Placeholder purchases....

Looking to see your "placeholder purchases" or "cheap hole fillers"..

Sometimes targets don't come along too often and when they do they can get a little expensive.. but once in awhile you can grab something for around $20 that fills the void (at least for awhile)..

Here is my latest.. please show me your inexpensive placeholders/hole fillers..



8.86g, 28mm
Laureate head of Severus II right
Genius standing left holding a patera and cornucopiae. "GENIO POPVLI ROMANI", "r" to right "SM.SD" in exergue

 

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Trajan issued several coin types commemorating his victories against the Parthians, one of which is a sestertius showing Trajan presenting his new (short-lived) puppet-king Parthamaspates. I initially bought a very poor, barely-identifiable specimen:

("You paid money for this, sir? On purpose?" -Zoe, "Firefly", episode 8 "Out of Gas")

Fortunately I was later able to purchase an example where you can actually see what's happening on that reverse:

 

@Clavdivs ....Nice idea for a thread......
I've got 3 hole fillers....Well that's how they started out! But now I've actually really grown quite attached to them....
Sabina Denarius.

Clodius Albinus Denarius.

Antoninus Pius Sestertius.

 

WOW, @Clavdivs , that would be MY...WHOLE...COLLECTION...

Each of my coins are placeholders in History that I am interested in.

OR, they are placeholders as a COOL COIN that I just happened to like.

Honestly, I could pull a random coin out of my collection, and justify it as a placeholder.



Here is a coin that I got cuz I did not have a BROCKAGE coin.

RR AR Denarius ERROR BROCKAGE Q Fabius Labeo 124 BCE - ROMA X LABEO - Incuse and reverse of obverse Cr 273-1 Syd 532 Sear 148

 

This is probably about as ugly as they get. It's a bronze AS of Vitellius that I got in a batch of uncleaned coins many years ago. I am very fortunate that among the few letters in the obverse inscription to survive, there were enough to positively ID it. I keep looking to upgrade it, but I guess I'm too cheap:

Vitellius
Imperator, 69 A.D.
Bronze As
Spanish (Tarraco?) mint
Obv: A VITELLIVS - IMP GERMAN
Rev: VICTORIA AVGVSTI - Victory, with shield inscribed S P Q R, between S and C
RIC 46
29mm, 8.4g.

 

I have far too many placeholders

Port of Ostia sestertius (Nero RIC 513):


Sextus Pompey galley/lighthouse, Scylla denarius (Cr. 511/4a):



Oh, a recent arrival - "Vercingetorix" denarius (Cr. 448/2a):



Pompey the Great/galley denarius (Cr. 483/2):


Otho denarius (ugly, but the rarest Otho denarius type - RIC 2):


Extremely cheap Indian imitative Nero aureus (less than $300 inc. fees from CNG & cf RIC 25, 31, 36, 40):


My cheapskate ways continue and I got a holed and plugged Probus aureus in the last Roma auction

ATB,
Aidan.

 

I picked this one up from Frank Robinson's "unsold" bargain list for $15!!!

Herennia Etruscilla, (249-251 A.D.)
Wife of Trajan Decius

AE 28 of Viminacium, 14.2 grams

Obverse: HER ETRVSCILLA AVG, draped bust right, in stephane

Reverse: PMS COL VIM, female figure (Provincia Moesia) standing, facing left, between bull and lion, AN XII in exergue

Reference: BMC 32

 

I got this Titus this past week to fill in a sestertius of his... It might last there a while.

 

Very nice @Justin Lee - I have found that Sestertii do that.

 

If "placeholder" means a coin you bought intentionally while fully expecting to replace it, I try to avoid that unless there's a decent chance I won't ever replace it. But I do have a few that are unquestionably placeholders!

Cleo:


Pertinax:


Zeno Cherson (for my mini late Roman Cherson set):


My latest acquisition that probably qualifies for placeholder status is this Constantine London mint ADVENTVS - the prices on these have recently been very high so I settled, at least for the moment:

 

Fun thread idea. Though I've stopped trying to collect all the Caesars and Augustus aaand have just been collecting coins that "speak to me". So my definition of "hole filler" has changed.
But it doesn't stop me from collecting coins with "hole fillers"

 

Here is a placeholder I do not think will ever be replaced. There are very few known. If it did not have the hole it would cost in the low four figures if not more. It is RIC 1489 [VESP]. It is a mysterious 'O' mint denarius of Domitian.

 

This is a cast forgery (probably 19th century) of an interesting coin. BMC Attica page 99, 710. An original would be far outside of my price range.

Obv: Bust of Athena right, wearing crested Corinthian helmet and aegis. Rev: A/θ - H; Poseidon naked but for chlamys, striking with trident and Athena armed with shield and spear, standing on either side of olive tree round with serpent twines, and in the branches of which sits and owl.

This statue group is one of two groups seen on the Acropolis by the Greek travel writer Pausanias (I. 24, 3-5).

 

Hmmm, well, I may have a placeholder in the sense of the OP was intending...


RR
AR Denarius
AR Brutus EID MAR by Slavei
ex FSR 103

 

This wins the thread... the ULTIMATE place holder!

 

@akeady ..
What an amazing coin.. I am really lost for words seeing this.
I have obviously seen this coin in publications (great examples of course).. but to see a 'collectible" example is a real treat. Thank you for posting!

 

I am going to vote, @akeady ’s WHOLE POST of coins that I WANT! They are awesome “placeholders”.

 

I know... @akeady 's placeholders are my endgame....

My parents are both from Dublin (Whitehall, Smithfield.. and my name is Sean for God's sake) - he should share some inside info with me ...

 

Been looking 30 years for a Triumviral portrait gold. Found one I could afford (so long as I sell some other coins) but it has a massive scrape on the obverse. Wonder how NGC would grade it. It's ex the Martini sale (Ratto 1930) and the Morcom and Hands sale (Ratto 1928), likely from Hands collection. Also a plate coin in Buttrey, Triumviral Portrait gold 1956.

But it has a scrape.

 

Scrape or no scrape that is one magnificent coin!