sand

P.S. : After thinking about it, I'm guessing, that Mr. Robinson has a sense of humor. I wonder, what the shipping cost would be?

LOL! What in the world, is this contraption? "604 COIN Restoration Machine, the device you've always dreamed of, combining the latest in AI, 3-D printing & quantum computing technology; just place a coin in the slot, press the button, and the coin comes out as new, minus any corrosion, nicks, wear, etc. Satisfaction guaranteed $199.95"

@akeady Now I can see it.

Hello @akeady. I can't see the photo. I don't know if anyone else can see it.

P.S. : The classical Athena owl tetradrachms seem to have high supply, but high demand. Supply and demand. Supply and demand cause prices. Therefore, the high prices.

For myself, I really like the classical Athena owl tetradrachms from 440 BC to 404 BC. They have a primitive beauty, that I really like. However, after 4 years of searching for one, I still don't have one. I've been very picky, and my budget doesn't seem to want to cooperate with my pickiness. There is a huge variation, in the style of classical Athena owl tetradrachms. I like certain examples, way better than other examples. Therefore, I keep waiting, for an example, that meets my very high standards, but is within my budget.

@Al Kowsky I like your coin better. I like the Heracles portrait, and I like the overall appearance of your coin.

I like late Roman coins. Here's my latest camp gate. It's also my latest Western Roman Empire coin. These are seller photos. Valentinian III AE4 Nummus. Western Roman Empire. 425 AD To 435 AD. Rome Mint. RIC X 2123. 13 mm. 1.34 grams. Obverse Valentinian III Bust Facing Right. Reverse Camp Gate.

P.P.S. : And, Wikipedia has many articles, about the Byzantine Empire. Here's a good starting point, which lists all of the Roman Emperors, and all of the Byzantine Emperors : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Roman_emperors And this : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byzantine_Empire

P.S. : And, Youtube seems to have wonderful videos, about anything you can think of. I imagine, that Youtube has lots of interesting videos, about many aspects of the Byzantine Empire. I recently subscribed to "Youtube Premium" for $12 per month, so I no longer have to watch advertisements, except for the advertisements that are embedded in the videos, which are easy to fast forward and avoid. I like that a lot.

@ewomack Welcome to the Dark Side of the Dark Side. My favorite Byzantine coin books are as follows, in order of favorite, with my favorite first. "Byzantine Coins And Their Values" by Sear : I've used this book, more than any other, whenever I want to lookup a Byzantine coin. "The Dumbarton Oaks Collection" can be downloaded for free on the internet, and is excellent. I've used this quite often, to lookup Byzantine coins. It has more coin photos, than any other reference, that I've seen. "ERIC II" by Rasiel Suarez : I like this huge book. It's skimpy on the Anonymous/Jesus folles, but I like reading his descriptions of the Emperors and their coins, and it covers both the Roman Empire and the Byzantine Empire. "Byzantine Coins" by Grierson : This book has a lot of good information, and has lots of photos of coins. "Byzantine Coins" by Whitting : This book is interesting to read, and has some good photos of coins. "Ancient Coin Collecting V : The Romaion/Byzantine Culture" by Sayles : This book only has 1 coin photo per Emperor, but it is an inexpensive book, and is fun to read. I like all of the books, in Sayles's 6 volume series. For Byzantine history books, I've heard a lot of good things, about the 4 Norwich books. I have the 4 Norwich books, but I haven't had time to read them, except for a few pages. "Byzantium : The Early Centuries" by Norwich : This is Volume 1 of the detailed 3 volume series. "Byzantium : The Apogee" by Norwich : This is Volume 2 of the detailed 3 volume series. "Byzantium : The Decline And Fall" by Norwich : This is Volume 3 of the detailed 3 volume series. "A Short History Of Byzantium" by Norwich : This is a 1 volume short version of the history of the Byzantine Empire. Even this "short" history book is 431 pages long.

When I'm searching for provenance, here are the sources that I use, with the most often used, first. I haven't had time, to do a lot of provenance searches. Mostly, I just search, to find other examples of coins, to try to verify the authenticity of coins, before I buy or bid on the coins. However, sometimes, I'll stumble on a provenance, by accident, which is exciting. And, I sometimes search for provenance, if a coin is very expensive. Someday, if I ever have the time, I may do more extensive provenance searches. 1. ACsearch : You may have to register with an email address (I don't remember), but it's free, unless you want to view the hammer prices : https://www.acsearch.info/ 2. CNG Research : https://cngcoins.com/Coins_sold.aspx 3. Coin Archives : https://www.coinarchives.com/a/

Nice coins @Simon The Roman bronze coins decreased in size in the 4th century AD and 5th century AD (on average, although there were exceptions). It seems like this was because of inflation in the Roman Empire. The average "nummus" bronze coin declined from 10 grams in weight and 30 mm in diameter with 5% silver during the time of the Tetrarchy including Diocletian in 294 AD, to approximately 1 gram in weight and 10 mm in diameter with no silver by the time of Anastasius I in 498 AD. Then, in 498 AD, Anastasius I created a 40 nummi bronze coin, called a "follis" by present day numismatists, which was supposed to be worth 40 of the old small nummus coins (therefore it had the Greek numeral for 40, the letter "M", on the reverse). However, the first version of the 40 nummi coin weighed only 3 grams to 10 grams, and had a diameter of 20 mm to 25 mm. Numismatists call this version the "small module". Ordinary citizens were unhappy with it, because its weight was nowhere close to the weight of 40 of the old small nummus coins. Therefore, in 512 AD, Anastasius I created a larger version of the 40 nummi coin, which weighed between 15 grams and 20 grams, and had a diameter of 31 mm to 40 mm. Numismatists call this version the "large module". This coin still did not weigh as much as 40 of the old small nummus coins, but it was large enough and impressive enough that ordinary citizens accepted it. The 40 nummi coin represented further inflation, because it weighed way less than 40 of the old small nummus coins. But at least the average bronze coin was large again, and therefore more useful as coinage, along with new 20 nummi coins, 10 nummi coins, and 5 nummi coins. After reaching a maximum diameter of up to 45 mm in 540 AD under Justinian I, the 40 nummi coin gradually shrank to 14 mm to 18 mm in diameter by the end of the 8th century AD, and lost the letter "M" on the reverse, as the Byzantine Empire lost northern Africa including Egypt, most of Italy, and the Holy Land. More inflation, I guess. Then, in the 9th century AD, some larger 40 nummi follis coins began to appear, with diameters up to 30 mm. Why? I don't know. Here are my 2 Anastasius I coins. These are seller photos. Anastasius I AE Nummus. Eastern Roman Empire. 491 AD To 498 AD. Constantinople Mint. Sear 13. 8 mm. 0.99 grams. Obverse Anastasius I Bust Facing Right. Reverse Monogram. Anastasius I AE 40 Nummi Follis Large Module. 512 AD To 518 AD. Constantinople Mint. Sear 19. 32 mm. 15.33 grams. Obverse Anastasius I Bust Facing Right. Reverse Large M Mint "CON" Officina A.

4 years ago, I purchased the 2 volume hardcover set "Greek Coins And Their Values" by Sear, the year 2000 reprint, from Ebay. When they arrived, they had a very strong smell of cigarette smoke, every time I opened the books. I guess the previous owner, or someone in his/her house, smoked cigarettes. I have noticed that, if a person smokes cigarettes indoors, then, depending on how often he/she smokes, everything in his/her house, that is made of cloth or paper, eventually can smell like cigarette smoke, to a person who doesn't smoke cigarettes, unless he/she has a designated "smoking room". If I remember correctly, the cigarette smoke smell was very strong, for at least the first year that I owned the books, or maybe longer. However, over the past 4 years, the cigarette smoke smell has diminished greatly. Nowadays, when I open either of the books, I don't smell the cigarette smoke smell, unless I put my nose in the book and inhale. I've bought approximately 50 used coin books, but this was the only time, that any of the used coin books had a strong smell. On the other hand, I have some old coin books, which have a very pleasant "old book smell", almost a sweet smell, especially the books with high quality paper. However, the smell is usually not very strong, unless I put my nose in the book. @ewomack Does the book smell like mildew? Mildew happens, if a book (or clothes) get wet, and are left wet for a few days or longer. What does the book look like? Are the pages wrinkled? Are the pages discolored? Does the book smell like mold? Does the book smell like a dead mouse? Here are some ideas I had. 1. You could try spraying the book, with a strong perfume, if you prefer the smell of perfume. 2. You could spray the book with air freshener. 3. You could spray the book with "new car smell", or "old book smell", etc, if Amazon has such things. 4. You may need to open the book, and spray each page of the book.

That's an excellent idea. Now that I think about it, my camera has a delay option, for either 2 seconds delay, or 10 seconds delay. Thanks @Etcherdude

Thanks @Etcherdude That copy stand looks like something, that may be very helpful, to decrease camera shake, when I push the camera button. Perhaps, I'll look at some copy stands, on Amazon.

Like your microscope, my microscope has a feature, in which it automatically adjusts to the amount of light. If I increase the amount of light, then the microscope dims somewhat, to try to keep the amount of light somewhat constant. This doesn't bother me too much, but it can be annoying sometimes. My main purpose for buying the microscope, was to view particular details of coins. For example, to look for signs of a coin being fake. Or, to view details of a coin in real time, while I carefully remove dirt or debris or encrustations from the coin, using a pointy scalpel. For that purpose, my microscope has worked very well. For taking photos of entire coins, I use a digital camera. I bought the digital camera 10 years ago or so. It's a Nikon Coolpix 18 megapixels digital camera. I think I remember paying $200 or so, 10 years ago. It has a nice telescoping lens, with auto focus. It's not the best camera for taking photos of coins, but over the years, I've figured out how to work around its quirks. I once tried a tripod, with a long arm, but that didn't work all that well for me, because it still shook, when I pushed the camera button. I suppose I could set it up, so that I could take a photo, without having to push the camera button, but I haven't messed with that. Nowadays, I just try to hold the camera steady, preferably with my hand braced against something, or my arms braced against something, and take 10 photos or so. Usually a few of the photos turn out to be in focus, and I pick the best photo. Ideally, I would like to have a fixed rack or something like that, in which the camera couldn't move when the camera button is pushed, and a camera with manual focus. It seems to me, that would be better. But for now, my crude methods seem to work well enough, for me. However, it can be time consuming. However, my biggest, most time consuming problem, is bits of debris, on the coin, or on the velvet tray. I spend a lot of time, dealing with that. If I were trying to run a coin business, then I'd have gone out of business by now. Here are my photos, of my Alexander The Great posthumous tetradrachm, using my digital camera, not my microscope. Alexander III The Great Posthumous Issue AR Tetradrachm. 280 BC to 200 BC. Odessos Mint. Price 1163. Diameter = 28 mm. Weight = 16.74 grams. Obverse Heracles In Lion Skin. Reverse Zeus On Throne.

@Prieure de Sion Your new microscope is very interesting. With my microscope, when I adjust the focus using the silver fine focus knob, I can focus on the center, or I can focus on the edges. Or, I can focus on higher points of the coin, such as the devices. Or, I can focus on lower points of the coin, such as the fields. With my microscope, the focus seems to depend on the distance from the center of the microscope's lens. Therefore, as I increase the focus distance, the high points of the center become blurry, and the low points at the center become sharp, and the edges become sharp. Also, I can compromise, and get multiple areas of the coin with mediocre focus, but not the best focus. For example, I can get mediocre focus on both the devices and fields of the coin, but overall not as sharp as when I focus on one particular area or depth of the coin. This can be seen, in some of my microscope photos earlier in this thread. I don't know, if this effect is greater, if one is zoomed way in, versus zoomed way out. But, my main purpose for buying the microscope, was to view particular details of coins. For example, to look for signs of a coin being fake. Or, to view details of a coin in real time, while I carefully remove dirt or debris or encrustations from the coin, using a pointy scalpel. For that purpose, my microscope has worked very well. By the way, can your microscope focus, when it is zoomed way out, for example to photograph a 44 mm diameter coin?

If I remember correctly, I had trouble taking photos of the complete coin, for large coins. Because I wasn't able to focus properly, when zoomed all the way out, if I remember correctly. However, for smaller coins, I was able to take photos of the entire coin. For example, I took photos of a complete coin, which was 22 mm in diameter. I don't know, what was the maximum diameter of a coin, for which I was able to take photos of the complete coin. I just remember, that I couldn't take complete photos, of my larger coins. However, perhaps your brand of microscope, will work better, for taking complete photos of large coins. As others have mentioned, the microscope LED light, may not be the best, for taking nice photos of complete coins. However, on my microscope, I can turn the LED light off, and then use other lighting. I can also dim the LED light.

In the first examples, do you mean the photos of complete coins? In the first examples, I used my digital camera to take the photos of complete coins, not my microscope.

Hello @shanxi The images of complete coins were not taken with the microscope. The Ban Liang complete coin photos are seller photos. The other complete coin photos were taken using my digital camera.

Here are some more photos, using my microscope. This is a Chinese Ban Liang coin, which I suspect may be a fake. But I'm not sure. I haven't been able to find a similar Ban Liang, in any of my Chinese coin books. Note that all Chinese coins, which were created before 1889, were cast, not struck. That makes it more difficult, to detect fakes. Also, for cast Chinese coins, except for the very earliest coins, the edges were often filed, after the coins were cast, in order to make the edges relatively smooth, and to remove the casting sprues. This is why the Chinese coins had square holes, perhaps. Perhaps, after the coins were cast, they were placed on a square rod, with the square rod going through the square holes. Then, the edges of the coins were filed. The square rod prevented the coins from rotating, while the coins' edges were being filed, perhaps. This is another thing, that makes fakes of Chinese cast coins, difficult to detect, because authentic Chinese cast coins may have file marks, on the edges. In these photos, I don't think my microscope was zoomed all the way in. These are just photos, that I had lying around, on my computer. FAKE? Chinese Ban Liang. Weight = 7.18 grams, Width = 31.4 mm, Height = 30.7 mm, Maximum Diameter = 31.4 mm Here are the seller photos. In the seller photos, the coin appears to have a green color. However, in reality, the coin is not very green at all. The coin is more of a black color, with a brass/yellow color underneath the black. And here are photos,using my microscope.

Here are some photos, that I've taken, using my microscope, of some of my coins. I don't think I zoomed in, as far as I could. These are just photos, that I had lying around on my computer. If I remember correctly, for my larger coins, I wasn't able to get the entire coin to fit in a photo. Perhaps it has a difficult time focusing, when I'm zoomed all the way out. I don't remember for sure. Also, when I'm zoomed way in, it will focus at one level. So, for example, I can focus on the devices, but the fields may be slightly out of focus. You choose the level on which to focus, by adjusting the silver fine adjustment knob on the viewing tube. Here are photos of one of my Roman Republic Janus As coins. Roman Republic. Anonymous AE As. 211 BC To 206 BC. Rome Mint. Sear 627. Crawford 56/2. 32.0 mm. 36.69 grams. Obverse Janus With "I" Above. Reverse Ship's Prow With "I" Above. First, here are photos using my digital camera (not my microscope). And here are some photos, using my microscope. And here are photos of my John VIII stavraton. John VIII : AR Stavraton. 1425 AD To 1448 AD. Constantinople Mint. Sear 2563. 23 mm. 6.76 grams. Obverse Jesus Christ Bust Facing Front With Halo. Reverse Bust Of Emperor Facing Front "IWAN" Greek For "John" In Outer Legend Clockwise Starting At 12 O'Clock. First, here are photos using my digital camera (not my microscope). And here are some photos, using my microscope.

Another difference, that I see, between your microscope and mine, is that the top of the viewing tube, where it is connected to the cable, looks different. So, perhaps yours is a different brand, than mine. But, perhaps yours uses the same technology, as mine. Mine allows me to zoom way in, or way out, by adjusting the height with the black knobs, and then using the silver fine adjustment knob on the viewing tube, to focus. Hopefully, yours will too.

I have a similar microscope. The biggest difference that I see, between your microscope, and my microscope, is the height adjustment knob. On mine, the height adjustment knob is 2 large black knobs on the side of the stand. It looks like yours may have a small silver adjustment knob, on top of the stand. Both of our microscopes seem to also have a silver fine adjustment knob, on top of the viewing tube. Mine cost me $65 in 2018. It's worked very well, for me. It can even take photos, which I can save, on my desktop computer. I've taken many photos of coins. I connect it, via USB, to my desktop computer. I just run the Microsoft "Camera" computer program, which is a computer program that comes standard with Microsoft Windows, I think. Mine has an LED light, which shines on the coin. It's not perfect. But for the price, it's worked very well, for viewing details of coins. Here's what I bought, on Amazon, in 2018, for $65. It seems to still be available, for $75 these days. https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B005P40OXY/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1