This list comprises my favorite 10 coins out of 150 or so purchased in the first half of 2015. It was a fun list to put together and is dedicated to my wife, who allows me my little indulgences. Here's to hoping she'll continue to do so for the next half of the year! 10. IONIA, Ephesos - AR Drachm Was: the result of the mobile phone version of accidentally raising your hand in an auction. Is: #10 on this Favorite Coin list. I've made worse mistakes . 9. HADRIAN - AR Denarius The Aegyptos is the most readily available of Hadrian's 'Travel series' denarii, but as I am trying to make a set of them, this proved to be a fortuitous inclusion in my most recent group lot. It's also just a really good-looking coin. 8. THESSALY, Lamia - AR Hemidrachm This one is on the list because a nice hemidrachm with lovely toning and a BCD pedigree is one of life's genuine pleasures . 7. PONTOS, Komana, time of Mithridates VI - AE28 Only a collector of ancients would want to see the face of Medusa, but her mug on the bodyless head held by Perseus is notoriously elusive on these issues. Combined with the fact that it was struck at a rare mint, I consider this coin a personal coup. 6. C. HOSIDIUS GETA, Roman Republic - AR Denarius Slightly off center, but the details are wonderfully sharp, particularly on the reverse. The thing I like best about this coin is the thing that is the hardest to capture in a picture - the head of the Calydonian boar, turning to the right at the edge of the flan, so deeply struck that it seems like it may just charge off the surface of the coin. 5. OTHO - AR Denarius A little scruffy and ex-jewelry to boot, but I have a soft spot for these damaged survivors. And, well, it's an Otho! 4. SICILY, Syracuse, Timoleon & the Third Democracy - AE Dilitron A pleasant surprise in a $35-per-coin mixed lot, which then whet my appetite for more group lot purchases. There are many beautiful Greek silver coins out there, not so many in bronze. I think this one is a great example of the latter. 3. COMMODUS, Marcianopolis - AE25 I had been hunting a Three Graces reverse for some time and was very pleased to check the box off with this example. Three seemingly anorexic Graces served as models for this coin and got it illustrated in Hristova & Jekov's The Coins of Moesia Inferior I-III c. A.C. Marcianopolis. Not quite Swimsuit Illustrated, but we take what we can get. 2. C. COSSUTIUS SABULA, Roman Republic - AR Denarius One can only speculate as to the reasons why this moneyer decided to go with a bust of Medusa for his issue, but I love the results - a scarce, slightly mysterious and arrestingly beautiful piece. 1. JULIUS CAESAR - AR Denarius I bought this last year, but it didn't make it to my 2014 favorites list because a postal misadventure caused it to go missing for three months. I just had to put it on this list. It's a Julius Caesar portrait denarius... not sure what else I can add to that!
Tremendous coins, Z, each and every one. I wouldn't want to pick a favorite from that list, but the C. H. Geta stands out, and you're right about Greek bronze - plenty of historically interesting coins out there, but few you can really call beautiful. I can understand why you would put the J. C. first, on account of its rarity. But compared to some of the others, these were rather crudely executed. Still, it's a coin you certainly don't see every day, at least not in that condition.
Nice => wow, that's a sweet Top-10 my coin-friend ... they're all winners!! If I had to pick a few favs, then I'd definitely toss-in your cool Pontos-Medusa (it would look marvelous in my harem) and I also like that Thessaly Lamia example (it gives me a good feeling) ... oh, and that Syracuse Timoleon is certainly no slouch either ... ... congrats again (great 2015!!)
Thanks, JA. Can't argue with you on the JC. It's not pretty, and not even rare, really. It's a coin that truly carries all its significance on one side, but it sure is a whole lotta... err, significance .
Thanks, Steve. Let me pick up a few more headless Medusas and maybe we can do some harem swapping sometime .
What a fantastic coin year you're having! I love them all and would gladly have any of them in my collection .
Ummm, is that kinda like I'll show ya mine, if you show me yours? (man, I won't fall for that one again, and again and again)
wonderful coins Z, i think i like the three graces and the boar reverse the best. and the bee. and the sicily zeus bust. and all of them.
Z-Bro => I like your write-up regarding the 3-Graces the best (it made me chuckle & snort) ... the bee-tale made me smile as well
If you gave me these ten coins today and I hd to list my top ten for the year to date, I suspect at least 8 would be on my list. You have had a good year.
Thanks so much, Doug. It's been a great year so far, even beyond these ten. Only the greedy and addicted could ask for more for the rest of the year, but when you're a coin collector I guess that comes with the territory.
I really like the beautiful Medusa, that's classy. The JC was an unexpected number 1. I don't think I remember seeing that one the first time around. Certainly a must have for coin type for any ancient collection. Again a beautiful bust. I am not crazy about the Pontos, I think conditionally it rather low in your collection. Maybe I have just seen to many, interesting mint though. If you become dissatisfied with it make sure you contact me for proper disposal. The three Graces is an excellent specimen. You just don't see these come about that often, conditionally I find it very appealing. The Syracuse is a steal at that price and great find for sure. I think Otho has been wearing a "wave hat" to coax his hair into that shape. I usually don't get all crazy over these Othos and Otho(ish) coins,. My fav of the lot is RR Geta Boar Denarius. I had to make sure I wasn't still wearing 3d glasses, the details are just soooo sharp and appealing. I look forward to the next top 10! Great choices Z.
Thanks, anoob, I appreciate all the comments. I agree the Pontos Komana is rather beat up, but when it comes to coins that I find interesting (and that are rare), I'm just not that discerning about condition. Actually, when the next post-your-uglies thread comes up, it will be probably be shown that I'm just not discerning at all, period .
A-noob's take on the Pontos really points out how different we are. You call the coin a 'personal coup'. Many of us have posted the Perseus type ranging from scungy to wonderful but none have had as good a face on Medusa as this one. Understand the obverse of the coin is bad and the centering of the reverse is perfect enough to clip the corpse (I prefer coins with more body at the bottom). Then we have the matter of the city name. I believe all the examples before (save one of mine) have been from the most common Amisos. You trumped my Sinope with a city I had not seen before. There are others. What this horrid piece of scrap metal (condition wise) did was rub our faces in the fact that we don't have one with that Medusa face and one from that city. Nice coup. Would I buy the coin if I saw it at a show? Sure would! Sinope with terrible Medusa (weak body, no face), decent obverse, great centering, acceptable surfaces - in other words this is everything your coin is not and nothing your coin is. My Amisos example is poor compared to a couple belonging to others of the CT family but none of them got face, as I recall, either.