Limes

What company is it? It will go on my blacklist. I always try to find shopping costs in the terms of a seller. Its very annoying if its not clearly mentioned.

Thanks for the interesting post @Roman Collector! I have the same type as @Marsyas Mike: And here's an appropriate song:

Well, as we say here, "daar is geen woord Frans bij" 🙂 Thanks for sharing, did not know about this statement. I would not use the same qualifications of Claudius, but yes, I dont think he was the Superman amongst Emperors!

Nice addition David. The tradition in the imperial era is also shown on this issue of Claudius. Perhaps for saving the citizens from Caligula?

Nice first Nero issue, since mostly available in silver are the Salus reverse types. For your first nero issue, you certainly got a very interesting type! My first issue was this AE As. My latest issue is this one, with Nero. as Apolle, playing the lyre. Never a dull moment with Nero...

Nice looking upgrade, @Sulla80. The price of these 'tribute penny' issues seem to be ever on the rise. It's quite hard to find e reasonably priced type in acceptable quality. The portrait style of your old issue is very appealing by the way. And, interestingly, my kids have a (somewhat forced) remarkable partiality towards the cucumber too. (Melon not so much.) It's a good replacement for candy 🙂 Anyway, here's an upgrade in my collection:

@panzerman That pie looks very tasty 🙂 @DonnaML The one I bought is this one https://www.amazon.com/Marketing-Holders-Countertop-Pedestal-Collectibles/dp/B01575VTE8?th=1 I put in 'multi level transparant display stand plastic' in google, and then searched for a specimen with the right measurements. They also use names like 'make up stand' or 'cupcake stands'. You can try those words too. (I swear, I wasnt looking for a display stand for my cupcakes...!) @lordmarcovan Your cat looks very relaxed. I like how they always end up in funny spaces. Well, decided to show a photo of one of our cats, chilling, while the youngest is playing with her dolls. I hope the cat isnt pondering about the possibilities to mess up my coin display!

Had some fun re-arranging my private coin museum. Decided to put several imperatorial and Imperial denarii together on the transparant stand. Looks pretty good in my opinion. The 12 C's and some friends placed together: I have some cats sleeping somewhere as well. But the internet is already filled with cats. No crocodiles walking around though.

Besides the coin, I also like your rarity bar 🙂 Did you create it yourself? How does it work / do you use it; from a scale of 1 - 10?

Fantastic portrait! Two of my favorite portraits of Domitian, and both within the time period you mentioned David 🙂

From my personal experience, I had a lot of trouble taking pictures of my only golden coin. The photo shown below is attempt no. I-dont-know-how-many. I've used different background colours, yellow, white, blue, black and this one, dark grey. And took photos in different lighting: day, evening, sunlight, clouded, artificial lighting, and so on. This one was taken on a clouded day, when the light was sort of gray if you know what I mean. My advice, since you asked: keep trying until your are statisfied. That's basically it. I don't have an advice about a set up, since I dont have any. But members of this board, as mentioned above, have professional set ups, and likely better camera's and/or lenses. As I don't feel like investing in that kind of equipment, this it what it is, for me. Which I'm fine with. Good luck experimenting with your photoshoot 🙂 Interesting question. I'm not sure I'm qualified to answer it, since I have only one gold issue, but I think there's no difference. In hand both appear better than on photo's where e.g. scratches are more visible.

Thats a lovely toned siliqua Rasiel. Can you give some more info on the coin itself? Toning in combination with ancient coins is something peculiar. I remember my grandmother cleaning/polishing her table silver, that would turn grey/blackish over and over again. But somewhere, someone decided that on ancient coins it enhances the beauty of the coin. Would the ancients have done with their silver, clean it? Anyway, having said that, I do like toning. Every now and then I see if the toning on my coins has changed. I noticed that the siliqua shown below darkened a bit and developed addition 'rainbow' colouring. I tried to capture it on camera, which is quite difficult. The change in toning only took 3 years.

Great coin! The portrait is really nice indeed. If Im not mistaken, the coin is struck 166 AD which could correspond with the conclusion of the Parthian war in the east. Hence pax on the reverse, and the title parth max and imp IIII on the obverse. Several other coins also refer to that war. See below my issue. Marcus Aurelius also struck similar issues.

Actually.... Historians recently found evidence of extraterrestrial interference at the battle, as shown by this ancient Roman photograph. As you can clearly see, the lights are not caused by the sun 😄 Cool photos by the way. And here's a relevant coin:

The victim: Guy who organised it: The accomplices: The weapon used (not really, but I like to think that):

Good rant 😁 Yes, unfortunately, taxes, import duties and shipping costs can get out of control. My advice: don't buy coin from outside EU, that you can also find in EU retail or EU auction. It's not worth it anymore. And if you do buy a coin from outside the EU, be prepared to pay a lot of addition costs. A personal example: as of June 2021 in the NL import duties are 21% (taxes) and 4% duties for coins. Those are levied over the total worth of the goods, including shipment. Additionally, a 12 eur administration/handling fee is to be paid too. I bought coins from Leu last July, for a total of 630 CHF. Addition fees of Leu: 116 CHF buyers fee (and 18,5% buyers fee is quite ok, compared to other sellers), 14 CHF postage/handling (handling lol, whats the buyers fee for then?), 12 CHF banking costs, and 7,45 CHF insurance. Import taxes/duties: 249 EUR. So, in total, the costs were 838 EUR (coins and shipment) and 249 EUR taxes/duties (total: 1049) for coins I bought for 630 CHF (about 655 EUR). Overall, I think in comparison to some other houses/sellers, the shipping and buyers fee of Leu are quite ok. Still, to get these coins in my collection, the additional costs are around 40% (I'm not that good in math, but you get the point) of what I paid for the coins themselves. Now, personally, this makes sense if it gets me the coin I really want and cant find anywhere else. For 'cheaper' or 'common' coins (i.e., coins you can find in EU retail of within a normal amount of time in EU auctions) I don't buy outside the EU. It's simply not worth it. I've also contacted EU sellers/dealers if Im looking for a specific coin that I cant find in their stock. Sometimes they have stock not listed, or are willing to look around. I also dislike the "pay within 5 days or we will destroy your property" attitude. I mean, seriously, 5 days, given the time these custom offices take to clarify goods. Ridiculous. You should file a complaint.

thanks! I would have guessed it would have taken a lot longer. 3 hours seems quite ok! Despite the honost wear, its a beauty. Lovely patina and the portrait retains lots of details.

Very nicely done! Did it takes a long time to clean it?

Interesting! That Arethusa sure is a fantastic coin. Here's my not so pretty coin with the beautiful Arethusa:

Sorry to hear that. Wishing you get well soon @DonnaML!

Thats a nice coin @Marsyas Mike! Strong portrait. I have far too little knowledge about this to say the portrait is of either B or N. I do hope its B, because thats the reason I got the coin in the first place 😄

Great additions! But to me, that Octavian is an absolute stunning coin. Would love to add that to my architecture-set.

This is often attributed to Britannicus, but i believe more recent information tenda to point to Nero.

Thats a great coin, nice toning!