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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Parthicus, post: 2560324, member: 81887&quot;]I went to the Baltimore coin show today and had a great time.&nbsp; Arrived around 11 AM and left about 3:30 PM, with just a short lunch break.&nbsp; The show seemed pretty well attended, with most of the ancient/world dealers having multiple buyers browsing at once during the morning, with business slowing a bit in the afternoon.&nbsp; Had fun chatting with various dealers while I browsed, particularly Fred Knust of First Light Numismatics, Tom Wood of Ephesus Numismatics, Joe Lang from Stephen Album, and of course Allen Berman.&nbsp; I ended up purchasing 17 (!) coins, at prices ranging from $6 to... more than $6.&nbsp; The majority were ancient, with a few modern (including one colonial American).&nbsp; Of the 17 coins, 16 are bronze/copper and 1 billon, with no silver at all.&nbsp; This wasn&#039;t deliberate, and not due to price (some of these bronzes were not cheap), I guess I am just really learning to appreciate the look of a nicely aged bronze coin.&nbsp; I took some quick group photos of my new acquisitions; they really deserve better photos and individual write-ups, and will probably get those later, but for now I just wanted to give a sense of why I am happy with my day.</p><p><br /></p><p>First up, four Romans (including the billon tetradrachm from Alexandria):</p><p>[ATTACH=full]551696[/ATTACH] </p><p>Next, a mixed bunch.&nbsp; Top row is two Parthian bronzes (notice the huge casting sprue on the left one).&nbsp; Middle is from 11th century Sri Lanka, should be easily attributable to ruler as soon as I bother to look it up as this type normally is very well struck with full and complete legends.&nbsp; The bottom are two Greek bronzes I got unattributed at $6 each.&nbsp; The left is definitely Ptolemaic (but which one?) and the right is probably attributable with a&nbsp; little research:</p><p>[ATTACH=full]551698[/ATTACH] </p><p>Next, two coins that look Roman and Byzantine but aren&#039;t.&nbsp; Left is from the Artuqids of Mardin, and struck about a thousand years after its Roman prototype would have circulated.&nbsp; Right is an Arab-Byzantine issue from Emisa in Syria, c.680- 700 AD, issued by the early Muslim rulers in lands that they had just conquered from the Byzantines, and fairly closely copying the Byzantine coinage that circulated locally, with some minor design changes and added Arabic legends.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]551699[/ATTACH] </p><p>A group of modern(-ish) coins, from Steve Album&#039;s $10 (or 5 for $40) junk box.&nbsp; The weird Byzantine-like one in the middle is apparently from medieval Hungary, possibly King Bela III based on what Joe Lang said.&nbsp; (The only Bela I know is Bela Lugosi, but he was pretty cool, so I guess I&#039;ll enjoy researching this coin.) </p><p>[ATTACH=full]551705[/ATTACH] </p><p>And finally, my one US purchase of the day, a 1773 Virginia halfpenny.&nbsp; This is one of the very few officially struck coins authorized for the British colonies that eventually became the United States of America.&nbsp; Note the &quot;Virgi-nia&quot; at the edges of the reverse that mark this unmistakably as an American coin. This type apparently saw widespread circulation, especially in Virginia and Maryland.&nbsp; At $70, it was practically a steal.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]551710[/ATTACH] </p><p>Hope you enjoyed my recap of my show experience and my numismatic haul.&nbsp; I&#039;d love to hear anyone else&#039;s experience at the show, and especially to see your latest acquisitions.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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