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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;benhur767, post: 3281198, member: 36818&quot;]I wanted to share the wonderful Secret Saturnalia gift coin I received as a way to thank the giver, who has chosen to remain anonymous. Here it is:</p><p>[ATTACH=full]867432[/ATTACH]</p><p>My Secret Saturnalia (SS) also sent a very thoughtful letter explaining his or her rationale for choosing this particular coin. I won&#039;t quote the entire letter, but my SS took the time to research my collecting area (Severan and third century) by looking at my CT posts. With nothing to fit my collection, my SS decided to go with something completely different:</p><p><br /></p><blockquote><p>&quot;I am a new collector and this is the first time I have participated in this event. Here&#039;s hoping you will find the [coin] interesting ... I left out the attribution so you can do a bit of research yourself (here&#039;s hoping you are like me and enjoy that aspect of the hobby).&quot;</p></blockquote><p><br /></p><p>Although I am not a new collector, this is also the first time that I&#039;ve participated in the CT SS event, so my SS and I have something in common!</p><p><br /></p><p>I had thought I might have time to research the coin before posting, but at the same time I wanted to post before the end of the year. So I haven&#039;t had a chance to to look into it yet, but I did have time to photograph it, and I do recognize it as Byzantine. I&#039;m really thrilled with it, for the very reason that it <i>is</i> outside of my collecting area.</p><p><br /></p><p>The problem I have, which seems to be common among collectors, is that <i>everything</i> is interesting, but we have to choose a relatively narrow focus because, from the standpoint of limited time and resources, we can&#039;t have everything. So Byzantines and also medieval such as early English coinage are areas I&#039;d like to know more about, but just haven&#039;t had the time to learn or the resources to collect.</p><p><br /></p><p>I also think that having a few coins well outside of one&#039;s typical area of focus provides some welcome context and points of comparison and contrast with that area of focus.</p><p><br /></p><p>I don&#039;t want to completely spoil the fun and challenge of researching and attributing this coin, but I wouldn&#039;t mind a nudge in the right direction. So if any of the members here can suggest a reference, either a book or a website, as a good place to start, I would appreciate that. At some point later I can follow up this post with my attribution.</p><p><br /></p><p>And in conclusion I want to express great thanks to my Secret Saturnalia, and wish him or her a happy and prosperous New Year![/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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