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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Ignoramus Maximus, post: 4259035, member: 104741&quot;]Hi Herodotus.</p><p><br /></p><p>Nice write up. And I can totally relate to your story<img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie1" alt=":)" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p>Here&#039;s my confession:</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>The good news: you can grow old with your addiction without serious symptoms of withdrawal. Don&#039;t fight it, just learn to live with it.</p><p><br /></p><p>&nbsp;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&#039;s all I wanted. I had achieved that.That was enough. Or so I told myself.</p><p>The dialogue with my conscience in which I persuaded myself to stop went something like this:</p><p><br /></p><p>&nbsp;- &#039; Is it really a good idea, Dan, spending what little money you have on more coins? Or: </p><p>-&#039;Coin collecting, really?? Coins, that&#039;s just one step away from stamp collecting, you know that, don&#039;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&#039;. </p><p><br /></p><p>So I toed the line, went about my daily business, played with the kids, even went skiing once or twice...I didn&#039;t buy a single coin. I was a model citizen.</p><p><br /></p><p>&nbsp;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&#039;t have browsed the catalogue, I know...). </p><p>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...</p><p><br /></p><p>The rest, as they say, is history.</p><p><br /></p><p>&nbsp;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.</p><p>As I&#039;m writing this there&#039;s even a speck of Ionian electrum that has found its way to my house sitting next to me on my desk...</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;So, the bad news, Herodotus: yeah, the stepping stone theory is true. In time you&#039;ll inevitably turn to the heavier stuff, in my case anything remotely Greek. Lately I have even begun looking at lekythoi and kylikes. </p><p>If you have a credit card, you might max out once or twice... Don&#039;t fight it, it&#039;s inevitable...just enjoy the ride. It&#039;s sweet. It&#039;s the Ancients!</p><p><br /></p><p>Welcome.</p><p><br /></p><p>I can&#039;t post a Seleucid elephant for you, becuse I haven&#039;t got one yet.</p><p>Instead I&#039;ll post the coin that led to my fall from grace. </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Gela AR tetradrachm. Ca 450-440 BC. 26 mm. 16,86 gr.</p><p>Reverse: Forepart of man-headed bull to right.</p><p>Obverse:Charioteer driving quadriga; above Nike flying right, crowning horses. Palmette in exergue.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1085690[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=full]1085690[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=full]1085694[/ATTACH][/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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