Introduction: New Member

Welcome @Herodotus! First of all you picked a great name, the Histories was one of the first books I read from ancient Greek historians. Second of all, we are here to talk about your addiction if you need to, but I guess everyone is only going to tell you to buy more ancient coins

Nice coin! It will be nice if you become a fellow Seleukid collector, there are not many of them on the forum.

Here is one of my Seleukid elephant coins:


Antiochos III Megas (223 - 187 B.C.) Æ Denomination A. Uncertain military mint 73 associated with Ekbatana, circa 210 B.C.
Obverse: Diademed head of Antiochus III right.
Reverse: BAΣΙΛΕΩΣ ANTIOXΟΥ (“of King Antiochos”). Elephant advancing right; anchor to left, monogram between legs.
Reference: SC 1275c. HGC 9, 469.
16.28g; 25mm
From the E.E. Clain-Stefanelli collection.

 

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Welcome aboard, @Herodotus!

 

Ditto

 

Welcome to the Ancients Forum, @Herodotus ! Seleucid bronzes are my second love as far as ancient coin collecting is concerned, following Judaeans.

 

There is nothing wrong with collecting US coinage, I have over 40 US AV coins/ same for world after 1453 when Mehmet II took down Constantinople. World coinage from 1500-1800 is breathtaking in design, wide varieties. The Holy Roman Empire coinage was magnificent. The modern issues are U-G-L-Y esp. the colored/ superman/ kitch themes
Ancients from early archaic electrum to Imperial Rome are fascinating/ Byzantine have their own style/ medieval are supberb in designs. Even the "Dark Ages" coinage is unique in scope. A pot-purri of diverse coin types/ proving how nice our hobby is...

The difference is that Ancient/ Medieval CT members are more avid in forum discussions. This is a good thing

 

I lurked for almost 2 years before I started posting. Wanted to observe and learn...

I thoroughly enjoy the Roman Republic History, including before coinage, as well as through to the Gracchii Brothers. The Etruria, the Samnite Wars, and Punic Wars were interesting periods of History that truly shaped who the Romans were, and how they grew into a World Empire.

I have several Carthage and Republic Coins for their History:


Carthage-Sardinia 300-264 BCE AE Shekel Tanit Horse Head Palm 18mm 4.8g sprues SNG Cop 173 - no pellet below Left


Here is a Gragulus... (NOT your seller-misattribute...)


RR AR Denarius 3.85g L Antestius Gragulus 136 BCE Rome mint Roma Jupiter quadriga tbolt Cr 238-1 Syd 451

 

Nice to meet you @Herodotus
I’m currently working on putting together a silver Tetradrachm/stater set for all the Seleucid kings. So far I have all but 2 of the rulers in the 200’s BCE
Here are some of them


Antiochus II Theos


Seleucus I Nikator



Seleucus III Kallinikos


Antiochus I Soter

 

Hi Herodotus.

Nice write up. And I can totally relate to your story

Here's my confession:


The good news: you can grow old with your addiction without serious symptoms of withdrawal. Don't fight it, just learn to live with it.

I tried to stop once. Really, I tried. I had 5 Roman Republic denarii and a worn Marcus Aurelius sestertius. Some base copper. That was enough. I had just wanted to feel what an old Roman coin would feel like in my hand, feel what a Roman would have felt if he went about in Rome late at night with a few pieces copper looking for a cup of wine. That's all I wanted. I had achieved that.That was enough. Or so I told myself.
The dialogue with my conscience in which I persuaded myself to stop went something like this:

- ' Is it really a good idea, Dan, spending what little money you have on more coins? Or:
-'Coin collecting, really?? Coins, that's just one step away from stamp collecting, you know that, don't you? Study Russian or even Italian if you must. Or try langlaufen like the Norwegians, they all seem to enjoy it. Try and blend in, you silly foreigner'.

So I toed the line, went about my daily business, played with the kids, even went skiing once or twice...I didn't buy a single coin. I was a model citizen.

Then the inevitable happened. A few months later I came across a tetradrachm from Gela in an auction and I was sold again. (Of course I shouldn't have browsed the catalogue, I know...).
If only someone would have placed a bid I would have been good...really, I would have. But there it was in the post-auction sale, just sitting and looking at me, this friendly man-faced bull with that kind smile. Looking at me, waiting for me, wanting me...

The rest, as they say, is history.

Lysimachos, Alexander, Aspendos, Pergamon, Antigonos Gonatos, with or without countermarks, shiny, black or with a deep green patina, silver, bronze, copper...they all came to my house one by one, and sometimes -oh joy- in pairs, or even threes or fours from Switserland, Germany, Holland and as far as the USA.
As I'm writing this there's even a speck of Ionian electrum that has found its way to my house sitting next to me on my desk...

So, the bad news, Herodotus: yeah, the stepping stone theory is true. In time you'll inevitably turn to the heavier stuff, in my case anything remotely Greek. Lately I have even begun looking at lekythoi and kylikes.
If you have a credit card, you might max out once or twice... Don't fight it, it's inevitable...just enjoy the ride. It's sweet. It's the Ancients!

Welcome.

I can't post a Seleucid elephant for you, becuse I haven't got one yet.
Instead I'll post the coin that led to my fall from grace.


Gela AR tetradrachm. Ca 450-440 BC. 26 mm. 16,86 gr.
Reverse: Forepart of man-headed bull to right.
Obverse:Charioteer driving quadriga; above Nike flying right, crowning horses. Palmette in exergue.

 

Welcome, Herodotus! I'm a relatively new member here myself: I joined on January 29, but already have 236 posts and comments, so, yes, it's addictive!

And I'm also a relatively recent active collector of ancient coins. I bought a few terribly worn LRBs when I was 9 or 10 years old, and then as an adult bought a total of about 8 or 9 Greek and Roman coins over the 30-year period from 1986 though 2015 (while also being a somewhat regular collector of antiquities), but in terms of numismatics primarily collected British coins and historical medals during that period.

I had to sell most of that collection (although I kept the antiquities!), and when I began collecting coins again in 2017 I switched to ancient coins, since I'd always found them interesting even though I hadn't bought many of them over the years. My collection is still tiny compared to many of the members here -- only about 110 ancient coins in total. And I'm always slightly embarrassed to act as if I really know very much or as if I have a decent collection, but it's amazing how much I've managed to learn in just a few years from reading about and looking at images of ancient coins, and even just in the couple of months I've been here. (I'm in awe of the collective knowledge and expertise -- and helpfulness -- of the other members.)

Also, I've found that this is the one place in the world where I can talk about and show off the ancient coins I do have without being concerned that people's eyes are going to glaze over after about 60 seconds! Even my son, an Art History PhD student, has a limited tolerance for the subject. Plus, for whatever reason, it seems to be viewed as somewhat "weird" in general for women to interested in numismatics or to collect coins as a hobby, which creates even more of a disincentive to talk about my interest in the subject. Although I do think perhaps that's less true of ancient coins than other areas of coin collecting, given the substantial overlap with history, archaeology, and art history, all of which are fields in which women are strongly represented.

In any event, here's my one Seleucid coin, which I acquired in the recent Frank Robinson auction:

Syria, Seleucid Empire, Antiochos VIII Epiphanes (Grypon) Tetradrachm, 109-96 BCE Antioch Mint. Obv. Diademed head of Antiochos VIII right / Rev. Zeus Nikephoros seated left on high-backed throne, holding Nike on outstretched right hand and scepter in left, P/E/A to outer left, monogram below throne; BAΣΙΛΕΩΣ ANTIOXOY EΠIΦANOYΣ; all within laurel wreath. Selecuid Coins [SC] Pt. 2, 2309; Seleucid Coins Online [same] (available at http://numismatics.org/sco/id/sc.1.2309); Hoover HGC 9, 1200; Newell SMA 405, SNG Israel 2554-55. 27 mm., 16.2 g.



The coin does not have an elephant on it, of course, but here's a Roman coin with an elephant:

Philip I AR Antoninianus, ca. 247 AD, Rome Mint. Obv. Radiate, draped, & cuirassed bust right, IMP PHILIPPVS AVG/ Rev. Elephant walking left, bearing driver holding goad, AETERNITAS AVGG. RIC IV-3 58, RSC IV 17. 23 mm., 4.2 g.

 

I had little to no interest in Roman coins until I found this website. When I first joined I was most interested in paper money and US coins. After seeing all of the fun and informative discussions on ancient coins, I went ahead and bought an unclead lot in 2016 or 2017.

Most of the coins were trash, but I did end up trading a tiny Byzantine something-or-other for a lunch valued at $13!

In mid-2019 I bought another uncleaned lot, which again was trash - the seller only sent me 12 of the promised 13, and one was actually a 1950s Yugoslavian coin

My first targeted ancient coin purchase was an Ant of Gordian III featuring the Farnese Hercules statue on the reverse. I ended up giving it away for the 2019 Secret Saturnalia.

Then, just two weeks ago I bought a rough Augustus As for $10. Since then I've bought another 10 coins and I'm loving every minute!

 

Oh man, I can see how.

What a nice coin!

 

Welcome! That's a nice coin you have. I focus on the Roman empire, late republic. I don't collect other coins. But elephants can be found everywhere.

 

Thank you.

And good luck collecting

 

Got this for $6 on eBay. Not great condition but I still like it.

Seleukid Kingdom (central Anatolia, Persia, the Levant, Mesopotamia; modern day Kuwait, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Turkmenistan) under Antiochos III; Æ
OBV: Laureate head of Apollo r.
REV: Elephant advancing l.; ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ / ANTIOXOY above and below, upturned anchor to l. Sardis mint.; Æ14; SC 979 & SNGSPAER 615; 223-187BC

 

Very nice to meet you through your great introductory post.

Here is a quadriga of elephants on a Hadrian coin. It is a large Bronze slightly larger than a US half dollar.

 

Welcome, @Herodotus - I enjoyed your introduction & your bottle cap, and you will find on CT others similarly afflicted. For calipers, I can recommend: the one I use, and my scale.
Indo-Greek, Apollodotus I Soter (ca. 174-160 BC), AR square Indic drachm
Obv: ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΑΠΟΛΛΟΔΟΤΟΥ ΣΩΤΗΡΟΣ, elephant right, PK ligate monogram in exergue
Rev: Kharosthi legend Maharajasa Apaladatasa tradarasa, humped bull (zebu) right, monogram in exergue

 

Ave, Herodotus!
I am new as well.....not a huge ancients collector, and definitely know very little, although I am learning. I take bad pictures of my coins and hope to get better.
I have been reading quite a lot....still prefer Imperial Roman coinage, with a few pretty greeks thrown in....I amaze and bore my friends by being able to list all of the emperors for 250 years or so......I like watching their eyes glaze over.....

 

I think, as you move along in collecting ancients, your interest becomes more focused. Seleukid coins, in all of their variety, is a good field to work on.