I'm trying my hand in photographing opals, not an easy task. Here are my initial attempts with an Ethiopian opal, 46 grams: [ATTACH] [ATTACH]
I've had this coin for about a year. I noticed that the coin's surface appeared to be deteriorating in the NGC slab. Here's the coin removed...
Thanks. That coin might be a double Heraclius strike. I too am not a real expert on this coinage, despite collecting Byzantine bronzes going...
Yes, that is a large lower case "m". That's a very nice example. I really like the patina.
I have a couple more observations about the coin I posted. I compared the legends of the two portraits on my coin with other examples online....
Due to the over-strike nature of the follis that I posted, I'm beginning think (always dangerous) that the coin could be that of Heraclius....
Interesting. So, could this coin be an attempted over-strike of a follis of Maurice Tiberius during the reign of Phocas?
Thanks. Do you know when Phocas made the switch from "M" on the reverse to "XXXX"?
It must have been an unusually bad day at the mint in Constantinople. This follis of Emperor Phocas (or at least someone who looks an awful lot...
I can see your concern about the raised spots on the reverse. The coin appears to have been struck, and the weight is good. The toning seems to...
Fortune was indeed smiling upon you - a great acquisition! My example came by way of Worldwide Coins of California, back in the 90s, as I recall....
My next read is The Persian Boy, followed by The Mirror and the Light, the third book of the trilogy on Thomas Cromwell.
Here's an image of an Athenian tetradrachm, possibly an imitation, high grade, but with a hairline scratch on the cheek. This is one my earlier...
I'm glad that you grabbed that bull by the horns!
As far as the yellowish or brownish cast, that can be controlled in Photoshop under color, saturation. Lowering the saturation removes the cast...
[IMG] "Poseidon is coming! Poseidon is coming! I Theseus tell you so, I his son. The sacred bull was killed and the Earth Bull has wakened!...
The countermarks on the second coin, obverse might be the Aramaic letter for shin Yes, there was a progression, with minor variations here and...
The Fickle Finger of Fate was in your Favor. Nice coin.
That's a beautiful example. Where did you acquire it and when?
John H. Kroll, in his paper on THE CHRONOLOGY OF THIRD-CENTURY BC ATHENIAN SILVER COINAGE, mentions tetradrachms and drachms of this period that...
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