Baltimore Show Newps

So I woke up this morning to a vigorous snow flurry in Lancaster (in other words, beach weather for Steve), gulped down a few cups of coffee and picked up Bill D. (Ardatirion). We headed south for Baltimore, fortifying ourselves with a bag full of Egg McMuffins. We arrived in good time despite the weather, which had cleared up by the time we got to Maryland anyway.

At Andy Singer's table, I had the very good pleasure of meeting Doug Smith, who was busy poring over a box of Romans, occasionally coming up for air to correct an attribution that the dealer had flubbed. He eventually came away with a bagful of coins, so I'm very much looking forward to his report! Doug: I'm sorry we didn't get a chance to say goodbye - we looked for you when we were leaving but you had obviously disapparated.

I was hoping to come away from the show with a large-ish Ptolemaic bronze, and Andy Singer had a handful of them. I was very much attracted to a particularly hefty example, but Bill nixed the plan, showing me how the coin had been smoothed and tooled. Of the set that Andy had, this is the one Bill liked the best, and the more I look at it, the more I love it. At 34g, this is only a medium denomination, but rivaled in size only by my largest sestertii.

Note the cornucopia in the left field of the reverse, and the XP under the eagle, which would eventually be appropriated as the Christian chi-rho. I'm too tired to double-check the attribution at this point, so I'll give you an image of the coin and research it properly later...

 

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Sounds like you guys had a blast John.

 

Wish I could have been there with you guys. I was stationed in Baltimore or the Baltimore area three different times in my career, so it's old stomping grounds for me. Ahhh, I remember Blaze Star, but that is a tale for another day. Anyway, you guys sound like you had a good and productive day and, hey, I love that coin. Talk about pond skippers.

 

And say hello to 'Ardy' for me John. Now there's an amazing young fellow. I do believe he has been reincarnated as for a fellow who lacks years in nature he makes up for it more in knowledge.......

 

I had a pleasant, if brief conversation with Tom Cederlind, who had no lack of drool-worthy offerings. But his fare consists of coins for the shopper who comes equipped to spend thousands as opposed to hundreds, so there was no point in lingering.

I went on to meet Tom Wood of Ephesus Numismatics, who is extremely knowledgeable - a dealer who avidly talks numismatics, not just coins. He had a lovely dirham of Khusro II. Now this type has been on my want list for some time, but I wasn't out looking for one today.

This coin has lovely gold and blue toning which I've got to work to capture in an image. It's too late to fiddle with lights and apertures tonight, so I offer this preview of the obverse. (Also Ardatirion-Approved!)

 

Lovely..........

 

Sounds like a good time, Eagle is awesome, Khusro ll looks good too!next time take pictures of Egg mc muffins.i met Tom Cederlind when he was in Portland, his stuff was top drawer.

 

Yeah. So I high I couldn't reach it, lol. Well, if I had wanted to walk away from the show with one coin, I'm sure I could have managed something. As it is, I only bought three coins, but I'm going to wait on the last one till I can take good pics - it's not common in the least, and I doubt anyone will be able to post another example.

 

Glad you had fun and got to meet more CTers. I always seem to be the lone ancient wolf when I goto LB.

And I know all to well with being a $100s budget.

 

I don't have any plans to be in your neck of the woods, but if I ever do, you'll be the first to know. I'd love to see the tetradrachms in person. I'm not complaining about my budget though. I still find so many coins in my range interesting that I'll never be able to collect them all.

 

Nice, JA => looks like you nailed a great day of coining!! (sounds fun)

Great coins

 

nice coin show scores JA! that sassanian is sweet as pie..look at the killer beard details.

and i always love a big fat/phat ptolemy.

that's awesome you got to hook up with some cointalkers!

 

Great coins JA...and I'm glad you had such a great time in baltimore...I can't wait to see what you're still holding back...and I'm really looking forward to see what Doug posts..

 

Love that Ptolemy! You could've around with Doug a bit... I bet even the stuff he tossed aside would've been gems.

 

You know, a coin show is really the wrong venue for socializing, especially if you're on a time constraint. There are just too many coins to examine. Next time I think I'll go two days. I didn't even talk to Bill much once we got to the show. He had some top-secret CNG business with a dealer anyway. Don't ask, my lips are sealed. (Top-Secret!)

 

Absolutely... I wouldn't have dreamt of bothering him. I would have just hung around discretely behind his shoulder, waiting to fish out whatever he sent back into the boxes.

 

Wish I could go to coin shows and places where people collect ancient coins. That's awesome when some of you guys find awesome coins at shows.

 

I found that to be the case at my first and only coin show last year.

Excellent report and nice scores! Wish I'd been there

 

ahahah Z-bro, I totally agree => You could have been like Doug's pilot-fish (side-benefits of hangin' out with Spike)

 

Sorry I must have been walking past you making the rounds. I did not leave until 4:30 and was finished early so went looking for you the last hour. I only bought coins from two sellers but talked to several old friends who no longer sell in my price bracket. I actually saw a Constans hut coin for $275 which would not have been the nicest one I got at the show. I only got 11 ancients including the one duplicate/upgrade I showed you. Every time I go to Baltimore I wonder if it will be my last time since Andy and Don both do the Richmond and Fredericksburg shows which are closer. I have not photographed anything yet. Traffic kept us late returning last night and I was too tired. Maybe later.