just testing ...what do you collect?

I collect roman coins mostly A3 and A4 size coins but moving to larger and earlier....doing the identification is the most fun! I had signed up but it would not let me post ...so I've signed up with a different email address and will try again

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

Welcome to CT Marc! I do really enjoy the sleuthing aspect of the hobby as well. Trying to ID a rare or busted up coin always gives that thrill of the chase feeling. I myself really like to collect for beauty and for stories. I like to understand what was going on historically and politically at the time the coin was made. If you have questions about how to post please ask.

Edit: and here is one of my newest coins, a coin with lots of history...and some beauty.

Achaemenid
AR Siglos (15-17 mm, 5.46 g),
c. 450-400 BC.
Obv. The Great King, bearded,
in "Knielauf" to right, holding
bow and spear.
Rev. Irregular incuse.
Carradice pl. 11, 15; SNG Cop.
282.
Irregular flan. Punch mark on
obverse, otherwise, very fine.
From: Auctiones GmbH
I believe it would be considered a type 2

 

I collect everything but Chinese Cash Coins, just can't get into them.

Also not into Hacksilver or AEs Rudes.

 

Welcome also, @Marc C Chavez ! I define my collecting parameters as primarily Biblical or anything with a Hendin number (I'm a David Hendin fan). I frequently collect outside of the box however.

 

Type 3. Type 2 has the king drawing back the bow. Type 4 has the dagger in hand. Type 1 is rare and shows the king from the waist up only. I do not have type 1.

II


III


IV


Specialists will subdivide types with letters following (like IIIa). I collect all ancients and a few medievals to a must smaller degree.

 

Well, this may take some time Marc
I pretty well collect all AV coins/ though I have some Platinum/ Paladium too.
Also collect AR Denari/ pretty soon may get into \provincial Tetradrachms (after seeing Triton selection)
I presently have at least one coin from every century from 670BC on.
I try to restrict my collection to EF/MS/FDC
Presently have 840 AV/ 300 AR 5PLAT/PAL. and counting
John
PS:Most of my coll. is from 1400-1900AD (640) 1900-present (300)
Have (200) 670BC-1200

 

WoWiE! That 1st one shown with the bow drawn is just sensational! Is that the same one from your site with an updated pic?
It was actually from your wonderful site that I had gotten the idea that it was a #2

1. Period of Darius I 510-486 BC - archer drawing bow. There is also a style from this period showing the archer as a half length figure.
2. Period of Xerxes-Artaxerxes I 486-450 BC - archer carrying spear.
3. Period of Artaxerxes I-Darius III 450-330 BC - archer carrying dagger.
4. Fractions of the later period: (top) 1/6 siglos; (bottom) 1/12 siglos

I may be (and probably am) reading it wrong. But either way thanks for all the knowledge and beautiful coins!
Edit: Scratch that. I see where I got confused. Thanks again Doug

 

Welcome Marc!

I collect mostly Roman Imperial with some Byzantine coins thrown in. My main goal is getting a coin of each emperor til the reign of Romulus Augustulus. I'm about 3/4 of the way there. A secondary goal is collecting a coin of each Byzantine (e.g. Late Roman) ruler down to the fall of Constantinople. I technically have only one Republican coin, a denarius of Marc Antony.

I also have a few deniers of the Crusader states which were gifted to me many years ago. As far as Greeks go I have some Seleucid coins, I also have some Nabatean coins and several prutahs of Palestine under the Hasmonean dynasty. Good luck with your collecting.

 

Welcome Marc.

I will collect just about anything Ancient Greek or Roman. I particularly hone in on the 1st centuries BC and AD, but I'm not confined to them. I have LRBs, but I rarely look for coins from this era. I also concentrate on Marcus Antonius Legionary denarii.

 

Welcome Marc.

Like you, I started with Late Roman Bronzes (LRB). Now I collect mostly Roman Imperial bronzes (http://feltemp.com/Emperors/Emperors_Page1.html) with an emphasis on bronzes of Constantine I (http://feltemp.com/Constantine_1.html), but I'm starting to slow down a bit. I'm at the point where it's like collecting U.S. pennies and you've gotten everything except for one or two key dates that are prohibitively expensive. There are several emperors that I need to upgrade, but I'm thinking of branching off into the rabbit hole of Greek-era bronzes. Wish me luck.

 

I am sorry for spreading confusion by numbering the picture rather than saying left to right. That page was from 1997; I did not have a Type I then and still don't. I will fix that page. The type II is the same coin. It will be hard to upgrade because it shows the fancy shoes that few do. Whatever type, these are hard to find with crown and feet both on flan. I much prefer worn coins to those in high grade with tight flans losing details.

 

I think most of us got into ancients via late Imperial bronzes. As you progress you'll find your niche.

My current projects:
- One of every emperor (plus wives, caesars, and family) set, Augustus through Justinian (or maybe Heraclius... haven't decided)
- An obsessive and broad collection of "Gadhaiya" coins, Indian medieval drachms derived from Sassanian prototypes
- A type collection of ancient Indian coins, hitting the most important civilizations and rulers
- A smattering of other ancients that capture my interest, or that I can get a solid deal for.

 

I like a little be of everything, and a lot of fallen horsemans.

 

Oops! I missed something in first post. I also have decided to collect those billion (silvered) antonini of Emperors/ Empresses, after they stopped making AR coinage.

 

For now I'm a generalist, but I find I am most drawn to Greek coins. Also fascinated by the celts.
Larger silver denominations like staters and tetradrachms are my drug of choice.
With that said, i try not to buy any coins at all, and only purchase the ones I can't not buy

nVb

 

Welcome to CoinTalk! It's always nice to see new members here.

I collect imperial and provincial coins of the Flavian dynasty. Someday I hope to branch into the coinage of Elagabalus, but that seems a far off goal now.

 

I agree today but find it interesting that I believe this is a bit more recent a development. My first recollection of the hobby in the late 1950's and early 1960's was mostly in local coin shops usually on an upper floor of an office building downtown. This was before I discovered printed (unillustrated) price lists. These dealers had nice coins in trays and boxes but my main source were dishes on the counter labelled 50 cents (junkers!), $2 or $5. The coins in these dishes were rarely late Roman. Most were worn to fine or below bronzes and silver from the first to mid-third centuries. They were lower grade examples of the same coins in the expensive trays. One day I got a Didius Julienus and a Manlia Scantilla for 50 cents each. Both had two or three legible letters and rough surfaces. I assume they were the culls from a collection the shop owner bought from someone who walked in. The most common things in the $5 dishes were Fine adoptive period denarii of no particular special interest. The $2 ones included well worn sestertii. I spent a long time agonizing over which ones were worth the money. I rarely bought from the $5 group. I only have one coin left from that group before I switched to mail order lists. I kept it when I sold my collection in 1974. I doubt anyone here can tell what I thought made it special but I guarantee it was nothing to do with the grade.


What I don't remember seeing was the coinage of the 30 Tyrants or later. I don't know if that was kept separately or beneath the notice of the old men who ran those shops. Considering what you could get for $2 then ($20+ now?) I would expect average late Romans to have been 25 cents.

I was in high school then and may just have ignored the little bronzes. Do any of our other long term collectors recall those days? Were there may people who were looking for the later coins? I probably got started with Septimius Severus because his coins were nicer and cheaper. I can't believe I would not have bought Probus and the Tetrarchs had they been there.

Now we have eBay.

 

I'd be run out of town on a rail if I posted what I collect here.........

 

I remember those days. In fact I was thinking on this topic just a day or so ago. But a $5 coin had a major impact on my budget back then. My first real job as an adult (and married), I was paid $3.26 per hour and that included a shift premium. If you do the math, that came to $130 per week before taxes and union fees. I think I brought home about $95 per week. My rent was $130 per month and my car payment was $85. That took about a little more than half my monthly income and didn't include insurance, food, gas, utilities and whatever else one needs for a married life. I remember budgeting $20 per month for gas ($5 per week). So I think you get where I'm going with this. There just wasn't much disposable income, so any coin was a luxury. My first serious coin came in 1981 and, you guessed it, a Marcus Antonius Legionary, Legio XI. I don't recall exactly what I paid, but I do remember thinking I was being foolish with my money. I still have the coin:

 

I got hooked on the stories of Roman emperors, and my interests today is Roman republic to late roman imperial, but wandering easily which is why I have this coin.

Achaemenid Empire, AR Siglos, time of Darius I to Xerxes I. circa 521-465 BC.
Obv: Kneeling-running figure of the Great King right, transverse spear with point downward in right, bow in left, bearded, crowned.
Rev: Irregular incuse

5.4g 17mm x 14mm

Type III (?) with a collection of countermarks - 2 on each side.