I am a hole filler. Frankly, as a newer collector I do not understand the negative implication of "hole filling". We all have "holes" in our collections and coins we aspire to own to "fill" them. If we didn't then it would be chaos, dogs and cats living together, and we would be randomly assembling I don't know what. I am on a limited budget compared to some of my CT friends and do take pride in getting a hard to find emperor or empress even if a "budget" version compared to some of the beauties posted here in. Is there something I'm missing here...besides a Julius Caesar lifetime portrait?

 

I do not collect ancients by filling holes. I do collect my tokens that way!

 

What a beautiful poster, @Deacon Ray!

I fill holes only if I get a super deal. Otherwise I get what really speaks to me. If it does both... I'm over the moon.

 

If you want to "Fill holes", good for you. If you want to collect another way, go ahead and do that. There are many ways of collecting and each person should choose the way that works for them.

For me the important thing is to have fun.

 

The field of ancient coins is so diverse that I feel one would do it a great disservice by being nothing more than a hole filler. If I were hole filler I'd miss out on owning multiple coins of a particular emperor, which I got because each coin called out to me on one way or another. Instead I'd probably be busy trying to get one of each emperor only, and miss out on many a great coin as a result. My collection would suffer and I would be the worst for it.

 

I'm a hole filler for sure, my collection goals are always well defined (Which coins, how many, minimum condition, etc). I think that these tendencies result from the fact that my greatest joy in collecting is showing the stuff to lay people. That being the case, I like to have a story to tell. In order for my story to have a beginning, middle, and end, I need an example of each essential item along the way.

 

You have such a great collection, Deac! I love the Revolt against Roman Oppression coins , mostly for the Jewish victory they stand for, however short lived!! FREEDOM OF ZION!!

 

Great collection!

IDK if I could make a poster for my fallen horseman. So just one from each mint

 

Hole filling is what Roman coins invite you to do: all the emperors, the classical types, the denominations and so forth. That's what I do, but my first criterium is always: does this coin qualify as a work of art in acceptable condition? Does it inspire in some or other way? This coin did: a Roman Provincial town that was not in TIF's town list, now a lonely mountain side in Turkey, nothing but rubble there, but Google Maps furnished a magnificent spring photo of the area.

 

I agree with @Pellinore (Roman [Imperial] coins invite the hole-filling style of collecting) and with @Orfew (collect whatever you want however you want; it's your hobby).

I'd guess that if a person is coming to ancients from a formerly modern collecting mode, transitioning by the hole-filling approach would be more familiar and comfortable, especially for those folks with a strong "completionist" drive. Although, when it comes to ancient coins, determining what "complete" means with regards to any type of set is a challenge! Defining your set is part of the fun and allows for some originality

I'm not a hole filler in part because I'd need more money . I tend to buy whatever appeals to me for whatever reason, and if I were to try to fill holes I'd have to reserve funds for some coins which otherwise hold little interest for me, or whose price far exceeds the appeal.

Correction: maybe I am a bit of a hole filler -- there are some subsets for which I hope to someday have reasonably complete representation, and in my first months of collecting I did put together a wacky set (Pink Floyd Animals on Ancient Coins) and in haste/exuberance bought a few stinkers for that set.

 

Yes, you're right, thank you, @Pompeius ! My Nero era coins are some of my favorites. I also forgot to update the footer information.

 

Well, aren't we all hole-fillers to some degree? Surely we all have various interests, subsets, and such and probably most of us have checklists of one sort or other. I have several. However, my main motivation is not to complete some sort of pre-defined set, but to acquire coins I like without unnecessary duplication. Because I'm not a millionaire, there is a certain hierarchy to what I bid on at auction or put on my want list at V-coins (I'll choose a "zoo" coin of Gallienus, for example, over one of his VIRTVS issues, or a provincial Gordian and Tranquillina marriage issue over yet another Septimius Severus provincial from Marcianopolis), but I have so many subsets going and various interests that I'm really more like a magpie: "Oooh! Look at that -- a veiled bust of Faustina!" or "That's a really cool lion on the reverse!" or "Oooh! An antoninianus of Herennia Etruscilla from the Antioch mint! You don't run across THOSE every day!"

 

...maybe I am a bit of a hole filler ... @TIF QUOTE

I never thought that I was one until I started updating this poster every few months. I started noticing huge gaps between the Hendin classification numbers.

I had to go back to my books and find out what I was missing.



It's okay, I quickly decided that I'll never be able to own all of them.

 

..those are my kryptonite too, but the "last coin" is most always the pivot point for the next buy for me, even if it's not related, i found it while doing that search.

 

Don't beat yourself up over being a 'hole filler'. If it makes you happy, go for it! What's important is that you love the coins in your collection, it doesn't matter if anyone else does.

 

Awesome! I have 2 types of coins from those heroic times.

 

I have four collecting approaches:

1. Coins of Constantine

2. World’s Slowest Twelve Caesars Set (maybe 1 coin per year)

3. Major Emperors. (Marcus Aurelius? Yes. Valentinian III? No hurry.)

4. Whatever I like.

I suppose 2 and 3 make me a “hole filler” to a degree, although for “major emperors” those holes are pretty big, and I don’t worry about getting a coin from lesser figures. I try to make every 3rd or 4th coin a Constantine in order to move that collection forward, but I will certainly respond to what the market sends my way by way of an interesting coin at a good price. These are guidelines, which I need as a collector facing a dizzying array of collection options–not hard and fast rules.

 

Those are my favorites of yours!!