Ancients => a couple of nude dudes, a horse and a dolphin (huh?)

Picky, aren't we?

 

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ahaha => Doug, you are always so hard on your poor coins (I always think your coins are nicer than you give them credit!!)

However, I guess you're correct => there is definitely a fine-balance between buying one super-nice coin, or several "not as nice" coins ...... I feel I am somewhere in the middle ...

=> sometimes when I see AncientJoe's coins, or some of Batman's and/or Martin's winners, I feel embarrassed to post my examples ......... but yes, I do like to try and buy "quite sharp" lookin' coins (and luckily, due to my ridiculously over-paying job, I seem to have a bit more coin-cash on hand than some collectors?)

... oh, but I freely admit that I prefer frequent purchases, so that I stay eager and interested ... I don't have the patience to save-up for the really big, high-quality winners!!

 

=> yah Collect89, I admit that it is a bit of a tight-flan, but overall I'm pretty dang happy with my new purchase!!

 

Ummm. This is a really big, high quality winner.

Bravo.

 

I agree!!!!

 

That is the point. Ancient Joe prefers a perfect coin. 99.9% of all ancient coins were not up to his standards when they fell from the dies. One of his prizes might buy 50 Steve coins, 500 Doug coins or 5000 uncleaned things barely recognizable as coins. I doubt each of us wears the same shoe size either but we are more comfortable selecting what fits than declaring one of us to be right for all. What many people fail to realize is that a coin only 1% more nearly perfect might cost 100% more. This we share with the MS66/67 fanatics. When I collected US (in the 50's and 60's), I liked coins in F-VF as the best balance to my eye for the money I had. Today there are US hobbyists who pride themselves in being able to recognize rare die varieties in basal grade large cents. I could not be one of them either.

Tight flan or other faults being what they may be, Steve's new coin strikes me as exceptional because of the die work in the horse and dolphin heads. I would not trade his coin for a mint state, full flan example with journeyman quality die work. His die should be recognized as a product of the X6 master (or another Greek by the same name).

 

I hope nobody took colect89's comment about the coin being off center seriously. Only the man's knuckle is off the flan for gosh sakes. The enlarged photo is posted to show the freaking incredible artistic detail only. This is all I see in the coin->

 

Check that. It is the man's thumb tip that is off the flan.

 

I can't compete on the fantastic quality of your coin Steve. WOW.

I did dabble with these for a while and managed to obtain four different varieties myself. Each has it's own flaws which was the only reason I could afford them.

Calabria, Taras, Silver Nomos, Vlasto 696
Obv:– Warrior on horseback right thrusting spear downward with right hand, holding two spears and shield in his left hand ; ΣΙ behind , ΔAKINMOΣ below.
Rev:– [TARAS] , Phalanthos astride dolphin left, holding dolphinin right hand , cradling cornucopiae in left arm. [ΔΑ below]
Minted in Calabria, Taras from .c. 302 - 280 B.C. Magistrate Dakinmos
Reference:– Vlasto 696 ; SNG ANS 1071



Calabria, Taras, Silver Nomos, Vlasto 891
Obv:– Helmeted, nude warrior riding on horse right, transverse spear in right hand, large round shield behind, [ΦI before], ΦHRAE / ΛHTWΣ below.
Rev:– [T_A_RAS], Taras astride dolphin left, holding flower & cornucopiae; EI monogram & thymiaterion behind
Minted in Calabria, Taras from .c. 272 - 235 B.C. Pheraeletos as magistrate
Reference:– Vlasto 891 , SNG ANS 1209, HN Italy 1037



Calabria, Taras, Silver Nomos, Vlasto 877
Obv:- Nude warrior on horseback right, holding shield and two lances in left hand, spear pointed downwards in right; API-STO/KL-NS below, DI behind.
Rev- Taras astride dolphin left, holding kantharos in right hand and trident in left; head of a nymph behind.
Minted in Calabria, Taras from .c. 272 - 235 B.C.
Reference:– Vlasto 877



Calabria, Taras, Silver Nomos, Vlasto 853
Obv:– Naked boy-horseman prancing right, crowning horse with right, AGAQA/RCOX below.
Rev:– Taras naked seated on dolphin left, extending kantharos in right, cornucopia in left, TARAS below, race torch behind
Minted in Calabria, Taras from .c. 270 - 240 B.C.
Reference:– HN Italy 1028, Vlasto 853, SGCV I 375 var

Slabbed by ICG

Photographed through slab. Still deciding whether to free it from the tomb.

 

My two...

Calabria, Taras AR Nomos
(272-240 BC) Apollonios, magistrate.
Obv.: Warrior on horseback holding shield and spear.
Rev.: Taras riding dolphin, holding trident; Nike above crowning him; waves below.
Vlasto 894-898. HN Italy 1038. Calabria, Tarentum AR Nomos
(315-302 BC). Sl- and K-, magistrates.
Obv.: Warrior on horseback right, holding shield and spear, preparing to throw spear; ΣA below.
Rev.: Phalanthos, holding kantharos and trident, on dolphin left; K to left; below, dolphin left.
Vlasto 607.

 

Awesome collection, Martin => man, both you and Doug have several varieties, eh?

... very cool

 

Collect89 => I figured as much (I was merely goin' for sympathy points!!)

 

Two absolute beauties, Batman!! (sweet Kantharos!!)

 

I don't have one.......I would take one of each...

 

Only if they were free...

 

wwwwwwwwwwwwwwoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooow.

hey bird, check out stevex's new coin...

 

Resurrecting this thread to show Steve that his fabulous coin happens to be an example used in this article, NCG Ancients: CoinArchives-- Premium Research Tool for Ancient Coins, on CoinWeek's website, published 1 May 2015

Screencap:

 

A coin posted before I got active here on CT, but well worth a belated congrats. Wow Steve, that is a spectacular coin!

 

I failed trying to follow their directions to the resource but did find it in the menus.
https://www.ngccoin.com/AuctionCentral/ancient-coin-archives.aspx

It is good to see they include coins not in their slabs. Am I understanding it correctly that this still only includes the Coin Archives free section? I don't know how much better Coin Archives Pro is than acsearch or other free resources but I'm not paying the price to find out.

 

I too was unable to follow their directions. Perhaps there is a different interface for people who have spent money to join NGC.

The link you found produces the same search results as does the non-Pro version of Coin Archives. There is no reason to access it from NGC's website. Maybe the NGC members are able to access the Pro version? Nah, I doubt it. A subscription to CoinArchives Pro is $600/year .