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Because the question is "What would you do?", I voted to remove the coin from the slab. I keep all of my coins in trays, except for my Lincoln cents and a few US and English coins, which are in blue Whitman albums. None of my coins are slabbed. A slabbed coin would not look good, and it would take up a lot of space, in my ancient Roman coin tray, which has 48 coins in it, arranged chronologically. However, before I removed the coin from the slab, I would take photos of both sides of the coin in the slab, so that I would have the NGC Ancients slab ID number. Because, one can lookup photos of a previously NGC Ancients slabbed coin on the NGC Ancients web site, via the slab ID number. I've done this, for all of my previously NGC Ancients slabbed coins. The slab ID number is more important than the slab, to me. As far as I know, an ancient coin in a velvet tray, will be protected just as well, as an ancient coin in an NGC Ancients slab. Perhaps better. I don't know, how well the rubber and plastic, of an NGC Ancients slab, will last after 100 years, 200 years, 300 years, and so on. Perhaps a slab's plastic and rubber would damage the coin, eventually. I don't know. Perhaps the velvet of a tray would damage the coin, eventually. I don't know. I will pay a bit extra, for an NGC Ancients slabbed coin, all other things being equal, because I highly value the opinion of the NGC Ancients employees, regarding whether an ancient coin is authentic versus fake, and whether an ancient coin is smoothed or tooled or has a fake patina. It's similar to a coin which is sold by a dealer who is known to be good at detecting fakes, or a coin which is sold by an auction house which is known to be good at detecting fakes. However, I will always remove a coin from a slab.

Hello @kristofferreich. Welcome to Nvmis Forvms. I don't recognize the coin. I don't remember seeing any ancient Jewish coins with 6 pointed stars on them. Some Islamic coins had 6 pointed stars on them. Therefore, the coin could be Islamic. However, I've never seen an Islamic coin with a scorpion on it. The scorpion reminds me of ancient Greek coins.

Hello @Greek Keep. Welcome to Nvmis Forvms. I'm no expert at detecting fakes. The 2 coins look unusually grainy to me. As if they were cast in sand molds. Look at the edges of the coins. Do the edges have raised lines? If so, then that could be where 2 halves of a mold were joined together. On the other hand, the graininess could have been caused by corrosion. Perhaps, someone more expert than myself, will reply to this thread.

And photos of the larger box, after a shipping label has been attached to it.

And take photos of the smaller box, and its shipping label. And photos of you, putting the smaller box into the bigger box.

I wouldn't open the box. I would just put the box in a bigger box, with padding around the smaller box to ensure that the smaller box doesn't flop around within the bigger box, and ship it back. Of course, if you could somehow refuse the package, in a way that would ensure that the package returns to the seller in a reliable, tracked manner, then that may be even better.

Yes. I live in the USA. Usually, when I ordered a coin from London Ancient Coins (LAC) on Vcoins, I selected "DHL USA", which was usually approximately $30. If I remember correctly, it always arrived very quickly, often within 3 or 4 days, unless perhaps it got stuck in US Customs (but I don't remember if it ever did, maybe it did once). The last time I ordered from LAC (or any other non-USA dealer) was in 2022.

It would be interesting to know, how much @DonnaML actually receives for her coin, after any fees and such. I'm just curious, in case I ever decide to auction any of my high end coins via CNG.

I and other collectors have had bad luck with the Vcoins internal messaging. Have you tried sending an email to the seller, via a direct email to the seller's email address?

Yes. Creating a "show and tell" thread on multiple forums, seems fine to me. Also, creating a discussion thread on multiple forums, for example a thread to discuss the pros and cons of slabbing, or whether an auction house is doing bad things, seems fine to me. Because, some persons may read and post on 1 forum, but not on the other forum, and it allows persons on both forums to benefit from the thread topic and thread original post. Creating a question thread on multiple forums, for example asking for ID help on a coin, seems like it could cause people to waste time. Unless the person creates the question thread on 1 forum, and doesn't get an answer after a reasonable amount of time, perhaps 1 week or so. Or, if the question is urgent. If either of those scenarios happens, then after the question is answered, then it seems that it would be helpful, for the person to announce on both threads on the 2 forums, that the question has been answered, and to give a link to the thread where the question was answered.

Currently, I spend 95% of my coin forum time on Nvmis Forvms. I also view, and occasionally post, on the following forums. 1. Coin Talk 2. Forum Ancient Coins

Yes! I would really like to be able to do the following on Vcoins via filters, which would always be in the left panel, similar to the filters for "Items Added Since", "NGC Certified", and "Price Between". And in the advanced search tool. 1. Use a filter to weed out a specified list of sellers. 2. Use a filter to weed out sellers from all countries except for the USA. More generally, be able to restrict a search to sellers from a specified list of countries, or to exclude sellers from a specified list of countries.

Hello @Hanna. Welcome to Nvmis Forvms. It looks like, it may be an ancient Roman provincial coin (1 AD to 300 AD), and/or a late ancient Greek coin (1 AD to 300 AD). But, I'm not very knowledgeable about Roman provincial coins, or late ancient Greek coins. However, there are many knowledgeable members at Nvmis Forvms. Perhaps someone will be able to help identify it.

In Gratzer & Fishman's excellent book "The First Round Coins Of China", on page vii, the book states that, the "likeliest" and "generally accepted current theory", is that the earliest Chinese round coins were modeled after jade rings, which the book calls "Yubi". The book states that the jade rings "were used as religious objects (some scholars postulate that the round shape of these rings represented the heavens), decorations, as means of wealth storage and high value gifts". Here's my coin, which is 1 of the earliest Chinese round coins, a bronze coin cast circa 403 BC to 378 BC. It has a possible plugged hole, seen on the obverse at approximately 4 o'clock, and on the reverse at approximately 8 o'clock. China. Zhou Dynasty. Warring States Period. Wei (Liang) State. AE Coin. Cast Circa 403 BC To 378 BC. Probably cast in the ancient city Wangyuan (literally meaning "King's city"). Hartill 6.3. Schjoth 73. Gratzer & Fishman A6.4. Maximum Diameter 38.7 mm. Weight 7.74 grams. Obverse : Character Yuan (literally meaning "city"). Reverse : Blank. Possible Plugged Hole.

@voulgaroktonou Thanks for posting your fascinating, and extremely rare, Constantine XI eighth stavratons. Also, thanks for posting some interesting history of Constantine XI. I enjoyed reading it. Your Byzantine collection has many interesting coins.

I've never had it happen with any of my bids. However, I've seen a few posts, on ancient coin forums, in which 2 members realize, after the auction, that they had bid on the same coin. They always seem to be friendly about it. Often, the losing member congratulates the winning member. Sometimes, the losing member expresses some regret, for driving up the hammer price for the winning member. Sometimes, the winning member expresses some regret, for taking the coin away from the losing member. I've never seen 2 members battle for a coin, knowing before the hammer, that they were bidding on the same coin. I guess, theoretically, 2 members could agree to not compete for the coin, in some way, in order to reduce the hammer price. However, most members don't advertise that they are going to bid on a particular coin, so as not to generate extra interest in the coin, before the auction. Therefore, these battles between members, seem inevitable. It's just part of the fun.

It's nice to see, that 7 persons, including myself in this post, have posted interesting John VIII coins in this thread : @Valentinian, @ela126, @ValiantKnight, @catadc, @Simon, @voulgaroktonou, and myself in this post. I wonder, if anyone else, will post any John VIII coins in this thread. By 1448 AD, the Byzantine Empire had survived for 1000 years. The Byzantine Empire had experienced many crushing defeats, but had survived again and again. There were many times, when only the huge Theodosian walls, had saved Constantinople from being taken. However, the Byzantine Empire, the Eastern Roman Empire, was heading toward its final defeat. John VIII was the Byzantine Emperor from 1425 AD to 1448 AD. The following map is a snapshot of the interesting Youtube video "The History of the Byzantine Empire : Every Month". The map shows the Byzantine Empire, near the end of the reign of John VIII in 1448 AD. Compared to the map at the end of the reign of Manuel II in 1425 AD (see my Manuel II post in this thread), the Byzantine Empire lost Thessalonica in 1430 AD to the Ottoman Empire, but gained territory on the Peloponnese peninsula, and gained the city of Athens and the area surrounding Athens. After the fall of Thessalonica in 1430 AD, the Byzantine Empire consisted of 3 territories : the northern territory containing Constantinople, some small islands, and the southern territory of the Peloponnese peninsula and Athens. The northern Byzantine territory was completely surrounded by the Ottoman Empire, but the northern Byzantines still had access to the sea. Here's my John VIII silver stavraton. It seems to me, that the portraits of Jesus and the Emperor, became increasingly crude, toward the end of the Byzantine Empire. Also, it seems to me, that my coin was minted using a worn die, for the Emperor side of the coin. To me, it looks like, there are signs of cracks and breaks, in the Emperor side die. John VIII. AR Stavraton. Minted 1425 AD To 1448 AD. Constantinople Mint. Sear 2563. LPC Page 172 Type 1. Maximum Diameter 23.0 mm. Weight 6.76 grams. Obverse : Jesus Christ Bust Facing Front, With Halo. Reverse : John VIII Bust Facing Front, Wearing Crown With Pendilia, With Halo, "IWAN" Greek For "John" In Outer Legend Clockwise Starting At 12 O'Clock.

You're welcome.

Yes. Back when I used to buy from non-US Vcoins dealers, often a shipment would get stuck in New York for 1 or 2 weeks, and often the tracking would say something like "inbound into US customs", or "your shipment is in US customs".

I live in the US. When I used to order coins from non-US Vcoins dealers, sometimes I could input the foreign shipping company's tracking number, into USPS.com, and it would track the shipment, after the shipment had entered the US. If the shipment had not yet entered the US, then USPS.com would usually say something like "shipment is heading toward the US", if I remember correctly.

P.S. : After I requested a tracking number, the dealer was always polite, and provided a tracking number. Sometimes, the coin had been shipped long ago. Other times, if I remember correctly, perhaps the dealer had not yet shipped the coin, but the dealer shipped the coin soon after receiving my request for a tracking number.

I used to order frequently from non-US Vcoins dealers. If I remember correctly, I would usually wait 2 weeks for a tracking number. At the end of 2 weeks, I would check my PO box. If I had not received a tracking number, and if I had not received the coin at my PO box, then I would usually send an email to the dealer's email address of the form dealer@vcoins.com, and ask if they would provide a tracking number. Note that I and other persons, have had bad luck using the Vcoins internal messaging system. Therefore, I would always send my email directly to the dealer@vcoins email address, which I obtained from the 2 automatic emails from the dealer.

I live in the US. This year, I've only ordered from US Vcoins dealers. Therefore, it may be different for non-US Vcoins dealers. I don't remember. This year, whenever I ordered a coin from Vcoins, I always immediately received an email from an address of the form dealer@vcoins.com, which thanked me for the order, and showed my shipping address. Then, after I paid for the coin via PayPal, which I've always done immediately after I ordered the coin, I always immediately received a 2nd email from an address of the form dealer@vcoins.com, which said that the dealer had received my PayPal payment. Then, after a few hours or a few days, I usually received a 3rd email from an address of the form dealer@vcoins.com, which said that the dealer had shipped the coin, and the email contained the tracking number. However, if I remember correctly, 1 or 2 times this year, perhaps the dealer didn't send me the 3rd email, and I never received a tracking number, and the coin just magically appeared in my PO box.

We are approaching the bitter end of the Byzantine Empire. The Byzantine world continues its slow collapse, but the Byzantines still fight to survive. Manuel II was the Byzantine Emperor from 1391 AD to 1425 AD. The following maps are snapshots of the interesting Youtube video "The History of the Byzantine Empire : Every Month". The maps show the Byzantine Empire, near the end of the reign of John V in 1391 AD, and near the end of the reign of Manuel II in 1425 AD. We see that, according to the maps, during the reign of John V, the Byzantine Empire lost almost all of its territory in Greece, and the Byzantine Empire finally lost the city of Philadelphia deep within Asia Minor (see my Andronicus III post in this thread). We see that, according to the maps, during the reign of Manuel II, the Byzantine Empire regained some territory in Greece, and regained some territory on the western coast of the Black Sea. Here's my Manuel II silver half stavraton. Manuel II. AR Half Stavraton. Minted 1391 AD To 1425 AD. Constantinople Mint. Sear 2551. Grierson 1517. Maximum Diameter 20.2 mm. Weight 3.68 grams. Obverse : Jesus Christ Bust Facing Front, With Halo. Reverse : Manuel II Bust Facing Front, Wearing Crown With Pendilia, With Halo, "M-A-N-O-V-H-Lambda" Greek For "Manuel" Clockwise Starting At 12 O'Clock.

@LONGINUS I always like seeing your virtual coin trays. I wish I could get my coin trays that clean. My preferences have changed somewhat, over the years. When I was a child, I collected sets and types, but most of the coins that I acquired, were for sets. Then, when I was still a child, I stopped collecting coins. Then, many years later, as an adult, I started collecting coins again. As an adult, I've been more focused on types, and less focused on sets. Over the years, the number of areas that I collect, has greatly expanded, as I've learned about more and more areas. Nowadays, I collect ancient coins, medieval coins, and modern coins (mostly before 1900 AD), from all over the world. However, as an adult, some of the coins that I've acquired, have become part of sets. My Lincoln cent collection of all dates and mints from 1909 to 2009 is definitely a set, which I started as a child and finished as an adult, to my great satisfaction and nostalgia. My collection of Roman Imperial coins could be called a "set", in a way, because I have 41 Roman Imperial coins which include 31 Roman Emperors and 2 Roman Emperors' wives. My collection of Byzantine coins could be called a "set", in a way, because I have 32 Byzantine coins which include 28 Byzantine Emperors. But, I don't have a goal of collecting every Roman Emperor, or every Byzantine Emperor. I just collect coins that are interesting to me, because of the history and the mystery, which happened to include a large number of Roman Imperial coins and Byzantine coins. This year, I have preferred coins that are less expensive, partly because I have almost all of the coins I ever wanted, and partly because I've decided to spend less money on coins.