I used to pick up a deal - well just because its a deal. Probably a common trend for new collectors. As the years have gone on I have become more selective in my purchases (still not perfect - but doing better managing my small budget!). However these two are different... These aren't just "deals" to me .. they are important parts that fill holes in my little collection. Types that I've really wanted but thought I'd have to wait much longer and pay much more. These are lower end examples for sure (!) - and I am completely good with that. For $75 combined I am super excited to fill two big wants... great feeling! Campania, Cales, c. 265-240 BC. Æ (20mm, 5.51g, 6h). Laureate head of Apollo l.; shield behind. R/ Man-headed bull walking r., crowned by Nike flying above. Ya - super rough I know ... but I love it - very cool! Always have been fascinated with the river-god Achelous and the "man faced bull" - amazing! Better examples are very expensive - this does it for me! ------------- *The next one was sold as "Constantius I (Caesar, 293-305). Æ Follis (29mm, 10.52g, 12h). Heraclea, 296-7. Laureate head r. R/ Genius standing l., holding patera and cornucopia; HTΓ." But it's pretty obvious to see that this is actually Constantius I as AUGUSTUS... a little more rare as he was only Augustus for about 14 months. This coin fills a nice hole as I build my Tetrarchy collection of larger folles.. Not bad!! Please show your deals that are important to you!
These two pieces I bought from Glenn Schinke at the 2001 ANA in Atlanta. $75 ea. These two pieces along with Glenn's guidance started me on a journey collecting Early Dated (pre 1501 A.D.) coins. Haven't looked back since. Recently Medieval coins are characterized as Ancient coins, that is why I posted them here.
Great thread @Clavdivs . Both of your new examples are great but your man-faced-bull in particular is nicer than you give it credit for. Great value purchases that anyone would be happy to have. Below are 3 lower cost coins that are all interesting and important for me for different reasons. All were under $50. Ancient Rodeo This coin shows the ancient equivalent of a rodeo action scene. Athletic events on coins are interesting to me. This was also one of my best ever all around deals. Ex BCD and Zumbly. Humble Coin with Provenance There is something just enjoyable about a humble coin with a long provenance. This coin was sold in WWII Munich. It’s also my only Antioch denarius. Ex AMCC and Arnoldoe Collection as well! Doug Smith Website “Plate” Coin This was a fantastic pick up from a mint I did not have. The biggest draw in adding this to my ex-CTer sub-collection was it being illustrated on Doug’s website. This is another one of the best deals I’ve ever gotten on a coin so I hope Doug doesn’t regret letting it go too much... it’s in a good home.
I consider this coin the best deal of 2021. For 2 main reasons - the price was low and I wanted an example for a few months. Of course, there are a lot of better preserved specimens Column denarii (and bronzes) but I am happy with this, especially since I wasn't expecting to win it. RIC II Trajan 292 IMP TRAIANO AVG GER DAC P M TR P COS VI P P, bust of Trajan, laureate, draped, right / S P Q R OPTIMO PRINCIPI, Column of Trajan surmounted with a statue of Trajan; two eagles at base and a wreath with spirals and dots on column I find nothing wrong with lower grade coins, as long as they can be precisely identified, and of course if the price is decent.
It was time to add some more Roman ladies to my collection, they were not expensive , certainly in this crazy coin market:
Probably my favorite cheap pickup of the year is this one. I've always heard of antoniniani that were silvered with a SHINY alloy, but never seen one in person. For $8, this was a deal and a half.
Nice coins,@Clavdivs. I like the Cales a lot. Congratulations! I picked up the coin below earlier this year. I've always been interested in the early coinage from Cilicia in general and Tarsos in particular. A confluence of different peoples, cultures and religions. Also, a beautiful and intriguing blend of Greek, Persian and local iconography on their coins. But, also, rare, often expensive, and difficult to come by. So more of a hypothetical interest for the 'one day, perhaps'... collection. Fast forward to this spring. Auction, a new auction house. For some reason, bidding was less than lackluster (probably people being wary of yet another obscure auction house). Out of curiosity I had the coin on my watchlist, but I knew I'd never had a chance to get it. While waiting for another coin the lot came up. One or two bids. Then nothing. Instinctively, I hit the button. Well, you can guess the rest. I got it.. at a shamefully low bid. So, here's my first Cilician stater. I love it to bits: ( After the auction I checked all the online records for the last 20 years or so and found no more than 7 or 8 specimens (including several die-matches, so the issue probably was small to begin with), so I'm really over the moon to have gotten it. And, although it has its obvious flaws, it is definitely one of the nicer ones out there!) All good things are contagious. If you look at my avatar, you'll see a second stater I recently got as a companion for the first. Between them, it's hopefully enough to spark off a nice collection...
This coin is my oldest Roman struck bronze, and it cost me about $50, which for me was a steal. I was a little worried that some of the bright green on it was bronze disease but it seemed small enough that even if it was, it was worth the risk. Thankfully, it's all hard green mineral deposits of some kind. Roman Republic Æ double litra or semuncia(12.95g, 25mm, 6h), anonymous, after 264 B.C., mint in Southern Italy. Female head right, hair bound with ribbon / Lion advancing right with spear in mouth, in exergue, ROMANO. Crawford 16/1a; Sydenham 5; HN Italy 276
In truth, I sold a few coins that I probably would not have had I though about it but I had (and still have) too many coins in some areas. I do not consider being 'ex. Doug Smith' anything special at all (possibly because I still have 3k coins that can claim that label). As far a cheap pickups go, I have absolutely no use for coins that have nothing going for them other than they cost a lot of money. That may be why I have so few high grade coins. On the other hand, coins that hold some special interest to me for some reason don't have to cost much to be wanted and unlikely to be 'weeded' in the next round. Most coins that I own that fall in that category have been shown here to the point that everyone was tired of seeing them before their first appearance. I do value coins with provenance NOT to 'great' collections founded by rich collectors but from 'not so great' collections of people I respect for their personal contribution to either the hobby or society in general. Certainly that would include a Parthian coin that is ex. Fred Shore and anything ex. Elvira Clain-Stefanelli. I accidently sold a couple of LRB's that were ex. Bavarian Collection that came to me via Victor Failmezger but the coins were just plain ugly and I forgot to check (poor paperwork skill). My most valued items are the Severan coins ex. Roger Bickford-Smith who collected Septimius before I had more than a couple but went on to form an important collection that would have made a great book had he lived to write it. Since we should always show a coin photo, I'll select my Magnentius overstruck on Constantine II that is not special so much beyond it being accompanied by a David Sear certificate dated 1976. He never owned the coin but there is something about that association that gains value with time. Mine is numbered 2036. Does anyone know if he started with 0001? I would have bought this coin even if it were in a recent slab but do wish NGC coins came with the autograph of the 'grader'. Do David and Barry autograph slabs? How many of you own a coin that has a connection to someone who has a Wikipedia page? How many WIKI-recognized people can you name? Let's see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruce_McNall - not for being a coin dealer https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Quincy_Adams - He collected coins but WIKI remembers him for other accomplishments. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elvira_Clain-Stefanelli - Finally one who gets coins mentioned! https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.ph...cial:Search&profile=advanced&fulltext=1&ns0=1 - None is I. I should have played football. I know more but perhaps you get the idea. Collecting coins is not an easy ticket to fame.
..or hockey...or jockey....sports newscaster even..but you are a giant amongst us here(and other coin places too) Doug and we hold you in high esteem...
I recently got this khosrau I for $45 (CAD.. like 35 USD) and I love it. I never was really interested in sassanian coins before this but now I totally am! Happier with this than I have been with $1000 purchases before. I'm definitely trying to be more selective with my buys like you say. You need patience with this hobby... I know sometimes I get in 'I need a new coin right now' mood and buy something overpriced. I don't recommend doing that, lol.
Your post sent me to look at my coins of Khusru I only to find that one I bought in 2018 was the same as one I bought in 2010 down to mint and year even though they were said to be different by the two different sellers. Except, perhaps, to specialists, many Sasanian drachms are made desirable or not by strike more than wear. There is also the matter of style which is quite different for most of the many mints. Between the two, it is often hard to see the reverse figures clearly but what I tend to seek are coins with mints and dates I think I can read. I still don't know whether my coins are Meshan or Mirbud year 13 but one of them is going into my disposal pile. Not long ago I found a similar duplication and gave away the spare. I'm not sure I have enough brain cells left to collect Sasanian by mint. Yours is a rather nice example with weaknesses in acceptable places. Have you identified it yet? I assume you know about this site: http://grifterrec.rasmir.com/sasania/sasanian.html http://grifterrec.rasmir.com/sasania/sas_khuI_1.html (3 pages) http://grifterrec.rasmir.com/sasania/sas_mint/sas_mint_table.html http://grifterrec.rasmir.com/sasania/sas_mint/dp/sas_date_table.html Hint: The language was written right to left BUT they expressed, for example, 47 as 'seven and forty' so the dates get doubly confusing. All those pages and I still can't read all my coins (or yours) with any certainty. I do wish they had used something easy like Greek! At least the Greeks printed instead of using cursive.
This coin is one of my rarest this year -- Maximianus with heroic nude bust right, and drapery over shoulders... it is also my cheapest. Maximianus A.D. 289- 290 22mm 3.9g IMP C M A VAL MAXIMIANVS P F AVG; heroic nude bust right, with drapery over shoulders. CONSERVATOR AVGG; Maximianus holding sceptre, and Hercules, leaning on club; standing face to face, sacrificing at altar; B in right field In ex. XXIKOY RIC V Siscia 580 part of the Coded series from Siscia http://www.constantinethegreatcoins.com/CONSERVATOR/
This bad boy here from AMCC3. One of my grail coins. It makes no difference to me that it’s a fouree. I now have the Shekel of Tire, Tribute Penny and Widow’s Mite all in AE. Boo yeah! Erin
Thanks for the insight! I'm afraid to say I've just been taking the dealers word for it thus far... though I know that can leads to errors. I can make out a lot of what roman coins say, but no those scribbles don't mean anything to me yet
While my set is a mix of the heads and busts, I have no heroics for either of the two Augusti. I wonder if the rest of the set is out there in heroic. I have, however, made a small attempt to assemble the set with all three placements of the officina letter. You show the B in right field but they also are found with the B at the start and middle of the exergue. If we allow for three portraits, three officina positions, three officina and two rulers we get 54 coins needed for a set (assuming all exist) not counting any error coins (of which I only have one type so far - the Maximianus with head and officina three with AI for 'lambda I'. I doubt anyone has even tried for the set.
I would be surprised to see this bust type for Diocletian, as I would assume it was only for Maximianus, since he was affiliated with Hercules.
This is an interesting question. I think I have at least 2 but one I haven’t photographed yet so I’ll stick with one that probably most people who collect Roman provincials can claim: Giovanni Dattari. https://de.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giovanni_Dattari Above I showed a few coins that are sub-$50 and special to me in some way. Now I’ll show a few coins that were less than $25. The Only Woman to Sole-Rule the Roman Empire? This coin is evidence through the style and titulature that Severina was considered sole-ruler at Antioch after her husbands death in the period leading up to the senate choosing his replacement. How’s that for cool history on a budget? The Restorer of the World Few people deserved this title as much as Aurelian. This coin type is a reminder of how much he did in just 5 short years to stabilize and rebuild a crumbling empire. Medieval India This my only coin in this collecting area. It was a fun insentive to do some studying and expand my knowledge in this area of history.
Kind of off topic, but the mention of severina reminded me of this hilarious series on youtube about roman history all the way from the republic into byzantines times, not 100% accurate but definitely entertaining.
