TypeCoin’s top 10 for 2018

I think only one of us has bothered to put one together so far this year, so I will open the flood gates.

I bought a lot of really nice, historic coins this year and missed out on a few. Paring down the list to a top 20 was easy, but a top 10 was much more difficult. Here is my top 10 is a somewhat ascending order.

10. 1589 Half Leeuwendaalder (Lion Thaler) of Holland. This was minted rather shortly after Holland gained its independence from Spain in 1574, so it is an early Dutch issue. But what maked it special is that I bought it in Utrecht with @AnYangMan when I was visiting him. Not only that, this coin has a magnificent strike that is just not seen on the type and is accented with lovely cabinet toning.



9. King John Penny. When looking for coins for my “one medieval/hammered/ancient/etc coin minted in each city I visited” collection, I decided to go for a silver penny with the archaic spelling LVNDE for London. In addition, I have a fondness for coins struck under infamous rulers, and King John certainly qualifies. I am quite happy with the quality of this example, especially at £70.



8. Dang Jin Spade. When Q. David Bowers sold his collection of ancient Chinese coins, I knew that I had to get one of them just for the provenance. I woke up at 3 AM France time to participate in the auction in Hong Kong. This coin was actually not my main target, so I passed it in favor of freeing up cash in later lots. Well, I got obliterated on all of those, so I came back to this one, happy to see that no one else had bid on it. This example has one of the nicer patinas for the type (most are completely stripped of their patinas; I have only seen a couple others with patinas this nice. One is in Bob Reis’ inventory.) and was priced at about 1/2 to 2/3 the going rate. But best of all, it replaced the example with questionable authenticity that was in my collection.



7. Constantine I Follis struck in Trier. Trier, Germany was one of my favorite cities that I visited in Europe. Much of the Roman and medieval architecture is still standing and is available to be explored. The most prominent Roman buildings were built under Constantine I as Trier was his residence for a period of time. Therefore I had to get a Constantine I coin struck in Trier. Then this example showed up in one of JA’s auctions, and I was struck by the fine styling and glossy luster. I still love looking at this coin.

Here is a writeup on the Roman history of Trier (with lots of pictures!):

https://www.cointalk.com/threads/trier-part-ii-with-some-roman-newps.310954/



6. Ancient Chinese ant-nose coin with an undeciphered inscription. I was extremely exctied to be able to finally get one of these for my set of ant-nose inscriptions. It is by far the rarest of the 9 inscriptions with only about 6 total known in private and museum collections (according to @AnYangMan ‘s tally). This was actually a gift from a friend I met through @AnYangMan , making it very special. The inscription is currently undeciphered (though the current guess is “Yong”), but I am getting an etymological dictionary soon.



5. Obol of Archbishop Rainald von Dassel of Cologne. I bought this coin for my “one medieval/hammered/ancient/etc coin minted in each city I visited” collection because it captured the single most historic event in Cologne’s history. Of all of the things I learned about Cologne while I was there, the story of the Archbishop acquiring the bones of the three magi and turning Cologne into a major pilgrimage site was the thing that stood out to me the most. Here is my writeup on this coin:

https://www.cointalk.com/threads/new-medieval-putting-cologne-on-the-map.322916/



4. Marcus Sergius Silus denarius. I bought this coin at this year’s London Coin Fair. As I was rifling through the dealer’s Roman Republican coins, I saw this and knew exactly what it was thanks to this forum. I happily paid the dealer’s asking price and considered the show to be a great success.

More info about the depicted figure as described in 77 AD in Pliny’s Natural History:

“Nobody - at least in my opinion - can rightly rank any man above Marcus Sergius, although his great-grandson Catiline shames his name. In his second campaign Sergius lost his right hand. In two campaigns he was wounded twenty-three times, with the result that he had no use in either hand or either foot: only his spirit remained intact. Although disabled, Sergius served in many subsequent campaigns. He was twice captured by Hannibal - no ordinary foe- from whom twice he escaped, although kept in chains and shackles every day for twenty months. He fought four times with only his left hand, while two horses he was riding were stabbed beneath him.

He had a right hand made of iron for him and, going into battle with this bound to his arm, raised the siege of Cremona, saved Placentia and captured twelve enemy camps in Gaul - all of which exploits were confirmed by the speech he made as praetor when his colleagues tried to debar him as infirm from the sacrifices. What piles of wreaths he would have amassed in the face of a different enemy!”



3. Medieval Metz gross. I bought this coin the day I was leaving for France, also making it the first Metz coin I bought. I lived in Metz for 4 months and absolutely loved the city, so I am quite partial to anything related to Metz. This particular coin has fine styling and great eye appeal as well as a nice, large flan.



2. Contemporary counterfeit value-1000 spade. I had been wanting a contemporary counterfeit fiduciary Wang Mang coin for a long time because of the desperation and risk it represents. The person who made this coin literally put his life and the lives of those around him on the line to make a quick buck. Coins like these are one of the reasons why Wang Mang’s monetary reforms failed so terribly. My writeup for this coin was in the second round of the CT Imperator contest this year.

https://www.cointalk.com/threads/poll-17-15-jay-gt4-vs-31-typecoin-round-2-cit-2018.321866/



1. Last but not least is a gold-inlaid knife coin cast by Wang Mang. I bought this with @AnYangMan from our mutual friend, and I was extremely excited to buy this coin, especially at the price I paid. It represents the cunning and tyrannical power wielded by Wang Mang to secure his position as emperor. But all of this was for naught as his advanced schemes and reforms only served to destroy China’s economy and starve a large portion of the population to death. And thus he earns a top spot in my collection of infamous rulers.

Also this coin was owned by an ancient Chinese aristocrat. How cool is that?

Here is my writeup of this coin, which is a long but interesting read if you have not seen it yet.

https://www.cointalk.com/threads/go...ory-of-the-rise-and-fall-of-wang-mang.315047/

 

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Wonderful travelogue told through coins! I hope 2019 brings you more gems such as these!

 

you really got some fantastic material in 2018. Really like the medieval one from Metz. But they all very eye appealing Hope you also have a great 2019!
John

 

A very interesting, diverse collection. Looks like you had a fine year.

 

This is a fine example of why we do the top ten lists. Of the group, only the Romans are familiar to me. I enjoy hearing what made these rather common Romans appeal to someone whose collecting interests are so different from mine. Next year, may I suggest a Greek? Watch CT over the next year and you may just find the one that speaks to you.

 

Very eclectic, congrats !

Q

 

Great year! 10 and 5 have both been added to my wants list.

 

Amazing coins all around! Hard to pick my favorite of the bunch...but there is something about that Chinese knife that just does it for me. Great 2018!

 

Very nice and eclectic selection. I happen to like the medieval coins, Thaler & John the best.

 

A very nice top ten. I especially like the John penny.

 

Magnificent additions, the half thaler and Metz gross are particularly beautiful! I hope 2019 brings as much of a bounty of potent links to history as 2018 did for you!

 

Super! Amazing coins and informative presentation. My favorites are the lion thaler and the Metz coin. And I like the approach of getting a coin of the cities you visit. Makes my habit of saving some of the local circulation coinage seem quite puny.

 

Brilliant coins, @TypeCoin971793! The hammered coins are excellent - I love the Metz Grosso, amd you got quite the deal on the John penny. (I hope to have my top ten soon - I am waiting for one more auction to end).

 

Awesome additions @TypeCoin971793! It was an absolute pleasure having you here those couple of days and I am glad quite a few of the coins you bought here are in the top 10. I still remember vividly how we spent way too much time pondering in that coin-shop in Utrecht and the look on your face when our friend pulled out that Wang Mang knife was priceless to say the least. Nothing but fond memories .

Naturally, I absolutely love all the Chinese pieces (and you didn’t even include my favourite Chinese purchase of yours from this year), but seeing that halve leeuwendaalder makes me kick myself again! I should have kept it myself . It truly is one of the best specimens out there for such an early Halve Leeuwendaalder (look at the detail on the lion’s face!) and that toning is to die for! Seems like 2018 was an excellent year for you, hopefully 2019 will be just as fruitful!

 

And now for some honorable mentions:

Merovingian denier struck in Metz in the 8th Century. This was about the same time that the monks of the Basilica of Saint-Pierre-aux-Nonnains invented a musical notation that would evolve into what we have today!



Basilica of Saint-Pierre-aux-Nonnains (In Metz!)



A sheet from a very early hymnal used by the monks.



Beautiful high-grade antoninianus of Trebonius Gallus



Lovely example of an extremely rare 4-character Qi knife (the last auction appearance of an example of this type was about a decade ago).



This is one of the earliest Ming knives known. I overpaid for it because I was careless with the exchange rate (oh well), but still a rare example.

https://www.cointalk.com/threads/the-earliest-ming-knife.314364/



This is a denier struck in Rome imitating the deniers of Champagne, France. This example is fairly early and has really complete legends for the type. I was inspired to get this coin because of @FitzNigel ’s thread:

https://www.cointalk.com/threads/medieval-the-champagne-fairs.290610/



These were an exciting buy because they seem to relate the monetary systems of two different states during the Warring States Period of China. Both are very rare. My writeup on them is here:

https://www.cointalk.com/threads/two-similar-but-completely-different-coins.319251/



I had to put this beautiful hollow-handle spade on this list as well. It is one of the nicest I have seen.



And lastly, a denier struck in Metz when it was a bishopric. These deniers are almost always poorly struck, so this example was a must-buy due to its nearly-full strike and nice styling for the period. I also wanted an example that shows the figure wearing bishop-y garments and holding his staff, and this one did not disappoint.

 

Excellent coins and great write ups @TypeCoin971793 . Nice to see these lists kicking off again! I am still working on photos so it will likely be late December for my list - but there will be 9 unposted coins on it!

My favorites of yours are:
#3 - Great eye appeal
#1 - Loved your write up! Caused me to buy a Wang Mang this year.
#9 - A great coin to represent that city. An interesting and historical king, no doubt.

 

I am so jealous of that beautiful Leeuwendaalder, @TypeCoin971793. You're right that you just don't see them like that. It's outside my collecting area, but I still want to get one at some point since I have traced my ancestors back to the Netherlands in that period.

 

Great diverse set of coins, looks like you had a fantastic year of collecting, they all have a special story to tell, but 5 & 7 are standouts in my book.

 

Even the runners-up are awesome! Well done

 

That's a splendid selection of coins – thank you for showing them and sharing your reasons for putting them on your top ten list! Also, congratulations on what seems to have been a fantastic collecting year.

Your beautiful half Leeuwendaaler and your Metz gross have immense eye appeal, but the two coins that truly stand out to me are your Cologne obol and the Metz denier in your runners-up list. These would be my definitive favourites.

As a small tribute to them, and since this thread needs more pictures, here is another medieval prince-bishop:


Bishop Johann II. Senn von Münsingen, Prince-Bishopric of Basel, Angster ("vierzipfliger Pfennig"), 1335–1365 AD. Obv: head of a bishop wearing mitre (three pellets at each side) left, between B-A, ring above. Rev: negative design (bracteate). 17–20mm, 0.33g. Ref: Wielandt: Basler Münzprägung (1971), no. 117; HMZ 255; Catalogue Wüthrich, no 31; Berger: Brakteaten (1993/6), no. 2415–2416.