Baltimore Show Newps

It would be even more fun to get a couple of tables ahead of Doug and conspire with the dealers to temporarily hide all the Severans

 

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=> That's the spirit!!

 

Steve's photo made me realize what a jerk in a feeding frenzy I become at a show. I guess social skills are trumped by the belief that the next envelop you open will conceal the coin of a lifetime. On the bus returning I talked to a US collector who enjoyed the show and bought absolutely nothing because all the coins he saw had too many bag marks. He was only interested in getting one specific Morgan dollar and was not willing to admit to his collection any of the trash he saw. I visited with the coin I still want that a dealer has had for five shows now but we are still a couple hundred apart. That coin is not willing to admit cheap old me to its list of caretakers.

I bought two coins I already had knowing I had them. One was an upgrade of a favorite but the new one is not a 'but' coin. The other was too cheap that I would not leave it so I got it to add to my stock to give to kids. I see eBay and other sellers obviously of the opinion that any ancient in corroded condition is worth $5-50. I'm wondering just what I believe is the minimum price for nice commons. It sometimes hurts me to see presentable coins no one wants but I just can't save them all.
http://www.esc16.net/users/0020/FACES/Starfish Story.pdf

 

My sentiments too Gil. Nice pick-ups John! How do you get notice of these coin shows? Baltimore would be about an 8 hour drive for me so I would have to make a weekend of it, same for New York

 

They did hide the Severans. I saw one COSI coin and left it (too trashy and one I had) and one Emesa Legionary even worse.

askea: Google 'Baltimore coin show' and you will get their page. The next one is July 16-19, 2015. I have no plans to attend ... yet anyway.
http://expo.whitman.com/baltimore-summer-expo/

 

=> apparently your heart is in the right place, my friend

 

Anyone heard of the Torex coin shows held in Toronto?

 

I recently sold a Canadian Blacksmith for $10,500. The firm sounds familiar ...

JPL

 

We have a sunny day here, so I took more pics of the Ptolemy III and Khusro II - I prefer to view and photograph my coins in sunlight - nothing else makes them smile the same way.

Two coins minted almost a thousand years apart by very different cultures, therefore having little in common, other than being coins...



One of the pleasures of collecting ancient coins, especially larger ones, is that we get to handle our coins (carefully of course) with impunity. These pieces are wonderful in the hand...





These two types have been on my want list for some time, as common as they are. My third and last acquisition at the show is definitely NOT a coin I was looking for, quite scarce (perhaps rare in the grade), and constitutes a bit of a collecting coup. I'll post it shortly.

 

Sweet new photos, JA ...

Man, I really like the "great outdoors" coin photos (ummm, but that classic photo of TIF's mega-thick coin with the tropical islands in the background is still my favourite)

 

Git yer' grimme lil'... nvm...

Excellent write up JA and purchases, love how large those pieces are.

 

They photographed beautifully!!! I couldn't agree more with you on holding them in hand!!

 

Those are excellent photos but I have to agree that the 'in hand' look often is better. I believe this is because we tend to wiggle the coins until they look best while when doing formal shots we just flop them down and shoot.

While I love the Baltimore show, I would not drive 8 hours to see it. One dealer that I bought two coins from came from Michigan and there were some high rollers there from the West Coast. Those guys take all this a lot more serious than I do.

 

Thats what makes Long Beach not too enjoyable. Its all big players and dealers with high value inventory. Its like pulling teeth to find the ones with $30-$80 range ancients.

 

This is the first of my Baltimore coins. I shot it with my current rig described here before and with just the new ringlight. I was asked at the show if I recommended setting up an axial lighting rig and said I prefer the ring which gives similar results with less hassle. I show a new coin to send to the friend at the show who asked so you get it, too. The top photo is with directional light and fill from the ring while the bottom is only with the ring. Axial and ring lights have a tendency of wrecking color balance due to glare being a different color than normally reflected light. Of course a feature of the ring is the variable power so you could go for an intermediate result (or twenty) between these two. The coin is an upgrade of the 'terra mariq' I have had for years and explained on my page from 1997.
http://www.forumancientcoins.com/dougsmith/feac38ner.html


For anyone interested, this is the original discussion of my new light toy:
https://www.cointalk.com/threads/a-new-toy-for-photographing-coins.259886/

I should point out that the first images posted were updated and improved (?) later in the thread. That is just the way posting on the Internet works. As soon as you say/post something, you get an idea of how you wish you had done it. I need to wipe clean all my photo posts from the past since so much has been learned since those went up. I even have posts on how to use a scanner type that has not been sold for years. Will I ever stop posting here and go update all that old stuff?

 

Without further ado, here my third coin. G-N attributed this coin incorrectly to Augustus...



For that reason, it did not garner the attention it should have, and the dealer who sold it to me won it at opening bid. He was able to pass it on to me with a respectable profit for himself, while keeping it in my budget. This is not a coin of Augustus, but rather (drum roll please)...

Gaius Caesar, Laodikeia, RPC 2900, SNG Cop. 557.



If you remember your Roman history, Gaius was the oldest son of Agrippa, adopted by Augustus and heir to the throne. Both Gaius and Lucius met untimely deaths, possibly as a result of Livia's (successful) machinations to clear the way for her son, Tiberius.

I found only five examples of this coin on the web. Two others sold by G-N (one posted on Wildwinds), two sold by CNG, and one by NAC. As far as I'm concerned, none of them are anywhere near as nice as this specimen, so for the time being, I'm claiming that I have the finest known example.

Any coins with portraits of Gaius or Lucius are rare. This type does not have the most exciting reverse, but the portrait of the young Gaius on this example is beautiful: well-struck with very little wear. This coin alone was worth the trip to Baltimore.

 

Doug and JA, I love both coins posted...Fantastic Nero and a Terrific Gaius---that's the only clear portrait of Gaius that i can ever recall....excluding the usual example or two that seem forever languishing in a Museum someplace.

I know very little about photography, but I'm still surprised to see that same coin of Nero as being one and the same---one appears to have a thick patina and the other a lighter 'coating' with clearer details...God, I have so much to learn at so many things...but at 64 the clocks running faster and faster all the time LOL

 

That's a wonderful coin! Both photos have their merits, but I prefer the first. Since you mention casual shots in hand, I do the believe the Gaius is better represented in such pictures...

 

I agree JA...and I can easily see why it was attributed incorrectly to Augustus---the resemblance is startling....even considering Agrippa married Augustus' daughter (correct me if I'm wrong) and presumably was the mother of Gaius.... and Lucius

 

Wow, JA... what an incredible score! Congratulations The trip certainly was worth your time.