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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;John Anthony, post: 8067130, member: 42773&quot;]A phenomenal set of coins, and your photography is excellent. </p><p><br /></p><p>My #1 is the Arabian tet, for its rarity and distinctive style. I have a special place in my heart for imitative issues rendered with unusual style, and that Roma write-up is worth reading for the historical context. Thanks for linking it.</p><p><br /></p><p>#2 is the transitional owl because you can see Athena&#039;s snout becoming shorter and more lifelike but it isn&#039;t quite there yet. I haven&#039;t seen a better example of the type.</p><p><br /></p><p>#3 is the argenteus. Everyone has commented on its toning, which is beautiful to be sure. But toning is only skin deep. The real virtue of that coin is the strike and preservation. The coin obviously came from brand new dies, it never circulated, and it was lovingly preserved by collectors through the centuries. (Perhaps it was a presentation piece?) Also, if the flans on these issues were any thinner, it wouldn&#039;t be possible to get a reverse design at all - they&#039;re almost bracteate-thin. To have so much fully struck-up detail on that example alone puts it into<i> fleur de coin</i> territory. The toning is icing on the cake.</p><p><br /></p><p>Now that&#039;s if I were forced to pick three coins. I could go on and on about the virtues of the others as well, and tomorrow I could just as easily pick three different ones.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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