This probably could have gone in the recent Bargain Bin thread, but I didn't have it in hand yet. In any case I thought you all may enjoy seeing a slab which I won't have to crack. At 92.88 delivered I think I did ok. Came also with a TPG photo cert. I pulled it out to measure and weigh - 31.72mm, 4.26g - and examine a bit more closely but haven't attributed - looks to be SB 1942 in Wildwinds This gets to join my Alexius III Angelus-Comnenus, AD 1195-1203 Billon Trachy; 30mm, 3.3g I'd like to see more capital plastic holders for ancients if there are any out there and as always post your trachys or whatever else you wish. -d
WOW @dadams , really nice holder! You can take it out, hold, but have it in a cool protective case. Very nice. Those trachys can be pretty "thick" due their bowl configuration. How "deep is that trachy, and that holder must have some depth to it! I have a trachy, even though I really do not collect this "modern" period in History: BZ Manuel I Comnenus 1143-1180 CE Aspron Trachy 35mm 46g Christ Gospels Labaran globus cruciger Virgin maphorium SB 1966 scyphate
For 92.88 That's a steal. A billon trachy can cost more than half that price. I would have bought it too. Alexius I/ Transitional AR Histamenon Nomisma 1081 to 1082 AD Obvs: ::KЄRO ΛΛЄϞIω IC XC, Christ bearded and nimbate wearing tunic and kolobion. Holds gospels in left hand Revs: ·ΔIMITI ΔϵCΠTH, St. Demetrius standing 3/4 facing presenting labarum to Alexius which holds sword and grasps shaft of labarum. 27x29mm, 4.17g. Thessalonica mint Ref: Sear 1904, DOC 4.1 Alexius III Billon Aspron Trachy 1195 to 1203 AD Obvs: IC XC + KЄ ROHΘЄI, Christ wearing nimbus. Revs: AΛЄЭIω, Alexius and St. Constantine holding globus. 25mm, 3.1g. Constantinople mint Ref: Sear 2012 Andronicus I Billon Aspron trachy 1183 to 1185 AD Constantinople Mint Obvs: MP OV, The Virgin facing on dias, nimbate and wearing pallium and maphorium. She holds infant Christ. Revs: ANΔPONIKOC ΔЄCΠOTHC, Christ on right crowning Andronicus, who holds labarum and globus. 30mm, 3.8g Ref: Sear 1985
I don't have a micrometer to get inside the bowl so I measured a couple spots around the edge and got readings between .55 and .68mm The white sheet of plastic, in between the two clear sheets, is 3/16" thick and the trachy is very tightly sandwiched when the screw posts are tightened down.
That is a nice holder for a coin type that can be broken if forced into tight spaces. I have absolutely no problems with slabs that have access screws.
You did great with that trachy and the holder is really cool too. Can't beat that price at all! Here is one of my recent acquisitions that came from a group lot of about 180 coins. Its tiny at about 10-15mm... Kingdom of Thessalonica: John Comnenus-Ducas (1237-1242) BI Trachy, Thessalonica (CLBC 14.1.4; Jordanov pl. XXXVI, 4-6) Obv: Brockage Rev: Full-length figure of emperor on left, and of Virgin nimbate, holding between them cross within circle, surmounting triangular decoration on long shaft. Emperor wears stemma, divitision, collar-piece and paneled loros of simplified type; holds anexikakia in right hand. Virgin wears tunic and maphorion.
..that is a nice one D, i've yet to have a cup coin though not because of lack of bidding on'em.. very kool slab too!
What a nice coin! You did very well! And a sensible holder, too! Here are a few of my trachea. The second, a very worn Alexius I from Thessalonica, S. 1926, but with the first 2 letters of Χρίστος engraved on the worn obverse, presumably to compensate for the lack of the original type of a seated Christ.
@Quant.Geek - I'm glad that got saved, its pretty cool @Voulgaroktonou - That 1st one is really nice! Yep, I did a nice job on that slab, uh? But, I'm guessing you mean the shot of the Alexius III. I can't take credit for that awesome shot so I give a shout out to @stldanceartist who has taken a number of photographs for me. Benjamin used to shoot my moderns for me, but I'm getting him up to speed on the ancients! Here is about the best I can do myself:
Yeah I did mean the Alexis. That is cool! I always like his photos, had no idea he was, slowly, doing ancients! Thanks!
I have come to the realization that the only way to photograph trachae is to use an indirect light to avoid the glare and to take multiple shots and auto-blend to remove blurry areas. Doug had a great thread on auto-blending a while ago. I use photoshop and its a snap with it as long as you load the set of images as a stack...
I'm not too sure what happened to the 1st instance of this I posted (I wasn't signed-in at the time - when I signed-in, it apparently disappeared) so I apologize if it's a duplicate - however I did add another photo to this version: This Alexius I in a very silvery-colored billon is perhaps the most visually striking (among the billon specimens - not counting gold or electrum) I have: http://www.stoa.org/gallery/album132/13_Alexius_I?full=1 Among the more typically billon-colored, and seldom well-struck trachys, this Manuel I has clear types on both faces as well as a significant legible portion in the reverse legend http://www.stoa.org/gallery/album132/20_Manuel_I?full=1 But I find this among the most interesting - an officially clipped Andronicus I trachy which was cut-down and circulated in Bulgaria: http://www.stoa.org/gallery/album132/B02_Bulgarian_imit_scyphate?full=1
