Orfew, Great additions for your collection this year ! I like large silver coins so #10, the Cistophorus of Domitian is my favorite, followed by #7 & #3. Great portraits on those two denarii .
Great top 10 @Orfew !!! My favourites would have to be the Vespasian denarius from Ephesus and the Domitian cistophorus! I actually came very close to bidding on the Vespasian, but I'm glad it ended up in your collection. Congrats!!!
Beautifull coins, hard to pick a fav. they all are very unique and striking. Congrats on a great top ten Orfew! John
Fantastic acquisitions, @Orfew! All worthy of a #1 spot and the envy of any collector of Roman imperial coinage. My favorites are the cistophorus (always impressive), the IVDEA DEVICTA, and the left-facing Domitian that turned out to have been the RIC plate coin!
There's so much goodness here that I don't even know where to start! The cistophorus is simply awesome. The Judaea Capta with palm tree is a type that I'd love to have. The Devicta is even better, and now on my want list as well. I can't imagine the Ephesian portrait being matched by another mint, and even within the issues of Ephesus, I think it's a standout. All that said, I can see why your #1 takes its place as your favorite. I believe that if it were my coin and I were a Flavian specialist, I'd feel the same way.
Many thanks to all for the kind comments. I found your choices to be very interesting. Many seemed to like the Ephesian Vespasian.i love it as well. I had a lot of fun acquiring these coins in the past year and I hope to add more interesting examples this coming year.
Congrats on the banner year, @Orfew! Not being a Flavian specialist, my favorites of your year tend to be more superficial... I love the Vespasian/wreath denarius. The Vespasian Lugdunum IVDEA DEVICTA is also very intriguing .
Many thanks for the kind words @TIF! I agree with you on the Vespasian. Please do not hesitate to highlight the so called superficial. I enjoy looking at my coins too! You and others have suggested it should be higher on the list. In fact a few have thought it should have been #1! As for the DEVCITA I was much more interested in adding this one than adding the common RIC 2 variety. That said the RIC 2 variety has taken off in auction sales lately. I hope you are not considering in the next few months or until this trend has calmed a little. Very impressive coin for this common issue. I am however very much happy that I found 2 of the rare "Palm tree" variety of the the IVDAEA CAPTA denarius. I have not seen any of these become available since I found my examples months ago. To make the earlier comparison in values more fair, there is a DEVICTA currently at auction but in slightly better condition than mine with an opening bid requirement of 3 times what I paid in total for mine. I feel very lucky to have landed the DEVICTA when I did since I would likely be out of the market at current asking prices. To be honest, I would love to have the AUREVS with the less forceful IVDAEA RECEPTA but I would need to sell most of my collection to make that happen in this market.