kapphnwn

I cannot say in all honesty that I have never posted this coin in a chat room. However that is true of every coin I currently own. That being said I have not poste this coin in over two years Alexander I Balas Ar Tetradrachm Tyre 149-148 BC Obv bust right draped and diademed. Rv Eagle standing left wings folded SC 1835/3 HGC 883 14.24 grms 28 mm Photo bt W. Hansen Even though Antiochos III took the Ptolemaic possessions in what would be modern Israel, the Seleukids did not start striking tetradrachms until the reign of Alexander Balas. He chose not to strike coins of the reduced Attic standard but the Ptolemaic standard which was used in the region for over a century.

Pertinax Ar Denarius Rome 193 AD Obv Head right laureate Rv Emperor veiled standing left sacrificing over altar RIC 13a 3.32 grms 17 mm Photo by W. Hansen

My least popular comments Probably for some in this community would be my comment " Your Alexander __________ is from________ and is posthumous." AUUUGH Don't feel too bad I do it to myself all the time. Other than that my opinion on coffins oooops I should have said slabs .

Spink is a very old and a very good firm. However even the best can get fooled by forgeries. I do not like to comment on authenticity based on photographs. There are simply too many things that can be hidden. For what it is worth like @CPK I see nothing wrong with the coin. However the coin is posthumous struck during the reign of Antipater-Kassander 323-315 BC Troxell 303 Le Rider Amphipolis III 22 Your weight is a bit light but not overtly so. Some coins in the very broad group can b under 14 grams weight and weights in the 14.10 are not uncommon.

Crispina Ar Denarius 178-183 AD Obv Bust right draped Rv Juno standing left holding patera and scepter RIC 283 3.03 grms 18 mm Photo by W. Hansen

Interesting I have the same type Domitian Ae As 86 AD Obv Bust right laureate aegis on far shoulder Rv. Fides standing right holding corn ears and basket of fruit. RIC 486 11.97 grms 28 mm Photo by W. Hansen Same type as @David Athertonbut different dies.

Faustina II Minor As Augusta Minted during the reign of Antoninus Pius 147-150 AD Obv Bust right draped Rv Venus standing left holding apples and dolphin entwined rudder RIC 1388 25.00 grms 32 mm Photo by W. Hansen Faustina actually became an Augusta before her husband became Augustus. The reverse alludes to the fact that Faustina would have an important say in the course of Roman history.

Marcus Aurelius Ae As 164-165 AD Obv Head right laureate Rv Victory advancing left holding wreath and palm RIC 884 10.80 grms 25 mm Photo by W. Hansen

Yes there is definitely something about sestertii. Despite all the issues one faces when trying to collect these coins there is something wonderful about looking at an ancient coin of that size and marveling at the skill of the ancient celator's Faustina I Maior Ae Sestertius 139 AD Obv Bust right draped. Rv Juno standing left holding patera and scepter, RIC 1077 24.80 grms 30 mm Photo by W. Hansen This is one of the scarcer lifetime issues of Faustina. She does have one of the largest posthumous coinages.

Caius Ar Denarius Lugdunum 37-38 AD Obv head of Caius right laureate. Rv head of the Divus Augustus right radiate RIC 16 3.79 grms 18 mm Photo by W. Hansen The initial issue of Caligula stressed his connection to his parents Germanicus and Agrippina Snr his brothers as well as Augustus. The only one missing in this paean to ancestry was Tiberius. However this snub had a deeper purpose. Because he had no experience Caius had to establish his legitimacy by emplacing his connection to Augustus, something that Tiberius could not give him.

Faustina Maior as Diva Ar Denarius 141-146 AD Obv. Bust right draped. Rv. Façade of the hexastyle Temple of Faustina. RIC 388 2.81 grms 17 mm Photo by W. Hansen The façade of this temple still exists within the Roman Forum Ihis is what it looks like now. And this is what it may have looked like when it was built and consecrated

Antoninus Pius Ar Denarius 159 AD Rv. Male togate figure standing left within tetrastyle shrine with semi circular arched roof, RIC 285 Sear 4077 This Coin Illustrated 3.10 grms 17 mm Photo by W. Hansen The subject of this reverse is very enigmatic and has been the subject of some scholarly debate.

Aelius Ae Sestertius 137 ADObv Head right bare. Rv Salus seated left feeding snake who is rising from altar RIC 1063 RIC II/3 27,55 grms 31 mm Photo by W. Hansen I have to wonder if this image of Salus was struck either as a supplication or as reassurance. Either way he died and was replayed by Antoninus Pius

Hadrian Ae Dupondius 135 AD Obv Head right laureate Rv Aequitas standing left RIC 795d RIC II/3 2373 11.75 grms 26 mm Photo by W Hansen This is one of those weird laureate dupondii popular at this time.

Of late I have been going through some old issues of the Celator. For you that have never heard of this magazine it was a subscription based monthly journal on primarily ancient numismatics. It started publication in 1987 and continues until June 2012 when it sadly ceased publication . In fact you can find this journal on line in the V Coins community pages. Okay back to what I was about to say. Looking through the issue March 2007 I saw this Top price for an ancient coin was $575,000 including the juice. Given that of late some ancient coins have been selling for a million dollars plus and that is before the juice, it does give an indication as to how much the market has been changing.

Almost forgot about her Plotina Ar Denarius 112-114 AD Obv Bust right draped Rv Vesta seated left RIC 730 Woytek 705-13.36 grms 20 mm Photo by W. Hansen As she was instrumental in setting up what we now call the adoptive or 5 good emperors she does deserve some recognition,

Trajan Ae 24 Caesarea Maritima 115 AD Obv Head right laureate Rv Emperor standing left sacrificing over altar. RPC 3955 11.61 grms 24 mm Photo by W. hansen Despite being a rather crude portrait I think this guy caught the emperor pretty closely

Nerva Ar Cistophoric Tetradrachm Asia Minor 97 AD. Obv Head right laureate Rv Diana of Perga within Distyle temple RIC 116 RPC 1301 10.76 grms 25 mm Photo by W. Hansen

Simon Glenn in his book Money and Power in Hellenistic Bactria records some 60 Obverse dies for Antimachos I. If @zadie is correct your coin appears to obverse 43 which is associated with reverse dies 139-144. This is an illustration of the book and my coin Antimachos I Ar Tetradrachm Baktra 174-165 BC Obv Bust right wearing Kausia Rv Pseidon standing facing holding scepter and fileted palm frond HGC 106 Glenn 248 O 27/ R 98 This coin illustrated. 16.61 grms 30 mm Photo by W. Hansen I too want to commend @zadie for his work. Many of these dies are very close and there are a lot of them with that monogram found on the reverse O 23/R 76 to O45/ R 148

This may be tricky because I do not have the coin today. When I started to collect Greek coins prior to the advent of the internet I became enamored with the drachms of Istros. One that looked a bit like this Drachm of Istros 340/330 -313 BC Obv Two heads the right inverted RV Sea Eagle carrying off dolphin left HGC 1801 18 mm 5.8 grms THIS IS NO LONGER MY COIN For years I wanted one but everyone I saw had issues. One of the two heads were not struck up. Then one day I walked into a coin shop and saw one that looked a lot like the one pictured above. The trouble was that it was about the same price as one of these, Sabina Ar Denarius 128 AD. Obv Bust right draped wearing elaborate hair do Rv Vesta seated left holding Victory in outstretched hand, RIC 498 RIC II/3 2483 3,21 grms 20 mm Photo by W. Hansen THIS IS NOT THAT COIN. I BOUGHT THIS ONE LATER. I could only afford the one so I bought the Istros. I had hoped that I would be able to pick up the Sabina at some future date but that coin was immediately snapped up by another collector. Big error. This was done before the collapse of the Com Bloc and thus was before Istros drachms started flooding the market. The price for those coins tanked and when I eventually sold it I took a bath. Eventually I did buy this denarius of Sabina at a lot more than I would have paid for the other one. I have made plenty of dumb decisions over the years and I suspect that I am fated to do so in the future. However this is the one that still rankles.

Domitian Ar Denarius Ephesus "Annulet Issue" 75 AD Obv Head right laureate Rv winged caduceus RIC 1491 RPC 1463 3.49 grms 18 mm Photo by W. Hansen This coin is a mule with the reverse that is proper for Vespasian. This is quite common for this issue,

Auctions are at best crap shoots. Over the last 7 or more years I have been selling a rather substantial number of coins. Somewhere in the thousands. I can say that selling a collection is as much of a learning curve as buying. Overall I have been happy with the results. However I will say that with one caveat I never kept track of what I spent on any particular coin. I can say that there are many reasons why a coin will either do well in an auction or completely die. I have had both. 1. Second fiddle My coin was paired up with a visually superior specimen. That coin was languishing , so mine did even worse. However there was a variation. My coin though not as well centered had a stronger image and a much lower estimate. It did better than the other coin. 2. Ugly picture. One of my coins suffered from this a lot. I knew immediately it would die and it did horribly, 3. Times change The majority of collectors active today probably don't remember that three major events that seriously affected ancient coin collecting occurred starting in the early 1980's and ended in the early 2000's. These were A the advent of metal defectors B. The fall of the Com Block and C the advent of the internet. A and B brought vast numbers of new coins on to the market with many of them being in extremely high grade, however C meant that these coins could enter the marketplace at a much lower price point previously not possible. Prior to the Internet I paid roughly $100 for any coin I could find in a FPL. Now on the internet I could get 2 even 3 comparable coins for the same price. Even more remarkable If I am on line I had the chance to be the very first person to see the coin and buy it, something that was denied to me when I got FPLs through the mail. The net result was for many coins the prices tanked. Another byproduct was that as this flood of new coins hit the market collectors could become more discriminating. 4, Tastes change One feature that has been taking hold over the last decade has been the rise in importance of pedigree (provenance). This is a fairly new phenomenon and at this juncture is having a strong impact on prices, . Prior to this pedigrees were only of minor curiosity and generally did not affect pricing all that greatly. In fact unless the coin was part of a noteworthy collection the pedigree was generally ignored. Back in 2017 at one of the auctions associated with the NYINC I picked up this coin. Syracuse Ar Tetradrachm 450-440 BC Obv Charioteer driving slow quadriga right Rv Head of Arethusa right surrounded by four dolphins, Boehringer 515 17.10 grms 25 mm Photo by W. Hansen At the time the only information I could obtain was that it was formally owned by Tom Cederlind and was previously in a Goldberg's auction the previous year. Last year as I was searching through the Newman Numismatic Portal I found this Numismatic Fine Arts Auction XXXII Lot 13 June 10 1993. NFA is a premium auction house and was probably the most important Numismatic firm in North America at the time. I would have assumed that any coin that had graced one of their auctions would have been duly noted but that was not the case. I was quite pleased with myself I moved the sticks back over 20 years However then I was going through the RNumis site and found this Ars Classica Auction 17 Lot 199 October 3 1934 NFA usually referenced pedigrees when they knew of them but they missed this one. Again probably because the coin was deemed to be not that special, I was composing this for some time, To answer @DonnaMLquestion. Yes Harlan is her father. I do not know exactly what to say on this matter but Shanna and her father are independent of each other.

Denarius of Titus as Caesar Antioch 72-73 AD Obv Bust right laureate draped and cuirassed seen from back Rv Neptune standing left foot on globe. RIC 1561 RPC 1933 3.32 grms 19 mm Photo by W. Hansen I always thought that this image of Titus was one of his mostimpressive

Link Luna driving a chariot Denarius by AN 194-190 BC Obv Helmeted head of Roma right. Rv Luna driving a biga right Crawford 136/1 3.74 grms 19 mm Photo by W. Hansen This type commenced just after the end of the Second Punic War.

Vespasian Ae dupondius 73 AD Obv Head right radiate Rv Felicitas standing left holding cornucopia RIC 581 Sear 2346 var This coin illustrated 11.93 grms 27 mm Photo by W. Hansen