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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Ryro, post: 8147895, member: 91461&quot;]Thanks for all the kind comments, laughs and folks who took the time to vote and let me know just how poor my taste is<img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie2" alt=";)" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" /> (other than my #1 it seems the list is upside down in popularity)</p><p>As a follow up, here are some of my coulda beens!</p><p><br /></p><p>This guy came dangerously close to going in my top ten but I wanted more coins that I hadn&#039;t shared yet to give you all that WoWiE factor:</p><p>[MEDIA=youtube]FHAbj1pIT4g[/MEDIA]</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1421105[/ATTACH] </p><p><b><u>VESPASIAN </u></b></p><p><br /></p><p>Denarius. Minted AD 69-70 . ASIA MINOR. Anv.: IMP. CAES. VESPAS. AVG. Laureate head to the right. Rev .: AVG within laurel. 3.42 grs. Dark patina. Nice piece. EBC / Vespasianus. Nice coin with dark patina and extremely fine. C-36b; RIC-311; BMC-497. Purchased from Soler y Llach, Coleccion Scipio, Oct 2021</p><p><br /></p><p>Not in the greatest shape, nor with the greatest artistry, but how many coins do you have laying around that depict the battle between the Olympian gods and the giants??? Nuff said:</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1421107[/ATTACH]</p><p><b><u>Gallienus </u></b></p><p><br /></p><p>Æ 27mm of Seleucia ad Calycadnum, Cilicia. AD 253-268. ΑΥ Κ Π ΛΚ ΓΑΛΛΙΗΝΟϹ, laureate, draped and cuirassed bust to right / CEΛΕVKEΩΝ TΩ Π KAΛVΚ, Athena standing right, holding shield and striking with spear at serpent-legged giant, who hurls stone. SNG France 1064-6; SNG Levante 789; SNG Leypold 2615. 9.7g, 27mm, 6h.</p><p>Nice brown patina.Very fine.</p><p>Purchased from Biga auctions December 2021</p><p>&quot;The reverse of this coin recalls the second major conflict of Zeus&#039; rise to power. After he had defeated the Titans in the Titantomachy and apportioned their former relatives to his fellow Olympians, he was compelled to resolve a conflict with the Giants, offspring of Gaia and Cronus. Known as the Gigantomachy, these chthonic half-man, half-serpent creatures attempted to wrestle power from the Olympians by casting them out of Olympus. To accomplish this, the Giants attempted to reach Olympus by heaping up one mountain range on top of the other. From above, Zeus and the other Olympians, such as Athena, depicted on the reverse of this coin, defended themselves by hurling their weapons. In the end, however, it was the assistance of Hercules that won the day. With the final defeat of the Giants, the rule of Zeus was no longer challenged</p><p>In this scene we see Athena spearing a serpent-legged Giant, perhaps Enkelados.&quot;</p><p><br /></p><p>My first CNG purchase was a coin I&#039;d been passionate about adding to my collection for a while...and due to the ambergris nobody bid against me!</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1421103[/ATTACH] </p><p><b>GAUL, Northwest. <i>Coriosolites</i>. </b>Circa 100-50 BC. BI Stater (19mm, 6.28 g, 6h). Celticized head right, hair in large spiral curls, S-like ear / Devolved charioteer-in-biga right; quadrilateral banner hanging from lash to right, [boar below]. Depeyrot, <i>NC</i> VIII, 186; D&amp;T 2340. Brown surfaces, hard green encrustation. VF.</p><p>Purchased from CNG March 2021</p><p><br /></p><p>I have had a very sorry sliver of a Balbinus denarius for a few years but have always been on team Pupienus.</p><p>The portrait drew me in and so I spoiled my sweet little Pupienus: </p><p>[ATTACH=full]1421104[/ATTACH] </p><p><b><u>Pupienus</u></b> Antoninian. Minted 238 AD . Anv.: IMP. CAES. PVPIEN. M. CLOD. DVPIENS AVG. Bust radiated to the right. Rev .: LOVE MVTVS AVGG. Linked hands. 3.76 grs. Limited. EBC-. / Pupienus. Scarce and almost extremely fine. C-1; RIC-9a. Purchased from Soler y Llach , Coleccion Scipio, Oct 2021</p><p><br /></p><p>It was hard not adding this one and looking back I see 2 coins that I would now trade out for her. As you know beautiful and Sicilian are kinda synonymous. So I don&#039;t need to justify much with this coin right here:</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1421111[/ATTACH]</p><p>Sicily. Syracuse. Dionysos I (406-367 BC). AE Hemilitron. Obv. Head of Arethusa left, wearing necklace, hair bound in ampyx and sphendone; olive leaves behind. Rev. Dolphin swimming right; Σ Y P A and cockle shell below. CNS II 24/1-7; HGC 2 1480. AE. 2.58 g. 16.00 mm. Good VF.</p><p>Purchased from Artemide Aste Aug 2021</p><p><br /></p><p>Very rare, beautiful dies, lovely patina but again, a coin that I had shown before and so it gets a little more love now:</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1421106[/ATTACH]</p><p>LUCANIA, Thurium as Copia (193-150 BCE) AE As. 9.40g, 22mm.</p><p>Obv: Laureate head of Janus</p><p>Rev: COPIA in right field; Cornucopia, caduceus and I (mark of value) in left field.</p><p>HN Italy 1935. Very rare. cf. CNG E-Auction 374, 11.05.2016, lot 9 (hammer 260 USD); same dies as NAC Auction 84, 20.05.2015, lot 564 (hammer 2250 CHF)</p><p>Very rare and in fine style.</p><p>Purchased from AMCC3 July 2021</p><p><br /></p><p>&quot;Wait, Ryro, you beautiful beast you, you already shared your Labyrinth in the OP.&quot; You may say.</p><p>Naw. This is just 4 times larger and with&nbsp; Zeus looking left. Pretty hard to come by and even harder to leave once you&#039;ve entered<img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie67" alt=":nailbiting:" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" />!</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1421108[/ATTACH]</p><p>Crete. Knossos circa 200-100 BC. Æ 24 mm, 10,02 g</p><p>Obv: Zeus head left</p><p>Rev: Labyrinth</p><p>fine</p><p>Svoronos 112.</p><p>Purchased from Savoca Oct 2021</p><p><br /></p><p>Yep, talk about a captivating portrait, a Beauuuuutiful bird and a coin that cookie monster mistook on one of his famous midnight munchie raids:</p><p>[MEDIA=youtube]6zT4Y-QNdto[/MEDIA]</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1421109[/ATTACH]</p><p>Ptolemy II Philadelphos, 285-246 BC. Tetradrachm (Silver, 28 mm, 13.00 g, 12 h), Sidon, RY 32 = 254/3 BC. Diademed head of Ptolemy I to right, wearing aegis around neck. Rev. ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΠΤΟΛΕΜΑΙΟΥ Eagle with closed wings standing left on thunderbolt; to left, ΣI above monogram of MT; to right, ΛB. CPE 524. Svoronos 739. Crystallized, double struck and with some edge chipping, otherwise, about extremely fine. Purchased from Leu Numismatiks Aug 2021</p><p><br /></p><p>The answer is, Yes, yes she is too cute for you. And apparently she was too cute for THE top 10:</p><p>[MEDIA=youtube]hNRHHRjep3E[/MEDIA]</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1421112[/ATTACH]</p><p>Thessaly, Larissa. AE 20 mm. c. 370-360 BC. Obv. Head of the nymph Larissa facing slightly left. Rev. Horseman, wearing kausia, riding right. Cf. SNG Cop. 141. AE. 5.15 g. 20.00 mm. Green-brown patina. Good VF/VF.</p><p>Purchased from Artemide Aste Aug 2021</p><p><br /></p><p>And last but not least, the handsome head of the Besieger of Rhodes. Son of Antigonus (founder of the Antigonid dynasty and general of ATG), Demetrios really thought that he was going to be the next ATG. Though this didn&#039;t exactly happen, thanks to his hard work and brilliant mind the Antigonid line was the last to rule Macedon all the way down to it&#039;s annexation by Rome:</p><p>[MEDIA=youtube]9AUEjzVQwKo[/MEDIA]</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1421110[/ATTACH]</p><p>Demetrios I Poliorketes, 306-283 BC. Tetradrachm (Silver, 29 mm, 16.59 g, 3 h), Chalkis, circa 291-290. Diademed and horned head of Demetrios I to right. Rev. ΔHMHTPIOY - BAΣIΛEΩΣ Poseidon, nude, standing left, his right foot set on a rock, holding a trident in his left hand and resting his right on his right thigh; to outer left, monogram; to lower left, dolphin downward. Newell 146. SNG Alpha Bank -. SNG München -. Very rare. Test cut on the edge and with numerous light scratches, otherwise, fine. Purchased from Leu Numismatiks Aug 2021</p><p>&quot;The diademed portrait of Demetrios Poliorketes, which is included among the earliest numismatic depictions of a living Hellenistic king, elevates him to the status of a god through the addition of horns. These not only respond to the horn of Ammon on Lysimachos&#039; celebrated coin portrait of the deified Alexander the Great, but refer to Demetrios&#039; association with Poseidon (in his aspect as Taureos), whose sacred animal was the bull. Indeed, the Athenians hailed him as a son of the sea-god when he entered their city in 291/0 BC. Should there be any doubt about his connection to Poseidon, a depiction of the god - probably representing a lost statue - appears on the reverse.At the time of writing in 1927. Based on style, he placed the issue at Chalkis in Euboia. It is possible the die engraver moved about during these troubled times and the actual mint was another Euboian city. However, if we take into account the activity of the Chalkis mint around 290 BC and a little later it does not seem impossible that the mint produced these tetradrachms and their accompanying drachms as the second leg of a near-contemporary but separate operation and obviously for some special purpose. The first - and much more numerous - leg, composed only of tetradrachms, would in this case be Newell&#039;s nos. 146 to 152. It is possible that the position in time of these two legs should be reversed, but more work is needed before this can be said for sure.&quot;</p><p><br /></p><p>Thanks again for all the fun. Please let me know if you would have added any of these and which you would have removed?[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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