I already owned a very rare portrait coin of Gotamiputa Siri Yajna Satakarni , but I found an upgrade. I ended up paying a little more than two times what I paid for the under-grade. I always feel no one collects what I collect right up until I have to bid on it in an auction then the 5 people in the world who want it end up creating a bloodbath. (I hate auctions.) Having finally recieved the example I am more than pleased. The portrait is nothing less than exceptional and fabulous for the type, location and era. These coins are very often well worn and most often holed. This one only being a tad off center and a little worn is totally awesome and well worth the money. (to me anyways) He will sit beautifully next to my other portrait kings of the Satavahana Empire. I find these coins unique in the great scheme of coins. They are indigenous Indian coins modeled on the denarii of the Roman emperors of the first century. They honor the the maternal line rather than the paternal line of the kings. (Mamma's boys.) They have both Brahmi and Telugu legends on the coin, and the kings appearance and attire is well crafted. Did I mention that all silver Satavahana portrait coins are rare, even more so in this condition. India, Andhra Satavahana Empire Gotamiputa Siri Yajna Satakarni (AD 200 -250) AR Drachm (15 mm x 2.20 grams) Obverse : Portrait bust of king with Kakapaksha hair-style and heavy ear-plugs, wearing a high head ornament (Shiromani), Brahmi legend Rano Gotamiputasa Siri Yaña Satakanisa around Reverse : Satavahana dynastic emblem, composed of six-arched hill with crescent, modified Ujjain symbol, a wavy line, and sun; Southern Brahmi legend Arahanaku Gotamiputaku Hiru Yana Hatakanaku. Ref: I.K. Sharma Pl. XVII, P-15 Note: Very Fine, Rare.
WOW! What a GREAT coin! Congrats! And, WAY COOL! I have none from this Empire or time in their History.
Very cool catch - and I feel the same way with my tokens...that I'm the only collector until I get in a bidding war...
Not a culture I collect but its definitely interesting, especially its connection to Roman denarii Yeah, sure, no one cares about those funny-looking, obscure, and seemingly uninteresting rare late Roman and Germanic types... until they're put up for auction, that is!
I guess there are bunches of collectors of these out there somewhere. Maybe they just aren't very active on discussion boards, or maybe not on English-language discussion boards? Celtic coins strike me the same way. Who's buying all of those? The bidding is often fierce and prices high for decent examples, yet they are not often posted and discussed here. Celtic collectors are as mysterious to me as the coins they collect
Celtic coins are relatively rarer, I think. I collect British Celtic coins. They were issued over a short period in only part of a country that was much poorer than the central parts of the Roman Empire. Good ones are even harder. They were often sloppily made. They use similar motifs so you can only post so many before non-specialists get bored. And we know very little about them and their context; no great stories as with Roman coins. Those are my theories anyway.
That's why I haven't gone for many of them-- I gravitate more towards "story coins" and coins whose design I find pleasing.
Me too. Which is why I gravitate towards the same coins as you! I inherited a group of Celtic coins, which is the main reason I collect them. But I am fascinated by the degeneration of ancient motifs and the mysterious hints of a civilisation of which we know so little.
I think we all underestimate the number of people who are interested in any of these coins but have no interest in talking, sharing, showing or even learning about their coins. It would be interesting to know just how many different people bid on or won even one lot in any particular sale. We see something posted saying that a sale realized $9.5 million dollars but not something like "the 875 lots sold to 436 winning bidders with a total of 1234 bids placed by 765 unique bidders." We may live right next door to someone with a collection very much like ours and not know it.
I'm writing this on the way back from a party where I was taking with a guy I've worked with for ten years who I've just discovered collects ancient coins.