At Fredericksburg I bought coins from three different dealers. The Gordian tet was from an old friend but whose coins are usually above me. Thirteen were from my dealer of choice at shows. When I finished at his table, he told me there was a new dealer in the room and where he was set up. The man said this was his third time to set up as a dealer. He was at Gettysburg. From him I got one of the wire kopecks I showed on another thread and the two coins in this thread. Both were contained in stapled 2x2's and both looked better under the cellophane than when removed (I hate those holders). They are still half decent coins but not the killers I thought they were due to the surfaces. For Steve, I have the only animal coin from the show. The horse could barely follow me home since someone chopped off his rear half in honor of him being a hemiobol (7mm 0.32g). The city is Kyme (aka Cyme) in Aeolis) which is famous for broad flan tetradrachms with whole, prancing horses. They are the kind of coin that gets slabbed a lot. People don't slab rough shape hemiobols. Mine is not as nice as this one but it did not cost as much either. I like hemiobols and smaller coins. It does look better 'in hand' but considering the huge blow up here, that is a given. http://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=1087794 Most people will prefer this Trajan denarius with a popular reverse. I am not a major fan of the adoptive emperors but this one does have a clear type for the grade. The surfaces suffered too harsh cleaning but, as always, it is 'better in hand'. We see a reclining personification of the Via Traiana or Trajan's Highway. In general, any coin that has the emperor's name on both sides is a little special. My favorite dealer hinted he is considering retiring. Considering he is older than I am and I retired in 2003, I can't say I blame him but it will end my hobby as I know it, wreck my life and drive me to collecting Proof Sets. I still can not see the appeal of being a coin show dealer, living out of a suitcase every weekend and eating in a series of overpriced hotels just because the coin show is in their ballroom. I'm glad they do it. I could not.
Naaaayyyyyy!! => fantastic animal-snag, my awesome mentor-friend!! (good shootin') Oh, and an obviously outstanding reverse-incuse (well played brother ... well played!!) 100% awesome!!
Nice additions, I happen to like the trajan more. Thats where you and I are different, I enjoy the adoptive period most, followed by Severan.
I wish I had a favorite local dealer like that. I usually have to go around to all the tables bothering the nice men if they happen to have any "goofy ancients" laying around. Sounds like you have been blessed. I doubt it would, {shudder} drive you to collecting moderns, but it could put a crimp in your collecting. Sounds like maybe you need to work to build more relationships. Talk to your favorite dealer, and have him let you know who will be "replacing him" in his view when he retires. Face it, there are ancient coins needing to be sold, so someone will need to buy them and resell them to you.
Just like it would be interesting to see who would buy my collection of a few thousand coins, I wonder who will buy the stock of (more) thousands of dealer stock coins. I know he has several hundred barbarous radiates and similar numbers of the official Gallienus to Probus period but most not worth over $30 each. Add a thousand denarii and boxes of Greeks and you get a stock that might not appeal to a CNG type operation but would be worth more than most little 'show' dealers could purchase as a lot. Getting out of a business you have been in for forty years might be as hard as getting in.
Lovely coins! Who was the new dealer, and how did I miss him at Gettysburg? Perhaps he packed up before I arrived, which was late on Saturday. I know I found every dealer with ancients that was there, because I walked up and down the aisles bellowing, "Show me your ancients!" (Not kidding. )
Scourupsky - tall man with considerable Russian accent but easy to understand. Most of the coins he showed me were in packaging from their previous dealer and were in several binders.
Thanks for letting us hear about the show. If anyone else goes to a show, tell us the story of how it went. I love shows but get to on average less than one a year because they are all far away. I like John's style. If you want to see ancients, ask!
Well, I had two hours at the end of the day, and I couldn't afford to waste time asking every dealer individually - there were about 80. I will now be on the lookout for this tall Russian.
Some more cool coins. I'm with Mat, I kinda like the adoptive emperors. Only 2 hours for 80 dealers? I take half, to 1 hour at my local shop with coins i've already seen lol
I certainly hope nothing causes you to stop attending shows since your writeups of them are always so amusing! This show appears to have been fun and fruitful.
Yah, I guess it would be wise to announce your retirement and then spend the next couple/few years getting rid of your coins, rather than expecting your stock to "go like hot-cakes" and all of a sudden turn back into cash, eh? (ummm, or sell the remaining stock to one person willing to give you a group price, which probably would be considerable lower than what it'd be worth) ... Ummm, I don't have an example from Cyne/Kyne, but I do have an example from Aeolis ... yup, my trusty ol' Goat Aeolis, Aegae: AE18 3rd Cent. BC Diameter: 18.1mm Weight: 3.64 grams Obverse: Head of Apollo right Reverse: Goat's head right, AI in circle monogram behind
You know Doug if you ever sold your collection I am sure that there would be a mad dash followed by a riot, akin to children on a bursted Pinata. Or hipsters on the new iphone. Food for thought.
The only coin I have from Kyme does not have a horse. Only the head of an eagle: AEOLIS, KYME AR Hemiobol OBVERSE: Eagle's head left, KY to left (M beneath the head, nearly off flan) REVERSE: Quadrapartite incuse square of mill-sail pattern Struck at Aeolis, 450BC .46g, 7mm SNG Cop 32
80 dealers do not take long to dismiss when 70 of them have nothing but proof like slabs. I have now decided that I will sell my coins packaged as a pinata. I have, over the years, tried flips, trays and envelopes but, mixed with candy, my coins should look their best in papier-mache. That is a very nice Kyme eagle, Bing.
