My Top 10 Favorite Ancients

How do you prove the fingerprint is ancient or from a cleaner?

How about a tooth mark?

 

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Wouldnt know about the fingerprint but the tooth mark is cool.

 

That is a beautiful coin!

But I gotta say, I'm surprised that your favorite emperor is Nerva! What is it in particular about him?

 

Actually it's gallienus who is my favorite male emperor of Rome. Nerva was just referring to my favorite male portrait on the coins I own.

 

In defense of Nerva: He was not in power very long so we can't expect a varied and interesting coinage like we have from Gallienus. However, considering his short time, there are some different reverses and even some restorations from the past so his coins are not boring. Add to that the fact that the man had that nose and you get a decent coinage for those willing to collect more than 12 Caesars. If Suetonius had written his book about 13 instead of 12, coins of Nerva would be twice as popular and expensive as they are now.


My Nerva favorites could be higher grade but I still like them.

 

Beautiful coins doug, lovely patina on both.

As for Nerva & cost, he is still a fairly expensive emperor when you consider how much cheaper Vespasian, Trajan and the others are. Rarely do I see one under $70 & thats for a low grade.

 

#3 This was the third ancient I ever purchased. What attracted to me to it was the angry portrait. At the time I didnt know it was how he usually looked in his adulthood coins, lol. But if you refer to my #7 coin, you can see I was just building a set of Septimius Severus family members.



Caracalla (198 - 217 A.D.)
AR Denarius
O: ANTONINVS PIVS AVG GERM, Laureate head right.
R: P M TR P XVII COS IIII P P, Apollo seated left, branch in right and resting left elbow on lyre set on tripod.
RIC IV 238A, RSC 242
3.31g
19.6mm

 

Caracalla is one of my favorite emperors, to learn about and this is one of my favorites of you coins.

 

I think you hit the nail on the head right there Randy. I find too many collectors just attracted to the coins and how much they are worth. I simply cannot comprehend why people would collect little bits of old metal without taking the time to learn the history surrounding them.

With Roman coins its easy, we have so much of their literature. For other cultures, its harder, but at the very least we can learn more about the culture and city if we don't know much about who struck the coin.

Nice coin Mat, very attractive portrait. I can see why you were attracted to it.

Btw Randy, did you know your information lists you are "northan" Arizona? Is that somewhere down by Tucson?

 

more northan (northern) than that

 

#2 This was one of those coins I knew something was unique when I first saw it. At the time though I didn't really pay attention other then it was a lifetime issue with a high price tag. After several months of price changes from the dealer I just clicked on it one day and viewed the photo a bit better. One thing that stuck out was the peacock on the reverse being on the seat of the throne instead of underneath. I made an offer on the coin and it was accepted. Once I got it in hand I researched it a bit more and after awhile & some other collectors help, my suspicions were correct in that its pretty rare due to the reverse.

So it seems this may be the only type in a private collection while the others are in museums. Im always looking to see if another surfaces but so far it hasn't. For that this earns the spot of #2 favorite in my collection.


FAUSTINA Sr. (138-141 AD)

AR Denarius

Lifetime Issue

O: FAVSTINA AVGVSTA, Draped bust right.
R: IVNONI REGINAE, Peacock seated on throne and scepter behind.
18mm
3.5g
RIC-340, RSC-221 BMC (Antoninus Pius) 145 (same reverse die)

Ex Robert Kutcher Collection (Triton X, 8 January 2007), lot 1606 (part of)

 

Excellent coin. Aside from being a great example of a rare coin, the toning around the peacock adds even more to it. It's really cool to have rare pieces, like this.

 

And whaddya know? Peacock colored toning!

Love the coin Mat, one of my all time ancients for sure! :thumb:

 

Some truly amazing coins , thanks for sharing these .

 

# 1 Well we have finally come to my #1 favorite ancient in my collection. First off this coin wasn't something I was seeking an example of like I did many others on this list. This coin happened to appear on a dealers new listings one day and it was pretty much love at first sight. What struck me right off the bat was the toning. I don't get giddy like many coin collectors do but this coin did it for me.


Next was just the overall design. Again I never seen this type of coin before. I loved the facial beauty of the goddess, Victory. I also liked the wings being part of the main portrait. I was used to the tiny figures of Victory on regular imperial reverses. I also thought the reverse was a rather interesting look of Mars. It too I thought was nicely designed.


There was just so much to like about this coin I pretty much bought it before it had time to cool off from being listed .This coin wasn't cheap but it wasn't my most expensive either. I happen to enjoy the coin several times a month because I love it that much.


Although I love all my ancient equally, if something should happen and I had to part with the collection, this sole coin would be the one I would hold onto & that is why it has earned the #1 distinction.


Hope you enjoyed this top 10 thread, I enjoyed doing it. Hopefully it gave you the sense of the type of collector I am with these ancient beauties!!


Flaccus
L. Valerius Flaccus, (108 - 107 B.C.)
AR Denarius
O: Winged and draped bust of Victory right, X below chin.
R: LVALERI / FLACCI (downwards on left), Mars walking left, spear in right, trophy in left over shoulder, apex left, head of grain behind.
SRCV I 183, Sydenham 565, Crawford 306/1, RSC I Valeria 11
Rome Mint
20.0mm
3.89g

 

Stunning coins matt! Love the stories about each one, thanks for sharing!
C.J.

 

I love the style too Mat. Isn't it funny how Roman Republican coins in particlar highlight the importance of style so much? Like the coin in my avatar, the portrait to me just comes to life and reminds me of my mother. I have seen maybe 10 examples of this coin, and all of the others seem flat and lifeless. RR coins beg to be seen and evaluated before purchase. I bet if you hadn't pulled the trigger on yours quickly it would have ben gone, as all great style coins are.

 

I enjoyed the 2-week countdown to #1.

 

Thanks guys!

Agreed. I have seen other examples of this type surface & done have really dont anything for me like this one. Even the ones with less wear.

Sometimes the coin & the collector are the perfect fit for each other

 

Thanks for the 10 and thanks again to those who will next do a megapost countdown for us. Regarding style, I could do a countdown of really lousy style coins that are usually better. I try not to buy them but some sneak in espacially when they are sold by dealers with some taste. Republicans vary more than most, it seems. There is a big name dealer (still in business) who I once characterized as being particularly lacking in the ability to see style. His sales were always home to poorly cut dies of series usually better looking. After a decade or so, I noticed this improved which I attributed to his hiring a few people who saw the difference or, perhaps, when he learned that some of us will pay more for a well done VF than for a hack job EF. Today I am seeing the same thing in some dealers that fail to realize there is a price difference between coins with good surfaces and those with roughness. Again I prefer a worn smoothly to Fine to a granular VF to a corroded EF but there are still people who disagree.

Now a question: There are Republicans where poor style is normal for the type. They may be rare with interesting designs but poorly executed. I have trouble paying a high price for ugly coins even if they are rare or historic. Is there interest in a thread just on Republicans? The things are getting high enough in price that I am not getting many anymore. Are you?