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Message:: [QUOTE="TypeCoin971793, post: 2597167, member: 78244"]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 PeriodPointed Foot Spade, "Da Yin" [ATTACH=full]566280[/ATTACH] 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 PeriodState of ChuAnt-Nose Coin, "Jun" [ATTACH=full]566284[/ATTACH] 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, LifetimeTemnos Mint [ATTACH=full]566290[/ATTACH] 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 [ATTACH=full]566288[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=full]566289[/ATTACH] 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) [ATTACH=full]566294[/ATTACH] 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![/QUOTE]

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