COVID-19 - Ancients Central - Caronavirus Posts Here!!!

I like this thread - it's nice to see how everybody is doing.

My bottom-feeding eBay purchases have been coming through during the coronavirus crisis - a tip of the hat to the US Postal Service.

For instance, I got my first Decentius - stimulating the economy, $4.99 at a time:



Decentius Æ Centenionalis
(351-352 A.D.)
Lugdunum (Lyons) Mint
DN DECENTIVS NO[B CA]ES, bare-headed, cuirassed bust right / VICTORIAE DD NN AVG [ET CAE], two Victories standing with wreath with VOT V MVLT X in four lines; SP//RSLG.
RIC Lyons 137; Bastien 177.
(4.83 grams / 20 mm)

I started re-reading the Albert Camus novel The Plague. How much better it is than I remember from 30 years ago!

"In this respect our townsfolk were like everybody else, wrapped up in themselves; in other words they were humanists: they disbelieved in pestilences. A pestilence isn't a thing made to man's measure; therefore we tell ourselves that pestilence is a mere bogy of the mind, a bad dream that will pass away. But it doesn't always pass away and, from one bad dream to another, it is men who pass away, and the humanists first of all, because they haven't taken their precautions. Our townsfolk were not more to blame than others; they forgot to be modest, that was all, and thought that everything still was possible for them; which presupposed that pestilences were impossible. They went on doing business, arranged for journeys, and formed views. How should they have given a thought to anything like plague, which rules out any future, cancels journeys, silences the exchange of views. They fancied themselves free, and no one will ever be free so long as there are pestilences."

Albert Camus, trans. Stuart Gilbert, The Plague (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1960 (11th printing)), p. 35

 

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I read the Masque of the Red Death by Edgar Allan Poe. It's in the public domain...so here it is...

https://www.poemuseum.org/the-masque-of-the-red-death

 

"And the people stayed home. And read books, and listened, and rested, and exercised, and made art, and played games, and learned new ways of being, and were still. And listened more deeply. Some meditated, some prayed, some danced. Some met their shadows. And the people began to think differently.

And the people healed. And, in the absence of people living in ignorant, dangerous, mindless, and heartless ways, the earth began to heal.

And when the danger passed, and the people joined together again, they grieved their losses, and made new choices, and dreamed new images, and created new ways to live and heal the earth fully, as they had been healed." - Kitty O'Meara

 

Welp.. .I guess all they needed was a little privacy...

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Giant pandas finally mate after park closed due to coronavirus

Hong Kong giant pandas residing in Ocean Park "successfully" mated naturally for the first time on Monday after a decade of attempts, the theme park announced.

Ocean Park had tried to get the 14-year-old female and male giant pandas, Ying Ying and Le Le, to mate naturally since 2010 but with no success.

The park said if Ying Ying is pregnant, the signs may be observed as early as late June.

The pair, which came to Hong Kong in 2007, joined a national breeding programme in China in 2015, as artificial insemination and efforts to encourage mating have failed. Ying Ying was subsequently confirmed pregnant but miscarried.

There were several false alarms afterwards.

The theme park has been closed since late January to prevent the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.

 

Wuhan is opening up again....probably way too soon, and will result in a second wave of the virus. Hopefully, all Countries will keep their borders shut, until this pandemic is over.

 

Here in Europe we got a big problem with 2 countries Netherlands and Sweden that don’t really do a lockdown as for them economy is more important than health. They thinks that the best is that the virus spread so that many people will be perhaps immune and other will die.

But they have nothing to do of our health in countries at their borders like Belgium or other European countries. All other countries in Europe choose to apply a quite strict lockdown.

 

Here in Canada, the government has not invoked a lockdown, but a more commonsense approach. It wants all "office workers" to work from home. All essential trades people like me (lawncare) are permitted to work. Non-essential workplaces like bars/ restaurants/ hair stylist/ are shut down/ ditto for all sporting events/ rock concerts etc. We are told to social distance, and stay safe/ it seems to be working.

 

Nothing different from Canada here in NC. The guy is mowing my lawn as I type.

 

Huh. I didn't figure "yard maintenance" would fall under "essential" the way auto maintenance and home repair do. Whether it's technically allowed or not, though, I certainly wouldn't rat him out -- it's not like somebody out running a mower is going to be socializing up-close at the same time.

 

Seems likely to result in a second wave there, but most of the world is still working on the first wave. Wuhan will continue to be an interesting experiment/example; I just wish we could have more confidence in the accuracy and completeness of the numbers they report.

 

Lawns/ gardens need to be cut/ weeded/ otherwise its going to look like a a jungle. I work by myself, so have no human contact. Most people want to avoid me like the plague making a racket with my backpak leafblower There are some thing still open that I cannot comprehend like beer stores/ since they sell beer/ wine in grocery chains.

 

Heh. Around here you can sell wine and beer in grocery stores, but liquor is a state monopoly -- and since liquor stores are a State function, they are automatically essential.

 

I honestly don't understand what your problem with the Netherlands is.

The fact that the Netherlands chooses a different strategy than many EU countries does not mean that it is worser.

This seems to me an assumption. What do you base this on?

To be clear we do have some form of lockdown. Only perhaps with a little less compulsion than in other EU countries. But here too, public life has largely stopped. Only supermarkets and some shops are open. But there is a strict rule of keeping a distance of one and a half meters. Lots of people work from home and I've been on the street a few times the last few days but it was very quiet.

Finally, let me be clear even in this 'Barbarian' country we do care more about people than about the economy.

 

Lawncare is not deemed an essential service in Canada - or anywhere else I would think. Maintenance work is only allowed if it is related to safety.

 

You maybe right, our leader Doug Ford has been great in this pandemic. He pretty well said yesterday that the trades are vital for the economy. But yesterday, I did see three guys in the front seat of a "lawncare" company truck....not good. I luckily work solo, so have zero human contact Here in Ottawa, landscapers/ roofers/ carpenters/ pool guys/ home repair/ plumbers/ electricians/ auto maintenance etc./ are going full tilt.

 

I'm a physician in New England ; I had 3 of my patients test positive in the last 2 days , so it's quite active here. One of them is pretty sick. Please take the warnings seriously. I'm hoping we should start to see a downward slope of hospitalizations in the next 7 - 14 days. Stay safe.

 

I purchased these from vcoins a few days ago before the FSR bargain email came out...What can I say, I was suffering from a bout of quarantinitis. They arrived today. I don't know what it is, but I love Byzantine coinage. So ugly they are pretty

First coin. This is listed as SB 158 but after checking out wildwinds, I think it is probably SB 161. I mean, check out that giraffe neck!

Justinian I
AE follis
527-565 AD
Constantinople
Obverse: DN IVSTINIANVS PP AVG, pearl diademed, draped, cuirassed bust right
Reverse: Large M. star to left, cross above, cross right, officina letter below
Mintmark CON


Up next is a half follis (my first) of Justin II and Sofia. I love the color on this coin and the fact that everything is pretty well identifiable. Sofia was a pretty amazing woman.


Justin II & Sophia
AE Half Follis
565-578 AD
Thessalonica mint
Obverse: D N IVSTINVS P P AVG, Justin on left, Sophia on right, seated facing on double-throne, both nimbate, Justin holding cross on globe, Sophia holding sceptre
Reverse: large K, ANNO to left, cross above, officina letter Δ to right
Mintmark TES

 

I'd like to wish my Jewish friends here on Cointalk a very Happy Passover. And in trying to think of a coin that fits both that theme and COVID, here's what I came up with:

An Olbia Sarmatia Dolphin type with OY on it. If any word describes what it's like these days it's probably "oy".

 

Hag Pesah Sameah and good health to all CoinTalk colleagues through these challenging times!

 

I don't know about you all but I am about ready to get my wife to take the dog clippers to my head. I was overdue for a haircut then this all started and now it is really getting long.


Stay safe out there and don't let this happen to you.

John