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Message:: [QUOTE="DonnaML, post: 4906972, member: 110350"]The first ancient coin I bought as an adult (so not counting the several wretched LRBs I bought at a local coin shop when I was 8 or 9, for a total cost of about a dollar) was an Alexander III drachm, not unlike [USER=19165]@physics-fan3.14[/USER] 's. I bought it on impulse in February 1986, while browsing in a store that mostly specialized in antiquities: Macedon, Alexander III (under  Philip III Arrhidaeus), AR Drachm, Miletos mint, 323-319 BCE. Obv. Head of beardless Herakles to right, wearing lion skin headdress / Rev. Zeus seated left on stool-throne, holding long scepter in left hand, with eagle standing right with closed wings on his right hand; KH monogram (Price Monogram 476) in left field; in right field, AΛEXANDROU. Price 2121 [Price, M., The Coinage in the Name of Alexander the Great and Philip Arrhidaeus (London, 1991)]; Pella database at <a href="http://numismatics.org/pella/id/price.2121?lang=en;" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://numismatics.org/pella/id/price.2121?lang=en;" rel="nofollow">http://numismatics.org/pella/id/price.2121?lang=en;</a> Müller 847 [Müller, L., Numismatique d'Alexandre le Grand; Appendice les monnaies de Philippe II et III, et Lysimaque (Copenhagen, 1855-58)]. 16 mm., 4.21 g. Purchased from Harmer Rooke Numismatists, Ltd., New York City, 21 Feb. 1986.  [ATTACH=full]1183993[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=full]1183994[/ATTACH] The first Roman coin I bought, also in the mid- to late-1980s, was this Republican denarius. I bought it at a coin show at which I was primarily looking at British coins, my main collecting interest at the time. There was something about it that I found very appealing, despite its less-than-stellar condition. Roman Republic, Ti. Veturius, AR Denarius 137 BCE. Obv. Helmeted head of Mars right, TI. VET (monogrammed) and X behind head. / Rev. Youth holding pig, kneeling left, head right, between two soldiers who touch the pig with their swords, ROMA above. RSC I Veturia 1, Crawford 234/1, Sydenham 527, Sear RCV I 111 (ill.), BMCRR Italy 550. 18 mm., 3.8 g. [First Republican denarius to have head of anyone other than Roma on obverse.] [ATTACH=full]1184007[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=full]1184010[/ATTACH] Over the next 30 years or so, I bought only a handful of ancient coins (less than 10 in total), all of them Roman Imperial coins, because British coins and medals remained my primary collecting interest. Unfortunately, I didn't keep great records of the dates of purchase of those I bought. I know that one of them, which I bought around 2005-2007, was this Domitian: Domitian (son of Vespasian) AR Denarius 88-89 AD. Obv. Laureate head right, IMP CAES DOMIT AVG GERM P M TRP VIII/ Rev. Minerva advancing right w/javelin & shield, IMP XIX COS XIIII CENS PPP. RIC II-1 667 (2007 ed.), old RIC II 137 (1926 ed.), RSC II 252, BMCRE 151. 17.78 mm., 3.42 g. Ex: Gorny & Mosch. [ATTACH=full]1184013[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=full]1184021[/ATTACH] I didn't start focusing exclusively on ancient coins until late 2017 and the beginning of 2018. (I had to sell the vast majority of my British coins and medals in 2015-2016, including almost all of my collection of British gold coins.  When I was in a position to start collecting again I realized that I would never be able to afford to recreate my old collection, and that it would be too emotionally fraught to try to do so. So I switched to ancient coins instead.)  I would have to go through the entirety of my two three-ring binders of documentation and photos of my Roman coins to figure out which I bought the earliest (I keep them in chronological order, not in the order I bought them). But these are the two earliest purchases listed in either my VCoins or my MA-Shops account. both purchased in Dec. 2017: Elagabalus AR Denarius, 218-219 AD, Antioch Mint. Obv. Laureate draped bust right, no beard, ANTONINVS PIVS FEL AVG/Rev. Two standards between two legionary eagles, CONCORDIA MILIT. RIC IV-2 187, RSC III 15, Sear  RCV II 7505 (ill.). 18 mm., 2.8 g. [ATTACH=full]1184027[/ATTACH] Maximinus I Thrax AR Denarius, 236/38 AD. Obv. Laureate bust right, draped & cuirassed, MAXIMINVS PIVS AVG GERM/ Rev. Fides stdg., facing, head left, holding standard in each hand, FIDES MILITVM. RIC IV-2 18A, RSC III 9, Sear RCV III 8307.  20 mm., 2.77 g. [ATTACH=full]1184028[/ATTACH] I purchased the next two in early February 2018: Severus Alexander AR Denarius. Obv. Laureate head right, IMP C M AVR SEV ALEXAND AVG. / Rev. Fides standing left holding standard in each hand, FIDES MILITVM. RIC IV-2 139, RSC III 52, Sear RCV II 7864. 19 mm., 2.9 g. [ATTACH=full]1184029[/ATTACH] Diva Faustina I [Senior] (wife of Antoninus Pius), AR Denarius, prob. 150-160 AD [see Dinsdale, infra at p. 216 -- including this type among coins issued upon and after 10th anniversary of Faustina’s deification]. Obv: Draped bust right, DIVA FAVSTINA / Rev: Ceres, veiled, standing left, holding torch in left hand and holding right hand up in greeting,  CONSECRATIO. RIC III 382b corr.*, RSC II 165a, Sear RCV II 4593, Dinsdale 020610 [Dinsdale, Paul H, Antoninus Pius and Marcus Aurelius Caesar AD 138-161: Antonine Coinage (2018) at p. 249; photo at p. 254]. 17 mm., 3.3 g. [ATTACH=full]1184031[/ATTACH] * RIC III 382b erroneously describes Faustina’s bust on obverse as veiled.  (RIC III 382a has  different obverse legend [DIVA AVG FAVSTINA]). By the time I had bought these four coins (plus whatever else I may have purchased from other sources during that period), to go along with the ones I already had, I was definitely hooked![/QUOTE]

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