Curtisimo’s Top 5 of 2020

Nice group, Curtis! I voted for the Kyrene... it's a very pleasing example of a wonderful type. The intriguing Themistokles hemiobol is close second though, for packing so much history in a tiny little coin. One of them is also my want list. For not entirely selfless reasons, I will be hoping 2021 will bring you more coins and more time to indulge our mutual distraction. Your excellent posts are amongst the best we have on CT, and I never fail to enjoy and learn something from them.

 

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Curtis, My favorite by far is the Apollo/Silphium stater ! Despite the well-worn appearance, the coin has a magical glow that exudes from the extinct plant . The follis of Daia from Alexandria would be my 2nd favorite. Not only is the coin larger than most of the Daia coins I've seen, but it has great eye appeal .

 

Still very nice additions @Curtisimo! I also really like the Kyrene didrachm, but that Themistokles hemiobol is very cool too.

 

I am with the crowd and voted for the Caracalla tet (for some reason I like syro-phoenician tets ) and the Sylphium didrachm
Overall, the whole lot is covetable, and even though you didn't collect very much in 2020, you did quite well

Congrats
Q

 

This is my favorite write up for the best of the year, wonderful coins, entertaining and informative post. @Curtisimo Thank you for sharing.

 

Thanks guys. I was pretty excited about the Themistocles. I started paying more attention to these ever since @Severus Alexander posted about the epic deal he got on his example.

The oscracon pieces were one of the highlights of visiting the Athenian Agora. If you ever make it there you can find them in the Stoa museum on your right hand side as you come down from the Acropolis.

The outside of the Stoa colonnade

Inside the colonnade. The museum is through a door to the right.

Here are some more ostrocon found discarded in what I believe was the same silted up well. Note the one in the middle says “Aristides (son of) Lysimachos.” This was from the ostracism of Themistocles rival. Plutarch tells the story of an illiterate country resident who didn’t know what Aristides looked like and by chance asked Aristides to write “Aristides” on the ostracon just before the vote. The honest Athenian did as he was asked and was shortly after ostracized. Perhaps it was even this shard


There is also an upstairs portion with various statues and neat models of the city through time as well as a nice view of the Temple of Hephaestus.

 

I'd better put one of these in the mail to you!!


(Another option would be some good Themistocles historical fiction. I like this one: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1597813.Farewell_Great_King)

My fave is definitely the Themistocles. #2 is the silphium, which I haven't managed to land myself. That's a beautiful example.

I hope we both manage to be present more on the board in 2021, my friend!

My own Themistocles (my tournament coin, as you know, has ended up in the @TIF collection):

(even tinier than your hemiobol, at 0.21g and 5.5mm)

 

Great pics Curtis and looks like a great place to visit, gee wiz I must have turned left when I came down from the Acropolis.

 

Thanks you for the kind words Z. Things are already looking up and I've even started to look more seriously for new acquisitions recently. I've also had more time for the forum the last few months and so I hope that continues. Participation on CT really adds to my enjoyment of the hobby.

Thank you for the very nice compliment about my list. That made my day.

 

Whoa, nice Curtisimo the Great action figure... oh wait that's Themistokles...

I might have to give the book a try.

I do hope so as well. I have missed seeing you on the board. In the time I have been back to posting regularly it seems you have been tied up elsewhere.

If all that intrusive work keeps getting in the way of coin time we're going to have to get it the heck outa here, Sev.

You've apparently got Themistokles to spare! That is a really great example of the Leukippos type which seems from my research to be the rarest and the hardest to get with anything close to a full design on. Nice coin!

I think you zigged when you should have zagged. Thanks for the kind words AA. I have missed travelling this year. I will be looking forward to heading back abroad to more ancient history related destinations next year.

 

Hear hear!! And thanks for the kind words about my Leukippos. (I need to try again to get a decent photo.)

 

I just wanted to follow up here and happily report that my Themistokles hemiobol finally arrived in the mail so the jinx didn’t get me this time.

Also thank you @+VGO.DVCKS , @Bing , @Roman Collector , @hotwheelsearl , @Shea19 , @Nicholas Molinari , @Fugio1 , @David Atherton , @Al Kowsky , @Pavlos , @Cucumbor and @AncientJoe for your kind words and comments on this thread.

As with previous years I will also go ahead and repost my top 5 coins of the year ranked according to my friends at CoinTalk. I always find the order of the voting to be really interesting!

 

Your posts are always so put together and entertaining, Curtis! Thanks also for the indispensable summary post of the year-end lists! I'm just now getting around to viewing them and had to copy the list to a spreadsheet so I could keep track of whose I've viewed and whose still needs a peek!

Here's hoping for a good coin year in 2021 and more CT time (for both of us!).

My two favorites are the Cyrene didrachm and the Themistokles.

 

An excellent list Curtisimo, and I like them all.

 

Thanks @TIF ! I’m glad to see you on the board and I also hope this year will be better than last for coins and hobby time for us both. For me it is already looking up

Thanks for the kind words @thejewk !