Covid-19 ...Post a Coin you are waiting on... if you DARE

IMO, Sutherland is worth the price paid. Carson is the first of three volumes. The second and third cover the Principate and Dominate splitting the Empire at Diocletian. It is a sampling of coins including ones you might own and rarities you will never see. Seaby was a five volume standard reference and easy to use to find coins in Cohen order. I do not know Giacosa or the Scandinavian book. That leaves Ryan.

The late John Ryan was a friend of mine in the Washington DC club. He had two main hobbies. The man loved opera and had a large collection of the earliest wax cylinders of operatic greats from the time that a 'record' was limited to a couple minutes before you had to change the thing to the next part and crank the machine. He had complete operas that took (guessing here) 50 changes to hear. His other passion was the coins of the Popes. His intention was to publish his large collection in multiple volumes (3?) but the first released, covering the medieval period, was not a big seller and the last parts never happened. A good part of the reason was that the coins covered were rare and there was a competing book by Berman that covered all Papal (quite a bit more lightly) in one volume. John's book was scholarly overkill considering the number of Papal collectors that were interested in the coins before his 1534 cutoff date. His proposed Modern volume would have done better.

Many of the early coins of the Popes were so obscure that I had to keep asking him which side was up when I was taking the photos for the book. I knew nothing about the coins and, at that time, did not collect anything as late as the first Papal issues. I did the photos as a favor (for free) and gave him the negatives. My name is on page 4. The photos are not great.

You got 'a deal'!

 

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I am happy to report that all of my overseas purchases have safely arrived (8 coins, one book):


I have had 2 domestic coins arrive safely, and am waiting on a further 3 (which I doubt have shipped yet - I won them from an auction which has lately been a bit slow when it comes to shipping). The overseas purchases have been a bit nerve wracking, as tracking them has stopped once they entered the US, so I think may forgo foreign purchases for a while until things improve.

 

Next monday, I'll travel to the south of the Netherlands to buy this Ambiani AV stater. This part of the Netherlands was hit hard by COVID19, so it took nearly three months between agreement of the deal and the actual appointment ...

This is a rather poor photo of the coin. It's not in great condition, and the price is somewhat high given the condition. However, it's a rare (there are only ~35 in ACsearch and Sixbid combined over the last 20 years) and popular large flan AV stater ... what's not to like?

 

I recently purchased these two coins headed south from our neighbor to the north, Canada... Winnipeg to be exact.

Otacilia Severa, Concordia, sestertius


Diocletian, Sacra Monet, Aquileia


I think they'll "clean up" and look better when I get them out from behind the cellophane windows.

 

The last coin that I was waiting on arrived. I'll post a write-up soon:


Ferrara. Ercole I d'Este (1471-1505). Testone or Idra

 

WOW! That reverse is fantastic, I love the design!

 

Latest purchase.. looking forward to having this large follis in hand!



Maximianus (286-305). Æ Follis (28mm, 8.38g, 12h). Cyzicus, 295-6. Laureate head r. R/ Genius standing l., holding patera from which liquor flows and cornucopiae; KЄ in exergue. RIC VI 10b.

 

Nice to hear one of these books has a "Doug Connection" - I have a few Papal coins, which I enjoy, but they do get very confusing pre-1800, at least for me. And yes, those really early ones are hard to tell which side is up.

I'm looking forward to going through your friend's book (and your photos).

No, these books are still not here yet...the Post Office is walking them to me, apparently. It seems a bit odd how the PO sometimes sends stuff from the south of me to a state to the north of me, then back down south to me. Really, I'm pretty sure the delivery truck drove right past me on I-69 on the way north...

 

These two should be arriving today but the post says to expect delays, so perhaps not until Monday

Constantius I as Caesar; 293-305 AD, Aquileia, c. 301 AD, Follis, 8.84g. RIC-32a (C2), officina Γ=3. Obv: CONSTANTIVS NOB CAES Head laureate r. Rx: SACRA MONET AVGG ET CAESS NOSTR Moneta standing l. holding scales and cornucopia, V in r. field, AQΓ in exergue..


Aurelian; 270-275 AD, Siscia, 274-5 AD, Antoninianus, 4.00g. Göbl-251c3 (3 spec.), RIC-254, C-153. Obv: IMP C AVRELIANVS AVG Bust radiate, cuirassed r., seen from front, "tassle" formed of pellets on l. shoulder. Rx: ORI - ENS AVG Sol advancing l. between two captives, raising r. hand and holding globe in l.; T in exergue (officina 3)..

 

I ordered a coin from Europe in late March and told the dealer not to ship until it was safe. Dealer shipped last week. This delaer had a few losses and very slow deliveries in the interim, so I was perfectly happy with the delay. I'm not going to post it and tempt fate.

 

I ordered a coin from Germany in late June, and paid extra for DHL shipping. Which has worked wonderfully for me in the past, resulting in delivery within a few days from England, Spain, and Belgium, just as Federal Express has worked well for me from France. So what did DHL do? They got the package from Germany to New York City within a few days, but instead of delivering it directly to me, they delivered it to the US Post Office! It has now been languishing in customs for the last two weeks. What was even the point? The dealer claims that it had "no control" over what DHL did. In other words, they wash their hands of it.

 

Sadly I believe the USPS is under assault from some dubious actors, and delays and unreliability are forced upon it to erode our confidence in its abilities. While frustrating, I remind myself this should hopefully only be a temporary inconvenience and not fall for the trap being laid to be angry at the USPS and shift business to private carriers when the issues are outside their control.

 

Write-up written: https://www.cointalk.com/threads/two-classicizing-renaissance-rarities.363713/