I've embraced the dark side

I've always been a collector of U.S. coins, dimes in particular. But I enjoy reading the ancient forums here, and I have learned a lot. History is the biggest reason I collect, so the ancients forum is a natural draw.

I recently saw a coin on V-Coins that piqued my interest. Since it spoke to me, I bought it. I like it. 500 years BC boggles my mind.

It's silver, which I like, and it's a nice strike (I think) Happy to have it.

Ionia, Miletos, Diobol
1.07g
Forepart of a lion right, head left.
Stellite pattern within an incuse square.
SNG Kayhan 476-82

 

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Welcome. Once you started collecting ancient, you won’t be able to stop…

 

Nice coin @LakeEffect !

IONIANS vs EGYPTIANS



Ptolemy IV Tet to Iona-Miletos Obol


Even SMALLER!

MILETOS


Ionia Miletos; probably Mylasa, in Caria, AR Tetartemorion 5.6mm 0.2g Roaring Lion Hd - Bird Klein 430 SNG Kay 941

 

Excellent way to show up to the party!
Here are some of my favorite ancient lions:

 

Welcome to collecting ancients - nice early coin with which to begin!

 

Yes, I fear you are correct.

 

Welcome!! No going back now...

 

Great starter coin. One dealer pointed out that the Miletos was the earliest Greek coin you can could get cheap.

Compare yours to the others posted here. You did well and possibly exceptionally well for a beginner. Mine has more wear and the nose on flan. What's next? Post it when you decide. A good thing about Coin Talk is that you can see coins you did not realize you wanted .... or is that not a 'good' thing?

 

@LakeEffect

Congratulations - you are off to an amazing start.
Beautiful coin.

 

Welcome and congrats!
An excellent example for the type and an iconic coin.
My example is much more modest but I was happy to get it at a low price and i think it's interesting that it has the lion facing right. From what i see, this type is scarcer.

 

Welcome to the dark side.
I'm afraid you're done !!

Q

 

Choose wisely....

Forgive me. You've already done that.

 

..that's a great coin to start with (i don't have one of does yet)...'round here, ancients gives you the feel of being in a high speed crap game over other types being like playing chess.....welcome lake effect

 

Welcome aboard. Always room for one more.

You like silver? You like lions? Here's my recommendation for coin #2: either a drachm or tetradrachm in the name of Alexander the Great with a portrait of Herakles wearing a lion-skin headdress. The tetracrachm below was minted shortly after his death, but lifetime issues of Alexander the Great are also out there and, in my opinion, very reasonably priced considering the history that they represent:

AR tetradrachm
Babylon mint, ca. 311-305 B.C.
Struck in the name of Alexander the Great by Seleukos I Nikator
Price 3751
25 mm, 17.1g

 

This brings up a point of confusion. This type shows the front half of a lion facing one way with his head reverted to look the opposite way. Therefore the beast facing right looks left and the one facing left looks right. Add to that the fact that many are off center or on small flan so we can't see the cut off torso. The LakeEffect specimen is better than average IMO because it shows the leg and torso as well as most of the head illustrating why the coin is listed as Lion forepart right, head left. The ambr0zie coin is certainly the opposite but lacking the leg and torso makes it harder to call a left looking right.

 

I knew that, but I tried to simplify the concept.
I know my example is rather poor, because of wear, corrosion and off strike, but I was more interested in the stellate pattern ... and the price.

 

Welcome to the world of ancient coins! It can definitely be addictive: 4 1/2 years ago, I owned less than a dozen ancient coins. The number now is 330! So, an average of more than one new purchase per week ever since then.

You made an excellent choice for your first one. Here's my only example of a similar coin, which happens to be both my oldest and my tiniest ancient coin:

Mysia, Kyzikos, AR Diobol, ca. 450-400 BCE. Obv. Forepart of boar left; to right, tunny [tuna] upwards. Rev. Head of roaring lion left within incuse square. Seaby 3846 [Sear, David, Greek Coins and their Values, Vol. 2: Asia & Africa (Seaby 1979)]; Von Fritze II, Group II, No. 9 (p. 36) [Von Fritze, H., "Die Silberprägung von Kyzikos" in Nomisma IX (1914), at pp. 34 - 56]; BMC 15 Mysia 108-113 [Wroth, Warwick, A Catalog of the Greek Coins in the British Museum, Vol. 15, Mysia (London, 1892) at pp. 34-35]; SNG BnF 361-366 [Sylloge Nummorum Graecorum, France, Cabinet des Médailles, Bibliothéque Nationale, Vol. 5, Mysia (Paris 2001)]. 10 mm., 1.22 g., 6 h.



I didn't quite realize how tiny it would be until it arrived in the mail. Be careful not to drop yours on the floor, or you may never find it!

 

welcome, great first coin

 

Well here's a dime, and an ancient.

ASIA MINOR. Uncertain. AR Tetartemorion. (Circa 5th century BC). (5mm .13g).
O: Head of bull right.
R: Stellate pattern/Star of four rays, with pellet at center; all within incuse square.

 

Wow, thanks to everyone for the overwhelming response! I've been reading the forum and browsing the auction sites for a while now but when I saw this coin it spoke to me, as I said above.

The antiquity, the cool and well-centered image, and the fact that ancient artisans could put such an image on 1 gram of silver grabbed me. From the responses, it sounds like I did ok.

I'm sure there will be more ancients in my future, as I learn more about the hobby. Thanks again, everyone!