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I kept trying to snag a coin like the OP coin for a while, but I am cheap and always failed. On the radar anyways. Here are my only 2 examples, unfortunately the interest point is worn 5.70 g 19.04 mm Campania, Suessa Aurunca 268 – 240 BC OBV:Laureate head of Apollo left, O at right REV: SVESANO, Man-headed bull, Nike flying above, crowning bull with laurel branch or wreath. SNG ANS 606, SNG Cop. 586 0.49 g 11.1 mm Litra 415/405 BC. Head of the youthful river god Orethos / human headed bull protome (river god Archeloos), Punic legend in the field.. Jenkins in SNR 50 (1971), S. 75, 13 SNG ANS 549 (Dr. Busso Peus Nachfolger 407/408, 245)

Second pic is mine, yes. In the last year or so I started to take pics of all my coins although I only buy from houses and I always keep the original photo. But it's a habit and someday I intend to to this for all my coins to have a personalized catalogue. My coin was 32 EUR+ fees so a total of ~38 EUR. I consider it one of the best deals from 2022. The weak points are obviously the corrosion (one might say Decius is shaved on it) and perhaps the smudging that made it difficult to establish how many dots are under the bust, but overall I think it's an excellent coin - I don't collect Antioch tetradrachms as a specialty so I just wanted a decent example.

Here is my only example, from officina 5. I really find it spectacular in hand and was not expecting to win it cheaply. Seleucis and Pieria. Antioch. Trajan Decius AD 249-251. Billon-Tetradrachm 26 mm, 12,18 g ΑΥΤ Κ Γ ΜƐ ΚΥ ΤΡΑΙΑΝΟϹ ΔƐΚΙΟϹ ϹƐΒ, laureate, draped and cuirassed bust of Decius, r., seen from rear; below bust: ••••• / ΔΗΜΑΡΧ ƐΞΟΥϹΙΑϹ, S C, eagle standing on palm, l., spreading wings, holding wreath in beak Group 3, officina 5 RPC IX, 1745, Prieur 584 (15), McAlee 1126e

Hemidrachm AR 11 mm, 2,38 g Federal Coinage. Hemidrachm, Boeotia, Thespiai, circa 395-340, AR 2.63 g. Boeotian shield. Rev. Cantharus; above, club and below, BO – I[Ω]. All within incuse area. Head, Boeotia p. 54. SNG Copenhagen 170. BCD Boiotia 21. Next - cantharus.

The king Decebalus (fact - some historians doubt this was his name, "decebalus" or "dacebalus" being in fact a title meaning "king" in the Dacian language, now lost) is one of the national heroes in my country. Along with Trajan of course. I read a lot about the Dacian wars starting with Domitian's war and I am not sure what was the real situation there - however, this period in history had a major influence in creating the Romanian people, living in the area that was the kingdom of Decebal. .... and it brought us many interesting coins celebrating these events. Here are some of mine - as this is a major theme in my collection. 2 denarii with Dacian soldiers (one possibly depicting a Dacian woman) - there is another design I want for these types, but I am happy I managed to add these A denarius with Victory holding a shield inscripted DACICA ... and who can forget the coins with Trajan's column, the majestic monument built to celebrate the victory Unrelated, but a coin that was prophetic - here is a recent acquisition, that FedEx is struggling to deliver to me (perhaps they will make it until Christmas) - an early Trajan as, from 98-99. It was not on my radar, but I liked the portrait, I like coins with Victory and the price was still low, so I decided to grab it. The new emperor was, in the end, glorious, but I don't think anybody expected the level of glory he reached. And although it's certainly not ancient, here is what I got a few days ago from a friend. I used to collect banknotes, but since I started with ancient coins all my budget is allocated for them. This one was missing from my collection (there is a series of 9 similar banknotes, with different dates and watermarks). This one completed the series. 5000 lei December 1945. The 2 portraits are Trajan and Decebalus.

Shipments from US to Europe (and vice versa) are of course delivered by plane, but from what I discussed with another FedEx agent on another delayed parcel, the ones from Eurppe to Europe (at least Economy ones) are delivered by cars. Of course, fuel prices are also a possible explanation, but in my particular case I'd be content with a simple explanation - delivery might take x+5 days instead of what it was a few months ago, x days. That's fine. But in the last months the estimated delivery date is a joke. But an incompetent fella who had no idea (and was bothered by my question about this phantom "Marly la Ville" that appears on TNT tracking but not on FedEx) and was unable to confirm what happens just makes me think this company is not professional. I hope the package will arrive sometime next week - there is an interesting coin I intend to post. I am not superstitious and I have no problems in posting coins that are on the road, but I want to take a photo of that one myself along with its smaller sisters 😄

Didn't see the movie - although I like Dean Stockwell - but looking at the plot, I see what you mean. Some years ago I had an issue with a DHL parcel. A German friend of mine sold me a set of banknotes. He was very upset that a guy returned those banknotes (they were good and the price was more than decent) and he complained to me. So I bought the notes myself. Being friends, he decided to send them via DHL, with no extra cost and he added some goodies in the package - an album and other banknotes. The fun part was that DHL managed to lose the package. Instead of normal 5 days, it took a month. It appeared after 3 weeks in a DHL hub that was incorrect for the route with the text "package damaged in transit". Actually it wasn't damaged at all - fortunately - but it was probably their way to justify the delay. When I tried to request some details from DHL, they didn't provide anything and requested the sender to raise a complaint. When he did, they asked him to provide proof of what was in the package (do people film themselves when packing what they send?! really?!) The package suddenly appeared, but a week after delivery DHL was still contacting him requesting for proof about the content and also informing that they still cannot locate it. Back then I thought DHL services are bad. Starting to reconsider, especially since it was my only bad experience with DHL.

I received last month a package from a Polish auction house. They sent it on Tuesday and (double checked) it arrived to me on Thursday morning. Absolutely fantastic (they sent with FedEx International Priority - not sure why, the shipping costs were equal to International Economy, the service used for this parcel I am waiting for) Route for the Polish package: Warsaw - Charles de Gaulle Cedex - Bucharest - my town. Route for Economy - Munchen - ...... ....... - Marly la Ville, France (but only on the TNT tracking and the helpdesk agent was unable to confirm) - .... ..... - Dietzenbach (Germany) - .... ............... ................... For me, this is like scratching the left ear with the right foot. I confirm Covid is not the reason, in fact I received lots of parcels during the pandemic and the packages always arrived on Fridays. The guy from the helpdesk said that the delays are caused by the TNT migration. Fair enough, but frankly I will request, if possible, different shipping methods, as paying more than normal postal service for worse performance is simply annoying.

Thank you. I usually buy from European houses. I know that the shipments from US reach France first (Roissy - Charles de Gaulle) but not intracontinental shipments. Normal route for me was not through France (opposite direction) and what confuses me is that the FedEx guy could not even confirm if the package was sent in France or not. I am starting to be bothered as I need to be at home when the courier comes and I would strongly prefer postal sending as I can pick the packages myself whenever I want.

Hello ladies and gentlemen, This is addressed, like I mentioned in the title, to members - especially from Europe - North American members are welcome too of course, but I am trying to establish if the problem is with European shipments or the ones addressed to my country. The auction houses I buy from usually ship with FedEx. I am happy with this (although I bought some coins from a house in Czechia and they used Czech Post. Also very pleased with that - arrived quickly (and cheaper). But in the last months I have noticed a degradation in FedEx quality. Usually the houses ship the parcel on Monday AM and I get it on Friday AM. In the last months however this doesn't happen anymore. Although the houses ship quickly (no complaints here) the shipment is delayed. For example the last one - shipped on Monday the 13th, scheduled for delivery on Thursday (they always put this but in the best case scenario the courier comes on Friday). I checked the FedEx tracking and nothing happened until Saturday. Stuck in Munchen and last night finally another update appeared, showing the package in another German hub location FedEx packages are delivered by TNT in my country (not sure if this is for other countries too). On their tracking there is an extra update, showing the package in transit in a French hub (this makes no sense, as it never happened until now and sending a package from Germany to France and then to Romania would mean a senseless very long detour) I discussed with the helpdesk but the guy who took my call was basically an idiot and just mentioned that he is not sure if the package went to France or not. And he was quite surprised about my question, something like "how should I know?" Well played. My problem is not an extra day or two. When I need to receive a package, I take a day of work from home in advance. I cannot do this too often and it's frustrating that in the last 2 years since I have been using FedEx, they were quite reliable - I knew that the package arrives on Friday so when needed I took Friday WFH in advance. Now I took this Friday for no reason and I have no idea when should the package arrive - probably on Tuesday or Wednesday but I can't gamble. Happens a lot in the last months - in the last 4 packages, 3 were delayed. Again, it's not a price issue - but I am wondering how come normal post (10 EUR) works exactly as expected and FedEx (~20 EUR) is not delivering properly. Has anyone else noticed this?

Regarding the photos - I am also a beginner in this, but I was given some helpful hints by experienced colleagues. 1. Your photos are focused more on the background rather than the coin itself. @David Knell gave a very good advice - try using a background as plain as possible. Also what I found very helpful - raise the coin on a very small object and take the pic. I use an old e-cigarette mouthpiece and the results are satisfying 2. The brightness seems too high in your pics. Either you raised it from the phone/camera settings or you are using a light over the coins. I was tempted to do the same, but I was rarely able to direct an artificial light source on the coin itself without messing the photo brightness/color. I recommend a natural light. 3. If you are using the zoom feature, try not to. Probably the good cameras and phones have the capability to use the zoom feature correctly on macro mode. I was never able with my tools. Just make sure the coin is correctly focused, adjust the distance between the camera and the coin, take the pic and then crop if necessary. Regarding Bulgaria - I live in a country next to them. And I hate judging a country in general. Yep, all the collectors know that there are lots of Bulgarian workshops producing deceptive forgeries. And the Fake reports on Forum Ancient Coins are filled with Bulgarian examples. This is correct but let's not forget that geographically/historically speaking, Bulgarian territory is very important and there are LOTS of genuine ancient coins coming from that territory. So in my opinion, the assumption "it's from Bulgaria so it must be fake" is wrong. Indeed you need to be cautious, but generalizing is incorrect. What would make me very cautious is This means the seller has something to hide. For me this is the actual red flag and it would be the same if e-bay listed Austria but the purchase page showed Norway for example. I am not an expert in detecting forgeries - your coins look genuine for me but a general advice is "know the coin or know the seller". I wouldn't buy a coin I am not familiar with from any other sources than reputable auction houses. And of course, reputable private sellers (but personally I only buy from houses).

I need new glasses, I checked the hairstyle several times but didn't notice the difference.

Obverse legend written continuously without break?! But this isn't extremely uncommon as far as I know. Other than that - I probably need new glasses as I can't spot anything out of the ordinary (except the nice condition of course)

Really curious about the Concordia one too :-s

I am very interested to see what's the mystery here (and I'm sure it is 😄 ) For the first one I can't see any difference to RIC 500b Pius. Still searching but scratching my head. The second - Is it a rare variation of RIC III Marcus Aurelius 688 without peacock?

Congrats! for the Soli Invicto I was the underbidder - and I think you made a great deal (even if I like Gallienus coins, they are not a major priority so I didn't want to insist in bidding). Correction - nope, I didn't bid on that one and by coincidence, not on the Lvna Lucif you won either 🙂 My package didn't arrive yet as FedEx are messing with the shipment again. Happened a lot in the last months. Usually the FedEx packages arrived first thing on Friday (1:07 AM here). Now the package seems to be still in Germany.

Lucilla's last period of life was not exactly happy, after the failed plot against Commodus... Lucilla AD 164-182. Rome Denarius AR 18 mm., 2,89 g. Daughter of Marcus Aurelius and Faustina II, wife of Lucius Verus, sister of Commodus. RIC III Marcus Aurelius 786 AD 164 - AD 180 LVCILLA AVGVSTA Bust of Lucilla, bare-headed, hair waved and fastened in a bun on back of head, draped, right VENVS VICTRIX Venus, draped with right breast bare, standing left, holding Victory in extended right hand and resting left hand on shield set on ground Next - a Roman lady who had great influence on the emperor.

Saint Helena is celebrated on both Eastern and Western churches (just checked as I wasn't sure about Western) Helena. Augusta AD 324-330. Antioch Follis Æ 19 mm, 3,71 g From the Tareq Hani collection RIC VII Antioch 82 Date Range: AD 327 - AD 329 Obv: FL HELENA – AVGVSTA, bust of Helena, wearing necklace and mantle, right / Rev: SECVRITAS – REIPVBLICE, Securitas, draped, standing left, raising robe with right hand and lowering branch with left hand. MintMark: -/-//•SMANTS Next - 4th century empress.

P.S. This is your coin on RPC online https://rpc.ashmus.ox.ac.uk/coins/7.2/3054

Congratulations for this new beautiful acquisition! Elpis/Spes is not often found in my collection (I only have 2 imperial coins from Carus and Saloninus) As for Tarsos, I like that this mint always produced LARGE coins. My first one, from my first auctions, was this Otacilia Severa Large (30 mm) but underweight (12.2 g) as some Tarsos coins have a very thin flan. My 2nd is one of my favorite 2022 acquisitions, a Maximinus Thrax with the Three Graces 37 mm in diameter and the auction house, for some reason, described it as 14 g in weight. This would have also indicated a thin flan, but actually the coin has 26 grams so a big chunky piece of ancient bronze.

Here's one from Siscia

I have a ... Severus Alexander denarius. The reverse clearly shows a hockey goalkeeper after just saving a shot, leaning on the goal post (the goal was tall, but rules were different in ancient times).

My latest semis is a Hadrian. I liked the portrait and also the reverse. Hadrian AD 117-138. Rome Semis Æ 20 mm, 4,03 g AD 124-125 HADRIANVS AVGVSTUS, bust of Hadrian, laureate, draped and cuirassed, right, viewed from rear or side / COS III SC, Roma seated left on cuirass, resting foot on helmet, holding Victory and spear; behind, shield RIC II, Part 3 (second edition) Hadrian 760; RIC II Hadrian 685 (semis) I also have the 2 semisses @Roman Collector presented. This RIC II 693 Trajan with she wolf is an unclear denomination, some sources (most of them) call it quadrans but I have also seen it described as semis.

Titus AD 79-81. Rome. Denarius AR /20 mm., 2,43 g. T CAESAR VESPASIANVS, head of Titus, laureate, right / IMP XIII, sow left, with three piglets. RIC II Vespasian 986 Next - another domestic animal.

One for me 5.70 g 19.04 mm Campania, Suessa Aurunca 268 – 240 BC OBV:Laureate head of Apollo left, O at right REV: SVESANO, Man-headed bull, Nike flying above, crowning bull with laurel branch or wreath. SNG ANS 606, SNG Cop. 586