My top 6 of 2018

Hereby my first ever top of coins I did, since I am only collecting for half a year now. I must say that it is an amazing journey so far, I remember when I first started and I knew absolutely nothing about Ancient coins. And now after reading, reading, reading, getting advice, experiencing, interacting here on cointalk my knowledge has quadrupled.
I started off buying anything I liked (well I still do), but I do have a much bigger focus on the coins, regions and time era's I am interested in. Also, my mentality changed in the way of bidding, I used to always keep strict to a budget, but now I am sometimes like, I rather pay a little bit more for something I really want, then keeping to a tight budget and buying a lower-grade coin that I might regret later on, and start upgrading some coins again. Anyway, lets go to my top 6!

6. The beautiful grazing Pegasus


Mithridates VI Amisos Pegasos Perseus Bronze Coin (80 B.C. - 70 B.C)
Obverse: Head of Perseus right, wearing Phrygian helmet.
Reverse: AMIΣOY, Pegasus grazing or drinking left, monograms below and left.
11,01g; 23mm

When I bought this coin I started to become really fond of Mithridates VI, that he actually got into my top 3 most favorite generals (next to Pyrrhos and Alexander). I also developed huge interest in the bronze coinage of Pontos/Paphlagonia that I decided to get all the bronze coins from Amisos (right now I actually got another coin on my eye). It is very historically interesting that even so late, when the Roman Republic conquered most of all Greek city state, Mithridates still managed to unify the economy of the region before the Mithridatic wars started. Talking about the Mithridatic wars, Mithridates was one of the most formidable and successful enemy the Roman Republic encountered.

I also like that the bronze coins from Amisos all have a story of mythology attached to them. Regarding this coin: Pegasus was said to have been born from the blood that was shed by Medusa when she was beheaded by Perseus. Later, while Pegasus was drinking at the well of Pirene, the hero Bellerophon was able to throw Athena's golden bridle over his head and ride him, leading to the defeat of the monstrous Chimaera.

5. A common yet first beautiful drachm


Alexander III the Great Drachm under Antigonos I Monophthalmos (310 B.C. - 301 B.C). Mint in Kolophon.
Obverse: Head of beardless Herakles right, wearing lion skin
Reverse: Zeus Aëtophoros seated left, KA monogram in left field, Φ below throne. Inscription: AΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΟΥ
4,10g; 17mm

There is not much historical to say about this coin since most of you all know the story of Alexander. However, this is my first beautiful drachm and I think a nice first purchase as an introduction to the beautiful world of Greek silver. When I first started collecting a drachm of Alexander was number 1 on my wish list. Which I quickly made true!

4. The first coin from my home region


Epirote League Drachm (234/3–168 B.C.). Dodona mint.
Obverse: Head of Zeus Dodonaeus right wearing oak wreath, monogram below and behind.
Reverse: ΑΠΕΙ - ΡΩΤΑΝ; eagle with closed wings standing right on thunderbolt, oak wreath around.
4,23g; 22mm

One of my main targets in coin collecting is getting pretty much all the coins from Epeiros, this is my first coin of the series. I was very happy getting this one, since it is quite difficult to get both a nice centered obverse and reverse of this type of coin. I have seen many coins with a very nice obverse of Zeus, however the reverse was often quite hideous. Epeiros is really the region that was 'obsessed' with Zeus, in fact, the town this coin is minted in, Dodona, actually has the oldest Hellenic oracle. For that reason coins from Epeiros pretty much always feature the heads of Zeus Dodonaeos (here visible on the obverse) and of Dione his spouse. And also his wreath of oak-leaves from the sacred oracular oak of Dodona (see reverse).

It is interesting to know that the oracle got closed in 391-392 CE by Emperor Theodosius as he closed all pagan temples and banned all pagan religious activities. He also ordered to cut down the sacred oracular oak at the sanctuary of Zeus. However, the place always held some kind of 'special' religious meaning as a Christian Basilica got build exactly on the site of the former Zeus temple. Also, Bishop Theodoros of Dodona attended the First Council of Ephesos in 431 CE, showing that even then it still retained significance for Christians. I am eager to show you guys some of my latest Epeiros purchases which I will post later upcoming week.

3. The little butterfly


Rhodes AR Drachm. Circa 205-190 BC.
Obverse: Facing head of Helios with flowing hair
Reverse: Magistrate ΑΙΝΗΤΩΡ (Ainetor) above, P-O below, rose in bloom with side
branch bud to right & butterfly to left.
2,28g; 15mm.

This is a coin that to the day of today I am so happy to have this one in my collection. I remember that I was bidding for several coins and I lost them all, and then when I stumbled on this one it was like love at first site. I loved the butterfly on it and I only afterwards found out that a butterfly is very rare on coins, and I think at no other Greek coins butterflies are visible except from this magistrate of Rhodos. This is influenced by the fact that Rhodos has the only natural forest of Liquidambar orientalis (Oriental Sweetgum trees) in Europe, which is a resting point for the Jersey tiger (Panaxia Quadripunctaria), a nocturnal moth. It is interesting that the people found the butterfly forest on Rhodos so extraordinary and important that they placed it on a coin. I think Cyrene with the Silphium plant is an even better example.

2. Pyrrhos, an amazing yet foolish general


Syracuse, Sicily - Pyrrhos AR Oktobol (278–276 B.C.). Old collection toning.
Obverse: Head of Persephone to left, wearing wreath of grain leaves and pendant earrings; poppy seed behind.
Reverse: ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ - ΠΥΡΡΟΥ; Athena Alkidemos advancing left, brandishing spear with her right hand and holding shield aloft in her left.
5.20g; 20mm

I am very happy I got this silver oktobol from Pyrrhos recently, for my Epeiros collection a great addition. And also my most expensive coin so far. I am technically also a descendant of Pyrrhos, well maybe... probably not. He is next to Alexander the great my favorite general, and it seems Hannibal agrees with me because he said Pyrrhos was after Alexander the great, the 2nd best general. And indeed he was a great general, but with too much ambition. He already made a big mistake going to Sicily to fight Carthage, how could he have possibly thought he could fight both the Romans and the Carthaginians and win, both being two great powers and Pyrrhos army containing mostly mercenary troops and his treasury declining over time. He should have stayed and focused in Southern Italy. Then after his 'defeat' at Italy, he chased his ambition again to become King of Macedonia, then his ambition to control the Peloponnese by interfering with Sparta and Argos which let to his son dying in Sparta and himself laying dead in the streets Argos. He wanted too much at once, he couldn't maintain focus and that led to his utter defeat. If he focused in Southern Italy who knows what he could have done.

I am still highly impressed he managed to do so much in a life time, not mentioning that he also was taken hostage to Alexandria. However, luckily for him it appeared that Ptolemy I really liked Pyrrhos who was a valiant man, who gave proof of his strength and courage during hunting parties and other exercises. And it seems he was so impressed he let him marry his step daughter Antigone and well... his son loaned Pyrrhos some elephants to help crush the Romans in Italy, a late but nice wedding gift .

1. A special coin


Alexander III the Great Bronze Coin (336 B.C. - 323 B.C) four chalkoi (hemiobol)
Obverse: Head of Herakles, wearing lion skin.
Reverse: AΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΟΥ, thunderbolt and club above, quiver and bow below.
4,85; 17mm

Most people will probably think, what the heck is this coin doing as top 1 among all those other better looking coins. Well, this was my first coin that I bought in June 2018. As I am a fan of Alexander the great I wanted to have a piece of history from him. I thought, well this is impossible, figurines, pottery from Ancient times... that cost a big price. Until I literately stumbled on this coin at ebay when I was browsing for something completely else, and when I saw it I actually thought it was fake because it was only 10 dollars. I was thinking, how can a 2500 year old coin only be 10 dollars. I decided to buy it anyway, as the seller had very good reputation. And by buying this coin, my journey of coin collecting began. I must say this journey has been much nicer being an active member here on cointalk next to some amazing and knowledgeable coin collectors.

I want to thank you all for helping this newbie out, and I hope for many and many more years on this forum together with you amazing folk! I wish you a happy Christmas already.

Thank you for reading.

 

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Beautiful coins! Your collection is off to a great start!

 

Congrats, you are off to an amazing start. I also love Mithradates VI, his AV Staters are super affordable even in FDC.

 

Great coins, I like the Epirote best. Good luck in 2019

 

Very nice. My fav is the Rhodes Drachm. Love the butterfly

 

Nice coins @Pavlos . It's amazing you've only been here for a handful of months. You definitely feel like you've been part of the CT ancients "family" for a long time... not to mention the silver medal CT Imperator.

I love all your additions. Your #6 is my favorite. Your collection at 6 months would have blown my 6 month collection out of the water. Nice job!

 

Excellent start! I also prefer #6 but agree that your choice of #1 is obvious.

 

I’ll toss in another vote for #6, but #2 is fantastic as well, and the rest of the group also look like excellent choices made by a discerning collector. How can this be your first year collecting?! I’m looking forward to seeing what you’ll have to show next year.

 

Excellent coins

 

Congrats on a great set of coins, for only six months you acquired some real beauties, like them all.

 

Thank you!

Let's see if I will ever be in able to afford an AV coin. If I could choose I think I would first take an AV stater of Alexander the great or Philip II.

Thank you, you also best of luck in 2019. And yes the Epirote coin is a beauty

Thank you, who can't say no to a butterfly?

Thank you Curtis. It also feels I have been collecting for much longer then half a year actually, but I guess it is because of the amazing CT ancients family here! A great journey for me, including the very cool CT Imperator tournaments!

Thank you sir! I see many people are fond of that Amisos coin, I guess it is good looking for its type.

Thank you zumbly. I guess the coin collecting got a bit out of hand, in a good way! I don't even want to know how much I spend on coins this year, I try to believe only 100 dollars Atleast my fiancee is starting to accept the collecting and actually picks out coins sometimes.

Thank you!

Thank you very much.

 

What an impressive start! It's hard to pick a favorite. I'll take them all .

 

The butterfly, the blooming rose, not to forget the deified shining sun. It's a coin of Dreams. If this is the start... Man where can we reach? Good luck .. Keep going..
And Merry Christmas/ so early. Cheers.

 

There is a lesson here but we will not all agree on it. "For its type" realizes that there are some coins that are much harder to find in perfect shape than others. Some of us meet this by just not collecting coins that don't come in MS or FDC. Others of us feel fortunate to have a VF coin from an issue almost always seen in Fine or lower. Some coins are available by the bucket in beautiful condition. Some are not. It is our decision which way we address the matter.

 

I really enjoyed your description of your start in collecting. You have one of the best sets of first ancient coins I remember ever seeing. I like 2 and 3 the best myself but I understand why your first coin is number 1.

John

 

All great choices!

 

Great list, I enjoyed reading about each coin and why it is special to you.

 

0 x 4 = 0

 

#3 'The Little Butterfly' is my personal favourite, but overall a very impressive start!

 

The Rhodes drachm is so sweet with that butterfly. Mithradates VI is an amazing personage and when I post my favorites he is on the list.