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<p>[QUOTE="Andrew McCabe, post: 3717004, member: 90666"]Mine is reducing in size, from about 2000 in the late 2000s to about 700 now. I'm constantly selling 5 (hint: tomorrow there's 75 on the block at my usual outlet venue) and buying 1, and that recycling has been going on for years. Yes there is a limit. I have observed that below 300 denarii, collections of Roman Republican coins lose their cohesiveness as they miss too many of the key types. I currently have about 400 silver but also have 250 bronzes and 50 aes grave, so frankly I'm trending close to my lower limit, which is probably around 350 silver, 200 bronze and 50 aes grave or gold, i.e. 600 in total. In practice there's probably less that I can afford to shed, as by now the types that would be easiest to shed without affecting cohesiveness are likely either among the best condition or the best provenanced of what remains. So am bumping down into the limit. In practice, once I'm at that ideal collection size, continuing to collect will get very difficult as additions or replacements tend to get very expensive for me now, beyond means of my limited pension (I've really relied on sales to generate enough to keep upgrading). </p><p><br /></p><p>As an example of a coin that's not really needed for cohesiveness, consider this Baebia Tamphilus denarius: it's a Dioscuri type with a family-name monogram and since there's about 100 different types that could be described as "Dioscuri with a family-name monogram", one more or less wouldn't make a difference to my collection:</p><p>[ATTACH=full]996363[/ATTACH] </p><p>But what does make a difference is its provenance:</p><p><br /></p><p>Stack's 14th Jun.1971 lot 88 with ticket ($60) </p><p>ex Cahn-Hess (17 Jul.1933) lot 346 Haeberlin coll. </p><p>= Banti Baebia 1/3 (this coin) </p><p>= Cohen 1857 pl.VII Baebia 1 (this coin) </p><p>= Babelon 1885 p.250 Baebia 1 (this coin) </p><p><br /></p><p>So I need that illustrious provenance stream even though I don't really need the coin type!</p><p><br /></p><p>Hence: in concept, a limit of 600 coins for an all-metals Roman Republican collection, that is not aiming to be comprehensive, makes sense. In practice, one needs more coins to accommodate this sort of piece![/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>
[QUOTE="Andrew McCabe, post: 3717004, member: 90666"]Mine is reducing in size, from about 2000 in the late 2000s to about 700 now. I'm constantly selling 5 (hint: tomorrow there's 75 on the block at my usual outlet venue) and buying 1, and that recycling has been going on for years. Yes there is a limit. I have observed that below 300 denarii, collections of Roman Republican coins lose their cohesiveness as they miss too many of the key types. I currently have about 400 silver but also have 250 bronzes and 50 aes grave, so frankly I'm trending close to my lower limit, which is probably around 350 silver, 200 bronze and 50 aes grave or gold, i.e. 600 in total. In practice there's probably less that I can afford to shed, as by now the types that would be easiest to shed without affecting cohesiveness are likely either among the best condition or the best provenanced of what remains. So am bumping down into the limit. In practice, once I'm at that ideal collection size, continuing to collect will get very difficult as additions or replacements tend to get very expensive for me now, beyond means of my limited pension (I've really relied on sales to generate enough to keep upgrading). As an example of a coin that's not really needed for cohesiveness, consider this Baebia Tamphilus denarius: it's a Dioscuri type with a family-name monogram and since there's about 100 different types that could be described as "Dioscuri with a family-name monogram", one more or less wouldn't make a difference to my collection: [ATTACH=full]996363[/ATTACH] But what does make a difference is its provenance: Stack's 14th Jun.1971 lot 88 with ticket ($60) ex Cahn-Hess (17 Jul.1933) lot 346 Haeberlin coll. = Banti Baebia 1/3 (this coin) = Cohen 1857 pl.VII Baebia 1 (this coin) = Babelon 1885 p.250 Baebia 1 (this coin) So I need that illustrious provenance stream even though I don't really need the coin type! Hence: in concept, a limit of 600 coins for an all-metals Roman Republican collection, that is not aiming to be comprehensive, makes sense. In practice, one needs more coins to accommodate this sort of piece![/QUOTE]
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