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Old Miser

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  1. @kirispupis fair to say, everyone now expects that you will resurrect this thread early May with lots of photos and your impressions from Greece. If your wife enjoys beautiful sceneries and exploring, I could definitely see her enjoying Nafplion or Delphi. You should have tempted her by showing photos of the places 😄 I didn't pay too much attention to your second week, but now I think it feels a bit rushed if you are only spending a couple of days in major islands like Kefalonia, Mykonos, and Santorini. It almost feels like a cruise itinerary. There are lots to do and see (and eat) in all of those destinations. I hope you are not planning on doing any swimming, the sea will be freezing cold in April. It is common to think that Greece it is a lot hotter than it actually is (some places get buried in a metre of snow in the winter). May suggest another ruin if Delos doesn't work out? Have you heard of Akrotiri, the Pompey of Greece in Santorini? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akrotiri_(prehistoric_city)
  2. Ah, I thought it was Apollo, didn't realise it was Dionysus. It must depict him in his younger days before the heavy drinking took its toll 😅 This is pretty much same size as my coin, only difference on mine being that the lion is facing to the right and the bird has two dots either side. Does this mean that my tetartemorion is really a hemi-tetartemorion? Also, I need your help guys... I want to house my small cuties in one of these: https://www.abafil.com/en/miniminor/1411-miniminor-15-spaces-black-cocco-red-velvet.html This is quite small and the squares are around 3cms I think. As I don't want the coins to move about too much, I would like them to also be inside double flips. However the majority of double flips (like Saflips) are either 2x2 or larger. Does anyone know where to get any that fit in the miniminor's squares (must also be PVC free of course).
  3. Ah, OK if photography is your hobby, Sounion is rightly high on your list. However, do try to fit in the Numismatic Museum, it would definitely be worth the effort.
  4. I got a couple of little (literally) cuties lately, so I decided to post my collection of tiny Greeks! One of the issues I have with coin photography (especially in forums) is that you cannot really tell how big or small a coin actually is. In a single thread someone can post an obol and then somebody else will reply with a tetradrachm, but the way the coins are photographically presented their size doesn't seem too different. So I decided to post all my tiny Greeks together to get a better idea of how tiny they actually are. Here goes: What we have here (clock-wise) is a rare obol from Nagidos in Cilicia (Aphrodite obverse - Appolo reverse), an obol from Greek Bactria (Eucratides obverse - dioscouroi caps reverse), a tetartemorion from Caria (lion obverse - bird with dots reverse), and finally a hemidrachm from Chersonisos (lion obverse - incuse sections with bee and monogram). As you can see they are rather small, the tray square is a standard 2x2. The benefit of buying small coins is that you can afford to find pieces with great detail for a fraction of the price of a bigger coin. They may be small, but they are impressive, that tetartemorion especially must have been a huge pain to strike as great precision would be required! Here is a photo with the coins in hand (kinda). They look even nicer in real life as it is very difficult to focus on them properly with a plain phone camera. Please post your small coins in group photos (if possible) or in any way that it makes it easier to tell how small they are.
  5. Congratulations @kirispupis, that sounds like a fab holiday! However, I read the list numerous times, and couldn't help notice (to my horror) a very important omission! The Numismatic Museum of Athens! https://www.nummus.gr/en/ It is probably the most important museum in the world for coin collectors. This is the former mansion of eminent archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann (of Troy fame). The entire building (worth the admission alone) is dedicated to coins (over half a million of them apparently). Dedicate at least 3 hours to it. I would fit it in day 2 as it is very close to the archaeological museum. You can do Sounion on another day on your return to Athens. Make sure you check the opening days/times in advance, as museums are closed on some weekdays in Greece sometimes. As for the rest of the trip, I find it a bit optimistic. Don't underestimate the ruggedness of the Greek landscape, Mystras for example could take half a day and there is steepness involved. Also, i wouldn't bother with Sparta. There isn't much to see in my opinion. Meteora would be amazing to see, but it seems it is in the opposite direction to the area you will frequent. As for @AETHER's question, you cannot easily buy ancient coins in Greece as a tourist (or at all). I think there may be a couple of specialist licensed shops in Athens, but I have heard that the prices are not cheap.
  6. I recently bought these Byzantine follis-es from some known and reputable dealers and I am pleased to say that I am very pleased with them. I will post pics of only the obverses for the time being as I managed somehow to get all the reverses blurred... The first and most impressive is an anonymous follis with Jesus on it. A big chunky coin at 35mm! The highlight of it is the nice patina and the great level of details on Jesus' face. The other two are related as they both are from the turbulent reign of Constantine VII and Romanus the first. Luckily our own's @Valentiniansite proved to be of great help in researching these coins: http://augustuscoins.com/ed/Byz/ConVII.html It greatly helped pinpoint the dates of reign for the specific types. The first one is from the solitary reign of Romanus after he kicked Constantine out and his own sons perished. A great coin, again with great details of the ruler's face. The pic doesn't do it justice. This coin is not rare, but it is rare to find it this nice... I am not sure what Romanus is holding in his right hand, but my juvenile sense of humour makes me only see a toilet brush. 😄 The last one is the most interesting one, as it is not included in @Valentinian's excellent article. I concluded that it must be a rare version of the solitary Constantine rule and I think it must be from the 944 -950 AD period. Am I right? Again the emperor is holding something in his right hand that must be regal, but all I can see is a fly swatter! 😅 Byzantine coppers can get addictive 😀 Please share your coins of the period, I am curious to see more versions of the third coin if anyone has one. I think it is a rarity if I am not mistaken.
  7. @Prieure de Sion as a funny coincidence, I did the same thing. I was in the garden following the very same auction. You will be pleased to know that we probably did not compete for the same coins, but I did notice (and thought about for a bit) the Antiochus tet. Starting with the drachm, very nice example and perfectly OK hammer price. You did well there. Now the tet.... Wow, what can I say about this one, apart from that you probably got a near perfect example for the type. The style, the centering, the toning, all spot on! Most will focus on the portrait, but let me throw a bit of praise for the reverse. Usually with these, the reverse can be all over the place as they are so busy. But it is spot on with great legends, and combined with such fine portrait on the other side, it simply doesn't get better than that. It kinda explains the hammer price which is on the high side, considering that late Seleukid tets still bring affordable prices. However, as your example is top of the range, I can understand people fighting for it. For example, the very next lot was fine as well apart from the gash on the reverse. And that's why it hammered for only a fraction. But if you are going to have one Greek tet, go for the best, right? Congratulations! That tet deserves its own thread in my opinion. As you are not familiar with Greek tets, the moment you hold it in your hands you will go nuts (in a good way).
  8. I wish I had that many! If I did, that may have been the case, but they would be in flips for their protection! 😅 Funnily though, I am a huge fan of Carl Barks (the creator of Scrooge McDuck), so I have a neat collection of Dell Disney comics from the 40s to the 60s.
  9. Hello Nero lovers! I got the following recently for the princely sum of a little over 100 bucks. I am not a Roman collector, but I thought it was a good price for the type, plus I am a huge Peter Ustinov fan, so there you go... It has been aggressively cleaned, but my untrained eye did not spot serious issues like tooling, what do you think? Due too my inexperience with these, I know little about it.. It is 28 mm wide and 10.28 gr heavy. I don't think it is a sestertius, but not sure if it is a provincial either as it is in Latin. Any help attributing it would be appreciated 😃
  10. Hello, I am an old miser and I love coins... They are my precious! Me and my offspring will eat gruel so I can afford them! Nice to see this new forum.. Hopefully it will flourish! I collect Greek and Byzantine. Here is an Antiochus II tet I purchased recently..
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