My top three ancient coins of 2019

Happy 2020!

Some of you guys may remember that the year before last I received two separate and unexpected gifts of deliciously gorgeous ancient coins. The the gift giver(s) remain(s) anonymous. The beauty of those coins and the generosity of spirit so blew my mind that I felt no need to try to find and acquire more beautiful or meaningful coins.

The only coins I acquired for myself during 2019 were a few small groups of crusty ancient coins including Nabatean, Judaean, Seleucid, Byzantine and Islamic. I especially enjoy coming across a mixed bag of crusties.

I will countdown my top three coins to No, 1, my favorite.

#3 - Nabetea



AE ____(wt) 9/8 BC - AD 40
obv: Aretas IV & Shaqilat
rev: crossed cornucopias


XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

#2 - date tree


could it be this coin, below? (that is not my coin)



#1 Col Nem -

Recently, I purchased a $35 Dupondius Augustus Agrippa COL NEM croc in order to try cleaning it. I actually wanted to gift it to my Secret Santa recipient if it cleaned up well. As you can see, the obverse was HORRID. Photo 1 below). I was not sure I would see any improvement; but, because the reverse seemed very good and the price was so low, I got it. After first brushing, Photo #2.




The obverse was coming along but it still did not look like a coin I would want to give as a gift. When I had turned the coin over in my hand at least 20 times, I noticed the reverse is rotated almost 90 degrees. Photo #3. Figuring I already ruined the coin (if the rotated reverse would have added any special value) by beginning to clean the obverse, I decided to go ahead and tidy up the reverse, as well. Photo #4. I wanted to know, and I could not see, if the croc’s teeth were pointing up and if his legs were longish. When I searched for examples of crocs with rotated reverses, I don't come across any -- Granted, my search has not been exhaustive.

I will post the coins again when I am finished tidying them. Ordinarily I would not post photographs of coins I am in the process of cleaning until I reach an acceptable result, but it is January 1st and I promised somewhere that I would try to get a short list of favorites posted. (Please be gentle) ^.^

Oh! Where the red arrows are pointing... is that tooling??.

LaC

Edited to say: Thanks @Johndakerftw for motivating me to get a few of my 2019 coins up.

 

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Sweet coins @LaCointessa ! That dupondius turned out pretty good for 35, right? The croc looks like a cute cuddly lizzard, thats also a new! And not sure though, if that is tooling or not. Difficult to see and i am no expert. Looking forward to your post of the cleaned coins. All the best in 2020!

 

The croc coins are very irregular when it comes to die axis rotation. This is most easily seen when we look at the coins cut in half to make change. I have a page on them.
http://www.forumancientcoins.com/dougsmith/impossible.html

You can find the halves with the front of the croc behind either of the obverse heads or like the one below, rotated so you get the entire crocodile. I assume that coins exist where you get the top half of the reverse with only the tip of the crocodile tail but I have not seen that one. The cuts were almost always between the two figures with no attention paid to how it fell on the reverse but these do show the lack of regular die orientation. Some ancients are always oriented the same way while others paid no attention whatsoever to the matter. Some follow a rule and are either upright or inverted but not rotated 90 degrees and a few are either 90 degrees or 270 degrees but rarely anything else. Many of us record the die axis of our coins but we need to study many coins before assigning any importance to the matter.

 

Thank you very much @dougsmit ! Your response is extremely enlightening and appreciated. I bookmarked that page and will enjoy reading it closely and studying those scrumptious photographs.

Happy New Year.

 

Thank you.. I suppose I am more critical of my work than others. That dupondius is not finished yet. It needs time to sit and 'cool down.' No hot hands or anything else touching it for a week or so while it sits in a cool dry place. Not sure why that helps; but when I don't give coins a chance to sit alone between tidying sessions, they don't come out as well.

Yes, @Limes
- I agree that the croc is adorably cuddly...and so are Augustus and Agrippa...too!! So sweet. Actually, the dupondius is still one of my favorite coins I would like to own; but, since I intended this one for someone else, I find I have not formed that 'ownership...it's mine, get away from it' bond yet. If, when it is done and if it looks nice, I will give my CT 2019 SS recipient the chance to claim it or pass on it.

Thanks for your feedback.

 

Happy New Year, @LaCointessa . It’s great to see you posting your images of the cleaning process stages. I find it very interesting!

 

Probably wise choice for some reason. May you utterly enjoy the new year Double20. Cheers..

 

Deacon Ray, Thank you and bless you for saying so.

I realize that the issue of whether ancient coins should be tidied or cleaned is a topic upon which not all CTers agree should be done or even discussed on a site such as this). I do sincerely appreciate those members being tolerant of these posts.

 

Happy New Year to you, too!!!

 

@Parthicus !! Happy New Year...

Oh! Parthicus! You are (if memory serves me), the very first CTer to gift an ancient coin to me. But not just 1!! There were 6 and they came also as an exercise to learn and practice how to attribute ancient coins. I really had to work at that and I will never forget how generous with coins and PATIENCE you were with me.

I heard someone mention the SONG dynasty in a thread and I thought of that coin.

Thank you, sincerely, again.
M

 

Happy New Year! You got some really nice coins/ congratulations. Hope you add more this year. I have never cleaned a coin/ well not really. Sometimes when I am out doors working, I find some stray loonis/toonies (Canadian $1/$2 coins) So, I wipe them clean and use them later as change
I had recently bought this coin, it had a teeny weenie deposit, so I asked Sincona if they would have their expert remove it...they did! Coin turned out perfect. On photo it shows 4:00 o clock on reverse. Now it is removed.

 

I bet it was just a smudge of chocolate!

Please have a happy and blessed 2020, Panzerman. Thanks for sharing your collection and knowledge with us.
M

 

Hi again, everybody...

I came back to say that I have not thanked every CTer individually who deserves and has my gratitude. When I think about it deeply, there are so many of you who are kind, welcoming, encouraging, instructive and plain fun. I could go one by one, but that would take a whole bunch of time if I did it at one sitting (and I can't do it now)...or perhaps I could do it over time when I have time and am here thinking about it.

I wondered when that would happen and I was concerned I might leave someone out by mistake. So I want to tell you all that I enjoy my time on CoinTalk sooo much. I enjoy the learning and the looking at coins. I dig the banter and I somehow 'get' the humor. Discussions that send me off reading to understand are a chance to stretch.

Please, everyone, accept my gratitude for allowing me to partake here in spite of my numismatic ignorance. I love being a member of CoinTalk. For me, it is an honor. j/s

Sincerely,
LaC

 

We love having you
John

 

Hello @LaCointessa, and Happy New Year to you too! It warms my heart to hear how much my small gift has meant to you. We all are happy to have you as part of our little CoinTalk family, and hope you will be here this year and for a very long time.

Oh, the thread you heard the Song dynasty mentioned was probably mine from a couple of days ago, "how interesting can a $2 coin be?" Guess I just have a Song stuck in my head.

 

Ya done good, kid!

That croc is so cute. I wonder if he would make a good pet.

Your enthusiasm for ancients is contagious. Keep up the great work LaCointessa!!

Erin

 

Great little group there, @LaCointessa ! I like Nabataen! I do not have one, and looking forward to getting one some day. Crocs be good, but they taint be cuddly!

Happiest of New Year!

 

Yes...that was the thread! ^.^

 

Erin, that is funny because the sense of joy and appreciation of things that you express in your posts reminds me to remember to also be thankful for my blessings. I thoroughly enjoy your spirit! (insert hug emoji here)!

 

Same to you @Alegandron! happy new year and a healthy prosperous fun one, too.

I don't know much about Nabataen coins, honesty. That Nabataen was a great surprise. I never saw that coin before then. It was completely crusted over. I was startled when the two profiles started showing through. I thought they looked sort of cartoon-ish and I wondered if it were a fake. But when I went to check, it looked fine.

I'll keep my eye peeled as I go through my coins next time in case I come across acceptable (or better) specimens of Nabataen for you!

You are another lovely soul here on CT Always so encouraging. And your collection (if i remember correctly) is stellar!!

Thanks for being here for us newbies.
LaC