Featured Baltimore show recap: Well the coins keep coming and they don't stop coming

Discussion in 'Ancient Coins' started by Parthicus, Nov 15, 2019.

  1. Parthicus

    Parthicus Well-Known Member

    I spent much of today at the Baltimore Whitman Coin Expo, arriving around 10:45 AM and leaving about 4:15 PM, with only a short break for lunch about 2 PM. Overall, the show seemed pretty active, with most of the dealers that I checked out (mainly in the Ancients and World sections) having at least one customer most of the time. Had good conversations with a number of dealers, especially Tom Wood of Ephesus Numismatics and Allen G. Berman. (Tom Wood was especially talkative, and we had a good discussion of Nabataean history, numismatic references, and more.) I bought quite a few coins, none of them budget-busters but lots of very decent, meat-and-potatoes (by my standards) coins, plus some cheap ones just for fun. I took quick photos of all of them to share here. I apologize for the poor photo quality, but a) I was rushed, and b) it's already past sunset, so I couldn't use sunlight as I usually do for my coin photos.

    First, three silver drachms from Allen G. Berman: Sasanian, Parthian, and Hephthalite. The Sasanian is an unusual mint (which needs further research) and the Parthian is a somewhat scarcer variety.
    Baltimore2019_1.jpg
    Next, four coins: an early Nabataean from Ephesus Numismatics, a Greek silver drachm from Harlan J. Berk's $15 junk box, and two coins from Marcos Xagoraris of Aristos Ancients: a Parthian tetradrachm of Gotarzes II with interesting doubling on the reverse, and an Undo-Scythian of Azes II:
    Baltimore2019_2.jpg
    Next, four coins from Donald Zauche: A Roman Republican denarius depicting the Nabatean king with a camel, bronze of Hieron II of Syracuse, Sicily, a modern of Tipu Sultan of Mysore in India who was one of the strongest opponents of British colonization, and a tiny bronze of Norman Sicily with Arabic inscription on the reverse. (The denarius and the Tipu Sultan coin changed places between photos because... I was testing to see if people were paying attention. Yes, let's go with that explanation ;).)
    Baltimore2019_3.jpg
    I bought five coins from Georges Tambakopoulos of Tamco Numismatics, three Parthian and two Sasanian. Only the leftmost Parthian was ID'd and sold individually, the other coins were from pick-your-own lots. The two other Parthian coins were chosen for rare mintmarks, while the Sasanians were chosen for nice, clear strikes.
    Baltimore2019_4.jpg
    And finally, a group of 14 modern coins I picked from a $2 each junk box. My initial IDs show 3 Canadian bank tokens, three from Indian states (including one jital), two Chinese, two Russian, and one each from Brazil, Japan, Burma, and the Papal States. These should be fun to try and fully ID and catalogue on a rainy (or snowy) afternoon.
    Baltimore2019_5.jpg
    So, as you can see I had quite a productive day at the show, and am now tired but happy. I would love to hear from anyone else who attended the show (on any day), so please post your impressions and haul photos here.
     

    Attached Files:

  2. Avatar

    Guest User Guest



    to hide this ad.
  3. Mat

    Mat Ancient Coincoholic

    A great assortment, several of them I would be happy to own. Congrats.
     
    spirityoda likes this.
  4. furryfrog02

    furryfrog02 Well-Known Member

    All of those are great. I hope you left some for the rest of us!
    My son and I will be there tomorrow morning. Hoping we find something to come home with us.
     
  5. Spaniard

    Spaniard Well-Known Member

    Very nice pick ups especially like the sassanians....
    1st one looks to be ZWZWN unknown site Northern Provinces and interestingly may not even be a mintmark.....Cool find!
     
  6. Jwt708

    Jwt708 Well-Known Member

    Very cool assortment! Run in to any other CoinTalkers?
     
  7. Severus Alexander

    Severus Alexander find me at NumisForums

    What an awesome haul! I especially like the doubled Gotarzes, the Hypsaeus et al. denarius, and the very last Sasanian with the dotted border exactly matching the rim.

    Screen Shot 2019-11-15 at 5.16.58 PM.jpg
    Azes (58-20 BCE) AE unit, ex X6
     
  8. dougsmit

    dougsmit Member

    One of these is unusual enough. Here we see two?
     
  9. Severus Alexander

    Severus Alexander find me at NumisForums

    Hmm... good point. An acsearch reveals that this is not uncommon for Kavadh.
     
  10. TIF

    TIF Always learning.

    Looks like it was a fun show!
     
  11. Parthicus

    Parthicus Well-Known Member

    Yes, that's what I was referring to when I called it an "unusual mint". As you allude to, ZwZwN may actually be meant as a denomination. But I want to do more research before commenting further.

    Unfortunately, I didn't meet any other CoinTalk folk there, it seems most people are going today (Saturday) and not Friday. Still, I look forward to hearing other people's recaps and seeing their new treasures.
     
    Seattlite86 likes this.
  12. ancient coin hunter

    ancient coin hunter 3rd Century Usurper

    Great haul @Parthicus - I'm going to a show in SF on the 6th and 7th of December. I've actually never been to a show so it will be very interesting to see what I can find.
     
  13. Spaniard

    Spaniard Well-Known Member

    ...Look forward to hearing what you find...I'm not sure but I think its quite an uncommon coin...Lovely mix of coins Congrats..
     
  14. chrsmat71

    chrsmat71 I LIKE TURTLES!

    That's a cool mix of coins @Parthicus , a little bit of everything from several time periods and from all over the world! I hope you don't mind if I post some of my recent coin show pics here, seems we have very similar taste.

    A Canadian

    bank token...

    100_1936.JPG

    A struck rupee from Bundi, from the 20th century (Edward VII)!


    100_2167.JPG

    A cool Sasanian of Shapur II!

    100_0748.JPG

    SHAPUR II, AR DRACHM, 4th century AD.

    O: Crowned bust of Shapur to right, inscription around , R: Flaming fire altar between two crowned attendants, head of Shapur on top of altar to right. 20 mm, 4.2 g.

    A worn sestertius.

    100_1982.JPG

    Antoninus Pius. AD 138-161. Æ Sestertius

    O: laureate and draped bust right R: ROMAE AETERNAE, decastyle temple; S C in ex. 32 mm, 23.6 g.
     
  15. TheFinn

    TheFinn Well-Known Member

    Watch where you step in SF.
     
  16. jcm

    jcm Active Member

    Nice bunch! The chinese is a Jiayou tong bao, regular script northern sung. The Japanese is a 2 sen, looks like Meiji 14.
     
    Parthicus likes this.
  17. Seattlite86

    Seattlite86 Outspoken Member

    GoldFinger1969 likes this.
  18. GoldFinger1969

    GoldFinger1969 Well-Known Member

    Seems you foreign/world/ancient buyers are much more likely to buy coins unslabbed and in greater quantities unslabbed, too.

    Congrats on your purchases and thanks for the Baltimore Whitman show review.
     
    Seattlite86 likes this.
Draft saved Draft deleted

Share This Page