It was a great year for me numismatically; I happened to tick off most of my bucket list coins. It's my third year of collecting ancient coins, and I have only bought coins once or twice a month with a total of around 15 coins, compared to 40 last year and more than 100 in 2020, so it was easier for me to make this list. Also I think I'm done purchasing coins for this year. Here we go! 10. At number 10 is an impulse purchase of Hadrian with a curious reverse of Aeternitas holding the head of Sol and Luna, denoting the eternity of the Roman empire, also this is an early issue of Hadrian with a nice younger bust, while I bought this coin on last year's Christmas eve, I've only received it in March! 118 AD Obv: IMP CAESAR TRAIAN HADRIANVS AVG Rev: P M TR P COS DES III (AET AVG) Aeternitas standing, holding heads of Sol and Luna 9. His adopted heir Aelius Caesar, this coins was misattributed as Hadrian, so I got him for only 20 bucks! I also like the appearance of the natural wear on this coin. 137 AD Obv: L AELIVS CAESAR Rev: TR POT COS II, Felicitas standing, holding caduceus in left, and cornucopia in right. 8. 8 Cob Reales for number 8. While not technically ancient, I thought it deserved a place as it's one of my all time favourites as I've been on the look for a cob reales ever since I've started collecting coins. It's a nice feeling to hold a chunky hammered silver from the pirate era! 8 Reales - Felipe IV, Spain Philip IV (1621-1665) 1621-1665 26.17g 7. A Ptolemaic hockey puck. My heaviest coin, these coins seem to be either too expensive or too poor or simply tooled, and I happened to get this coin at a nice budget to wear ratio with some colourful patina. I really like both the bust of Zeus and the eagle on the reverse. Ptolemy IV Philopator Æ Drachm. 70g 222-205/4 BC. SNG Copenhagen 205–6 6. Chola silver drachm, it's an upgrade to my previous lead/debased issue. I had to wait nearly two years to come across one with the right budget, with this coin I've completed my tri-metal issues of the Chola empire. Uttama Chola Silver Stater 4.15g 970-985 AD Coin of Uttama Chola portraying the subjugation of neighboring kingdoms of Chera, and Pandya, depicted as the royal emblems-Cholan tiger, flanked by the Pandyan twin fish to its right, and the Cheran bow behind the tiger, all under the single rule symbolized by the umbrella, also there are two lamps on the either end of the fish and the bow to denote auspiciousness. And the legends in Nagari states, Uttama Chola. MCSI2 326, R 5. Augustus denarius, this is an impulse purchase I made at a coin show, I've always wanted a denarius of him with a nice youthful bust, ironic that this coin celebrates his grandchildren! While this coin is probably the most common issue of Augustus, it also happens to be a scarcer variant with a tiny X mark in the reverse. 2 BC - 4 AD 3.36g Obv: CAESAR AVGVSTVS DIVI F PATER PATRIAE Rev: C L CAESARES AVGVSTI F COS DESIG PRINC IVVENT Gaius and Lucius Caesar standing, each, togate, resting hand on shield and spear, simpulum, left, and lituus, right, flanking, right and left respectively; X below. RIC 211 4. The bull wresting Thassalos from Thessaly, an iconic coin, still an expensive type compared to other hemidrachms which put me off from getting one, but @zumbly had this coin reasonable priced, so I happened to buy it. And to boot it, the coin is an ex BCD, that came with a handwritten tag and polaroid cut outs, making it my oldest provenance (1987). Thessaly, Trikka AR Hemidrachm. 2.76g, 15.9mm 440-400 BC REF: BCD Thessaly II 781.1 (same dies); HGC 4, 311 OBV: Thessalos, petasos and cloak tied at neck, holding band around head of forepart of bull right. REV: [T]-P-IK, forepart of bridled horse right; all within incuse square. Ex BCD Collection, with handwritten tag stating, “T/ne ex Thess., Jan. 87, £50” and polaroid cut outs. 3. Alexander tetradrachm, life time issue. I've always wanted a life time tetradrachm of Alexander the Great ever since I got a life time drachm of him back in 2020, and not only it's a life time issue, but also minted in the city of Babylon! also I like the high relief on both sides of this coin. Ar Tetradrachm, lifetime issue. 17.02g, 325 - 323 BC Babylon mint, M below monogram under throne. Price 3601? 2. Justinian I Solidus, my oldest gold and the most expensive coin that I've ever bought. I've wanted a gold coin from Roman empire, the early ones are out of reach, while the later Byzantium coins are cheap, but it lost the typical Roman style, and also debased, so early Eastern Roman empire or late Western Roman empire was my sweet spot, yet most of the emperors from that time were inept, and I didn't want to spend large sums on emperors like them. Since Justinian I is one of my top Roman emperors (1. Augustus, 2. Trajan, 3. Aurelian, 4. Justinian, 5. Vespasian), I settled on buying his coin, I was looking for a tremissis/semissis, yet they were priced as much as a worn solidus in retail, so I went for a nice solidus itself. Justinian I solidus 4.48g, 21mm, Constantinople mint (1st Officina), 545-565 AD. D N IVSTINIANVS PP AVG VICTORIA AVGGG A CON OB 1. Finally for my most favourite coin of 2022, a Julius Caesar denarius featuring the conquest of Gaul. A life time issue of Julius Caesar is a must have in my collection, I really didn't believe I'd acquire one in this year itself! I like the honest wear on the coin, with the name Caesar still readable on the reverse. This coin also happens to be the prototype for trophy and captive issues minted by the future emperors. Military mint travelling with Caesar in Spain, 46-45 BC, 3.38g. Obv: Head of Venus to right, wearing stephane; Cupid behind shoulder Rev: Trophy of Gallic arms between two seated captives (could they be Gallia and Vercingetorix?); CAESAR in exergue. Crawford 468/1 Thanks for viewing my list!
Nice selection for the year. Tough one, if I had to really narrow it down, these are what I would choose for my collection. I voted 1,3,4 Thanks for sharing
It's a tough choice! Number one for me goes to the Julius Caesar denarius. No.2...I'm going to say the Justinian I solidus. For No. 3, I'd say probably the lifetime Alexander III tetradrachm, although that 8-reales gives it some stiff competition! Edit: Ha! I just saw that all I did was pick your top three.
