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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;ValiantKnight, post: 2282332, member: 44210&quot;]I probably won&#039;t buy anything groundbreaking within the last month of this year, so I figured I might as well do this now before I get lazy. As I am a university student with a fairly limited budget with off-the-beaten-path coin interests don&#039;t expect TIF/AJ quality stuff in my list. But I hope you enjoy the best fruits of my 5th (calendar) year collecting ancients as much as I do.</p><p><br /></p><p>Honorable Mention: <b>Valens</b>, AE3, Siscia mint, Western Roman Empire, 370s AD</p><p><br /></p><p>I am always on the lookout for above-average quality LRB&#039;s and I must say this one is one of the best I&#039;ve seen, very exceptional. Even more surprising is that I did not have to pay through the nose for it, like if it was one of those times where nearly every other potential bidder was asleep at the keyboard. Some dismiss this type and other LRB types as too common and not worth their time but I challenge them find one of this quality and at the price (or less) that I got it.</p><p><br /></p><p><img src="http://i1197.photobucket.com/albums/aa429/LurkingNinja/valens_zpsck3o2c5b.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p>10.) <b>&quot;Standing Caliph&quot;</b>, AE fals, Aleppo mint, Umayyad Caliphate, 693-697 AD</p><p><br /></p><p>One of the collecting &quot;fields&quot; I want to expand more into is Islamic coinage from the early caliphates (Rashidun, Umayyad, Abbasid). I did less-than-stellar this year with regards to that goal, something I really want to change for 2016, but I did manage to knock off this very desired type (for me) from my list. And it is a great example to boot, especially compared to how these are usually found.</p><p><br /></p><p><img src="http://i1197.photobucket.com/albums/aa429/LurkingNinja/standingcaliph_zpsazheqcus.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p>9.) <b>Valentinian III</b>, AE nummus, Rome mint, Western Roman Empire, 440-455 AD</p><p><br /></p><p>Say what you will about them, but I love the little bronze nummi of the 5th century Roman Empire. So much interesting history behind them; they are a window into the decline of Roman power, of uncertain and dangerous times for the inhabitants of a state that had been considered to be indomitable. While the legends are mostly off-flan, this coin is still better than most with it having good surviving detail and no serious problems.</p><p><br /></p><p><img src="http://i1197.photobucket.com/albums/aa429/LurkingNinja/Mobile%20Uploads/2Qmfx2W4ST9zK6kp5nBf7Le73cGYtB_zpsgiwm0km9.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p>8.) <b>Decentius</b>, AE centenionalis, Trier mint, Western Roman Empire, 350-353 AD</p><p><br /></p><p>I have to admit, the Chi-Rho is a very cool-looking symbol. It is one of the main symbols of the late Roman Empire, of which I am an enthusiast of. For these reasons I cannot get enough coins depicting it. This is one of the better Chi-Rho reverses I&#039;ve seen, well-styled, and the sand patina making it stand out even more. It helps that it is of Decentius, since I didn&#039;t have his Chi-Rho reverse before.</p><p><br /></p><p><img src="http://i1197.photobucket.com/albums/aa429/LurkingNinja/decentius_zps5gt2qxmf.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>7.) <b>Justinian I</b>, AR half-siliqua, Ravenna mint, Byzantine Empire, 540-565 AD</p><p><br /></p><p>Byzantine-Italian coinage is one of my &quot;things&quot;, so this was perfect fit for that part of my collection. I needed a Byz-Italy silver since I didn&#039;t have one, plus I had to get a silver coin of Justinian to complete my triad of gold, silver and bronze of him. And it had to be affordable, of course. I will update this photo with in-hand ones when it arrives.</p><p><br /></p><p><img src="http://i1197.photobucket.com/albums/aa429/LurkingNinja/justinianhalfsiliqua_zpsftee9p22.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p>6.) <b>Honorius</b>, AR siliqua, Carthage mint, Vandal Kingdom, 440-480 AD</p><p><br /></p><p>I had basically always wanted this type, but at the time wasn&#039;t really actively looking for it. Realizing that it would take a while longer to pay off another coin I wanted, I figured I&#039;d look for something I could get at that moment and not have to keep the dealer waiting on anymore future payments. So I found this Vandalic siliqua of Honorius (not &quot;barbarous&quot; since by then the Vandals were a legitimate power with an official mint). This was my first silver coin from one of the Germanic tribes.</p><p><br /></p><p><img src="http://i1197.photobucket.com/albums/aa429/LurkingNinja/honoriuscarthage2_zpschgphguq.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p>5.) <b>Anastasius/Theodoric</b>, AR quarter-siliqua, Sirmium mint, Gepid Kingdom</p><p><br /></p><p>I saw this among the stock of the dealer I acquired my Galla Placidia from, and still a bit stung from not getting the original Gepid silver almost a year earlier (the &quot;other coin&quot; referred to in #6&#039;s paragraph), asked the dealer to hold it for me. It is a good amount less that what I wanted before so I should be able to ultimately get this one.</p><p><br /></p><p><img src="http://i1197.photobucket.com/albums/aa429/LurkingNinja/gepidsiliqua_zpszlzlqrlq.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p>4.) <b>Justinian I</b>, AE half-follis, Rome mint, Byzantine Empire, 537-542 AD</p><p><br /></p><p>I really desired a Gothic War-era Justinian Rome half-follis for my Byzantine-Italian subcollection. This coin was &quot;born&quot; during a very trying time for the city of Rome; it had reverted back into Roman hands for the first time in six decades and was constantly menaced by Gothic reconquest. The city itself was severely depopulated and in decline. The history feels very much alive with this coin.</p><p><br /></p><p><img src="http://i1197.photobucket.com/albums/aa429/LurkingNinja/justinianhalfrome_zpsnpjzxuei.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p>3.) <b>Domitian</b>, AE as (originally)/42 nummi, Rome mint, Roman Empire/Ostrogothic Kingdom</p><p><br /></p><p>This one came completely out of nowhere. I was bored and just simply browsing for appealing coins I could score for a few bucks, nothing too major or special. I found this normal-looking As of Domitian, looked at it briefly then noticed a familiar set of letters engraved onto the coin: XLII (42 [nummi]). I could not believe my luck. I had found a rare Ostrogoth-revalued early imperial bronze (so far only 150-200 known). The seller apparently was oblivious to that fact but I wasn&#039;t. Fortunately it seemed like the other bidders did not notice it either and so I was able to get this at a price far below retail for this coin type.</p><p><br /></p><p><img src="http://i1197.photobucket.com/albums/aa429/LurkingNinja/domitostrogoths_zpscofr26kl.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p>2.) <b>Justinian I</b>, AV solidus, Constantinople mint, Byzantine Empire, 542-565 AD</p><p><br /></p><p>I was hoping to get a solidus eventually along the line, but one day my urge for one became so great I had to fix my un-solidusness. My requirements were that it be a no-problem coin (I don&#039;t really consider the flat area a problem like a distracting scratch or a bent flan), would be 4th-6th century up to Justinian, and if it was early Byzantine, that it had a good style to it (since many have this flat, line-art looking style to them that I am not really a fan of). With this one, there was no way I had all of the cash at hand and at the ready for such a purchase, so I sold, and sold, and sold until I did. Perfect example of achieving a goal if you put your mind and effort to it IMO.</p><p><br /></p><p><img src="http://i1197.photobucket.com/albums/aa429/LurkingNinja/justinianIsolidus_zpseipvpl1k.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p>1.) <b>Galla Placidia</b>, AE nummus, Rome mint, Western Roman Empire, 425-435 AD</p><p><br /></p><p>The rarest ruler I acquired this year (there are plenty of Justinian solidii for sale but at the same not too many coins of Galla Placidia). It is a long term goal of mine to get coins of as many of the extremely rare 5th century Western Roman rulers as possible. I had thought it would be years before I found an affordable coin of Placidia unless I got lucky and found her hidden in an uncleaned/unattributed lot (a coin fantasy of mine is to find a coin of Odoacer this way <img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie8" alt=":D" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" />). I traded several coins of mine for it so I ended up not paying a cent (unless you count the insignificant amount it cost me to ship my trade coins). She is up there along with my Libius Severus and my Majorian as my rarest Roman rulers. I am more passionate about the Western Empire&#039;s history and coinage than its eastern counterpart, so this also helped propel my Placidia to #1.</p><p><br /></p><p><img src="http://i1197.photobucket.com/albums/aa429/LurkingNinja/s-l1600_zpsemmrq5iu.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" />[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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