Every year about this time it seems appropriate to review the new acquisitions and address why some are more thrilling than others. Again this year I offer an annotated Top Ten Favorites list but I suppose I could also post Ten Biggest Mistakes or something equally depressing. Selecting ten from a total of 72 was not as hard as I expected this year. Some coins are eliminated because they are too similar to others in the collection from years past. While I continue to build my specialty collections, it seems harder for 'just another' reverse or minor detail to make the list than something completely new. Extra credit goes to coins I had admired for years or known that I 'needed'. I tell people that my first items on my want list are coins I did not know existed. Perhaps that is not completely true. Most of these are coins I had been wanting for some time that finally presented themselves. Several of these gained position by presenting questions I can not answer. I like coins that are not fully understood. Six of the ten arrived in October. The ten came from five different dealers. Two provided three coins each. No coin on this list was the first coin I have purchased from that seller. Order may be a bit subject to change so the numbers are not to be taken too seriously. Counting down from ten to one: 10. Amastris, Paphlagonia, 85-65 BC. AE 28mm., Head of Athena right, wearing helmet decorated with a Pegasos / AMAΣTPEΩΣ, Perseus standing facing, holding harpa and head of Medusa, decapitated body of Medusa at feet. Purchased from HighRatings_ LowPrice, eBay, March. During the time of Mithradates VI, several cities issued this type showing the gruesome decapitation of Medusa by the hero Perseus. This coin is my third from those cities. The large coins tend to be poorly struck on small flans or be victims of corrosion. This one has those faults but not as severely as some coins so I was happy to add it to my 'set'. The rough surfaces should have stopped me from purchasing the coin but 2018 was a relatively poor year for me so this one made this list. It lacks the head of Perseus but has decent head and body of Medusa and the weapon on flan. Assembling a set of these in high grade would be most difficult even for well financed collectors. I hope to find the others in no worse shape. 9. Carinus, Alexandria AE tetradrachm, 284 AD, laureate bust right / Eagle standing left, head right ΛΕΓ Β ΤΡΑΙ LΓ Purchased at Baltimore coin show in October. Various coins become our favorites for various reasons. I would like to have legionary coins of rulers other than the common ones of Septimius Severus and Mark Antony. This was the cheapest coin I bought in 2018. The selling dealer had no use for late Alexandrian tetradrachms. Most of his coins sell for hundreds and up. I have no idea if he knew that the ΛΕΓ Β ΤΡΑΙ legend referred to Legion II Traiana. It makes no difference now. I am happy to have the coin. 8. Uncertain, Caria, AR tetartemorion, 500-450 BC confronted bull foreparts / bull forepart. Purchased at Richmond coin show in October. A dealer at the Richmond show had a consignment of small Greek silver from which I bought several coins. I'm not certain why only one made this list but it is hard to get respect when the total weight of eight coins purchased was barely 1g. The style on this one seems a bit more 'archaic' than some I see online so I will suspect that it is earlier in the series than some but there is a lot of uncertainty in all things to do with this little coin. I like coins with unanswered questions. 7. Claudius. 41-54 AD. AE sestertius, Rome, TI CLAVDIVS CAESAR AVG P M TR P IMP, laureate head of Claudius right; c/m: NCAPR within rectangular incuse / EX S C/ OB/ CIVES/ SERVATOS in four lines within oak-wreath. Purchased in FSR Auction February. I am fond of countermarked coins and this sestertius bears one I find quite interesting. The interpretation of these letters has varied depending on your source but a common theories are Nero Caesar Augustus Probavit (approved) or Nero Caesar Augustus Populi Romanorum. Most coins on which the mark is found are worn a bit suggesting the marks were applied on coins that had circulated a few years. This would be consistent with the use by Nero at least a dozen years after the coin was issued in 42 AD. This particular specimen in quite unusual in the placement of the mark in front of the face rather than the usual place behind the head. 6. Uncertain Lycian Dynast, AR stater, 500-470 BC Pegasos right / Triskles, Purchased in FSR Auction October. The number of coins on the market from the rulers of Lycia make it obvious there is a huge hoard being dispersed. Most of these are the smaller 1/3 staters with obverse of a lion scalp but I was attracted to this full stater struck on a very ragged nugget flan. These coins tend to be poorly struck and centered. This one has the important detail but still has that baroque look that I find appealing (most will disagree). It also lacks the name of the dynast usually spelled out in the Lycian alphabet. Instead it has a monogram on each side. I did not expect to win this coin since staters tend to sell for more than I pay. I am sure the flan was part of that. Some who saw the coin probably saw the wing of Pegasos as the headless body of a rider not realizing the horse was winged. This year I bought three coins of the Lycian Dynasts. The others were smaller and had the standard lion scalp type with letters identifying the issuing authority. The time to buy coins is when they are available. I got my three and have no idea where the other million (seemingly?) orphans will find a home. 5. Rhodes AE36, 31BC – 60 AD Dionysos radiate head right / Nike advancing right TAMIA TEIMOΣTPATOY POΔIΩN Purchased in FSR Auction February. This year brought me two decent bronzes of Rhodes. This one made the top ten because it was larger and struck in a way that I considered interesting. The reverse die was quite convex so a weak strike produced a curved central recess with design leaving an unstruck outer border. While I am fond of the design and overall appearance of the coin, little technical details made the difference, to me, between special and less so. There are quite a number of variations of the late Greek quasi-autonomous bronzes with different magistrates and designs. More popular are the ones with the head of Helios from the Colossus and the rose for which the city was named. Those were on the coin that did not make my list this year. You get to see the one with the reverse dent. 4. METAPONTION Lucania. Ca. 500-440 B.C. 1/12 Stater. Barley ear, / Barley ear incuse. Purchased at the September Fredericksburg show. For years I have been happy to own a silver fraction of this size that had the reverse of a single kernel of grain. This one shows the entire ear as shown on the obverse. There is some question as to the denomination. The coin came in a flip that said tritartemorion (¾ obol or 1/16th stater) which is correct for the weight but most listings call it an obol which is 1/12th. What makes this one unusual is something to the right on the obverse. CNG (362,24) sold a die duplicate saying it is a mule head. I don't see it. I have seen ant suggested which may be better than mule but not convincing. The dates suggested vary also. This will be a coin requiring further study. 3. Antoninus Pius Æ As. Rome, AD 140. ANTONINVS PIVS AVG P P, laureate head right / TR POT COS III, Mars right, holding spear and shield, descending through the air towards Rhea Silvia, reclining left. RIC III 694a. Purchased at the October Baltimore show. Another coin on my 'always wanted' list is the as of Antoninus Pius descending on the sleeping Rhea Silvia. According to Roman mythology, this resulted in the birth of Romulus and Remus. There are a number of mythologically significant types but this is among the most popular. The coin has smoothed fields which would disqualify most coins from my interest but this is a special type not always available in perfect shape. 2. Pescennius Niger (AD 193–194), AR denarius, Caesarea. IMP CAES C PESC NIGER IVST AV, laureate head right / IVSTITIA AVG, Justitia standing facing, head left, holding scales and cornucopia. Purchased at Baltimore coin show in October. Over fifty years ago I started thinking of myself as a specialist in the coins of Septimius Severus during the early years of his reign when he was fighting a civil war against Pescennius Niger. The scarcity today of coins of Pescennius Niger suggests that they were made illegal to possess after his defeat. This is my third PN denarius. The other two are from what is attributed to the mint of Antioch. I believe this one is the style assigned to Caesarea. The question now is when and under what circumstances did Pescennius Niger open a second mint. I would like to have more denarii of this ruler whose coinage carries more unanswered questions than most that lasted a year. They say history is written by the victors. We know less about this reign than we might like. More study is needed. 1. Germanicus, AE Dupondius Rome mint. Struck under Gaius (Caligula), AD 37-41. GERMANICVS/CAESAR above, Germanicus, holding eagle-tipped scepter, driving quadriga / SIGNIS RECEPT/ DEVICTIS GERM in two lines across field, Germanicus standing left, raising right hand and holding aquila in left; S C across lower field. Purchased at Baltimore coin show in October. I'm not sure why but I always wanted one of these. Caligula issued quite a number of coins in honor of his family members including some I have never found at all tempting. Perhaps I have a special attraction to coins that do not have the standard obverse portrait. This dupondius honors his father in particular for his campaign against the Germans that resulted in the recovery of two standards that had been lost at Teutoberg Forest in 9 AD by Varus. This specimen apparently was once in a collection that felt it appropriate to paint their catalog numbers on the coin. I have no idea if this was a museum, college or private collector but admit I would absolutely love to find out the provenance of this coin back to the painter. I hope more of you will post a list of your 2018 favorites.
Wow @dougsmit those are some amazing coins! FFIVN and I are still working on our top 10 for the year. Hopefully we will be able to finish it within the next 2 weeks....before 2019 starts... I'm having a tough time trying to find my favorite of yours. I think that my favorite is your Antoninus Pius. The main reason being, I am getting more familiar with Antoninus Pius lately and I really like the reverse along with the story that accompanies it. I will show this post to my son tomorrow and see what his favorite is and post here.
Fantastic list Doug! My favorites are: #1 - I agree with you 100% on your top favorite coin from this year. That's a fantastic coin with nice eye appeal. So often the interesting part of a coin from a historical perspective is on the reverse. It's like this coin has two reverses. #5 - I remember admiring this coin earlier this year. Your oblique photos of it in particular were great. The large diameter and the interesting shape must make this coin a real gem in-hand. Of course the connections to Rhodes and the colossus are great too. #6 - I love the flan shape and design. I will have to keep an eye out for these if there are a lot of good ones coming to market recently. I hope to post my top 10 this weekend. Still catching up on photos.
Beauties, I especially like the #5 Rhodes bronze, great Dionysos and the A.Pius reverse is a pleasing work of art.
It looks like you had a great year of collecting Doug, with a diverse range of coins all interesting specimens in their own right, I particularly like the Claudius Sestertius and the Germanicus Dupondius one of the best I have seen for quality and fantastic eye appeal.
That a cool coin top 10 for 2018! #5 Cool shape! I bet that is fun to "fondle"! # 8 Is that a UNICORN!?!?!? #4 That "mule head" looks like TIF's little monkey coin! If that is a little monkey, this coin is the coolest! #1 Me too! Last year one of mine was number one on my top ten list as well.
@dougsmit 10, 9, 5 and 1 are my favorites on your list. I just added a Pontos/Perseus AE29 to my collection a few weeks ago:
The Pescennius Niger is an obvious wow, but I like that counterstamped Claudius sestertius, too. They're all neat.
I'm finding myself a little disturbed by the thought that I want all of those coins for my collection. Not just the type, but those exact coins (yes, even the Amastris and Mars & Rhea Silvia that I already have my own examples of). Noooo.... I'm becoming Doug!! Just kidding. There can really only be one Doug. And, due credit should as always be given to all the good reasons you chose your coins, and how you often tell us something interesting about them that we probably would have missed were we looking at them ourselves. The Lycian stater is probably my overall favorite - I love the types and I think that ragged nugget of a flan has a really unique character - I wish I had spotted it in that auction, but I'm glad it's found a home with you. A few others really stand out for me as well. The Carinus tet with the legionary eagle is something I hadn't seen before. The big Rhodes AE has been on my want list for some time now, but the right one just hasn't come along... yours would definitely qualify as a "right one" for me. The same applies to the Pescennius Niger. As for your Germanicus dupondius, I can only say that in bringing up Varus, you'll now need a coin struck by Varus to complement this one. I look forward to seeing one of them in your 2019 list.
Nice breakdown of a good year, Doug! It's hard to quibble with your #1 pick but the A-Pi has been on my wish list for some time (was that an unintentional rewrite of the foundation prequel? ). The large Rhodes bronze is another I'd like to have. Yours has a better strike than most. Of course I'd like the Carinus tet too. My year-end list will probably not be ready until the very end of the year or maybe the first of the new year.
Fascinating coins, @dougsmit , and a fascinating write-up. I always like to read about what makes a coin interesting beyond grade or rarity. I like to learn exactly why a collector decided to acquire an item.
Great list Doug with good reasons for each coin to be on it. I particularly like the AP As and the c/m Claudius.
All fantastic coins. I especially like the Niger portrait, the Lycian stater, and the tiny Metapontion.
