Egry

26 minutes ago, Richard Beale said:

Coins are not bread or milk which when hit by increased production costs end up being marked up on shelves accordingly. Bidders don't increase their bids by 13.8% in line with inflation - I certainly don't when bidding, do you? 🙂

Sure, coin prices have generally risen by about 20% on average since late 2019 across the 27,000 or so coins we sell each year according to my data, but over 3 years a 20% rise is not considerable. 

Now, I can't speak for other auction houses, but in our case although staffing costs have increased by over 15% per capita over the past year, and courier costs have risen considerably (which we haven't passed on), inflation was not the motivation for us. Rather, if competitors increase their BP they have more ammunition, specifically in the form of greater flexibility with terms, to win consignments. 

Good point. 
 

But I would say coins have increased more than 20% though in the last three years.(Edit, disregard this sentence, you have better data than me😅)

My business is the same, server and software costs are increasing, wages and insurance have increased, but my professional fees have been relatively flat for the last 5 years. 

4 hours ago, DonnaML said:

Yes, I believe so. 

Ok it is now settled. 

I lost out on that absolutely perfect Roman silver ring:(

14 hours ago, jfp7375 said:

Inflation has hit Europe and the Euro (including the UK and GBP) much harder than the US, actually, if you can believe it. 

What makes no sense is specifically citing inflation as a reason for increasing the BP like CNG did. Inflation affects prices for coins and BP is directly proportional, so if inflation boosts coin prices by 10%, your BP also goes up 10%. So it's sort of a nonsense excuse. If you feel you need to raise your BP for competitive reasons then it's better to just say so 😉 at least roma was straight forward about the change... really rubbed me wrong how CNG tried to blame inflation when anyone with even basic economic knowledge can see through that

My thoughts exactly. Inflation will raise the sale price and therefor the BP. Increasing the   % BP with the excuse of inflation is straight up BS. Please excuse the acronyms. 

1 hour ago, Medoraman said:

I cannot imagine, without a definitive recipe being found, and considering it was made by thousands of producers across the empire, it would be much different than Thai Nam pla. That is what they have used for untold centuries. Basic garam, from what I have read, is similar. Layer in small fish like sardines, layer of salt, layer of fish, salt, repeat until full. Then put weight on lid and wait for fermentation, strain, and use.

 

Please, I am curious, get a good bottle of Nam pla and let me know if it is similar.

Yep, I’m sure the recipe is similar. I heard it’s just a flavour enhancer like MSG. 

Can you give me a brand of a top quality Asian fish sauce? I’ll compare and report back.
 

Likely these guys in Portugal would have more influence from an Asian fish sauce than an ancient Roman one. But like you said, the recipe is simple, almost so simple that anyone one can stumble upon it. 

@jdmKYVery clean dolphin ‘fish’ coin!

@Roman Collector Nice tunny fish! But I have a serious question for you. What is a tunny fish? They are in a lot of ancients especially with the very early gold coins from Cyzicus. This may sound stupid, is it a Tuna? 

As probably most are on this forum I’m absolutely fascinated with Roman history and culture. Years back when I did a bit of internet ‘research’ on what culinary specialties the Roman’s had that still exist today it seemed that relatively few dishes they ate still are still made (happy to be corrected if I’m wrong). 
 

However, one ingredient that seemed to dominate was Garum. Garum fascinated me, it was on the tables of a Roman household like salt and pepper is on most of ours today. I searched and searched but couldn’t find any current makers of this special ingredient. Asian style fish sauce is supposedly similar but not the same. 

Not to long ago I stumbled across a maker in Portugal that claims to make Garum using their interpretation of the ancient Roman style. My Portuguese is not good but from what I could tell it seemed that they are making it very near to the site of an ancient Roman Garum factory, which likely won’t change the taste but gives it that added cool factor.

They arrived in the mail yesterday. I still haven’t tried it on anything yet. I’m saving the first few drops for a home made Caesar salad dressing;)

Here is the only coin I have with a fish on it ( I know dolphins are not fish). Not the best condition but still a nice type.

Please share any ‘fish’ coins, or anything you know about ancient Roman food! 

21 minutes ago, JayAg47 said:

Great portrait! I actually saw this coin when I was browsing for my Solidus from the same seller!

You are actually the second person to tell me they saw this coin. Looks like I was the only sucker to buy it;)

Great coins! 

Her is mine, reasonably recent purchase.

8 minutes ago, John Conduitt said:

Wow. To be fair, if I was a multi-millionaire, I would pay £2400 for such a great example. I feel your pain with thinking £400 would do it, though 🤣

It is a nice example. I thought I was a shoo-in at £400, funny how the world works. It’s that clean reverse strike on it that in my opinion makes it so rare. Clean obverse strikes are hard to find but not as hard to find as the rev, but then again this coin has both 😢

Here is probably the finest Quintillus I’ve seen yet. It was at a Roma Auction a while back. I had my heart set on it, I thought I’d pick it up for sure. I was willing to go well over what I thought anyone would pay just to get it as I thought I was one of the only people that cared about this ruler’s coins. Boy was I wrong!!!

To be clear this is

NOT MY COIN

supposedly mint state which is believable. This coin went for £2400! (Including buyers fee). My max was £400 and I thought I was way overpaying. I guess there are at least two more people out there that respect just how rare a nice coin of Quintillus is.

@GregH I know your struggle all too well.
 

My very first Roman coin was one of Quintillus, at the time I had no idea who was on the coin. I actually had no idea at all about any Roman coins. Picked it up on a local buy and sell fro $40. Looking back I over paid for this crude, oblong coin. But it started me on my way with ancients.

I’ve always been on a search for a nice round, centred, well struck, high grade Quintillus. As you know well, these are hard to find.

last year I did finally come across one, and I picked it up as fast as I could.

Here it is:

Quintillus BI Antoninianus. Mediolanum, AD 270. IMP QVINTILLVS AVG, radiate, draped and cuirassed to right / DIANA LVCIF, Diana standing to right, holding long torch in both hands. RIC V.1 49; MER-RIC 1109 (temporary). 2.41g, 19mm, 7h.

Good Extremely Fine; small flan crack at 1h

Thanks @UkrainiiVityaz I’ll have a look at those as well. 

Yep you are correct. Such a cool coin. 

@John Conduitt, I went through all the dealers you mentioned. Thanks for sharing. I did find a John Balliol coin.

as a bonus I think I found a possible new favourite coin. This one is so awesome. 
 

not mine but from the dealers website. Do you recognize it?

Thanks John! 

Hi All,

I’m looking to get a coin for a friend of mine that is just getting out of an unexpected cancer surgery. He’s a Scott therefore I would like to get him a penny of John Balliol, (unless someone has another recommendation).

This is outside of my regular Roman Imperial knowledge so just seeking advice from you good people. Looking for any advice from reputable sellers of this period, price range, or any other coin recommendations.

thanks in advance for any help!

17 hours ago, Prieure de Sion said:

The "Koson Gold Stater", Scythian, Olbia (?), sometime in the middle of the first century BC
Obv. Roman Consul, togate, walking left between two lictors; below, KOΣΩN.
Rev. Eagle standing left on sceptre, holding wreath.
RPC I, 1701; BMC Thrace p. 208, 2.
Diameter: 20mm, Weight: 8,38g

Perhaps a reference to Brutus (monogram), but perhaps also a forgery from the "modern era". There are many mysteries and much that remains unexplained. But let's be optimistic - they are of course the gold coins of Brutus to finance the campaign.

Great coin!

I just happened to pick one up myself lately.

Totally agree

@maridvnvm you are the hoard king! 

I always look forward to your posts @galba68. 

My favourite show to watch is TerraGermania on YouTube. All it is about is a guy metal detecting and frequently finding Roman artifacts.

I’d say I look forward to your MD posts more than I look forward to a new episode of TerraGermania.

@CPKGreat addition to your collection! Congratulations.

@Qcumbor that is the finest Otho I’ve ever seen.

Well here is mine, not super fun grade but not that bad.

7 hours ago, John Conduitt said:

Those are amazing. Balbinus and Pupienus! I believe 'Beachy Head' is actually about 5 hoards, all found near each other -  1879 (700 coins), 1899 (2,000 coins), 1961 (5,000 antoniniani), 1964 (3,000 denarii and antoniniani) and 1973 (3,000 antoniniani). 

I always thought there were three hoards, but I’m not surprised that there were five. From what I found, any literature on these hoards is very sparse. If you have any leads on a more thorough account of what they found and what they believe is the historical significance please let me know.

My understanding that these were from the 1964 hoard. 

Here are my mine from the Beachy Head Hoard. One of Balbinus and another of Pupienus both minted in Rome in 238 AD during the year of the six emperors. Both coins found in 1964 within the same coin hoard in Sussex England,

I would like to believe they were most likely minted in Rome at the same time, shipped to Britannia in the same chest, and buried along with over 3,000 others by one of the first ancient romans to receive them as change (purely speculation of course). 

Here are two coins that I purchased as a Christmas gift for a person (and his wife) who is a business mentor of mine. So, these are no longer in my collection, actually they were never in my collection but only held until they were gifted.

Antoninus Pius, Roman Emperor from 138-161 AD, Silver Denarius (3.15g, 18mm), struck at Rome 145-161 AD. Obverse: Laureate Head of Antoninus Pius facing to right, legend around, “ΛNTONINVS ΛVG PIVS P P”. Reverse: Lightning bolt placed upon draped altar, legend around, “COS IIII”. RIC-137. Very minor edge crack at 8h, otherwise a lovely round flan showcasing portraiture of quite attractive style. Extremely Fine / near Extremely Fine.
 

Divis Faustina I ‘the Elder’, Roman Empress from 138-140 AD, Silver Denarius (3.34g, 18mm), struck at Rome circa 147-161 AD under Antoninus Pius. Obverse: Draped Bust of Faustina I 'Senior' facing to right, her hair waved and coiled, legend around, “DIVA FAVSTINA”. Reverse: Ceres stands facing left, veiled and holding long torch in her right hand, her left arm by her side with drapery fold falling over it, legend around, “AVGVSTA”. Sear-4584; RSC-104. A very attractive coin struck under Antoninus Pius to deify his late wife – an extensive series that spanned all denominations. Good Extremely Fine / Extremely Fine.