Post the Best 'Cherry-Picks' You've ever Made in Ancient Coins.

With the numbers of new members in Ancients here at C.T, and also for long-time members, I thought it would be interesting to show each other our best 'cherry-picks'
(to use a term used in the 'light-side') we've ever made in Ancients.

It could be a very rare, or a previously unknown variety you picked-up unattributed, or a lucky find you made for a great price, or some other reason (not necessarily rarity or $ value) where you thought you made an unexpected and great find.

Whatever the case, the find put a great big smile on your face as a collector of ancient coins.

I can think of two coins in my collection which fit this category:

I came upon a foreign dealer a few years ago at the Frankfurt Coin Show. I was out looking for US coins and started looking through his trays. The dealer had mostly modern European and a few non-european, but also had a full tray of ancients.
All of the coins in the tray were priced at 60-70 euros each and all were denarii or antoninianii of the late 2nd and 3rd century. Not really my focus. Now, my knowledge of 2nd and 3rd century emperors and their coins is limited, but enough to be able to recognise the emperors on the tray as 'common'.

One of them, however, stood out as a type and emperor I recalled not seeing before.
It was also in very good condition. Not having my books with me (I was out looking primarily for US coins), I decided to take a risk and give it as shot anyway and add an Antoniniani to my collection. An example in good condition would be a nice bonus and a good purchase at the stated price. I made an offer for a modest discount which the seller accepted.

He was happy, I was happy. I paid, thanked the dealer and walked away.

A few rows later I chanced upon an acquaintance who has also mentored my over the year in ancients. We showed each other our 'finds', as is usual. When he saw this coin (and the price) he looked at me surprised and asked where I had found it.
He told me the coin was a Hostilianus, and told me they were relatively scarce coins.

He then rushed to the dealers table hoping to find other similar unattributed scarce coins, but that was it.

Anyway, long story short, here is the coin. The pics do not do it justice. The coin even has much original mint lustre.

This one put a big smile on my face!

Hostilian, as Caesar, AR Antoninianus. Rome, circa AD 251. C VAL HOS MES QVINTVS N C, radiate and draped bust right / MARS PROPVG, Mars advancing right, holding spear and shield. RIC 176a;

 

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My best score ever was this coin from an uncleaned hoard, which had Claudius II, Aurelian, and Probus antoniniani in relatively poor condition. Then, I was sorting through all of the late roman bronze and FEL TEMP REPARATIO types when I came across this one, which somehow the dealer missed. Yes, I'm one of those folks who believes all of the rare or interesting pieces are usually picked out and sold individually. So here is my cherry pick, a Macrianus, which was acquired for about $1 considering the hoard was sold by weight (1/2 kilogram) and contained 263 coins. For $1, Rome is indeed eternal.

 

@ancient coin hunter, that coin would have put a big smile on my face too.
On of my favourite reverses as well.
Very nice (for a buck!)

 

In my first month collecting, I found an ebay seller that wasn't known for selling ancients and snapped up 3 coins from him on the cheap, and this one was my fave. After a couple months, I had sold it to a coin club friend for a low $20 bucks and then almost immediately regretted it and then got it back from him a couple months later. I know it's not immaculate, but it is well centered and struck, nicely patina's (green!), legend is very readable, and it's big and chunky. I got it for $5.50. I estimate the value at around $60-90 retail.

Gordian III, Ruled 238-244 AD
AE32 Sestertius, Moesia, Viminacium
Struck 241/242 AD (RY 3)
Obverse: IMP GORDIANVS PIVS FEL AVG, laureate, draped, and cuirassed bust right.
Reverse: PMS C-OL VIM, Moesia standing facing, head left, extending hands to bull and lion standing at feet on either side, AN III in exergue (RY 3 = 241/242 AD).
References: SNG Cop 142, BMC 9
Size: 32mm, 18.9g

 

I am a bit embarrassed. I am a US coin guy. I am at work and can only tell you this is a Byzantine piece. I'll try to remember tonight to look up the attribution and add it to this post........ I was at a coin show not long ago and this bust of Jesus really grabbed me. The knowledgeable folks in here in the ancients forum tell me that finding one with a complete nose is very desirable. So unknowingly, I suppose I cherry picked this one.

 

That is a nice one Randy!

Some great pick ups by people.

John

 

Nothing to be embarrassed about

I think it is a Class A2 Anonymous Follis... VERY NICE, Randy!

Here is mine, though more worn, barely any face, and different marking in the nimbate:

Basil II “Bulgaroktonos” & Constantine VIII
AE Class A2 Anonymous Follis, Constantinople Mint, 976-1025 AD
Obverse: +EMMA – NOVHA / IC – XC, Nimbate bust of Christ holding book of Gospels; IC (overlined) and XC (overlined) on either side of bust; five dots in each arm of nimbus; five dots in center of book of Gospels.
Reverse: +IhSUS / XRISTUS / bASILEU / bASILE, Legend in four lines; adornments above and below.
References: Sear 1813

 

It is indeed true @Randy Abercrombie that the nose usually is worn off. Mine is pretty much worn off on both examples of anonymous folles that I have, so that one is a very nice score.

 

This one was a killer deal at auction... the whole series of coins are pretty hard to get, the Etrurians (had an Empire) were the historical runners up of the Roman Republic, excellent provenance, great capture price, and with this coin - only two known - one being in the British Museum, is in great shape. I enjoy it for its historical significance - the End of a Human Era



Etruria, Populonia
2 ½ asses , AR 0.85 g (Similar to a Roman AR Sestertius)
3rd century BCE
Obv: Radiate female head r.; behind, CII (retrograde, read as IIC).
Rev: Blank.
Ref: EC 104 (misdescribed, Female head with an Attic helmet). Historia Numorum Italy 179.
NAC Comment: Of the highest rarity, apparently only the second specimen known. Dark patina and about very fine.
Ex: From the collection of E.E. Clain-Stefanelli
(@ancientcoinguru further pointed out and had me further research E.E. Clain-Stefanelli's excellent provenance...
ANS Executive Director Ute Wartenburg reported that Elvira Eliza Clain-Stefanelli died Oct. 1, 2001. Mrs. Stefanelli retired in 2000 as the Senior Curator of the National Numismatic Collection in the Numismatics Division of the National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC. She was at the Smithsonian for forty years, and was responsible with her husband Vladimir for organizing and building up the National Numismatic Collection (from 60,000 to over 1,000,000 pieces.) She survived a Nazi concentration camp in WWII Europe, moved to Rome, and learned numismatics there. In New York she and her husband worked for Stack's and started the Coin Galleries division there. Her most recent publication was "Life In Republican Rome On its Coinage", a lavishly illustrated discussion of the themes which appear on the coinage of the Roman Republic, published in 1999. Her major contribution to the science of numismatic literature was her classic "Numismatic Bibliography", published in 1985.

 

I recently watched a documentary about the discoverer (amateur antiquarian) and the troubles he went through getting people to believe him and get permits and such. It's such a fascinating thing! Nice coin!!

Edit: It was the discoverer of the 12th City of the Etruscans in the 1870's.
Secrets in the Dust: Uncovering the Etruscans Glory before Rome

 

The best "cherry pick" I ever scored is the Egyptian tet pictured below. I bought the coin about 25 years from Harlan Berk for a very modest price. The coin is well struck, has a handsome portrait of Hadrian, & a fine chocolate patina, weight 13.37 gm. The reverse has an excellent portrait of Jupiter, & is inscribed "Year 10" (AD 125 - 126). In the year 2000 I bought the pair of books by David Vagi, COINAGE and HISTORY of the ROMAN EMPIRE, & much to my surprise the very same coin was pictured in Volume II, page 351, #1387 .

 

That is a sweet score indeed, and lots more above! I love cherrypicking. I entered some of my best ones into the Imperator tournament last year: my ex Dattari Constantius I issued under Domitius Domitianus, a Themistokles, an ex Dattari octobol misdescribed as a drachm, and my signed Rhodian tet.

Here are some more recent cherrypicks I'm pretty pleased with.

First, a reduced as from Apulia (according to a presentation by @Andrew McCabe I found online), probably produced during the second Punic war, imitating a light emergency issue. It's hard to see how it could be used when normal weight asses were in circulation. (I see Artemide dates theirs to a different crisis, during Sulla's time.) Only cost me 12 euros, whereas that Artemide example sold for 200.


A Severus Alexander medallion (or "medallic as" or "pseudo-medallion") that was misdescribed as a sestertius. Not cheap by a long shot, but still cheap for what it is IMO.


A Johannes misdescribed as a Theodosius II (20 euros):


A half siliqua ID'd by the seller as a Justinian from Ravenna, at a good price for such (70 GBP), but a super awesome price when you consider it was misdescribed. It's actually an early Lombard issue (die-matched to a CNG example):


And finally this rare early Arab-Byzantine type (A-3508X) that I cherrypicked for 30 euros. Normally an example in this condition would sell for multi hundreds.

 

I probably "overpay" as often as I cherrypick.... but this is my most memorable cherrypick: a giant 15-shekel bronze from Carthage, affectionately dubbed the Peanut Butter Cup .

In 2013 I spotted it in an auction house that deals mostly in US and world coins (slabbed coins). To that customer base, this "ugly" chunk of bronze was a joke. To me it was an incredible find. The opening bid was $350... quite low compared to the handful of other examples (and the other examples are of the still rare but more often seen variety in which the horse's foreleg is not raised). I planned my max and waited until the final seconds... and won it for opening! Very few ancient collectors look at the site, although more do these days.



ZEUGITANA, Carthage
early 2nd century BCE
AE 15-shekel, 45 mm, 95 gm
Obv: wreathed head of Tanit left
Rev: horse standing right, left foreleg up; Flying Spaghetti Monster solar disk with uraei above
Ref: Alexandropoulos J (2000) Les monnaies de l'Afrique Antique, 103; Müller L (1861) Numismatique de L'Ancienne Afrique, 131; Luynes 3782; Jenkins GK and Lewis RB (1963) Carthaginian Gold and Electrum Coins, Royal Numismatic Society, London, pl. 28 12
Graded by NGC but not slabbed. Reason: "size" (duh!)

It's my heaviest struck coin-- as thick as a Reese's PBC and almost the same diameter

 

Bought it for $75 including shipping, and JA sold it for me for around $140 (don't remember the exact amount but it was up there). Even after consignment and shipping, still made a tidy profit in it.

 

I wish I could like this one five times.

 

Can I have the peanut butter cup on the right side ?

 

I got this 'big Roman coin' from an estate auction at the rock bottom price of $10. It had no other bidders. It was my first Roman Egypt coin, but it is no longer alone. At the time, I didn't fully appreciate how nice the condition was for an Alexandrian drachm.


Hadrian Drachm
Obverse: Laureate, draped and cuirassed bust of Hadrian right, ΑΥΤ ΚΑΙС ΤΡΑΙΑΝ - ΑΔΡΙΑΝΟС СƐΒ
Reverse: Nilus reclining on crocodile left, holding reed and cornucopia; L [K] (Year 20)
Struck at Alexandria in 135/6, RPC III 6102, Dattari 1779

 

From what we discussed, and I have one of these 15 Shekel monster also, you got an INCREDIBLY-AWESOME cherry pick deal! Congrats on this gorgeous coin!

I captured mine because:

This extraordinary large bronze coin was likely issued under the administration of Hannibal, who, following defeat at the battle of Zama, was appointed as chief magistrate of Carthage. Hannibal worked effectively to restore the finances of Carthage. The annual payment of 10,000 talents to Rome as reparations for the war, and the loss of control over the silver mines in Spain made the issuing of a silver coinage impossible. The immense thickness of this coin also precluded any significant relief of the die's impression.

 

Wow! You basically stole that coin Haha it looks like those go for $1000 or so in that condition just from briefly looking. But I'm still new at ancients so I could be off a bit too

 

Nice idea for a topic. As a relative new member of this forum, i like to present to you my Commodus sestertius. I got this from an auction, where it was mis attributed. Actually when seeing it i did not trust it, because i could not find it in reference books. I went for it anyway, because of the green color and my wish to one day get a sestertius of all of de adoptive emperors. Later on when talking to the auctioneer, he found out it was indeed misattributed and found a similar, be it more pretty, specimen on CNG: https://www.cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=217090

I am very happy with my coin! The obverse is a very good portrait. And the reverse is not so good, but sharp enough. Somehow the branch of pax is very heave... or she is just tired? I paid much, much less for it, than the CNG example.