TypeCoin's Top 10 for 2016!

Before I start my top 10, I will give a few honerable mentions. Picking out a favorite 10 were just as hard as remembering which coins were bought in 2016. To see why, here is a picture of all of my favorites that I had to narrow down from:



I really liked these coins, and felt they shouldn't be excluded.

These are in no particular order. I love them all the same.

Cherronesos Hemidrachm


This one would be right your alleys as it is within most of your collecting interests. This is one of the six Ancient Greek coins I bought during my dabbles in that area, and it one of the four I kept (you will see the other three later). I bought this hemidrachm primarily because of the cool pentagram on the obverse, and the lion portrait on the obverse was very cool. It was much smaller than I was expecting, but still extremely interesting nonetheless.

China, Northern Song Dynasty
Chong Ning Thong Bao 10-Cash



This one makes the list because 1) it is a huge and impressive coin in-hand, 2) the patina and wear are very attractive, and 3) the Slender Gold Script calligraphy is beautiful. This one issue is probably my favorite of the North Song varieties, though many of the seal script varieties of other reign titles are not far behind.

China, Southern Song Dynasty
Duan Ping Tong Bao, 5-Cash



This one made the list because of pretty much the same reasons as the above coin. However, this one is much rarer (try to find one for sale!). I saw it on eBay for cheap and bought it to trade for another coin. When it arrived, I fell in love with it, and I regretted having to trade it away. However, the dealer had apparently sold the coin I was after, so I got to keep this scarce coin.

China, Eastern Han Dynasty
Wu Zhu, Partially Clipped



When I saw this one for sale from one of my dealers of Chinese coins, I pounced on it. I have seen and handled hundreds of Wu Zhus that had their outer parts cut out, and they are called "clipped." However, I had never seen one whose clipping was not complete. I found it a fascinating piece to study and see how the clipping was done, and to easily show others the process as well.

China, Zhou Dynasty
Bronze Imitation Cowrie



I was excited to finally get one of these for my collection of imitation cowries. They are very scarce, and it took me a few years to finally get one within my price range. Not much is known about exactly when they were made, but it is possible that they predated any other bronze forms of currency, given the economic importance of cowries back into the Shang era.

AE Unit of Philip II



I bought this one to represent Alexander III's father, Philip II. I read about how Philip II had won the Chariot race in the Olympic Games of 359 BC, and he celebrated his victory by putting horse themes on the reverses of all of his coinage. This was fascinating to me, and made me want to try to buy this type. This particular example has great detail in Apollo's head and in the horse. For my price range, this was the nicest example I could buy.

Now stay tuned for my top 10.

 

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I want your cherronesos hemidrachm. It's so pretty. If you ever lose your mind and decide to sell it, PM me first.

 

These are all GREAT @TypeCoin971793 ... I particularly like the AE Cowrie and the Clipped Wu Zhu... way cool you got one as a WIP (Work in Process)! The 5-Cash is great... always fun to abscond a "RARE" coin into the Collection!

 

Like your Cherronesos.
Also that Ae Philip II has the best strike I think I've ever seen on that type. Way better than the one I have.

 

I was hoping to see a US Type Coin very cool coins and great selection here.

 

Well, here in the ancients forum we don't meddle in brand new 200 or 300 year old coins. We prefer stuff that wasn't minted yesterday.

Stick around, maybe you'll catch the ancients decease too and pick up a few properly old coins.

 

Nice coins for runners up. Your top 10 will be good.

 

Now for my top 10. Again, these are not in any order. Also, if you are observant, you will see 9 coins here. That is because there is one more coin that I hope to buy in about 3 days. It is an extraordinarily good deal, so I won't give any hints. I just need to rack up the cash from a couple sales to be able to afford it.

China, Warring States Period
Pointed Foot Spade, "Da Yin"



This was an exciting eBay win for me. The seller had just started unloading his collection of Chinese coins, so very few people had noticed this coin. I was able to snag it for $35, or about a tenth of its value. It is virtually UNC, with the casting flash on the edges still present and not filed off. The characters are very sharp and clear, a stark upgrade to mine that was nearly worn flat. I sold that one for double what I paid for this.

China, Warring States Period
State of Chu
Ant-Nose Coin, "Jun"



This is probably my favorite ant-nose variety of all of them. One of the things I love most about the archaic Chinese language is how the characters often looked like what they were supposed to represent. In this case, the character "Jun" means "nobleman." If you look at the character, it looks like a person with a large head, long moustache, and small body, or a cartoonish version of what we would imagine an ancient Chinese noble to look like.

AR Tetradrachm
Alexander III, Lifetime
Temnos Mint



This is the coin that got me sidetracked onto Greek coins a little bit. On a whim, I wanted to buy an Alexander III tetradrachm. As I did more research, the more I fell in love with these Greek coins, and the more determined I became to fine a nice Alex tet. As luck would have it, I found an auction company selling off their coins that didn't sell in their latest e-Sale. I bought two tets, including this one, for $350 total. I later sold the other one for $375 (you can do the math). I then did more research on this coin, and the more I found out, the more enamored I became with all the historical ties this coin had. This coin is easily in my top 3 purchases for this year.

AE Unit of Alexander III



I bought this one along with the Philip II unit. What drew me to this type, and what makes me put it in my top 10, is the reverse. It depicts a bow, arrow quiver, and a club, which represents the story of Herakles and the Nemean Lion. I loved the mythological tie between this coin and the above tet, and I felt I would be able to tell a great story using these two coins. In addition, the bow and quiver were very detailed, making it far more attractive than many other (and more-expensive) specimens.

China, Xin Dynasty (Wang Mang Period)
Qi Dao Wu Bai (Value 500 Knife)



Here is another in my top 3. Though technically two different coins as far as the parts are concerned, I will treat it as one coin for the type. I find the story of Wang Mang's socialistic and communistic intentions and their effects fascinating. In order to carry out his plans, he needed to destroy the wealth of the nobility, and this is the coin he used, along with another, much rarer, and MUCH more expensive knife. He failed and destroyed China's economy in the process, but Wang Mang was a visionary. His system would be repeatedly tried again in China and the Middle East, and would eventually be accepted as a norm with the advent of paper money in the West.

The next 5 (or 4 technically) will be shared later... Stay tuned!

 

Look at my posts in the $50 or less thread in the US forum. Those are all my favorite US buys for this year.

 

Nice job on the scores! I have a couple Ant-Noses, and think they are purdy cool! And the "Key Coin" is a target of mine! Great post! Great coins.

 

Love your Alexander III Ae Unit.
I have one inbound I bought from a European auction house. Be nice if it made it before new years.

 

And now the last installment.

China, Northern Zhou Dynasty
Yong Tong Wan Guo, "The Everlasting Currency of the Empire"



This one was an impulse buy. I saw it for sale for a great price, and I offloaded several coins to be able to pay for it. This coin is very rare as five or less show up each year, and the calligraphy is absolutely amazing. The patina makes the characters stand out, so the coin overall is absolutely beautiful. The story behind this coin is that of family rivalry, corruption and murder, and is always an interesting read. The last coin in my top three.

China, Warring States Period
State of Yan
Boshan Knife



This coin I had my eye on for a couple years. It was a great price, but I just couldn't afford it. When I got a job this summer, I finally had money, so I pounced. This coin is exceedingly rare and shows up once every 5-10 years or so. And this is the most common variety, of which I know of three. Two are currently for sale for about three times I paid for this one.

This was an exciting buy for me as it completed my knife type set. I did not think I would ever get one when thumbing through Hartill's catalogue, but here it is. Unfortunately, it has been broken twice, which is what keeps it out of the top three.

China, Warring States Period
State of Qi
Yi Liu Hua, "Six Hua of the City of Yi"



I had been looking to add this type to my collection for a couple years now. There are three coins from this city (value 1, 4, and 6), and any three of them would have filled in the hole. I prefered the value six variety because it is bigger and the characters look prettier. They would show up once every few months if they showed up that year at all. When they did show up, they were lthen bid up way past what I could afford. Then this one appeared on an obscure German auction site. On the day of the auction, I woke up at 5:00 AM, and put in a bid. Surprisingly, won it at the opening bid, which was a third of the going rate. In-hand, I was very surprised at how big this coin is.

China, Southern Ming Dynasty
Rebel Sun Kewang
Xing Chao Tong Bao, "Currency of the Prosperous Dynasty"



Though not ancient (cast 1648-1657), this is a thpe I had been wanting to get for 4 years. I could never find one that was nice, genuine, and a good price. I wanted this particular variety because I thought the characters were attractive, and this coin is HUGE (48mm). Then, I saw it offered by same obscure German auction site as the above coin, and I jumped at the opportunity. The coin is a very high grade, and the patina is very attractive.

 

[QUOTE="TypeCoin971793, post: 2597119
China, Zhou Dynasty
Bronze Imitation Cowrie

View attachment 566251

I was excited to finally get one of these for my collection of imitation cowries. They are very scarce, and it took me a few years to finally get one within my price range. Not much is known about exactly when they were made, but it is possible that they predated any other bronze forms of currency, given the economic importance of cowries back into the Shang era.

[/QUOTE]

This is what happens to cherios when left under the couch cushions for an extended period of time.

I really like that you have broad interests. Awesome array of coinage & maybe some might say antiquities.

 

Man, love all the Warring States pieces. (Trying not to get sucked in to Chinese coins...)

 

Resistance is futile. Let it happen.

 

I have a couple of cash coins but just to have them. Besides that I'm not really into Chinese stuff but if I came across one of those knife coins for really cheap or free I would not object to having it

Speaking of US coins, here are my top 10 US coin purchases of the year:












......

(none!)

 

Very impatient to see the last one

Q

 

What a cool mix of coins!

Unsurprisingly, all the ancient coins are my favorites....but I LOVE the 'knife coins' too!

 

Well, looks like I won't be able to buy that last coin until January if it does not sell. So in its place, I add this coin to my top 10:

China, Qin Dynasty
Ban Liang, Rosette Hole
37mm and 7.7g



I bought this coin earlier this year from Bob Reis. I wanted it because it had a rosette hole, or a hole with 8 points. Technically, this was a mint error from when the coin was not alligned with the square peg the coins were slid onto to prevent rotation during filing. However, they were seen as special because the number 8 was good luck because "ba", or "eight", sounded like "fa", or "fortune". I had been reading the research of a specialist who is one of the foremost experts in rosette holes, and he says his earliest specimen is a medium-sized Ban Liang from 180 BC or so. However, this one predates his by 50-100 years, making mine the earliest known coin with a rosette hole.

 

How could this possibly be a runner-up to the other coin then?? Very cool! Now I'm curious about the coin that could have been...