Brennos

A Lovely chocolate patina with golden hues on this stater of Kroton

Bruttium. Croton. 530-500 BC. Stater, 7,18g (12h)
O/ ϘΡΟ - TON. Tripod, legs surmounted by wreaths and terminating in lion's feet, two serpents emerging from the bowl, set on basis of three lines, the center dotted ; cable border.
R/ Same type, incuse ; striated border
HGC Italy 1444, HN Italy 2075, SNG ANS 235 (same obv. die), Gorini p.21 5

7 hours ago, John Conduitt said:

Last year a Celtic gold quarter stater sold for £17,000. It weighs just 1.2g, so after fees, that's about £17,000 per gram. That got me thinking that ancient gold coins are one of the most expensive things you can buy by weight.

silver can be pretty costly too , almost £48,000 per gram including fees 😆

I reinvested the proceeds from the sale of some bullion coins I bought a few years ago into antique gold.

MACEDONIAN KINGDOM. Alexander III the Great (336-323 BC). Amphipolis, AV distater 17.21 gm. 
O:/Head of Athena right, hair in four tight corkscrew curls, upswept at temple, and flowing over left shoulder, wearing necklace and triple-crested Corinthian helmet pushed back on head, long divergent crest ends, the bowl decorated with coiled serpent right 
R:/ ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΟΥ, Nike standing facing, head left, wreath in outstretched right hand, stylis cradled on left arm; cantharus in left field. Price 167. Müller 192. ex Bourget sale June 1976 lot 16

Gold has been recycled through successive remelting since ancient times. I wonder what proportion of ancient Alexander gold is contained in a Vreneli or an American gold eagle?

Of course, feel free to share your gold or electrum coins to celebrate the occasion... although I'm not sure if it's a positive omen.

a customs declaration is required if you cross a European border with more than 10,000 euros in value.
Ironically, you're allowed to drive a €1 million Bugati Veyron across the border, but the driver isn't allowed to have €10,001 in his wallet.

Thank you @rasiel for these very interesting explanations. I don't manage to understand all the technical explanations, but I conclude that the forger who succeeds in artificially reproducing the phenomenon would deserve the Nobel Prize in Chemistry.

The most deceptive forgery in terms of the quality of the metal that I have ever been able to examine in hand is this Punic coin from Sicily. The surface must have been treated with some acid :

The coin from calgarycoin isn't very dangerous and the zoomed-in area doesn't look like crystalisation at all . 

early stage exemple :

later stage :

even later stage :

I agree it is Praxippos. The letters ΠΡ can be seen behind the neck of the portrait, which is clearly not Heracles.

Very nice catch, i love the Kantharos !

Don't you think that a photo with a white background might be better ?  
 

You're right, there's no reason to charge VAT.

Thank you for your Interesting write-up !

I had also the chance to be able to purchase one at a fraction of the price at which they were sold a few years ago.

A griffin springing to right on this stater of Agathokles 

a pretty nice hit while browsing old auction catalogues...

a stater of Lysimakos  from the tenor singer Enrico Caruso collection (sale Canessa 28/6/1923 lot 60)

live bidding in my garden on a Nomos auction.

At first glance, I'd say the last quarter of the 4th century.

On 1/10/2024 at 3:01 PM, Ancient Coin Hunter said:

Today is the day that SEC chair Gary Gensler will either approve or disallow Bitcoin ETFs. Any opinions on this? There are 10 firms who have filed documents including Fidelity and Blackrock to begin trading as soon as possible. Any thoughts?

Well, I guess this is a coin-related thread after all. 🕓🍿

Now the FBI and DEA can get rid of there bitcoins.

https://www.ccn.com/news/how-us-govt-largest-bitcoin-holders/

The year 2023 only brought 36 more coins to my trays, but some of them have a place of honour. The advantage is that selecting the top 10 is an easier task 🙂. I post the acquisitions in chronological order.

I had to wait until March to win my first coin, but what a coin! This type has been on my wish list for a long time.

1. CARTHAGE. Circa 270-264 BC. AV  Trihemistater (22mm, 12.48 g). 
O/ Head of Tanit left, wearing wreath of grain ears, triple-pendant earring, and necklace with eleven pendants 
R/ Horse standing right, head left. 
Jenkins & Lewis group IX, 389 (same dies); MAA 26; SNG Copenhagen (North Africa) 181; de Luynes 3749 (same obv. die). 

An addition to my "Sicilian big bronzes" sub collection, the famous δραχμαὶ καττιτέρου (drachm in tin), the cornerstone of Dionysios of Syracuse's reform of the monetary system.

2. SICILY, Syracuse. Dionysios I. 405-367 BC. Æ Drachm (28.5mm, 34.15 g). 
O/ ΣYPA. Head of Athena left, wearing Corinthian helmet with neck guard and bowl decorated with wreath 
R/ Sea-star between two dolphins. 
CNS 62; HGC 2, 1436. 

An interesting addition to my "incuse coinage of Magna Graecia”: A very rare stater of Kroton from the early stage coinage with a spread flan depicting an eagle incuse on the revers.

3. ITALY, Bruttium, Kroton. c. 530-500 BC. AR Stater, (28.0 mm, 7.95g).
O/ ϘPO. Tripod, legs surmounted by wreaths and terminating in lion's feet. 
R/ Eagle flying right, incuse. 
HN Italy 2084; HGC 1, 145.

4. SICILY, Gela. circa 490-475 BC. AR Didrachm 8.64 g. 
O/ Naked and helmeted rider on prancing horse r., wielding spear in raised r. hand, l. arm behind horse's mane, holding reins. 
R/ CE – ΛΑ partially retrograde Forepart of man-headed bull r.; all within shallow circular incuse. Boston, MFA 241 (these dies). Kraay-Hirmer pl. 55, 156 (these dies). Hunterian 210 (these dies). Jenkins, Gela 28.

5. KINGS of THRACE. Lysimachos. 305-281 BC. AV Stater (21.0 mm, 8.55 g). Alexandria Troas mint (?). Struck 297/6-281 BC. 
O/ Diademed head of the deified Alexander right 
R/ BAΣIΛEΩΣ / ΛYΣIMAXOY. Athena Nikephoros seated left; HE monogram to inner left, eagle head in exergue. 
Cf. Thompson 141 (same obv die). 

The next coin comes from the collection of professor, grammarian, hellenist and numismatist Marc Bar which was dispersed by Elsen this year. For many years he edited the "Bulletin du Cercle d'études numismatiques" and donated his collection of Greek bronze coins to the Brussels cabinet which published it (SNG Belgique La collection de Bronzes grecs de Marc Bar) together with interesting personal notes by the collector. 

6. PTOLEMAIC KINGS of EGYPT. Ptolemy I Soter as satrap, 323-305/4 BC, or king, 305/4-282 BC. AR Tetradrachm (29mm, 15.26 g). Ptolemaic standard. In the name of Alexander III of Macedon. Uncertain Mint 3, probably Memphis. Struck circa 306-303 BC. 
O/ Diademed head of the deified Alexander right, wearing elephant skin, aegis around neck 
R/ ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔPOY. Athena Alkidemos advancing right; monogram to inner left; to right, monogram and eagle standing right on thunderbolt. 
Svoronos 139; SNG Copenhagen 23

another coin that has long been on my wish list.

7. SICILY, Syracuse. Dionysios I. 405-367 BC. AV 100 Litrai – Double Dekadrachm (13.5mm, 5.79 g). Struck circa 405-400 BC. Unsigned dies in the style of Kimon.
O/ ΣYPAKOΣION. Head of Arethusa to left, wearing triple-pendant earring and necklace, hair in sphendone ornamented with two stars; A behind.
R/ Herakles kneeling right, strangling the Nemean Lion; rocks below.
Bérend 30; Gulbenkian 324 (same dies); SNG ANS 332-333 (same dies) HGC 2, 1275

SICILY, Syracuse. Dionysios I. 405-400 BC. AV 20 Litrai – Tetradrachm (11mm, 1.13 g). Struck circa 405-400 BC. 
O/ ΣYPA. Head of Herakles left, wearing lion skin 
R/ Quadripartite incuse square, ethnic in quarters; in deeper incuse circle in center, small female head (Arethousa?) left, wearing necklace. 
Bérend pl. XI, 3; HGC 2, 1289

MACEDONIAN KINGDOM. Alexander III the Great (336-323 BC). AV stater (19mm, 8.64 gm). Posthumous issue of Phoenicia, Tyre, ca. 305-290 BC. 
O/ Head of Athena to right, wearing Corinthian helmet pushed back on head, the bowl adorned with coiled serpent 
R/ ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΟΥ, Nike standing left, holding wreath in her right hand and stylis with her left; monograms within circles in left field and below right wing. 
Price 3528 (same dies). Müller 1588. 

I had no intention of buying the next coin when I attended the sale but I couldn't resist once I had it in hand 😇
An old pedigree was pretty easy to find : a 1932 Bourgey sale, two years too late to be included in the Gallatin's corpus. 

SICILY, Syracuse. Dionysios I. 405-367 BC. AR Dekadrachm (37mm, 41.65 g). Reverse die signed by Euainetos. Struck circa 405-390 BC. 
O/ Charioteer, holding kentron in extended right hand and reins in left, driving fast quadriga left; above, Nike flying right, crowning charioteer with wreath held in her extended hands; below heavy exergual line, [military harness], shield, greaves, cuirass, and crested Attic helmet, all connected by a horizontal spear; [AΘΛA below] 
R/ Head of Arethousa left, wearing wreath of grain ears, triple-pendant earring, and pearl necklace; ΣΥ-ΡΑ-ΚΟ-ΣΙΩΝ behind hair, four dolphins swimming around, [EY-AINE] along lower edge. 
Gallatin R IV C X; Ex: collection Galice sale Bourgey 4/12/1932

I wish you all, your family and your dear loved ones a Happy New Year, joy, good health and great acquisitions !

They are fake sales due to hiden reserve prices.

On 12/10/2023 at 9:25 PM, DonnaML said:

 

On a shelf with my three other Dammann medals:

 

I love your shelf ! 
Thank you for having brought Paul-Marcel Dammann's work to my attention.

I have less sympathy for Napoleon, even though I'm French.  😄

Stunning portrait of Alexander I Balas !!

congratulations !

You Starr group II is really great ! 

however i voted for #2 which, as you said, has a beautiful style and a centring rarely seen. Congratulations !

I feel sorry for you !!

I had the same experience with Leu. I consigned 15 Greek coins of low to medium quality in 2019. 

2 went well
7 were ok
6 were catastrophic and fortunately, these were not the most expensive ones.

including fees, i had 65% the price i paid.

I had a better experience with Künker where I consigned several coins and had 80% the price i paid. 

I rarely sell coins but now I prefer to consign them to Vcoins/Ma-shop dealers at a price that suits me. It obviously takes longer to sell but there's less frustration.
 

Maybe a trident head but without much conviction

Thank you John. I think i wasn't clear and have edited my post.

The main issue is why Bidder 6 who entered his bid before Bidder 7 , does not appear in its place at 3300CHF  ?

I was watching the Leu sale live yesterday and something struck me when lot 591 came up for sale.

staters of Terina are rather sought-after coins, but this specimen is not of exceptional quality.

Here is the auction sequence :

How can you go from 2200 to 7000 in three steps and 5 seconds !

I think Bidder 3 is a "real bidder" and 2200 CHF is a coherent price, but what about the last three bids ?  

I understand that bidder 6 put his 7000K bid at 16:54:54 but why doesn't he appear the first time for 3300 CHF instead of the Bidder 7 that entered his bid 2s after him  ?

I must say that I have less and less confidence in the honesty of certain auction houses and in proprietary bidding systems in particular.

The organization of ancient monetary systems is a fascinating field.

It's also important to note that the spheres of circulation of coins were not the same for precious metals and bronze.

e.g. It was of course not possible to change 10 coins like this one (an AE drachm) :

into a coin like this one (a silver decadrachm) :

yet both coins are contemporary and were issued by Dionysius of Syracuse in the early 4th century.