Cordoba

for #1, does it include all of the bactrian kings? some of them are reasonably affordable, but someone like plato would be pretty pricey. pantaleon would cost more than the rest of the bactrian kings combined if you wanted a tetradrachm of his, and that's if you find one in an auction. bronze issues are more realistic for him. i think 1 is pretty interesting big and shiny coins are pretty fun, just the price factor would be rough.

won a Ptolemaios III tetrobol, nice bonus is that was purchased previously before 1970

and the photos and description aren't even his lol. he's really doing the work to justify a 2x markup

really excited to get the Mazaios stater, my first cilician stater. love the lion and bull the hyspaosines went cheaper than i expected, i suspect it went cheaper than usual due to the reverse condition. i'm going to try to clean it carefully, but i'm still pretty satisfied if it's unable to be improved further. i'm pretty sure it was cleaned with sodium thiosulfate which caused the weird yellow toning, and i know that is possible to treat

grats! i got a mazaios stater and a hyspaosines tetradrachm. the stater went for near my max, a bit sad since back in 2019 it went unsold and was bought for 200 gbp

nuoc mam, which is fermented vietnamese fish sauce would be similar i think

yea, there are some types i'm after that are quite rare, only showing up every couple years. i knocked out the more common coins on my list already, and now the only ones left are rare and/or expensive.

Another Agathokles, but from bactria. This was apparently pierced with a nail/suspension loop in antiquity Greco-Baktrian Kingdom. Agathokles, circa 185-180 BC. Tetradrachm (Silver, 31 mm, 16.65 g, 12 h) Obv: Diademed bust of Euthydemos I to right. ΕΥΘΥΔΗΜΟΥ Θ[ΕΟΥ] Rev: Herakles seated left on rock, holding club set on rocks and leaning left on rocky seat, in inner right field monogram. ΒΑΣΙΛΕΥΟΝΤΟΣ ΑΓΑΘΟΚΛΕΟΥΣ ΔΙΚΑΙΟΥ Reference: Bopearachchi 16B; HGC 12, 87; MIG Type 145a; SNG ANS 261; Glenn, Euthydemos Group I, 192 (O33/R101, this coin); Holt, Lost World of the Golden King, p. 203, end note 75 (this coin).

Thanks! I probably don't really have a better guess on the prototype of this. There isn't really something strikingly obvious as the prototype, so I think any guesses is just speculation. Spengler & Sayles says the hat resembles a sharbush, which is a furry hat that was often depicted in Turkish art. They seem to believe it is another representation of the planet Jupiter.

got this fun artuqid bronze recently Artuqids of Amid and Hisn Kayfa. Qutb al-Din Sukman II, AD 1185-1200. Dirham (Bronze, 25 mm, 8.34 g, 6 h), Hisn Kayfa. AH 594 Obv: Nimbate half-length male bust facing slightly right, wearing sharbush and holding scepter and globus; AH date around. Rev: Name and titles of Sukman II in four lines; marginal legends citing the Abbasid Caliph al-Nasir. Reference: Spengler & Sayles 14; Album 1822.3. Ex JP Righetti collection

not minted in constantinople but a sultani minted in egypt of suleiman the great Ottoman Empire. Sulayman I The Magnificent, AD 1520. Sultani (Gold, 21 mm, 3.36 g, 1 h), Misr Obv: Name, titles, mint and date in five lines. Rev: Titles in six lines. Reference: Album 1317, Pere 180.

I got this artuqid bronze recently and I really love the portrait on this. Spengler and Sayles says the prototype of this coin is from Antiochos IV or V. I definitely see the resemblance with portraits of Antiochos V. This coin is a fairly scarce type, since his reign was short, so I was pretty happy to find one at auction for a good price. Artuqids of Amid and Hisn Kayfa. Nur al-Din Muhammad, AD 1174-1185. Dirham (Bronze, 32 mm, 12.81 g, 6 h), Hisn Kayfa. AH 578 Obv: Large diademed male head to left within beaded circle; around, mint and date. Rev: In inner field, 'Malik al-Umara Muhiyy / al-Adil Nur al-Din / Muhammad ibn Qara Arsla/n ibn Artuq Nasir / al-Imam al-Nasir / li-din Allah'; in outer margin, Mal'un man / yu'ayyiruhu'; all in Kufic. Reference: Spengler & Sayles 11; Album 1821.3. Not my coin, but a picture of an Antiochos V tetradrachm for reference. From dr busso peus nachf From Turkoman Figural Bronze Coins and Their Iconography. Vol. I - The Artuqids page 33:

for bactrian coins: https://numismatics.org/bigr/

I was interested in them because they contain imagery, which is pretty uncommon in Islamic coinage. The Greek/Roman/zodiac imagery are all very interesting, and it's interesting seeing where the die engravers drew their inspiration from. Below I linked an example of an Artuqid coin that is inspired by a Seleucid tetradrachm. It was $120, so a bit over the budget of this thread, but you can definitely find examples of these for less than $100. Spengler and Sayles wrote an interesting reference book on these coins, and they go into detail the on the motifs shown on the coins.

I really like Artuqid/Zangid figural bronzes, a lot of them are pretty common and affordable. Super interesting designs too Zangids of Mosul. Sayf al-din Ghazi II, AD 1169-1180. Dirham (Bronze, 32 mm, 15.56 g, 11 h), Mosul Obv: Helmeted male head left; Kalima around. Rev: Name and title of Sayf al-Din Ghazi II in three lines; mint and AH date in margin. Reference: Spengler & Sayles 61.1; Album 1861.2. This was about $100 after fees, so just within the range. This type is based off of Side tetradrachms. Artuqids of Mardin. Nasir al-Din Artuq Arslan, AD 1201-1239. Dirham (Bronze, 29 mm, g, 10 h), Mardin Obv: Male figure sitting cross-legged on throne, holding small globe. Rev: Kufic inscription, citing the Ayyubid ruler al-Kamil Muhammad as overlord. Reference: Spengler & Sayles 46; Album 1830.9. Gorny & Mosch Auction 294 Lot 1701. From a group lot of 5, so this was $20 after fees. Zangids of Sinjar. Qutb al-Din Muhammad, AD 1197-1219. Dirham (Bronze, 27 mm, 10.48 g, 2 h), Sinjar. AH 596 Obv: Curly-haired male bust to left, sceptre over right shoulder. Rev: Four-lined and marginal legends citing titles of Abbasid Caliph al-Nasir and Zengid ruler. Reference: Spengler & Sayles 81; Album 1880.2. This was about $60 after fees.

Great write-up! I have quite a few dirhams from the emirate and caliphate of cordoba. Abd al-Rahman III was the one who began claiming the title of caliph AH 348. Abd al-Rahman III. Medina Azzahra. Dirham. (V. 443) (Fro. 7). 2.59 g

Roerbakmix posted this tutorial using sodium thiosulfate on cointalk https://www.cointalk.com/threads/how-to-remove-encrustation-from-r-r-coin.348784/#:~:text=Well-Known Member-,Thanks,-%40TIF. I agree

I still prefer bactrian tetradrachms, but I like seleucid coins better than ptolemaic ones. There are ptolemaic coins I would want, like Ptolemy I's elephant headdress coin, but overall I prefer the seleucid coin designs. There's a lot more variety in seleucid coinage. The lower weight and size of ptolemaic tetradrachms are also a bit of a downside for me. From what I've seen ptolemaic coins are kinda expensive too. This is my favorite seleucid coin; I really like the realistic high relief portrait. Has a pretty rare monogram combination too. Seleukid Empire, Antiochos III Megas, 222-187 BC. Tetradrachm (Silver, 27 mm, 17.06 g, 12 h), Soli. Obv: Diademed head of Antiochos III to right. Rev: ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ - ΑΝΤΙΟΧΟΥ Apollo seated left on omphalos, holding arrow in his right hand and leaning with his left on his bow; to left, ΣA above head of Athena to left; to right, ΣE. Reference: SC 1019.2a; Houghton, Royal, Group C, 17–8 (A3/P5); HGC 9, 20; SNG Spaer 654 (same dies). Provenance: From the Kalevala Collection.

BAKTRIA, Greco-Baktrian Kingdom. Diodotos I Soter. Circa 255-235 BC. AR Tetradrachm (26mm, 15.74 g, 6h). In the name of Antiochus II Zeus and his thundering cheeks. just won this at cng today next: bactrian/indo greek

i think it's specified as an obol https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charon's_obol

My favorites: Antimachos and his cool kausia. Antiochos and the Artuqid rendition of his portrait

if you reaaally wanted one you could make your own test cut i am joking

Link: this coin was based off of side tetradrachms Sayf al-din Ghazi II Dirham Zangids of Mosul, Sayf al-din Ghazi II Dirham, AH 564-576 / AD 1169-1180. Dirham (Bronze, 15.56 g), Mosul. Obv: Helmeted male head left; Kalima around. Rev: Name and title of Sayf al-Din Ghazi II in three lines; mint and AH date in margin. Reference: Spengler & Sayles 61.1; Album 1861.2.

Latest medieval from gorny and mosch, and my heaviest medieval coin by far. not too sure the diameter b/c they are lagging on shipping my wins, but according to spengler & sayles these range from 32-39 mm. Mu‘izz al-Din Sanjarshah Dirham Zangids of al-Jazira, Mu‘izz al-Din Sanjarshah, AH 576-605 / AD 1180-1208. Dirham (Bronze, 15.56 g), al-Jazira. Obv: Zengid tamgha; names and titles of al-Mu'azzam Mahmud and Wali 'Ahad al-Zahir in outer margin. Rev: Names and titles of Abbasid caliph and Rum Seljuq overlord in three lines; mint formula and AH date in margins. Reference: Spengler & Sayles 86; Album A1883. Ex Gorny & Mosch.