Great topic @jamesicus ! I consider myself a generalist but I do have a few vague sub-collections that I try to buy interesting coins in. 1. Nerva-Antonines in Imperial silver 2. Peloponnesian War Coins 3. Places I have visited
I collect whatever catches my eye or captures my imagination. Looking over my collection, it seems that means Roman provincials and Greeks . Coins of Roman Egypt have been a big draw for several years now although lately I've been picking up other things, in part due to competition. With interesting provincials I'm not picky about condition, although of course high grade are always appreciated and welcomed if I can afford them. With Greek coins, especially silver, I prefer higher grade. Perhaps that's because for Greek coins I'm drawn by beauty and artistry and for provincials it's the unusual reverses that beguile.
I enjoy collecting Coins of: - Roman Republic - Roman Republic pre-denarii - Central Italia - Carthage - Diodachi / Alexandrine - Etruria - Ancient China - Coins from Ancient Critical Junctures in Human History - Have around 145 of the Roman Rulers, but that is for teaching / creating interest with my Grandkids. I really do not "collect" them. - Interesting new target may be CELTIC coins - I collect Cool Coins that just "grab" me - Royal Egyptian Scarabae (stay away, @TIF ) Etruria Populonia AR 5 Asses 3rd C BCE 2.0g Young Hd L V behind HN 173 Vecchi Rasna III 52 Vecchi Etruscan 91.6 ex NAC 29 No 9 RARE Carthage Zeugitana 310-270 BCE EL Dekadrachm-Stater 18.5mm 7.27g Tanit Horse 3 pellets in ex MAA 12 SNG COP 136
LOL, and THAT just cost me a mouthful of pizza! And if you see the blank reverse, that was the ancient censors not allowing us to see 5 nekkid asses...
I am a generalist and collect both Greek and Roman coins. Compared to many my collection is rather small with about 300 Greek and about 340 Roman coins. However I do have a few small sub collections. Some civic coinages I find interesting and therefore I tend to concentrate my purchases on these mints. These mints would include Metapontion, Taras, Syracuse and Athens. I am interested in the coinage of Alexander III as well as his father so I do try to buy them as I see ones that interest me. I have always liked portraits so I tend to have a number of Seleukid coins. With my Roman collection I tend to buy coins that I find interesting rather than simply rare. Thus I tend to have rather more coins of emperors whose coins I find interesting than those whom I do not. Thus I have more coins of Augustus, Trajan and Hadrian than I do of emperors like Gordian III, Aurelian or Constantine I. Okay a few new coins. Av Double Daric Obv. Great King in running kneeling stance. Rv. Wave patterned incuse design 323-317 B.C. Monograms are similar to an issue of Attic tetradrachms of Philip III 16.69 grms 14 mm As part of the Alexandrine issues for the eastern part of the empire These unusual coins don't fit in the grand imperial scheme. But yet they exist along with the "lion" tetradrachms and the Mazakes "Athenian" tetradrachms Denarius of Vespasian 79 A.D. RIC 1058 Rv Capricorn facing left over globe. 3.43 grms 19 mm. Even this late in his reign Vespasian still sees the need to link himself with the founder of the Julio-Claudian dynasty Augustus.
Hey! That's actually my coin now. . I bought it in one of JA's auctions. Lots of things to love about that coin. All of those are amazing coins, but that prutah is absolutely unbeatable. This one is my favorite. Something about Vespasian Capricorn coins kinda does it for me. As for my themes, within ancient coins, I'm actively collecting a few things: Denarii of Antoninus Pius, by RIC number and unpublished. Denarii of the Twelve Caesars. Historically and/or numismatically important coins: owl tetradrachmae, "widow's mites", legionary denarii, tribute penny, coins featuring well known historical figures (Brutus, Cleopatra VII, Marc Antony, etc.), and other stuff along those lines. Other "random" coins, to help give my collection a broad numismatic overview :Indian, Chinese, other Roman coins, very old coins (5th century BC and earlier), proto-money, and coins that are interesting for other reasons (e.g. my Ptolemy octobol). Here are a few examples of some of those: This is from a CNG catalog from 1999. Turns out I was able to pay the same price after inflation as this sale almost 20 years ago. RIC 1a, issued in the first few weeks of Antoninus Pius's reign, before the deification of Hadrian. Ptolemy II AE chonker octobol, 94.14g.
I love it all, including ancient and modern numismatics, but I came to a realization many years ago that I could not and would never be able to afford to collect everything and have a meaningful collection. One could argue that a sample of everything is meaningful, but researching and knowing enough to make smart purchases takes a lot of time, more time than I’m willing to spend. So around 30 years ago I sold my US and British collections to fund and focus solely on ancients. About 10 years ago, I sold my Roman Imperial coins to focus solely on Roman Republican coins. I have further specialized in the early anonymous (with and without symbols) coins of the denarius system. Lately, I’ve felt like I’ve specialized too much, so I’m expanding to later Roman Republican silver and also, coins of the Roman Imperial tetrarchy of the late 2nd, early 3rd century, a series of which I was very fond of before I sold my Imperial collection. I’ve recently even placed unsuccessful bids on really nice Imperial denarii, rationalizing that they kind of fit in with my “origin of the denarius” theme. Here are a few representations from my years of changing themes - A Set of early anonymous coins from my primary focus area (Origin of the denarius) A nice portrait denarius of Macrinus ("portraits of emperors" theme) Halfpenny of William III (British Halfpennies) Finally, a portrait of my early US Copper collection (early 1980's)