NYINC Acquisitions?

Here's a quick and dirty photograph of a new Constantine that I picked up at the New York International Numismatic Convention (NYINC) yesterday. Among all the $120 aEF campgates I was able to find this in a $30 pick bin:

It's a VICTORIA AVGGNN reverse--scarce, but not too difficult to find--but with a left-facing obverse, the first I've seen. Rough, but I'm still very please to have discovered it. Here's the data:

AE Nummis
Thessalonica mint, A.D. 319
RIC 60, var. [No dot before mint mark]
Obv: CONSTAN-TINVS AVG - Constantine facing left, holding spear over right shoulder. [Sword handle from sword held in left hand sticking up in front? This is a controversial interpretation.]
Rev: VICTORI-A AVGG NN - Victory advancing left with wreath and palm branch
TS[dot]Γ[dot] in exergue
18 mm, 3.0 g.

Anyone else pick up anything interesting?

Also, did it seem like there were a lot more Russian-speaking attendees this year? I got the impressions prices were a lot higher this year than last. Perhaps it's just my imagination, but I wonder if increased demand from Eastern Europe pushing up prices for ancients?

 

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Yes. I got myself a Widow's Mite. I saw many amazing ancient coins but most all out of my budget. But it was great to see so many types.. Gold ancients were lovely!

 

Nice additions guys. I did not attend so can't post my acquisitions.

 

I picked up a Hadrian's travels denarius at NYINC, for a set my wife is starting. It is the first of this type that I've had. They make an attractive collection.

There was one dealer with a high quality Hadrian's travel denarius set put together by a discerning collector, but the dealer had it on consignment and only wanted to sell it complete. That was well beyond my budget and buying the set all at once would take away the fun from the hunt.

I collect a small subset of British Anglo-Saxon coins, which I did not expect to find at the show. I did however have the pleasure of finding a few collectors of the same material (they are probably rarer than the coins themselves!) and got to discuss our common interest over lunch.

 

I like your style. I was not at the show, someday.....
I posted this one on WW almost a decade ago.

Constantine I
Thessalonica mint
319 AD
AE Follis
Obvs: CONSTANTINVS AVG, Bust left cuir. spear across right shoulder.
Revs: VICTORIA AVGG NN, Victory advancing left, holding wreath and palm branch. TSΔ
18mm, 2.6g

I have not see the left hand attribution before.

 

I drove into Manhattan from Lancaster PA last year, but it was pretty expensive and stressful, $75 in tolls and $85 to park for the day. I could have saved some on the parking by not using the hotel's valet, but I just didn't want to deal with driving around NY City more than I had to.

This year I decided to take the train and even though it worked out to roughly the same expense-wise, it was much less stressful. Equipping my man-purse with tuna fish sandwiches, trail mix (I'm a healthy snack commie), and a couple volumes of Museum Notes for a little light reading (girls love it when you whip out your Museum Notes)...



The Lancaster train station in the dead of night...


The Waldorf is a classy joint, I'm surprised they let me in. I managed to snap this one pic of the Starlight Roof before security tased me...



Charles Richey showed me a tray of Athenian owl tets but I was very skeptical - I can never find what I want from these coins (in VF) at a fair price...



So what do I want? Basically everything. I want good centering on a regular flan. Athena's face can't be crowded against the right edge of the obverse, and she has to be rendered in a good, classical style, feminine and not goofy-looking. (She's surprisingly goofy-looking more often than you'd expect.) I need all three letters on the reverse, and most (if not all) of the olive sprig, some decent feather detail in the owl, and no test cuts! I realize the test cuts are frequent and a part of the commercial history of these coins, but I just don't like them, call me vapid. Some light scratches are ok, as long as they're in the fields and not distracting. Also, the coin can't be overcleaned - it can't be shiny, it needs a little bit of the ancient dirt.

And it all has to come in under $500, lol. Good luck, right? Well, I'm pleasantly surprised to say I came across exactly just such a coin from Charles' selection.

 

Love the report!

 

Good job! That's a beautiful and enviable coin.

 

Nice score for the price. About what I would pay for one, even with those scratches.

 

I actually found the Otacilia tet you wanted, but the dealer would not budge from a pie-in-the-sky price. It was quite frustrating, but like I said before, at $2000 rent per table per day, it's tough to get deals at NYINC.

 

I was bidding in the Heritage auctions, but I didn't win anything. I really wanted this one: https://coins.ha.com/itm/ancients/o...ge-lotlinks-12202013&tab=MyTrackedLots-101116

But the one I *REALLY* wanted was this one: https://coins.ha.com/itm/ancients/g...ybidspage-lotlinks-12202013&tab=MyBids-101116

 

Figures, thanks for trying though!

 

I couldn't resist this sestertius of Gordian III with a forest-green and ochre patina - just a gorgeous big coin...

 

John, that's a gorgeous coin!

 

This is my #1 from Triton. I had to get into a veritable bidding knife fight with a well funded and determined Russian...but USA #1!

Lucius Axius L.f. Naso. 70 BC. AR Denarius (19mm, 4.02 g, 6h). Rome mint. Head of young beardless Mars right, wearing helmet ornamented with plumes; downward to left; NAS[O] below head; S • C below chin / Diana, holding spear in right hand and reins in left, driving biga of stags right; two hounds following behind, additional hound below stags; L • AXSIVS • L • F in exergue. Crawford 400/1a; Sydenham 794; Axia 1; Kestner –8; BMCRR Rome 3348-53; RBW 1441.

Ex Haeberlin & HP Hall

 

U.S.A...U.S.A...U.S.A...

Very cool!

 

FANTASTIC!

It's sad, what the Russians are doing to this country!

 

Those pesky Russians! Glad you prevailed.

This coin made my wish list (dream on!!), in part for a completely non-numismatic and unscholarly reason: Mars's helmet looks like a nudibranch, and those whimsical Seussian sea slugs are adorable . I'm pretty sure those aren't plumes in his hat... they're rhinophores


(all nudibranch images borrowed from divewet.com, © Alex Suh)

 

I think I've seen this set -- was this Mike Gasvoda's set of Hadrian travel denarii?

 

Great stories and pictures, please keep them coming!