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Message:: [QUOTE="Marsyas Mike, post: 3148085, member: 85693"]My collecting "goals" are nonexistent, for the most part.  I just look for things I want and can afford on eBay.  Of course I'd like a bunch of bronzes from Nero, but I am not able to pay what they go for.  Which is fine, I am not complaining.  But in the past week, I landed three from Nero, and I thought I'd toss 'em out here. Warning, they are not pretty. But they were affordable:  all three came to $18.86.  There was a recent post on how bad a coin can look and a collector still wanting it.  All three of these rather illustrate this - I wanted a Nero, and can't pay for a nice one.  But these three were just attractive enough, and certainly cheap enough to make my ugly-cost threshold.  Others would not want these at any price.<ul> <li>The Apollo Cithraoedus as was difficult to attribute - there are a lot of variations, even with the bust left.  As usual with my uglies, the part of the legend I need to fully attribute has been obliterated by time.  By counting spaces, guessing, etc. I came up with RIC 385 (GERMANICV obverse).  I could be wrong. Harshly cleaned, possibly a BD recovery piece.  It came with two rather nice little bronzes from Valens, which made the purchase decision easy. I really enjoyed researching this one, and the mention of this type in Suetonius was a real bonus. </li> </ul> <ul> <li>The Antioch SC has a pretty crude bust, and a bit of the legend blobbed over by patina (?) but I like the purple-green color to it, though it makes it hard to see.  It is probably nicest of the lot.  The bust is very crude - could this be some sort of imitation?  I am not very familiar with Roman Provincials. </li> </ul> <ul> <li>The last one, with a ram and crescent moon and star, doesn't have Nero on it, and may in fact be from the end of the reign of Claudius.  It is, so I discovered, one of the "Star of Bethlehem" coins - there have been other posts about this.  For what it's worth, I really doubt the Roman authorities, even in the East, were "commemorating" Christ's birth on coins.  But it is an interesting theory.  This one has been harshly cleaned.  This was also a lot buy, with a Licinius that I posted a couple of days ago on an old thread.  To my surprise, I like the Licinius better, despite the Star of Bethlehem aspects of this one. </li> </ul>Any ugly (or otherwise) Nero's out there?  Further debates on the merits or pitfalls of ugly vs. affordable are welcome too - I really like hearing "collector's opinions" on these situations.  [ATTACH=full]805953[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=full]805956[/ATTACH] Nero Æ As(62-68 A.D.)Lugdunum MintNERO CLAVD CAESAR AVG [GERMA]NICV, bare head left; small globe at point of neck / PONTIF MAX [T]R PO[T IMPPP] S C , Nero as Apollo Citharoedus advancing right. RIC 385 (?) (GERMANICV)(10.74 grams / 28 mm) Nero Æ 25(c. 54-68 A.D.)Roman Prov. - Syria: Antioch in Seleukis and PieriaIM NER CLAV CAESAR, laureate head right, lituus before / large SC, dot above, all within wreath of eight laurel leaves.RPC II, 4307; BMC 177.(7.94 grams / 25 mm) Autonomous under Nero Æ 17Year 105 (56-57 A.D.)Roman Prov. - Syria: Antioch, Quadratus as Governor [ANTIOXEΩN] veiled, turreted, draped bust of city goddess right / EΠI KOYAΔPATOY, Ram running right, looking back,crescent & * above, ETEP below RPC 4290; SNG Cop. 101(4.52 grams / 17 mm)[/QUOTE]

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