Post a coin that caught your eye and made you buy it even though it's not in your collecting area

This one really caught my eye, and I had to have it:

MARCUS ANTHONY RESTITUTION
AR Denarius
OBVERSE: ANTONIVS AVGVR III VIR R P C, Galley left.
REVERSE: ANTONINVS ET VERVS AVG REST, legionary eagle between two standards, LEG VI between
Struck at Rome, 168AD
3.81g, 20mm
RIC III 443 (Marcus Aurelius) ; BMCRE 500

 

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I bought my Sphinx coin just because, well, I don't know, the coin speaks by itself. A pure impulse buy..


Castulo, Spain, AE As - 2nd century BC
Virile head right, a hand before
Sphinx walking right. Iberian for KASTILO at exergue
15.9 gr
Ref : Sear GIC #15, Catalogue 38 and 39 CNH (CORPVS NVMMUM HISPANIAE, L. Villaronga)

It's the only coin of this type that I have and I don't even know where to put it in my trays

Q

 

Since I'm a 'generalist' and all ancient coins fall into my collecting interest---as well as 'moderns'---I have to place the latter as Doug has since I sold off what I once owned and now only purchase a coin or two to compile an interesting 'Type Collection'....

 

Looks like something @Deacon Ray could help you with

 

Thanks, Smojo! I appreciate your vote of confidence, but it's beyond me.

 

That one is just sweet.
Not sure where my sudden fascination with mythological creatures came from. I have a Carthage with a pegasus inbound. Bid on one but didn't win on another. Then just won a Domitianus as Caesar with pegasus reverse on FAC.
Yours is BA.

 

I know this image does not belong at this forum but I couldn't resist. LOL!
These are not coins needless to say but they did catch my eye during a visit to the Luray Caverns gift shop last year. My wife and I had just returned to the daylight after an afternoon of spelunking (exploring caves) and I just had to have these. I'm sorry but all of my coins are Biblical era related and I really wanted to participate in this discussion. And yes, Baptist Deacons are allowed and encouraged to get married. I'm sure that you guys already knew that but you'd be surprised at how many times I'm asked that question.

 

@TIF . The first coin or side to the left is upside down. Try to turn it 180 degrees clockwise. The Arabic legend is very clear. The coin could be Islamic and ancient at same time, or just Islamic.

 

Thanks, 7C!

I took a picture of that side turned 180 degrees just in case .

 

That's correct. On the left side, I think the legend on the last line down is " Izmir". On the right side, I think I'm reading "Timbako" . Hope I'm partly right...

 

I can't even make out what constitutes a line of text .

Thanks for the leads. I've not had much luck yet. Surely there are some online resources available, but Googling "Islamic lead seal" hasn't provided many informational sites and the usual databases haven't been helpful yet because I don't know what search terms to use, other than "islamic lead seal". I'll try with the names you provided

 

When I saw you all posting these I had to get one:



Seljiks of Rum.

This is such a cool coin for many reasons. The imagery is very striking, the emperor is celebrating his love for his wife, which is very cool, and it is from the 12th no 13th century!

You all are a bad influence.

 

Great choice ... yah, I fell for that one as well

Hey Theodosius, congrats on joining the cool Seljuks of Rum Club (SRC)

=> man, we really need to work-on a cool handshake, eh?

 

You will know the SRC because we come in riding on tigers!

 

Hm. I generally don't buy single coins that jump out to me, but very rarely I'll add a new collecting interest. I try to read up on the area for about three or four weeks, and if it still calls to me I'll pick up a few pieces. A couple of areas auditioned for the role recently - Mexican Revolutionary coins, Malaysian cash, Sogdian bronzes – but none of them made it to the final round. Here's a few that have:

Islamic Coins of East Africa (mostly very rare, I've purchased all of the types that I've seen on the market)

EAST AFRICA, Kilwa Sultanate. al-Hasan bin Sulayman. Circa AH 715 / AD 1315
Æ Fals (20 mm, 1.92 g, 9h)
Kilwa Kisiwani mint
Inscription in five lines
Inscription in three lines
Album 1183; Walker, Kilwa VIII; SICA 10, 613-21
​

Native American "proto-currency" (I'm missing the abalone shells of California and Incan quipu, the later of which are pretty much unavailable)

MEXICO, Aztec culture. Circa AD 1200/1300-1525
Æ “Hachuela” (143mm x 150mm, 55.70 g)
Mushroom-shaped bronze pseudo-axe-head with curved “blade” and flanged shank
Hosler, Lechtman, & Holm, Axe-monies and their Relatives, type 2a


UNITED STATES, Native proto-currency. Northern Pacific coast. 18th-early19th century
Shell “kop-kop” (29mm by 6mm, 0.38 g)
Tubular shell of the dentalium genus of mollusks
Robert Stearns, Ethno-conchology: A Study of Primitive Money p. 314-321


UNITED STATES, Native proto-currency. Seneca tribe.
Ganounata village (Honeoye Falls, NY). Circa AD 1625-1687
White wampum beads (apx. 5mm, 0.10g each)
Carved white shell beads with lateral hole for suspension in belt
Cf. William Martin Beauchamp, Wampum and Shell Articles Used by the New York Indians, p. 369

Found at the Dann Farm site in Honeoye Falls, NY.

​

 

Picked these two up recently.
Vladislav II
1490-1516 AD
This one was like 7 bucks and I really wanted a medieval coin.

Kings of Northumbria. Irregular issues. Circa 843/4-855. Æ Styca
I grabbed this one last week I have no idea about early english coinage. Can anyone tell me more about these irregular issues??

 

Well, I collect portraits of the rulers of Rome and England.

However, once in a while, i find something else i must have. Like this pan-head tet that I purchased from the awesome Mr @Ken Dorney :



There are lots of coins I want outside my collecting theme, but I can't buy them all. However, if i see a nice one, I'll definitely buy a Spanish "piece of 8" cob from an actual shipwreck.

 

Looking good Ajax! I'd see if @Nap had anything to say about the Styca - the Spink catalogue just says the irregular issues may be a reflection of a period of civil wars (the quality being less than the regular issues authorized by the Kings of Northumbria)

 

Let me start by stating that I don't collect modern coins.

I bought a tin of "old coins" from the lady who taught my son piano. This was a world coin mix weighing about 1kg. It was bought for him to spark an interest in coins. It did for a while but he has moven on to girls and guitars....

Here is a very small sample of what was in the tin.... I know....more than one coin but...

Russia - 5 Kopek - 1791

Sweden - 1/12 Skilling - 1812

A batch of USA Cents


Switzerland, Geneva, 6 Deniers, 1825

Ireland, James II, Gunmoney Coinage, Halfcrown, June 1690

Great Britain - Farthing - 1822 (George IV)
(note D over D in DEF). Peck 1411.