dougsmit

NumisForvms separated our posts into a number of categories so you could start with one coin from each. I believe they should have had a separate category of Roman Provincial and you could eliminate modern world leaving a starter set of: Greek Roman Imperial (my add) Roman Republican Roman Imperial Byzantine Medieval Non-Western Of course we could add more categories (Far Eastern, Silk Road, Islamic and several more) and each could be broken into sections if you want more variety. Greek, for example, could be Archaic, Classical and Hellenistic. You also might choose to have a silver and a bronze from each. That takes us back to the fact that it IS your collection so you should buy coins that appeal to you. If you find absolutely no appeal in one of my suggested areas, just skip it. I am not providing ID information on my sample coins and I (don't) do that for a reason. I am not opposed to helping people with numismatic education but I prefer the old 'teach them to fish' option. If you want to know details about the coin I posted, you are quite free to research them as samples of the thousands of ancient coins available in each category. Copying catalog numbers and cut/paste Wikipedia does less good. That is just my opinion. I do have a few (over a hundred) web pages on the subject which all are invited to visit. There you might just find the answers I did not give here. Just don't ask "What is it worth?" We have dealers that will be happy to guide your spending. I am not a dealer. On my website, nothing is for sale. https://www.forumancientcoins.com/dougsmith/ Enjoy the hobby.

I was always more of a fan of the falling horsemen but have a few huts. Two are Rome mint. Both came in the same month but from different dealers.

At the very least, you will want to learn a little Latin and Greek covering terms and denominations. Of course learning the alphabets would not hurt. I once believed there was a need to have a reasonable vocabulary to enjoy collecting ancient coins so I posted a series of web pages intended to expose the reader to the words in boldface. My definitions tended to be longer than those in a dictionary and a few linked to even longer pages. Some of us collect ancient coins because it encourages us to learn things. These pages have not been updated because I made the bad choice in participating over on that other site rather than working on my pages. They are still available: https://www.forumancientcoins.com/dougsmith/voc.html

I wonder how long this thread could run before the same type coin was picked at random for the second time.

Alexandria Philip I tetradrachm / Serapis with Cerberus next: an animal mascot associated with a god but without the god also on the coin

Do these auto renew?

This is a way that might get some coins posted that otherwise might never come up. Mine is #2009 coming to me in November 1999 at a Baltimore show from Jonathan Kern who was probably my favorite dealer in those days (before he started slabbing coins and had bags of pick out opportunities). It is just another of the antoninianus types from the Antioch mint. It has the best style portrait from this mint and is reasonably well struck. It is the more common variety with legend ending in PM rather than having those letters under the bust. The Spes walking is rather ordinary but the legend is quite special SPES FELICITATIS ORBIS. Once there was a joke about beauty contestants with nothing better to say always wishing for world peace. Philip's hope for world happiness worked for him only for a short while. Why did I buy it? I thought it was pretty and worth the $35 price tag. Jonathan was usually reasonably priced for the coins from his bags partly because he did not put in a lot of (expensive) time cataloging each individual coin. This one came from a bag of decent silver ants from which I bought six that day. This was not the best one from that haul but the random number generator dictated that you see it anyway. At that period, I was spending more time and money on coins compared to times before or after. It was the period after the kid was out of college and before I retired to fixed income. I spent hours each week writing up new pages for my website. Those were the good old days for my coin career.

I don't specialize in early Provincials but still have a few. I believe my favorite is the Germanicus and Drusus from Sardis, Lydia, AE25 which is often found (more often than not?) with the circular countermark changing the legends but retaining the original types. Finding this pair in what most people would consider satisfactory grade will not be easy. Does anyone know details on when the countermark was added?

Glad to see you here. I was unaware of your page and database but look forward to examining it more fully. First visit displayed a few hundred coins that match the general search parameters I inserted (under 2g, Sicily) but failed to match the types I was seeking. I suspect a lot of this is that old collections tended to avoid the smaller coins I collect. It is easier to find a dekadrachm than a hemiobol. I hope you will become an active participant here.

I showed my current 'favorite' in the thread on avatars (hint: it is the one in my avatar) so this time I will show my favorite coin designated as such in my 1997 web page so entitled and with me since 1963 when I had to swallow hard to spend all of $13.50 for it from Joel Malter. When I sold my first collection in 1974, Joel Malter refused to give me any extra for it so I kept it and two others that were special to me. I went several decades thinking it was very rare but now I own three. It was the subject of an article I did for 'Voice of the Turtle' magazine in 1966 where it is illustrated by a photo almost as embarrassing as the text. I still like the coin. I need to rephotograph it. I can do better now (I hope). https://www.forumancientcoins.com/dougsmith/feac6.html

This new official site would not recognize my old password and would not allow me to sign up afresh so I did the password reset and that worked. You probably lost some people who had the same problem. Thankfully, the other place finally put a lock on the thread with my name in it where those inclined to argue were posting in vain. Before all this, I was losing interest in buying coins. I now wonder how long I can keep interested in a hobby I can not afford. Time will tell.

Nothing ruins photos quite as surely as harsh light. From the photos here, I prefer 'before' due to the way the scratches are emphasized on the 'after'. In hand? IDK.

This is also the RR coin that I first obtained (1987) and still have. May the forth be with me. Next: Another coin with a strong animal

I'm sure the intent was the Augustus but my favorite capricorn coins are the ones on standards of some Septimius Severus legionary denarii. Next: a mythological beast but not from Rome

The common type for this city is the god Men with a rooster at his feet. Septimius Severus Next: a Men reverse from a different person on the obverse

I see a message: You have used 3.5 MB of your 488.28 MB attachment limit. This seems fine today but could be a problem down the road when prolific posters and those addicted to large photos run out. Is there a way of removing your old attachments. Also, what is an attachment? Are things uploaded from our computers counted the same was as things linked to other space we may have online?

How about a lounging bull that is not Roman? Skandragupta 455-467 AD AR drachm Next: another bull that is not Roman but is lounging

For years I used a self portrait that showed me photographing a coin. When it seemed likely I would no longer be posting there, I decided I did not want to leave that photo in action on all of my 20k+ posts there but deleting it got me contact from someone who noted I was not posting and that was not my intent. Here, I am using a coin which is the last coin I acquired that was my favorite coin at the time I bought it. (Note I retired from competition 'My Favorite Coin' as declared on my website which (I think) I got in 1963.) It is a bit scarce (I know of one other) and shows Septimius Severus and his buddy/Caesar Clodius Albinus face to face. I doubt many of them were made. The version with just Albinus is by far more common. (I've seen several including some in high grade that might sell to most collectors). Mine is average or a bit below compared to the rest. Albinus is probably the Roman whom I most closely resemble. No Roman is much of a role model. If there was one, it might be Pertinax but his beard was much better and I don't want to seem to be claiming more than I deserve. I considered my cut out Septimius (Alexandria mint) graphic which made a really nice T-shirt but not one I wear a lot out in public. Somewhere I have a big one but you don't need high resolution when printing on cloth.

Someone over there messaged me assuming that I was the Doug that ran the place. I know each of you has different things that you find offensive. Rules protect those offended by matters of race, religion and national origin but omit anything that will prevent me being confused with another Doug.

Perhaps no Roman Empire? Perhaps none of us? Changing history is dangerous. I got a little carried away with these once. The last one I bought upgraded my oldest style coin which also was the first I bought long before the 2013 obsession. I prefer the croc style on these. https://www.forumancientcoins.com/dougsmith/impossible.html

I'm unclear on why we might expect good centering on these. When it comes to black silver, my best is the Caracalla as Caesar from Caesarea. The white in the photo is glare. The surfaces are evenly, shiny black. Photographing these requires making choices of which none are fully satisfactory.

My two from Kyrene are the low end price options for Silphium but neither seems common in the market. The little one with three plants joined at the base seems least common. It would not be a high demand item so there may be many but all in junk boxes??? Kyrene, AE16, S6341 AE24, S6364 I got both of mine in 1995 but from different dealers.

Ferdinand and Isabella ae blanca, Toledo, 1469-1504 AD These are cheap and easy to find in terrible condition and difficult with good strike and full legend. Richard I AR denier 943-996 AD Rouen Yes, this is Richard I but not the Lionhearted one. For clarity we can call him Richard, Duke of Normandy. Archbishops of Vienne, France, c.1250 AD St. Maurice left S.M. VIENNA / MAXIMA GALL

My favorite Sasanian is Varhran II whose coins show his then current wife and heir. There are several variations of these but they are too popular for me to have others.

I'm wondering if this group needs a separate section for Roman Provincial / Greek Imperials separating them from the mainstream Greek. My favorite 'tets' are all in this category. Septimius Severus, Alexandria, billon tetradrachm year 2