While last year was better, with respect to the number of coins I bought as well as some really nice bargains I got, this year was somewhat difficult. With ongoing situations like COVID and the IBOR Transition (look it up if you are interested ), things got a lot more "interesting" with work and family. As such, I drastically cut down on my purchases this year, but I still managed to pick up some bargins. As such, you don't need to spend a ton of $$$ to get some quality Ancient Coins. However, I will post another thread on my overall Top Ten coins that is not capped . So, without any further delay, here is my list of top ten coins that were under $50 in no particular order: Byzantine Empire: Nicephorus I (802-811) Æ Follis, Syracuse (Sear 1612) I already had a nice Nicephorus I follis from Syracuse, but this one was also quite nice, albeit, the hole. Furthermore, his follis rarely shows up... Byzantine Empire: Justin II (565-578) Æ Decanummium, Antioch (Sear 382) Byzantine Empire: Heraclius (610-641) Æ Follis, Constantinople (Sear 805) Overstruck on a Follis of Phocas, specifically Sear 665; which is also overstruck on an undetermined host. Byzantine Empire: Leo V (813-820) Æ Follis, Constantinople (Sear 1630) Overstruck on a Follis of Nicephorus I, specifically Sear 1607. I need to take a better photo of this coin to determine the second overstrike on the reverse. Byzantine Empire: Alexius I Comnenus (1081-1118) Æ Tetarteron Overstruck on an Anonymous Class B follis. Byzantine Empire: Constantine X Ducas (1059-1067) Æ Follis I have a few of these, but I don't have a good one that was compactly struck. A nice little upgrade to the one that came in a lot and also a good replacement for one that got stolen in transit : I started to add to my Elymias, Parthian and Arab-Sassanian collection this year... KINGS of ELYMIAS: Orodes III (2nd century CE) Æ Dichalkon KINGS of ELYMIAS: Phraates (Early-mid 2nd century CE) Æ drachm KINGS of ELYMIAS: Phraates (Early-mid 2nd century CE) Æ drachm Arab Sasanian: Farrukhzad (75-79 AH) Æ Dirham, Dasht
Those are all great but I love the Byzantines! I'm torn between the Leo V overstrike and the Heraclius overstrike as my favorite.
Your follis of Constantine X is really nice. It has been on my list for quite a while, but nothing decent has come along so far.. But you gotta love the Leo V overstrike.. The lack of effort in many of those re-issues is almost comical. Working in a Byzantine mint must have been a really badly paid job Or, they simply didn't care about pleb money like coppers, as most of the gold coins are usually well designed/detailed and struck.
Thanks everyone! Among the overstrikes, the Leo V Follis is my favorite and fell in love with it once I saw it on ebay. The Nicephorus I Follis and Constantine X Follis are outstanding at this price point, couldn't be happier...
Under $50!....My type of list!.....@Quant.Geek ...Nice group! I have no idea about Byzantine coins, not my collecting area but they all look to have good detail!....Really nice Elymais coins though and particularly like the eagle reverse but all 3 are nice examples....Congrats!
Great set of coins @Quant.Geek . My favorite is your Constantine X Follis. That is a very nice looking coin for under $50. These budget lists are fun.
Q.G., The Heraclius follis overstruck on a Phocas follis is a "pearl in the oyster" . A great score for under $50. Knowing that Heraclius executed Phocas, gives the coin added meaning ...
