Ancient Coins-what was your primary influence for your interest in Classical Numismatics?

I freaking love that series. I watch it probably twice a year, and even now that I've watched it around 24 times, I still freaking love it. The acting is superb, and the cast of actors really do give memorable and timeless performances.



Look at this, what other series can you catch three Roman emperors interacting like this?

 

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Sallent, I am embarrassed to say I haven't watched the whole thing since c. 1977! We have it queued up here at home on the Acorn Channel. I really need to get on that!

I have watched HBO's Rome a couple times recently - I highly recommend it, although the tavern gambling scene uses prop denarii that are a bit unconvincing. The movies can't seem to deal with how small a real denarius is, so they substitute these things that look like tetradrachms. See 0:32 on the clip below:



That being said, in one scene a physician is being paid with (I assume) denarii. He glances at them and hands one back - "This is brass," he says - it is at 2:00 in the YouTube clip below.



No emperors in Rome except young Octavian on the brink of Empire - but there is a lot of interaction between the Triumvirs.

 

I've seen I Claudius on Acorn as well. Quality is pretty good, probably better than the original broadcast in 1977 on Masterpiece Theatre in the U.S. I did watch the show back in 1977 at age 7. I am currently age 49, though my doc says I should easily make it another 35 years. Had a physical today, in fact.

 

LOL, I was graduating University when you were born.

Thanks ok. You will probly outlast me here on this ol' Earth.

Cracks me up how well you know all the classic stuff (movies, songs, etc.) from so many YEARS before you were born. 60's and 70's were the best for growing up.

 

A lot more people love the classics than you'd realize. Born in 1985 here, and I've got this puppy in my office....a Philco Model 46-250. I run it at least 2 hours a day, and all I play through it is big band music from the 30's and 40's, and popular music and early rock and roll hits from the 1950s, and occasionally the Jack Benny show or Abbot and Costello. (I've got Jack Benny shows as far back as 1936 saved up in a hard drive.)



Now I'm trying to shop for a 1930s tombstone style radio for the office, preferably one that's s shortwave radio capable , and this Philco will probably go back home to my bedside.

 

LOL, yeah, my kids (6 of 'em; a couple of them are older than you), feel the same. Both of them were very involved in music (one cut a CD), and always said we had much better music than their era.

So... I reckon ANCIENT TIMES started before 1990.

 

"The past is a foreign country ..." I think this quote by L.P. Hartley sums up my fascination with coins pretty well.

If you do family research you maybe able to trace your family back to the 17th or 16th century if you are lucky. And then you realize that this is not even half way back to Charlemagne, or another 1000 years to the fall of Rome. These people and their lives are incredibly distant and foreign. Yet, coins are a real connection, much more than other objects, because they can be attributed and often directly linked to certain people and eras.

As an example, the Gepidic kingdom that existed in the 6th century in what is now Serbia is a very distant, foreign and ephemeral phenomenon. Their kings like Turisind, Elemund and Cunimund are hardly more than names that are not much more real than those in novels like Lord of the Rings. Yet, their coins make it real, they are a real tangible connection. That is why I'm interested in coins.

 

Agreed. My motivation also.

 

I have always been a collector of things since I was young, my coin journey actually started with stamps. I had collected World stamps as a child then I became more specialized as I got older, ending up with a nice collection of Zeppelin covers and pioneer flights.
While visiting my friend who owned a stamp and coin shop in Torrance California I saw and collected my first Ancient coins, all Roman Imperial, from there I found a copy of 1950's David Sear catalog at the local used book store. I was hooked.
My collection of ancients has changed greatly through the years, starting with women on Roman coins and eventually ending up specializing in 12th century Eastern Roman coins ( Byzantine.)
One thing I think everyone who collects ancient coins has in common, is a love of history. I think if you ran a poll most would agree except those of course who would go to the art side.

 

When I was in high school I bought a coin magazine and an advertisement offered a genuine ancient coin for $30. It turned out to be a cheap antoninianus of Tetricus I, but it got me interested.

I probably wouldn't have stuck with it, but I found a coin shop near my school that sold ancient coins. I went inside and the owner, Sal Falcone, asked what I was interested in. I asked if he had any ancients and he started bringing out boxes of them. After a few minutes he realized I didn't know anything about them. He put all of the boxes away and took down the two Sear books on Greek coins. He told me to take them home, read them, and then he would sell me a coin. I'd never even met the guy and he was trusting me with his books!

I went through them in about a week and then came back and bought my first coin from him. That was in 1985 and I still visit his shop when I can. Over the years he's sold me a lot of coins and let me borrow a lot of his books. Today I'm going to try to make it over there to take a look at a nice Tyrian shekel.