sand

P.S. : @pdale33 Now that I look at your coin some more, it looks like it could be a brockage. A brockage is when a flan is hammered between the dies, and then the coin gets stuck on 1 of the dies, and then the coin makes an imprint on the next flan, when the next flan is hammered. This creates an image on 1 side of the coin, and an indented/incuse/concave mirror image on the other side of the coin. The reverse of your coin, seems to be a reverse image, of the obverse of your coin.

It may be late Roman or early Byzantine, or maybe something else. It's seems like an unusual coin. Perhaps it is rare.

What are the diameter and weight of your coin?

Is the reverse image of the seated figure, an incuse (concave) image?

Hello @pdale33. Welcome to Nvmis Forvms.

I collect Byzantine coins. I've never seen a Byzantine coin, which resembles your coin. On the obverse, there seems to be some sort of symbol, near the top. Sort of like a "chi rho" Christian symbol. On the obverse, it sort of looks like there are images of multiple persons on the left, and on the right. I wonder if it could be late Roman, or perhaps a barbarian imitation during late Roman times.

It seems like it could be Celtic. Whether it's Spanish or not, I don't know.

16 hours ago, Hrefn said:

@sand, kudos to you for sticking to a budget.  A budget is mental permission to spend, a pre-authorization in medical billing terms.  (It would be easy to just say authorized, but jargon is so dear to the heart of bureaucrats, whether commercial or governmental.). I am curious;  if you do not spend your budget amount for the month, does it carry over to the following month?

...

I am a buy and hold collector.  Is this really so uncommon?

Hello @Hrefn. Here are my answers, to your 2 questions.

1. If I don't spend my budget for a particular month, then I don't carry the money over to the next month. I always try to spend less than my budget, every month. If I spend way less than my budget for a particular month, then that makes me happy, these days.

2. I'm a buy and hold collector. If I remember correctly, I've only ever sold 3 coins, and they were all US coins. 2 of the US coins were upgraded, and the other US coin I didn't really like very much. I sold the 3 coins, at coin shows, which was easy to do. I have some coins, which I don't like very much. I may sell some of them, someday. But, it's not very many coins, and they aren't very valuable, and I didn't pay a huge amount of money for them. I don't think, that I'd get much money for them.

I agree with @ela126, when he said, that coin collecting can become an addiction. I think, that I've been addicted to coin collecting, at times. As @ela126 said, perhaps sometimes it's good to take a break from coin collecting. Perhaps it's good, to have multiple hobbies, because perhaps it lessens the danger of getting addicted to any 1 hobby. For me, coin collecting is less fun, if I believe that I've spent too much money on coins. Also, it seems like, sometimes peer pressure, such as on a coin forum, can feed a coin collecting addiction. It seems like, a coin forum can sometimes be an echo chamber, in which other members echo one's addictive thoughts. It seems like, it's a thin line, between fun and addiction.

But, as many have mentioned above, if 1 day you find, that you've spent too much money on coins, then you can sell some coins.

On 10/4/2023 at 5:58 PM, DonnaML said:

My apologies for being clickbaity. I couldn't resist.

😄

Here are some of my coins, which fall into the above 4 categories. As others above have said, "expensive" for me, may be cheap for other collectors.

Rare And Expensive

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.

Common And Expensive

Athens. AR Tetradrachm. Minted 449 BC To 413 BC. Sear 2526. Maximum Diameter 24.8 mm. Weight 17.15 grams. Obverse : Head Of Athena Wearing Helmet Facing Right. Reverse : Owl Standing, Olive Twig And Crescent On Left, Alpha Theta Epsilon On Right, All Within Incuse Square. Test Cut.

Rare And Cheap

Interestingly, I couldn't think of any coins in my collection, which are both rare and cheap.

Common And Cheap

Byzantine Empire. Leo VI The Wise. AE 40 Nummi Follis. Minted 886 AD To 912 AD. Constantinople Mint. Sear 1729. DO 8. Maximum Diameter 26.0 mm. Weight 7.02 grams. Obverse : Leo VI Bust Facing Front, Short Beard, Wearing Crown With Cross On Top, Wearing Chlamys, Holding Akakia In Left Hand. Reverse : "LEON EN THEO BASILEUS ROMEON" Greek For "Leo By God King Of The Romans". Old Rectangular Hole.

It's an interesting topic.

I've been collecting ancients and medievals since 2018, and US and world coins since childhood (with a couple of long gaps of time, when I didn't collect any coins, but I still kept my coin collection, or perhaps my mother did). Until 2022, I never had a coin budget, except for a maximum amount that I was willing to spend on a single coin, and a vague bad feeling, that I would get, if I thought I was spending too much money on coins. I had never broken my maximum dollars per coin rule, but that maximum had increased each year. For some reason, spending a large amount of money on a single coin, bothers me a lot more, than spending the same amount of money on a bunch of cheaper coins over a period of time.

However, 1 of my new year resolutions for 2022, was to spend less money on coins and coin books. Therefore, in January 2022, I started keeping careful records, of how much I spent on coins and coin books each month, including auction buyer fee, shipping, taxes, etc. I also decided on a maximum amount, that I would spend on coins and coin books each month. Not coincidentally, my 2022 monthly coin (and coin book) budget was equal to the maximum amount, that I had been willing to spend on a single coin in 2021. In 2022, I came under that budget 7 months out of 12, which I considered pretty good.

For 2023, I decided to spend even less money on coins and coin books. Therefore, I cut my monthly budget in half for 2023. In 2023 so far, I have come under that budget 7 months out of 9, which is not bad.

Thus, in 2022 and 2023, I've become more frugal with my coin buying and coin book buying. Partly, to save money. And partly, because I'm pretty satisfied with my coin collection, and there are fewer coins that I really want anymore, which are within my monthly budget. However, I've still managed to buy 25 coins (13 ancient, 6 medieval, and 6 modern), and 7 coin books in 2023 so far.

For me, my coin (and coin book) monthly budget, is a result of how much I enjoy coin collecting, and how much I think I can spend on coins (and coin books) without regretting it, and how much I want to spend on other things, both now and in the future. I don't like it, when I exceed my monthly coin (and coin book) budget. Therefore, for each coin or coin book that I'm thinking about buying, I consider how interesting the coin or coin book is, and how much I've already spent on coins and coin books that month, and how close to the end of the month it is. The closer it is to the end of the month, the more likely I am, to buy a coin or coin book, because there is less chance that I'll find another interesting coin or coin book, before the end of the month.

Also, if I happen to spend way less than my budget, during a particular month, then I like that. Therefore, that's also a factor.

At this point, I have no regrets. I enjoy my coin collection, and I've learned a lot of history, by collecting coins.

@robinjojo Interesting coins.

There seem to be no regnal year I, and no regnal year III, for Tiberius II 40 nummi bronze coins. Therefore, in my non-expert estimate, your coin seems to be Maurice Tiberius.

Here's my latest regnal year Justinian I. Regnal Year 16. Maximum diameter = 34.2 mm. Weight = 19.73 grams.

I sometimes wonder, if the patina is authentic. I sometimes wonder the same thing, about some of the other coins in my collection.

My favorite is the Heraclius follis.

Interesting. Before I looked at the 1975 prices, I estimated the 2023 prices of the following 2 coins.

Coin 13 (Lysimachos tetradrachm with Alexander The Great portrait as far as I know, perhaps) : My estimate was $1500 in 2023 dollars.

Coin 44 (Quadrigatus) : My estimate was $600 in 2023 dollars.

The 1975 Spink prices are as follows, according to the OP.

Coin 13 : $1530 in 1975 dollars.

Coin 44 : $670 in 1975 dollars.

The 2023 prices are very close to the 1975 prices.

Perhaps ancient coin prices decreased, when the internet was invented, and when metal detecting became more common. But then, perhaps ancient coin prices have increased in the last few years, because the number of ancient coin collectors (and speculators) has perhaps increased.

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.

Just now, sand said:

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

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

2 minutes ago, sand said:

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.

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.

3 hours ago, DonnaML said:

I don't know how London Ancient Coins ships to Continental Europe (especially post-Brexit), and I haven't bought anything from them for a while. But as of two or three years ago, they offered several shipping options to the USA, the most expensive of which was DHL Express for about $30.00, which usually arrived within 72 hours.

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.

1 hour ago, Nerosmyfavorite68 said:

After two weeks of waiting with no shipping email, I contacted the European vcoins dealer through vcoins' contact.  I gave it a few days, but no response. I guess I'll have to reach out to vcoins.

I was more nervous than usual because it took forever and a day (4+ weeks) last time, although the automated shipping email was prompt), and there haven't been any new coins listed in a while. I had ordered because there was one particular coin which I really wanted.

 

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?

3 hours ago, DonnaML said:

The only issue with cross-posting the same thing in more than one forum is when the poster asks for help with a question or problem, and someone provides the answer or solution in forum A, but the poster doesn't mention that in forum B, and as a result people there waste their time continuing to try to help. 

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.