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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Al Kowsky, post: 8264487, member: 97383&quot;]One of the most enjoyable &amp; satisfying aspects&#039; of collecting ancient coins is doing the <b>research </b>on them, not only after you acquire them but <u>before</u> you acquire them too <img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie2" alt=";)" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" />. The computer age has made this much easier than it used to be. There are so many websites with valuable info today that cost nothing to use &amp; can be downloaded at no expense. Many computer savvy <b>CT </b>members &amp; dealers have built impressive websites to share their collections &amp; stock, &amp; this has been beneficial to the growth of our hobby. I&#039;d like to build a website too after getting a new computer &amp; better software.</p><p><br /></p><p>Several years ago I won an interesting &quot;sleeper&quot; at auction that turned out to be a real challenge to attribute. I immediately recognized the obverse of this coin as a rare type.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1457959[/ATTACH]</p><p><b>SYRIA. Antioch. Philip II as Caesar (AD 247-249). BI Tetradrachm (26 mm, 6 h). NGC AU. AD 249. Prieur-. McAlee-, 1027A (eagle right).</b></p><p>Not satisfied with this attribution, I did an exhaustive search to find another example of this coin type with no luck. On March 15th I remembered that Richard McAlee wrote two supplements to his book: <b>The Coins of Roman Antioch, 2007; Supplement No. 1, 2010, &amp; Supplement No. 2, 2020. </b>Much to my delight I found a coin in Supplement No. 2 that looked like my coin <img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie101" alt=":woot:" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" />!</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1457962[/ATTACH]</p><p><b>ROMAN-SYRIA, Antioch. Philip II as Caesar, AD 244-249 (struck AD 247). Billon Tetradrachm: 11.54 gm, 27.07 mm, 6 h. McAlee 1021A. VCoins, Marc R. Breitsprecher, September 2018. Extremely Rare.</b></p><p>The photo in Supplement No. 2 was small &amp; the details were difficult to discern <img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie5" alt=":confused:" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" />. So I went to Marc&#039;s website hoping to find a better photo, &amp; much to my surprise he still had the same coin for sale only it had been attributed as <b>Prieur 395 type (radiate) <img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie12" alt="o_O" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" />. </b>I sent Marc an email with the correct attribution &amp; he admitted that he missed the publication of McAlee&#039;s Supplement No. 2, &amp; did change the listing on his coin. As it turned out our coins are a double die match <img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie57" alt=":jawdrop:" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" />!</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1457966[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=full]1457967[/ATTACH]</p><p>The obverse of my coin has less die wear but the reverses look very close in regards to die wear. Marc wrote back to me that he also did a search for another example of this coin type but couldn&#039;t find another example. At this point in time, we have the only known examples of this coin type, &amp; the label &quot;Extremely Rare&quot; is still justified <img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie50" alt=":happy:" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" />. I&#039;ve spent countless hours trying to attribute rare &amp; unusual coins without success, this time the effort paid-off <img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie6" alt=":cool:" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" />. If any <b>CT </b>member should stumble on another of this coin type, I&#039;d be thankful if you would share that info with me <img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie59" alt=":joyful:" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" />.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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