I bought 80 unidentified Provincials (with 5 imperials sprinkled in) to get better at identifying them and learning how to recognize them faster. Well, I just got through number 60 and and have 4 more that are essentially done. I have 16 left and I have gotten close to IDing most of them. I don’t consider it done unless it is locked down to a specific person, place and catalog number, if possible. Here is where I am so far. And here are the remaining 16.
I should add, feel free to identify any of the 16 left. I am close to getting most of them, but some of them, I haven’t come up with anything definite yet. Most likely, I will add some to the holes in my provincial collection and then sell most and start the process all over again.
Interesting group of Provincials from a nice range of mints! Are those your hand-written tags? Or are they from the previous collector? (Do you know whose collection they are from?) Personally, one of my favorite things about collecting Provincials is the literature. I consider my coins and books to be the same collection, and Provincials are an area particularly rich in them. There is great research available online, such as RPC Online or the lesser-known ISEGRIM (see below). And many great books about Roman Provincials. One nice general introduction is Kevin Butcher’s (1988) Roman Provincial Coins: An Introduction to the Greek Imperials, if you can find a cheap copy. Slim volume, but packed with valuable information. And many useful published collections. One of the most widely referenced is Henry Clay Lindgren’s (1914-2005) three volume series (1985, 1989, 1993). (See the excellent & detailed Numiswiki entry.) It can take some patience to complete the set, but it's worth it if you enjoy numis lit for its own sake. MY LINDGREN COLLAGE OF ROMAN PROVINCIAL COINS & LITERATURE (I might post this again separately -- just added some new stuff.) Three books (one signed) + several of my “plate coins” from those volumes (ex-Lindgren Collection). Plus related sale catalogs: Malloy XIII (ex-BCD Library Duplicates), where Lindgren purchased some of my coins; catalogs from Antioch Associates (ex-RBW Library), where Lindgren sold several of them. (That’s what I mean when I say sometimes the coins are part of the literature collection!) ISEGRIM: ISEGRIM is a great resource for the Provincials of Asia Minor. (Not a substitute for RPC Online, but a great supplement, and has some types RPC doesn't include.) Many (like me) find it to be an essential resource for Provincials. It's text-only, though, so some don't find it helpful. You have to get used to the interface & how to search. I usually use these URLs: http://isegrim.dasr.de/isegrim_neu/ http://gcam.hhu.de/index.php?page_id=20 Also a downloadable Excel file from Wildwinds. Helvetica / Dane Kurth has continued to add many more coins to the database, and other improvements. More info about all that here: https://www.forumancientcoins.com/numiswiki/view.asp?key=isegrim
Thanks for the info @Curtis . Those are my tags. The picture of the 16 sort of represents how I started. I picked 80 coins out of 2 “unidentified” bowls of coins. I picked coins that I thought had an identifiable portrait or unique enough reverse to identify. I find it easier for me using devices for IDs vs legends. I learned the hard way that having the right/enough letters of the reverse legend is a pretty important piece of the puzzle. I did pick a couple of imperials intentionally and I realized I had a few Greek coins as well (not intentionally, but the octopus, the double capricorns and the bull with the “tree” were too cool to pass up).
Better man than I. I literally have bags of them I bought over the years. I really like them and think they are interesting, just get down to identifying. I keep lying to myself I will do it when I am retired.
