Show us your first and last acquisitions.

Spent a couple of hours today uploading a backlog of coins to my Forvm Gallery...
I noticed my first ever Ancient coin, a Licinius I which is still in my collection. I purchased it Christmas 2014 so I've now been collecting just over 8 years.
Thought it might be fun to see collectors first and last additions.
Here's mine...
First...Purchased December 2014...
Licinius I (RIC VII#155 Arles)-Unlisted-
Licinius I AE Follis 20mm/3.43gr (Emperors name Misspelled)
Obverse-IMP LICINVS PF AVG- laureate, cuirassed bust right
Reverse-REV SOLI INVICTO COMITI- Sol standing right, looking left, chlamys across chest and over his left arm, holding globe and raising right hand. C-S across fields
Exergue-PARL- minted 313-318AD Arles

Last..Purchased January 2022
Spain, Obulco. Circa 150 BC. AE As (14.94 gm, 30mm).
Obv.: OBVLCO, female head right.CX behind.
Rev.: L.AIMI-M.JVNI AVD, between plow and grain ear. SNG BM 2, Spain 1410-2; Villaronga pg. 343, 16; Burgos 1395. VF.

 

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I like both very much. Great idea for a thread.

I bought these two at the same coin show circa 1985, somewhere in Manhattan, at a time when I was a collector of British coins. They fascinated me for some reason, so I bought them; they were the first ancient coins I ever purchased as an adult. I only bought a half-dozen more over the next 30+ years until I started collecting them actively in mid-2017:

Ti. Veturius:



Trajan Decius:



My most recent purchase, in Feb. 2022, an aureus of Antoninus Pius with Ceres and Proserpina on the reverse, possibly symbolizing the birth of Lucilla to Faustina II.

 

Purchased here on CT in the late 2000s.


Septimius Severus (193 - 211 A.D)
AR Denarius
O: SEVERVS AVG PART MAX, Laureate head right.
R:RESTITVTOR VRBIS (Restoration of the City), Severus in military attire, spear in left, sacrificing over a tripod altar with right.
Rome mint, 201 A.D.
3.3g
18mm
RIC 167a, RSC 599, BMCRE 202


Was recently posted in its own thread. I guess low-grade coins aren't interesting.


L Cassius Caecianus (102 B.C.)
AR Denarius
O: Head of Ceres left, wreathed in grain.CAEICIAN (AN in monogram).
R: Two yoked oxen pulling plow left"L CASSI" in exergue "T"
3.46g
28mm
Rome Mint
Cassia 1

 

Thanks for the reminder! I meant to post my one "oxen" coin in your thread, but forgot to do so. I have to get to the post office before it closes to mail something to Budapest, but will post the coin later.

 

First and most recent (I hope it's not my last one ).
First: well, it's a tie: there were two. When I was circa 8, I purchased two junk box coins; one (I think) is a Nero - it's still a mystery to this day - it kind of reminded me of the Annona type in As size (it's in horrendous condition) and the other is a macedonian shield AE.

Most recent: a 37 mm Alexandria Trajan Drachm which I purchased for its unusual size.

 

Like this? Many people here would term this horrendous but for me it is average.

 

My first was this humble Falling Horseman from the Siscia mint, purchased after reading @dougsmit 's page at FORVM. I can still remember holding this seven-dollar coin with astonishment for the first time. It connected me emotionally and spiritually to a world of numismatics and history in a way that no modern coin ever had.



My latest purchase is this denarius of Geta with Janus reverse. The god Janus occurs very infrequently on Imperial issues. All of the types are rare, some unobtainably so.

 

I like that coin a lot. The details and character are super. I went through all my pics to see if I had any oxen and couldn't find nary a one. I can't believe that I've never owned even one of the provincial "founders" types.

 

Here is my first, purchased last July. Tiberius denarius. It's the coin in my avatar:




However while this coin was shipping (coming from Germany) I bought another in the meantime from Forvm Ancient Coins, which arrived first (Vespasian denarius):



My latest that is currently in my possession is the Augustus tetradrachm which you all are probably tired of seeing at this point, but here it is again (a different photo, at least!)



I have a few coins coming that I won in an auction. I'm super excited to see them and I'll put up some photos as soon as I can.

 

My first ancients purchase was a group of several LRBs from a local coin store in the winter of 1992/3. The first one of these that I was able to identify was this Fallen Horseman AE3 of Constantius II, from the Nikomedia mint:

My most recent purchase has yet to arrive, it is a Gadhaiya Paisa from India:

 

No, dougsmit, like horrendous in rock crusher/I have to use my imagination to determine what it is. It would be in poor grade. The Macedonian shield is more identifiable.

My best guess is Nero. At some point in the past I put the super-crap coins in trays. I'll have to see if I can dig it up.

Anyway, the decrepit junk boxers set me on my lifelong love of ancient coins. Perhaps five years later I was really set on my way. While attending a truly decrepit flea market (not being snobbish, they literally had soiled pants for sale there. Thinking back, it was a truly bizarre place; Edith Massey would have been right at home there), there was one guy who had ancient coins. They were pretty awful coins (the one I can remember is a heavily pitted Trebonianus Gallus Antioch Ant), but it got me going for good this time. A local coin store had much better ancients and the rest is history... I think I win the prize for the weirdest place ancients were available. I believe the ancient dealer was the only reason I returned a few times. Even thirteen year old me was simultaneously amused and horrified about the pants.

A c. 2009 coin show was the last time I remember physically going through a junk box (if one counts bags - they were 30 bucks a piece IIRC). It was at Jon Kern's table, who usually specializes in expensive coins.

Harlan J Berk had various tiers of junk boxes as well during the 1990s.

 

The first coin I ever purchased was an antoninianus of Gordian III from a coin shop in Pearl City, HI (in a shopping mall) in 1979 at the age of 9 for $30. While I sold the collection when I was 18 (to raise funds for attending college) it was this type to announce the beginning of the Persian War. Written in the Accusative case, the coin announces Mars the Defender (or Champion).

Gordian was the last emperor to open the temple of Janus on the commencement of hostilities. Whether Gordian died in the battle of Raesena in Mesopotamia or was eliminated by his Praetorian Prefect Philip the Arab, successor of Timisitheus we will never know:



Nowadays I have numerous Gordian III coins but true enough the last coin I purchased (on Thursday) was a Gordian III AETERNITATI type with Sol. Since I haven't received it yet I can't share a photo.

 

Here's my first ancient I ever bought, which is now a part of the @lordmarcovan eclectic box collection. I picked it up an a whim sometime around 2008-2010 at one of the World Fair of Money shows back when I collected US only. I then bought almost no ancients between then and 2015 when I bought an Aegina turtle stater. I bought a scarce few ancients between 2017 and 2019 and in 2020 I really caught the ancient bug. That's about all I collect now.


And here is my most recent ancient addition:

SICILY. Syracuse. Dionysius I (406/5-367 BC). AV 20-litrai or tetradrachm (10mm, 0.99 gm, 8h). Attic standard, ca. 406/5 BC. ΣYPA, head of Heracles left, wearing lion skin headdress / Σ-Y/P-A, quadripartite incuse square; small head of Arethusa in central incuse circle, all within incuse circle with double border. SNG ANS 351-4. HGC 2, 1289. NGC Choice AU 4/5 - 5/5.

Ex Gustav Philipsen Collection (Hirsch XV, 1906), lot 1175

 

Could you please identify the new one?

 

I started collecting ancient coins in 2019. I had just finished reading Arrian's history of Alexander after a coworker recommended it to me. I was hooked instantly. Learning about his successors, I came to read about the Indo-Greeks and their coins. Absolutely flabergasted that greek kingdoms thrived that far east, I started looking at the coin they issued and was equally flabergasted that anyone could buy and own them. I started furiously looking for one to buy and after scouring eBay and MA-Shops I settled on this drachm of Menander I and haven't looked back since.

Indo-Greek Kingdom. Menander I (155-130 BC). Diademed head of Menander right, ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΣΩΤΗPΟΣ ΜΕΝΑΝΔΡΟΥ / Athena advanding left, thunderbolt in hand, Maharajasa tratasara Menamdrasa in Kharosthi.
19 mm, 2.46 g. Bopearachchi-Series 13, 85Q.
​

My collecting habits have evolved tremendously since being thrust into this wonderful hobby. As I'm currently writing this, my main focus lies with Roman coins, particularly provincial issues of the republican era. My latest purchase was heavily inspired by @FrizzyAntoine's write-up on the issue of P. Cornelius Lentulus Marcellinus of 50 BC (See: https://www.cointalk.com/threads/ma...and-a-man-of-mythical-stature-in-ours.386916/).
Depicting his noble ancestor M. Claudius Marcellus on the obverse, this type celebrates the only historically attested spolia opima of a roman military leader, an honor even more coveted than a triumph.

P. Cornelius Lentulus Marcellinus. 50 BC. AR Denarius (19mm, 3.82 g, 5h). Rome mint. Bare head of M. Claudius Marcellus right; triskeles to left / M. Claudius Marcellus advancing right, carrying trophy into tetrastyle temple. Crawford 439/1; Sydenham 1147; Campana, Denario 86 (O8/R11 – this coin); Claudia 11; RBW 1554. Toned, three punch marks behind head, some light scratches under tone. VF.

From the Charles Chamberlain Collection. Ex Harry Strickhausen Collection (Triton IX, 10 January 2006), lot 1312; Dr. John A. Sawhill Collection/James Madison University Foundation (Stack’s, 15 March 1979), lot 539.​

 

Just updated

 

My first ancient I bought in 1999 or 2000 -I don’t recall which. I had recently got into coin collecting because of the State Quarters program and was looking for something interesting at my LCS. They had a few ancients which just captivated me - the one I really wanted was a Caesar Elephant Denarius, but I decided the $300 asking price was too much (and I am absolutely kicking myself over that decision now!). I bought this instead:
Imperial Rome
Caracalla, r. 198-217 A.D. (211 A.D.)
Rome Mint, AR Denarius, 20.28mm x 2.8 grams
Obv.: ANTONINVS PIVS AVG BRIT. Laureate bust, right
Rev.: P M TR P XIIII COS III P P. Pax, draped, advancing left, holding branch in right hand and sceptre in left hand
Ref.: SRCV 6824, RIC IV-1 Caracalla 184, p. 238, RSC 190
Note: My First Ancient Coin

I went back a few weeks later and bought another one. It wasn’t much longer before I was grabbing medieval coins off of eBay.
My most recent purchase was from @John Anthony ’s last auction!

I like grabbing little eclectic things from JA when I can![/USER]

 

That Macedonian AE looks a lot like the same type as my first coin

 

First coin I purchased myself (not in my dad's collection) in 2018 was this Semis issued by Marcus Postumius Albinus and Lucius Porcius Capito(linus) as duumviri quinquennales, magistrates in charge of the colony. It caught my eye because at that time I was (and still am) organizing my dad's collection and there was an empty envelope for an As of these two magistrates. The coin was probably lost somewhere/somehow while moving the collection from one place to another and then moving it across the Atlantic from one country to another. Well, bad things happen when one moves... Luckily I found this replacement. Overall two coins were missing, the other one, a Hadrian - Fortuna, I was also able to replace.

Cartago Nova, Hispania Tarraconensis, 4 BC, 15th emission
21 x 23 mm, 5.892 g
RPC1 171/15; SNG Copenhagen 496; Burgos 438;

Ob.: AVGVSTVS DIVI F laureate head of Augustus r.
Rev.: M•POSTVM•ALBIN•L•PORC•CAPIT•π•VIR• Q Priest standing facing holding simpulum and olive branch



This is my recent one, which I won this week at the CNG auction.

After reading all of @Ryro's great posts about Macedonian helmets, and realizing that I didn't have a helmet coin, I had to fight for this one. Don't have it yet. Picture is courtesy of CNG:

Uncertain mint in Macedon; anonymous issue after 311 BC, ca. 325 – 310 BC
17 mm, 4.39 g

Price 416a; Liampi 41-50; SNG Sweden 1109; Pozzi 2029; SNG Copenhagen 1119; listed by Hoover under the heading of Alexander IV as HGC 3.1, 956
CNG lists it as from the time of Alexander III to Kassander.

The royal title Basileos, which was abbreviated as BA on anonymous coins, starts at the beginning of the 3rd century BC

Ob.: Anepigraphic; Round Macedonian shield with thunderbolt on boss surrounded by five crescents or smaller shields, thunderbolts between each of them;
Rev.: Macedonian helmet without ear-flaps, decorated with laurel wreath, thunderbolt below. B-A across field

 

Thanks!