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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;DonnaML, post: 7350027, member: 110350&quot;]I haven&#039;t said much in this thread. But I think I&#039;ve mentioned before that I would very much like to have 1 (one) ancient gold coin -- after all, I collected British gold back in the day, and must have had close to 50 of them a decade ago, dating back to James I.&nbsp; I loved the way they looked, all in a tray together. I wish I had taken photos before I sold almost all of them.</p><p><br /></p><p>I doubt, though, that it would ever be feasible for me to buy an aureus in decent condition. Yes, I could put together $5,000 if I really had to. But not on top of what I regularly spend on coins. So I&#039;d have to forego, say, 25 $200 coins or 50 $100 coins to make up for that one purchase, and I don&#039;t want to do that. Plus, it would mean quite a few months of not buying any coins, and I don&#039;t think I have that much sales resistance! So I&#039;d end up shooting myself in the foot financially. What with being an elderly woman living primarily on Social Security and all that. (That photo is three years old. I&#039;ve aged a lot!)</p><p><br /></p><p>But I have been keeping my eye out for some time for a solidus to buy, as the closest thing to an aureus there is. Specifically, I&#039;ve been hoping, since well before this thread, to buy a solidus that&#039;s (1) from a well-known, reputable dealer, for obvious reasons; (2) under $1,000 (so I&#039;d only have to forgo all or most other coin purchases for one-fifth of the time I&#039;d have to do so for an aureus); (3) in decent condition on both sides, reasonably well-centered, with the legends readable and none of the important elements worn off or off the flan; (4) early enough still to look like (and be considered) a Late Roman coin, with a Latin legend and reasonably realistic faces and figures, rather than looking like a Byzantine coin, with very non-realistic figures and ultra-religious themes, since coins like that don&#039;t generally appeal to me as a matter of personal taste -- no offense intended, but I&#039;m happy to leave such coins for the many of you who think they&#039;re great! -- and, preferably, (5) one that isn&#039;t in a slab, since I&#039;d probably break it out anyway and don&#039;t want to pay the premium that dealers usually charge for slabbed coins.&nbsp; Maybe all of that is asking a lot, but that&#039;s been my ideal.</p><p><br /></p><p>However, prices for solidi, which weren&#039;t hard to find for well under $1,000 not so long ago, seem to have been getting higher and higher during the time I&#039;ve been looking, and it&#039;s been getting more and more difficult to find one that fits what I want . There are actually a number of coins I&#039;ve passed on that I now wish I had bought. </p><p><br /></p><p>But I did see one I liked the other day, and even though it&#039;s hardly perfect, I think it does fit what I want in all or most respects. So I went ahead and bought it, before prices get even higher. Even if they don&#039;t, I don&#039;t think I&#039;m going to find one I like better for less money anytime soon. I don&#039;t want to jinx the coin&#039;s arrival before it gets to me by saying too much, so I&#039;ll limit myself to saying that it&#039;s pre-5th century, and in Latin, and I think it looks fine. (Even though the Emperor is facing 3/4 rather than in profile, which I might have preferred, at least his nose isn&#039;t spread all over his face as in some coins I see.) And it&#039;s from a European dealer who&#039;s been around a long time but isn&#039;t named Lanz!</p><p><br /></p><p>I&#039;ll post the coin when it arrives. And I really believe that I&#039;ll be content with one ancient gold coin. Unless I win the lottery, in which case I&#039;m buying all the gold! And the silver, too.</p><p><br /></p><p>Meanwhile, I&#039;ll see if I can exercise enough willpower to forgo further purchases until the end of April. After all, it&#039;s not as if there aren&#039;t enough other coins I can post about here -- both mine (including several that haven&#039;t arrived yet besides the solidus), and those belonging to other members -- so it&#039;s not as if I plan to disappear.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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