Their selection seems a little too good to be true. Thoughts? https://www.vcoins.com/en/stores/the_time_machine-155/ancient-coins/Default.aspx?#!/Home
How about the artifacts? I showed a Time Machine Co. artifact to someone here once and they thought it was a fake (for the record I've bought coins from them that are real).
I would contact them before ordering anything. Though the owner is nice he doesnt keep his site updated. Last time I ordered a few things from him they were sold already. Not fun to have a few hundred dollars held up for no reason.
I was just looking at some of their Egyptian stuff...and some of it looks a bit too good and cheap to be true. And there are a lot of pretty good Egyptian forgeries (like 99% of the ancient Egyptian stuff on eBay) I will buy a cheapie and see. Aleas Jacto
I saw a denarius of Vespasian for $30. Not perfect and with a carbon spot on the cheek but still....pretty darn low price. Also, welcome to the forum David!
I've known Mark since the late 1980's. You shouldnt have any problems, though you may want to confirm with him availability first. Basically, he is handling one very large estate, from a longtime dealer who had many thousands of items. The widow (to my understanding) doesnt care much what she gets, just that it all gets sold. So, his offerings are largely pretty cheap, though many items may be simple types.
My brother has purchased artifacts from Mark few times and has always been really happy. Here's on from Mark, a super sweet cuneiform tablet: Erin
I also like the authentic Roman period oil lamp for only $17.95. I've been thinking of picking one of these up for awhile now to illuminate my late night writings.
I've bought from and met Mark several times. He carries more antiquities than most coin dealers and does shows, so sometimes coins sell at shows that he has not had time to remove from his site. I consider him a good guy.
Funny thing is as long as it isn't cracked, you could throw some EVOO in it and it should work just fine...
Put it on a plate when you put oil in it. I have lit genuine ancient oil lamps (with modern wicks) to show them to students in ancient-history classes and after 2000 years the clay in my lamps has become porous and gradually leaks olive oil straight through it (not through a crack or other flaw.)
Same experience. Don't do it. You can buy modern replicas of ancient lamps that work just fine. Put olive oil in an ancient lamp, and you'll be lucky if it doesn't turn into a wet, oily sponge.