Dafydd

I don't have a double die match that I know about but I have a couple of duplicate coins as a result of job lots but the most irritating duplicate I have is one that hasn't arrived yet. I won the coin at the London Coin Ltd Auction that ended on the past weekend. I had convinced myself that I did not have this Marc Antony denarius (Legate XIII) and put in a decent bid hoping to secure it. I have a number of fleet denarii as I have been building my fleet for some years inspired by @Bing with his OP's and threads about these in the "other place". After placing the bid the day before the auction I was checking my coins against some sites such as CoinArchives and guess what? I have one I took in a trade some years ago. I then found my original lousy photographs as well that I hadn't titled at the time. This is my original coin. And this is the one that is on the way..... Denarius Marc Antony (c.32-31BC) Obverse: Praetorian Galley right ANT AVG III VIR R P C, Reverse: Legionary eagle between two standards LEG XIII , RSC 42, 3.35 gm. I didn't think it proper to try and cancel the bid because of my dim wit and stupidity so I let it stand and prayed it would hammer at less than my maximum bid. It did thankfully and under estimate. It is a better coin than my original but I didn't bid for the condition I was chasing the fleet number. I suppose it could have been worse and could have been more worn than the original coin but I struck lucky. It cost me significantly less than the fourree XIII sold in the Roma auction in February so I guess no one was really after this other than myself. Of interest, I noticed in my searches that more of these Legion XIII denarii appear to have bankers marks than several of other Legions. I wonder if this Legion had a reputation for distrust or there were significant numbers of fourrees to this Legion and merchants distrusted them? Another explanation is that they were posted at a later date in areas that had not seen them before. I'll take better care in future on how I bid.

Nice coins. Here is one of mine that I like because of the golden hue. Helmeted head of Roma facing rght. X (XVI monogram) below chin, modius behind. Victory in biga right, M.MAR ( MAR in monogram)/ROMA divided by two corn ears below. 3.89 gm 19 mm Ex-Michael Trenerry. Interesting that a modius was the standard measure used for corn and wheat.

That's a great OP @filolif and thank you for presenting such a good idea. Of course to an extent, what you expect from photography is subjective and we all see different things. I have a friend who is colour vision deficient ( colour blind ) and he wouldn't pick up any lustre on anything. From my point of view I agree with the comment made by @Curtisimo that it is good to receive coins that are better in hand than the photography and until recent years this was usually the way as all images were always black and white. 40 years ago most lists did not have photographs and even then, the leading sellers in the UK such as Seaby and Spink did not show everything. I also agree with @dougsmit that you need to interpret the images and this is a skill that can be learnt. From my point of view, I am experimenting with photography which is now an adjunct hobby, and I have been amazed at how the software can change appearance. My photography is pretty poor but improving and as I wrestle with editing I am finding that sometimes I can produce not what I have but what I want! I was messing around with a Republican denarius image the other day and found that I could add a fantastic blue lustre to it and did so. Had I seen this on a website I would have bid on it or bought it. I now have images of what I have and what I would like to have so there is some philosophical point here in respect of personal preference. I like to hold coins and books and the digital world and slabs do not give me the same satisfaction of ownership and tactility I enjoy by physical connection. If I am travelling I can view my coins without physical connection, ( or at least some as I have a backlog of images to take!) and I can make that reality whatever I want it to be. I can't change a coins condition but I can certainly change a coins appearance. I suppose the underlaying concern with all of us would be not that the images are poor but have they been taken with a view to enhance value? The simple answer is probably yes at both ends of the quality spectrum. I am no Luddite and progress is progress and there is no excuse for poor photography these days as they are the store window for these auction houses and dealers and what you see is what you should get. I have received coins that were smoothed and others where surface defects were not noticeable from the online images but thankfully I have had no terrible experience to complain about. These particular purchases were not expensive and I could not be bothered to argue with an auction house but I learnt from the experiences and of course fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice shame on me. I no longer get caught up in last minute bidding and take a more measured approach and try to work out the difference between "want" and "need". One of the dealers I buy from has a no quibble returns policy, I often buy unseen because he appears to have a policy of deliberately under grading which I reckon is to minimise returns. It's a bit like years ago when you assumed the dealer was more knowledgeable than you so there was more reciprocal trust. We live in a much more demanding society with a bewildering array of choice and it's quite true that the more you have the more you want and the more you eat the hungrier you get. My pet irritation is poor performing websites that are difficult to navigate or seem to go all out to make access as difficult as possible. I have limited time because of other responsibilities so platforms such as Biddr , Numisbids and Sixbids are really convenient and I am grateful for them , their downside is that to find a "bargain" you would need to be really erudite or lucky as they have a global audience of millions. I still seek out coins from store dealers or rural auction houses when I can as no one can be expert in everything. Sadly the prominence of the Internet has decimated store dealers and you can't have a chat and cup of coffee with a webpage. The closest you would get to interesting banter these days is with Frank and I am sure that @DonnaML is right , he is from an age when most auction lists would not feature images. A great follow on to your tier system @filolif would be a tier system of accessibility, navigation and content in addition to images. One glitch that happened to me during the past two years of Covid nightmare was placing bids for Heritage on Biddr , losing bids, even though a couple of my bids were higher than the selling price, and learning that my bids were mislaid because Heritage don't work Sundays. I have no issues with people not working weekends but I assumed that the bids were automatic so forgot all about them and what is worse is that I could have bid on one of the lots elsewhere had I known my bid wasn't registered. The point of this is that I assumed that in the digital world everything relies on interconnectivity but I was wrong. It would be interesting to know of regular issues with auction houses to try and avoid them. The back button issue is one that has frustrated me too. I guess as I get older my patience is not what it used to be. As a thread of huge significance to everyone who buys at distance, which I guess is all of us, this was a great idea and lateral thought by @filolif and I really appreciate it.

Here is another Domitian to share. Domitian, 81-96 Denarius 92-93, AR 18.5mm., 3.40g. Laureate head r. Rev. Minerva standing r. on capital of rostral column, brandishing spear and holding round shield; at feet to right, owl standing facing. RIC 740. C 281. This coin has confused me in the past as most references refer to Minerva standing on a rostral column and others standing on the prow of a ship. I've assumed the description in RIC II is correct describing it as a rostral column so can someone tell me if the prow description is simply a matter of opinion?

I sympathise with you @sand not only do I get to see the debris when I start to use the image, I am also seeing verdigris and bronze disease that I had no idea was there. I have just posted a Domitian Sestertius on another thread and it was only when I photographed it that I could see the problem.

Pupienus, 22nd April # 29th July 238. Sestertius April-June 238, Æ 29mm., 18.91g. Laureate, draped and cuirassed bust r. Rev. Victory standing facing, head l., holding wreath and palm branch. C 38. RIC 23a. Ex-Navilles Auction 55 And of more interest to @David Atherton Domitian, 81-96 Sestertius Rome circa 90-91, Æ 34.00 mm., 24.39 g. Laureate head r. C 513. RIC 703. Rev. Domitian standing l., holding thunderbolt in r. hand and spear in l., crowned by Victory standing l. In exergue, S # C.

Trajan Decius, 249-251 Sestertius circa 249-251, Æ 27mm., 18.79g. Laureate, draped and cuirassed bust r. Rev. Victory advancing l., holding wreath and palm branch. C 117. RIC 126a. Not the greatest of images!

This is a random idea. I bought this because I had never seen one before or even heard of a reduced sestertius and at the time I had picked up some coins of Gallienus and Postumus and reading about a really tumultuous period so the coin interested me. REDUCED SESTERTIUS OF AURELIAN: CONCORDIA. ROME, AD 274-5. RIC: 80 Obverse: IMP AVRELIANVS AVG, Laureate and cuirassed bust of Aurelian facing right. Reverse: CONCORDIA AVG, Aurelian, in military attire, standing left, holding sceptre in left hand and clasping hands with Severina standing right, radiate bust of Sol facing right between them. No officina mark. RIC: 80. Sear: 11646. [Rome, AD 274-5]. Diameter: 25 mm. Weight: 9.6 g.

And some more of her namesake. This one was a little outside of my interests as it is a 3d not Shilling but I liked the portrait and ended up with a set. QUEEN ELIZABETH 1st silver hammered three pence dated 1578 ad,5TH issue,mm GREEK CROSS.

There are some great coins and posts on this thread. I would like to share this Gallienus. I have an interest in standards, ensigns and particularly trophies from the point of view of their use as propaganda. Gallienus, 253-268 Antoninianus circa 261, billon 20mm., 3.37g. Radiate head r. Rev. Fides standing, with two ensigns. C 238. RIC 480 (Mediolanum). Ex- Navilles 2017.

I have a couple of Marcus Aurelius coins with perfectly coiffured hair but I like this coin because ,on the obverse, the beard has as much attention paid to it as the hair. Surely someone will show their Otho? 270-272 AD. Antioch mint. Obv: VABALATHVS V C R IM D R legend with laureate, draped and cuirassed bust right. Rev: IMP C AVRELIANVS AVG legend with radiate, draped and cuirassed bust right; ? below. RIC 381; Sear 11718.

Ha ha, I know all the places and have an office in Talbot Green and meeting someone in The Bush next week! The world is a smaller place than we all imagine @Alegandron Hopefully I will make the acquaintance of @maridvnvm one day. In the 1980's I visited a man in Wilkes Barre Pennsylvania and he was the secretary of a local historical society. I was there on business and had never heard of Wilkes Barre before I visited.. I explained to him that I knew that my great grandfather on my mothers side had visited Pennsylvania in the 1880's and I had a carte de visite photograph of him with a Pennsylvania address. In the photograph my grandfather was dressed in his "chapel best" suit with an Albert chain I still have. I explained to my new friend that my grandfather was unusual as he travelled back and forth to the USA , made some money, then travelling back home with his fortune only to lose it and go back again, He was involved in the Klondike in the 1890's. The person I visited said if I gave him the town named on the photograph he would check if he had paid any local taxes, booked in a hotel or struck a claim as most records in the USA are extant. A couple of weeks later I looked at the photograph to see that the town was Wilkes Barre Pennsylvania and the name of the photographer on the photograph was the same name as the man I had visited. His great grandfather had photographed my great grandfather more or less 100 years before I had met him and he was also named after his great grandfather. I called him to share this and he explained how his ancestors started business as a photography company before moving into something else. The population in the USA was around 240 million at that time so the odds of this happening must be 240 million to one! The odds of winning the UK lottery are about 50 million to one and I have never won!

L. Hostilius Saserna. AR Denarius, Rome Mint, ca. 48 B.C. Bare head of female Gallic captive facing right, carnyx behind; Reverse: Diana of Ephesus standing facing, holding long spear, stag in left field. 3.4 gm 19 mm. Great coins and a great informative post by @DonnaML as always. Iulius Caesar. Denarius Spain 46-45, AR 18mm., 3.68g. Diademed head of Venus r.; behind, Cupid. Rev. Two captives seated at sides of trophy with oval shield and carnyx in each hand; in exergue, CAESAR. Babelon Julia 11. C. 13. Sydenham 1014. Sear Imperators 58. RBW 1639. Crawford 468/1. I would assume the captives would be Barbarians as I doubt that the Romans would define captives as anything as otherwise unless they were fighting themselves.

Well that was a surprise! One member having lived here and another 30 minutes from where I live. Both will know we have more sheep in Wales than people which is something we are often reminded of.

This is a problematical question because I have so many interests and I have favourite Republican denarii, Imperial Sestertii , English hammered coins and shillings. There are none I would put under my pillow at night and some would be found in pieces the next day if I did. However, overall one of the most impressive coins I have ever opened an envelope to find is my Attica Owl. It is a coin I had been interested from the point of view of its iconic status and because I had once read a reference to it in a novel and had to look it up. It is a hefty piece and whilst not as great and symmetrical as many, it really "rings my bell". I really like Greek coins and admire the artistry compared to Roman coins and would like to collect them but the prices are greater than what I want to spend as I am building a backlog of coins to research when I have the time and there seems to be a gulf between the price of good Greek coins and Roman coins so I would buy fewer Greek than Roman and that doesn't suit my ongoing interests. I like to acquire coins regularly and don't have the budget or patience to collect super condition coins as I do this for fun and relaxation not investment.

My Avatar is very simple to explain. It is the reverse of a Welsh Pound Coin. I live in Wales ( Birthplace of St Patrick) and I am proud of my Dutch/Welsh heritage. Most people have heard of Holland or the Netherlands but not everyone has heard of Wales so I advertise my birthplace. The Red Dragon has been used as a symbol of Wales since the reign of Cadwaladr ( Cadwallader), King of Gwynedd from around 655 AD. The Red Dragon was only really incorporated into our national flag in 1959. In the past, when I have explained where I am from, the odd person has said "Wales" I thought that was a fish? I then have to explain some zoological facts before explaining that Wales is not part of England and has its own identity and heritage. I had considered using an ancient coin or possibly a Tudor coin as the Tudor Dynasty began 5 minutes from my home but I thought the Dragon better. In reality I'm more of a non-nationalist than nationalist and there is no real division between the separate nations of the United Kingdom except for sports events. Here is a history of Wales in 99 seconds! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i02GWuIJqnI

Some fabulous coins here! Here are a few of mine that I am fond of, the first being Richard the Lionheart. GREAT BRITAIN, Henri VI, 1st reign (1422-1461), AR groat, 1427-1430, Calais. Rosette-mascle issue. D / B. yard. of f. in a polylobe. Small rhombus in two angles. R / VIL-?LA?- CALI-SIE * Long pattée cross cutting the legends, confined to four groups of three globules. S. 1860; N. 1446; Whitton 16b. 3.77g Rare Large flan. Henry VIII. Groat 1509 - 1547. Spink 2337A. England. Aethelred II. 978-1016. AR Penny (20mm, 1.42g, 12h). Crux type (BMC iiia, Hild. C). London mint; moneyer Æthelred. Struck circa 991-997. + ÆDELRED REX ?NGLOX, bareheaded draped bust left with scepter in front / +ÆDERED M#O LVN, short cross voided, C R V X in angles. BEH 2205; North 770; SCBI 7 (Copenhagen), 708; SCBI 65 (Norway), 255.

I think it's all down to a "can do" attitude @UkrainiiVityaz, and great to hear your good experiences.

I hope the coin cost you less than $3 million @Ryro because I would be suspicious that if he didn't address the bridge correctly he may not be that astute so possibly your coin was a forgery anyway?

They offered to refund me the whole auction price @DonnaML but I said I would prefer to wait to see what the outcome was as I had some great buys. They told me the problem was caused by a new member of staff and actually sent me a image of the original envelope which must be something they do as some kind of verification that envelopes enter the mail. They are based in London but from the email exchanges I do not believe English is their first language , but yes they wrote "United States" even though my postal address is clearly UK. I reckon they shipped a fair number of packages to the USA and someone simply got into "the zone" of writing United States. Perhaps if the label had been generated by computer this would not have happened. I don't believe I have ever received a package from the rest of Europe that was handwritten before. My bids were placed on Biddr which clearly showed the correct address when they generated an invoice.

The appeal to me is the irregularity and for example I don't think I have a single Marc Antony Legates denarius on a round flan. This one is typical, all are ovloid. The irony of the following coin is that it depicts the tools of the moneyer and yet is far from a great example to demonstrate minting skills. T. Carisius. Silver Denarius (3.89 g), 46 BC. Rome. MONETA behind, draped bust of Juno Moneta right. Reverse: T CARISIVS, coining tools: tongs, anvil with garlanded die above, and hammer; all within wreath tied at the top. Crawford 464/2; HCRI 70; Sydenham 982a; I have to say @Troyden that your coin is great and something on my bucket list as are the others. I agree with @Romismatist as a result of learning the hard way, "perfect" coins arouse my suspicion.

To cheer up this thread, I returned home this evening to the following lost coins! This envelope left London on the 3rd of May, travelled to New York and thence to somewhere in the Mid West and thankfully turned up today having made a round trip of at least 7000 miles in a month! Pretty amazing considering the the package was posted only 250 miles from my home. Clearly there were some intelligent and honest USPS workers that determined that this did not belong in the USA as there was no such address. USPS 10/10 Auction House 2/10 and the 2 score is because they spelt my name correctly and the right coins were in the envelope. Royal Mail should have picked this up but didn't as I would have assumed that they would check for a US numerical zip code and the code was clearly British. Having had a package delayed by 10 months previously this is a great outcome for me , but I take a sanguine view about such events so normally don't stress past the point that I wonder how some people justify their salary when t hey exude apathy and lack of common sense. I was pleased with the Manuel 1 Commenus (1143-1180) BI Aspron Trachy in this envelope which was very inexpensive but not as inexpensive as the 15 I bought from Numismatik Naumann for around $3 each which will give me hours of research fun trying to provenance.

Thanks for the support @robinjojo I actually checked my royal mail tracking number just now following your post to find it has changed to a USPS tracking number and my package is back in the UK! This is great news as the last time I checked it was in the USA somewhere having left New York. Fortuna smiled the right way and I feel quite confident now. See Your item departed a transfer airport in HEATHROW, LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM on May 28, 2022 at 9:11 am. The item is currently in transit to the destination. Status Departed May 28, 2022 at 9:11 am LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM Get Updates In-Transit

I "lost" a consignment of coins thanks to UPS converting Polish Zloty to UK Pounds and then charging me 20% on the six figure sum that made the import duty charges much more than the value of the relatively inexpensive consignment. They sat in a local UPS depot only 40 miles from me for 10 months and I repeatedly tried to speak to someone who cared , the first challenge being to navigate around their automated system. I must have made 50 calls until one day Fortuna smiled on me and I spoke to a charming lady who was clearly ready to accept the challenge. By this time I had actually dropped into the depot twice to be told they could only release the package if I paid the charges to their head office. Two days later my coins arrived! So the moral @ValiantKnight is to persevere. The auction house in Poland were unhelpful and told me it would cost them to recover them so offered no assistance. My latest challenge is a consignment I won at the inaugural auction of a new London Auction House who labelled my package with my full rural UK address BUT then finished the address with "United States" instead of "United Kingdom" and I last saw that they had left New York heading off into the West to a destination that does not exist! I was so impressed that they were shipped the day after the auction but the elation disappeared as soon as I realised they were on the way to the USA. Here are some of my lost coins for the sake of posterity. I had particularly wanted the Sabinus as being an iconic coin and to buy one for less than $20 was doubly satisfying, it filled a "want" as well as not breaking the bank. Let's see if Fortuna smiles the right way this time, all it needs is a postal employee who cares about what they do and have the interest to determine that there is no such place or zip code in the USA and send it back. My address is easily found on Google so hopefully as it clearly is a Welsh address it may pique someones interest to send it back.

And here is my Divus Lucius not as well preserved as @Ambr0zie's example but I like it. This one is quite fragile with a bad crack but arrived in one piece. Divus Lucius Verus AD 169. Rome Denarius AR Ex Savoca Auction 16 , lot 1104. 2019. I almost said pre-Covid! 19mm., 2,55g. I have some negative opinions on slabs and have removed ancients from them in the past, but as Sengan said "if you seek the truth you cannot hold an opinion" and I have mused over buying one of those "do it yourself" slabs to hold this to ensure it doesn't break. The cost of grading would be in excess of the worth of the coin and anyone breaking open a sealed slab in the future would definitely destroy it but a non sealed slab might be a way of preserving it past my life time. I tried to keep my head below the parapet on CT as I was there for the coins not the drama so I will maintain that status here. I have limited time to post and always thought I had the best deal from the point of view of education so hope that continues and I can see many members who I followed on CT. As some others have commented I will still visit CT but will follow the threads that interest me wherever they are.