Limes

Thanks for sharing. Never heard of 'al marco' before.

Thank you for the interview @Ocatarinetabellatchitchixand @David Atherton. I do wonder, as I dont think you may ever collect anything else than Flavian coins (but maybe Im wrong): will you at some time in the foreseeable future, reach a point that the only coins left to collect are unique pieces or pieces only in a museum, and that are (almost) impossible to add? Or are there still loads and loads of Flavian coins to collect for you? How many Flavian coins are actually out there? That Colosseum sesterius is absolutely by far my favorite of your collection, for obvious reasons. Absolutely fantastic piece!

Thats very interesting food for thought, thanks for sharing. Reminds me of some of the rendering of animals on coins. They dont look real, but for many Romans real enough as they adhere to their imagination or beliefs how the world looks.

Great addition to your collection, and such a good looking issue of this rare coin. I'd love to add a coin of this beloved general to my collection too one day. I thought I had one, and of the type I really wanted, but unfortunately it proved to be a fake. It still hurts a bit, knowing that these coins are rare, don't come up often and better ones are very expensive... I think on better specimens of this issue, you can see the shields you mentioned as part of the trophy (below the 'head' as 'arms') from the front. But at other examples they appear to be more rounded. The same goes for the shields at the base of the trophies. I do think they are the same shields as shown on your coin; it makes little sense to me to put different shields on the designs of these coins while referring to the same campaigns. Then again, I'm not a 'germanic shield expert', so I could be very wrong here.

Fantastic addition, coingratulations! Its a really nice example. I'd like to add one too, one day, but now they're a bit too expensive to justify to deviate from collecting Roman coins. And I have a drachm of him as Herakles with lion skin, so Im pleased with that for now.

Great photos. They really show the details and colouring of the coin.

Final hammer is 1900. Guess you stopped the bidding war! 😁 Going against the stream here, but I recently sold my issue of this type. Wasnt pleased with its place in my collection anymore, and i have one with a better portrait of Pompey (Not as good as the OP coin though!) but with a different reverse.

lol, if you're that easily averted from a target, why bid in the first place?

Just WOW!!! What a massive addition to your already fantastic collection. I saw it in the current catalog, and glad to see it went to you.

Thanks for sharing the photos. Looks really interesting.

Congratulations with your new Vitellius! You can really see the full name, which is a bit scarce with his coins. Here is mine. Unfortunately the name is mostly off flan.

Finally found the time. Here is the bunch together. The largest of the lot is the sestertius of Claudius, the smallest a sestertius of Septimius Severus. The issue of Posthumus is not the smallest, even though it is my latest issue. Perhaps this has to do with the sestertius of Septimius Severus being one of the earlierst issues? Or perhaps because the issue of Posthumus had some effort put into size due to it being a double sestertius? My earliest issue, is the one by Caligula top left. But thats not a good indicator for the seize of the early bronzes. At 31 mm, its been filed (?) quite extensively around the edges (and obverse and reverse too).

Nice! Would you happen to have a group shot of all the coins together? Also, I wonder something. Was the BM also actively collecting imp VIII issues? Or is it by chance that they have so many specimens?

Generally speaking (and I'm no expert and l dont want to get sued by you 😁) the coins look ok. However, the photos are bad. I can see several possibilities, in which better photos can help. First, the patina is ok. Especially on the first two coins, the lighter areas are as to be expected (high areas and in larger fields are more worn, and thus lighter). However, its impossible to tell of its artifically done, or that there is a case of smoothing in the fields (which could also lead to lighter areas). Its impossible to see. The colour of the patina in general looks ok. The fact that the seller has several of these coins on offer would not let me to the conclusion that there's something wrong per se. Perhaps the seller offers a collection with similarly patinated coins. Or perhaps is just coincidence. I assume you looked at review of this seller, perhaps there's a clue to be found there? Anyway, personally I'd start with asking for better photos.

Welcome! That's a very nice coin and first post. I think there are some members here who are very fanatic when it comes to provenance searching and so on. Maybe they can help you out with your quest (if you of course would like that).

Nice set you've assembled! And you can expend it as you like, for example like Finn did above. Or not. I did not, I kept it as below, but with a co-emperor and a 'almost emperor'.

Interesting thoughts and questions, even though its not new years resolutions time! Thanks for sharing. To answer your questions: yes and yes. My main rule is to keep the total amount of coins in the collection low (not value per se, but thats another issue). Currently Im at 127. Ive sold quite a few (mainly cheaper) coins over the years, and will keep doing that I think, continuously refreshing the collection. I dont adhere to a budget strictly, but I do keep an eye on it. I make sure to cover expenses first, savings second, and what is left I can spend. My collection focus is small too, which helps with the total amount of coins and expenditure. My per-coin-max increased over the years. My most expensive one is a budget Domitian aureus, my cheapest something like 60 euros (ex fees and so on). I dont have a max per coin. I like to think Im not an addict. But the comment by @ewomack made me think. I agree with it. There is some sort of pressure coming from forums, or e.g. the podcast from Berk, showing all these fantastic issues. Especially when the 'cheaper ones' still costs hundreds of dollars. But, its also part of human nature, to be sensitive to that, and it takes a strong mind to not be influenced by it. So, good comment!

Neat new addition! Trajan shows loads of interesting reverse coin designs. Somehow i never liked the portrait, in comparison to e.g. Nerva, or Hadrian. Anyway. Below are mine. Architectural types are my favorite. The conquerer: The family man:

Thanks for another great interview. Interesting to read something about collecting areas Im not active in, or familiar with.

Dont know why, but I immediately thought of this:

I think Buca should be to the right,.not bottom, and the top of the caduceus to the top. So youll have to turn it counter clockwise one quarter. Dont know if this makes sense, but I think this is the right way: https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=10963428

Lovely patina on your new Nerva addition. Really makes the nose stand out 😄 here are mine:

Thank you! This was at the time, my most expensive purchase. It was before the covid pandemic and the influx of new collectors, which made it a bargain compared to prices these days. Coincidentally i had some postal issues too. At the office, someone had placed the package in 'return' bin, even though it had arrived at that same day. So it had gone back to the sender when I wanted to pick it up. Luckily, all went well, the seller had received it and shipped it again. When dating these issues, I like to use the great overview made by @Alegandron. I hope.he's ok with me using it here. RRC 480/1, Buca - January RRC 480/2, DICT QVART - early February RRC 480/3/4/5, CAESAR IMP - late February RRC 480/6/7/8/9/10/11/12/13/14, DICT PERPETVO - early to mid March RRC 480/17/18, CAESAR IMPER - late March RRC 480/19/20, PARENS PATRIAE - April RRC 480/15/16, MARIDIANVS - April RRC 480/21/22, CLEMENTIAE CAESARIS and Mark Antony - April

Fantastic acquisition @CPK, congratulations! The portrait is very nice, and despite the wear all features are still remaining. And of course, its a life time issue, which makes it even better. Below is mine.

Great coin! I really like the scylla on the helmet. Do you know what TAP stands for? Is also for the magistrate?