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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;philologus_1, post: 8359228, member: 92212&quot;][USER=21445]@Mat[/USER] What a great illustration of human nature! LOL! The more we have the more we want. Contentment in <i>many</i> things seems elusive. And as per the memes you included, that is surely the case with this hobby we all share. :-o</p><p><br /></p><p>My very first ancient was a Claudius II Gothicus issue, which I bought in 1993. I had no clue as to its attribution. I only knew it was in a box of nearly slick coins marked “Roman coins $5”, in a far corner of a brick &amp; mortar coin shop in Dallas. I asked the shop owner for more information, but he could only quote Sergeant Schultz, (“I know nothing!”) Regardless, I had never seen an ancient coin before and was <u>thrilled</u> to own one! I still have coin and is pictured below. Believe me, as poor as the picture is, the coin is even worse. I owned it for over a year before I found out the reverse is a bird!</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1483673[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>Then over a decade later I finally upgraded to a better example to represent Gothicus II in my collection (<i>via</i> Zach of Beast Coins). I was <u>highly pleased</u> with my new upgrade! I still have it:</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1483676[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>But in 2014, having grown less enamored with the above example, I upgraded again <i>via</i> a John Jencek JHE auction. I was <u>happy</u> to acquire it, and it remains my best Gothicus representative. And I am now (trying to remain) content with it.&nbsp; </p><p>[ATTACH=full]1483677[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>Please suffer one further upgrade story: My first Augustus denarius, purchased from Bart Lewis in 1994, is below. Though quite porous with an off-center reverse, I was <u>very proud</u> to own such an expensive ($90!) <i>silver</i> coin of this famous ruler!</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1483678[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>But predictably, the example diminished in my estimation of acceptability for my collection’s representative of THE “Caesar Augustus”.&nbsp; So, in 2017, I bit the bullet and spent over 4X as much to buy this example from Den of Antiquity. Amazingly to me it is a double-die match to my above example. (I know die matches are not ‘rare’, but a <u>double</u>-die matched pair, of a type with such a voluminous issue, ‘strikes’ me as beyond merely noteworthy.) Plus, it has a distinct, fully complete legend on both sides – replete with fascinating flowlines! Here it is:</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1483679[/ATTACH]</p><p>I still love my above denarius. But, what’s up with that cheek!?!? Ugh! It’s distracting! And why ‘only’ silver?!?!?&nbsp; So, perhaps an example such as the one below will be my <u><i>next</i></u> upgrade. </p><p>[ATTACH=full]1483683[/ATTACH]</p><p>If so, it will be purchased immediately after I win the lottery and immediately prior to my beloved bride quoting Popeye…</p><p>[MEDIA=youtube]p7Z1oD1lGVk[/MEDIA]</p><p><br /></p><p>(To clarify and emphasize: The aureus <u>isn&#039;t</u> mine. It&#039;s in the ANS collection, and is viewable here: <a href="http://numismatics.org/collection/1944.100.39118" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://numismatics.org/collection/1944.100.39118" rel="nofollow">http://numismatics.org/collection/1944.100.39118</a> )[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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