ewomack

I have an obol that refers to the obverse as "Gorgeoneion," but the face gives off a more ghostly, friendly, nurturing aura. It certainly wouldn't turn anyone to stone. Someone in another thread explained that the later gorgons lost a lot of their earlier nastiness. This would probably be a good example of that. Pisidia; Seige; c. 250 - 190 BCE; AR Obol; 0.89 grams; Obv: Facing gorgeoneion; Rev: Helmented head of Athena right, astragalos to left; SNG Ashmolean 1546 - 50, SNG BN 1948-54

France ARCHBISHOPRIC OF VIENNE - ANONYMOUS AR Denier, 11th - 12th Centuries; Obv: .+. S. M. VIENNA. (Saint Maurice of Vienne), profile of Saint Maurice, facing left; Rev: MAXIMA. GALL (Grand Gaul)

My two smallest coins - A Pisidia obol and a James I half penny.

Leo VI (AD 886-912); Constantinople; Æ Follis; Obv: +LEOn bAS - ILEVS ROM' Bust facing wearing crown and chlamys, holding akakia in l. hand; Rev: Inscription in four lines: +LEOn / Eh ΘEO bA / SILEVS R / OmEOh; 7.67g.; Berk 918, Sear 1729

I'm not sure if these are controversial, but they are opinions that I usually keep to myself. 1. I hate the money side of coin collecting in general. The hobby, especially the more celebrated side of it (the high end, gold and rarities), remain almost completely closed off to many people. I can only take part at all because I have some discretionary income. Numismatics does take research and knowledge, but to have a revered collection, one needs, first and foremost, a lot of money. High-end collections are closed off by income limitations. I hate that part of this hobby. This is something I've noticed since I was collecting worn flat liberty nickels as a child. So it goes, of course, but it still frustrates me. 2. Perhaps related, I greatly prefer the historical, aesthetic and sociological side of collecting over chasing after value or rarity. Rare coins have never impressed me. Filling holes bores me. When collectors appear to be hoarding indiscriminately it makes me recoil. I have enjoyed reading scholarly numismatic articles far more than anything in the "coin press," where much fuss over value and rarity seem to reign. I want to hold coins that people may have actually used, that circulated amongst the crowd. So I tend to prefer obols, bronzes and smaller fare (though I admittedly do look for nicer samples, but affordable ones). Coins that sat in vaults for generations served a monetary purpose as "stored value," but they seem more like caged animals than wild animals. I understand why they interest some people, but I don't find them particularly exciting. 3. Coin collecting in general seems to have done little to attract women to the hobby. The culture around coin collecting generally feels very "male locker room" to me when I attend shows or clubs. The vast majority of women who I have brought to coin shows have told me that they felt this way. I would like to see more balance in the hobby. Things have improved over the years, but the hobby could go further, especially if it's worried about its future. 4. Getting kids involved in collecting is irrelevant to the future of the hobby. It's become overall an adult hobby that requires an adult income. Those who worry about the future of the hobby should worry when middle aged people with money stop coming to shows and spending money. It will truly die when that demographic loses interest. The correlation of being interested in coins as a child and maintaining or reigniting interest as an adult seems tenuous at best. I'm not sure if those are controversial or not. Maybe to some people. Regardless, they are just opinions. I would never rant, fight, or dig my heels in about any of them.

I do not see a coin picture in the first post. Was it removed?

Leo V (813 - 820) Leo V AD 813-820, Æ Follis (23mm, 4.43 grams) Constantinopolis; LEON S CONST; facing busts of Leo (l.) and Constantine (r.);Large M between XXX and NNN; cross above and A below; Sear 1630 Leo V AD 813-820, Æ Follis (21.59mm, 5.48 grams) Constantinople Mint, Obv: LЄ-OҺ ЬASIL, crowned and draped bust facing, holding cross potent and akakia; Rev: Large M, [X/X/X] to left, cross above, N/N/N to right, A (officina) below, Sear 1629 Michael II (820 - 829) Michael II the Amorian (AD 820-829) with Theophilus Æ Follis; Constantinople mint; Obv: MIXAHL S ΘЄOFILOS, crowned facing busts of Michael (on left) and Theophilus (on right); cross above; Rev: Large M, X/X/X to left, cross above, N/N/N to right, Θ below; 29.12mm; 6.21 grams; Sear 1642 Theophilus (829 - 842) \ Theophilus (AD 829-842) Æ Follis; Constantinople mint; AD 830-842; Obv: ΘEOFIL bASIL; Half-length figure standing facing, holding labarum and globus cruciger; Rev: ΘEO / FILE AVG / OVSTE SV / hICAS in four lines; 27.66mm; 7.46 grams; Sear 1667

Interesting. I have had the opposite experience and have always heard back from sellers that I've contacted on VCoins. Just a few weeks ago, I received a response within a day from a seller. I'm sorry to hear about these other experiences.

The entire era from the overthrow of Maurice, to the "reign of terror" of Phocas, and to his eventual overthrow by the Heraclii remains a fascinating story. Some claim that history has possibly distorted Phocas unfairly, similar to Richard III, but tales of the supposed "Nero of Byzantium" will probably always attract the morbidly curious. I know that I'm guilty. So much so, that I picked up a coin of Phocas from Cyzicus, not only for its ominous, and almost frightening, portrait, but out of fascination for this rather obscure historical age as well. Phocas (602-610), Æ Follis (33mm, 11.79g), Cyzicus, Dated RY 4 ? (605/6); Obv: δN POCAS+PERPAVG, Crowned bust facing, wearing consular robes and holding mappa and cross, small cross to left; Rev: Large XXXX, ANNO above, II/II (date) to right, KYZA, Sear 665

Phocas (602-610), Æ Follis (33mm, 11.79g), Cyzicus, Dated RY 4 ? (605/6); Obv: δN POCAS+PERPAVG, Crowned bust facing, wearing consular robes and holding mappa and cross, small cross to left; Rev: Large XXXX, ANNO above, II/II (date) to right, KYZA, Sear 665

Since I'm a relatively recent newcomer to the subject of ancients, I'm glad to see some of the books I decided to pick up on the shelves of others. I first went crazy with Byzantine coins and I'm sensing that I may move backwards into Roman and Greek. The Spink books date back to the 1980s, but they seem to have a decent amount of introductory material in them. I certainly learned a lot from them. I'm not ready for the RIC series at this point. I may have to buy more bookshelves to start down that path.

I don't mind hands on photos, but I usually use the smudge tool (included with Gimp) to blur the skin so it's less distracting. Some examples:

Nothing like starting out small. In my first foray into the Greek era, a tiny, tiny obol caught my eye. The obverse description says "gorgoneion," but does it actually show Helios? At 10mm, it ties for the smallest coin in my pile (a much, much thinner Half Penny of James I also measures an irregular 10mm) and it more than qualifies as my oldest coin. I first read about obols in the writings of the Cynic philosophers, which prompted me to research that once strange word and think "I'll have to get one of those someday." Turning that brief cognition into reality took a few years. The quoted passages below more than emphasize just how low in the monetary hierarchy obols sat, since they seem to appear in many insults. According to one quote below, I need two more obols to afford a philosopher. Having now held a Greek coin, I can certainly understand their appeal. Even this minuscule thing has me somewhat mesmerized by its hypnotic stare and incredible detail. As long as I don't sneeze while holding it in my palm, everything should be okay. In any case, what an amazing little thing. Pisidia; Seige; c. 250 - 190 BCE; AR Obol; 0.89 grams; Obv: Facing gorgeoneion; Rev: Helmented head of Athena right, astragalos to left; SNG Ashmolean 1546 - 50, SNG BN 1948-54 Some references to obols in Cynic philosophical texts: Antisthenes (445 - 365 BCE) -"One day upon seeing an adulterer running for his life he exclaimed, “Poor wretch, what peril you might have escaped at the price of an obol.” Diogenes (410 - 323 BCE) -“Lay your commands upon us, Diogenes,” he took him away and gave him a cheese to carry, which cost half an obol. The other declined; whereupon he remarked, “The friendship between you and me is broken by a little cheese worth half an obol.” -"And when the same man was discoursing, Diogenes distracted his audience by producing some salt fish. This annoyed the lecturer, and Diogenes said, “An obol’s worth of salt fish has broken up Anaximenes’ lecture-class.” -"The question being asked why footmen are so called, he replied, “Because they have the feet of men, but souls such as you, my questioner, have.” He asked a spendthrift for a mina. The man inquired why it was that he asked others for an obol but him for a mina. “Because,” said Diogenes, “I expect to receive from others again, but whether I shall ever get anything from you again lies on the knees of the gods.” Crates (365 - 285 BCE) "Set down for the chef ten minas, for the doctor One drachma, for a flatterer talents five, For counsel smoke, for mercenary beauty A talent, for a philosopher three obols." I should have added this earlier: please post your obols (I'd like to see more of them)

Justinian I Follis (540/1 - Year 14), Constantinople mint, Obv: DN IVSTINIANVS PP AVG, helmeted, cuirassed bust facing holding cross on globe and shield; cross to right. Rev: Large M, ANNO to left, cross above, XIIII (date) to right, A below, CON in exergue, Sear 163

As a related question, it seems like MA-Shops may include more dealers than VCoins overall, but I do see some dealers listing on both sites. I'm also pretty sure that I've seen dealers on VCoins that I do not see on MA-Shops. I usually look at both sites when browsing, but I wonder how much redundant work I engage in by doing so.

Coins of any kind are, overall and in general, a terrible investment. I just expect to lose money in the long run, otherwise I would drive myself insane dithering over purchases. To balance this out, I now buy very few coins and have become excessively picky about what I do purchase. I have to really, really, really, really, want a coin to buy it. A "wow, that's cool" or "that's probably good enough" won't cut it anymore. I've got to want a coin with my entire being. As such, I've passed on a lot of things that I would not have passed on even a few years ago. My few experiences selling provided sobering experiences. On a coin by coin basis, I came out ahead on some of them, but the ledger stood at quite a deficit overall. I just lost money. The top 10% of the market will likely appreciate greatly, but those kind of specimens require extensive resources to acquire. I'm not in that league and never will be. So, where I sit I have accepted that, overall, I will likely lose money. It helps keep my desires and wallet in check. It has also greatly reduced the number of purchases that I've regretted.

After years of experimenting, I settled on a simple spreadsheet. A database is a lot of work and can prove frustrating if you want to change your data structure. Besides, I will likely never possess more coins than a spreadsheet can handle (that's probably true of many collectors). For those who want a free option, LibreOffice works almost identically to Excel. I made a simple spreadsheet page with the following columns: Date purchased, Description (usually includes the dealer information), Amount Paid, Vendor, Shipping Costs, Exchange rate (at the time of purchase for purchases in Euros, Pounds, etc,) , Notes and Date Received. Those who want to categorize their coins and filter by topics, etc., will obviously need more columns than this, but this has served me well over the years to track purchases, who I bought them from, and what I paid for them. If I sell any of the coins on this list (hopefully I will someday), I'll add Date sold, amount sold., etc. I've thought of adding categories for "Ancient," "US," "Medieval," etc., but I haven't really had a reason to yet. Maybe someday. This would be easy to do with a spreadsheet.

This one recently appeared in another thread here, but it's the only coin I have from this time period. Julian II (360 - 363) AE1 (BI Maiorina); Thessalonika Mint; Obv: DN FL CL IVLIANUS PF AUG; Diademed, draped and cuirassed bust right; Rev: SECVRITAS REIPVB; Bull standing right, two stars above;*TESΓ in exergue; Ref: RIC 226; NGC Graded Ch. XF

Another one of the first ancients I ever bought, from the bargain bin. Cyzicus RIC VII 69 Constantius II AE3. 330-334 AD. FL IVL CONSTANTIVS NOB C, laureate, draped & cuirassed bust right / GLORIA EXERCITVS, two soldiers, helmeted, standing with spears & shields, facing two standards between them, dot on banners. Mintmark SMKΓ dot.

A fascinating figure with fascinating coins. I have not studied the why or what of the bull, but here is mine. Julian II (360 - 363) AE1 (BI Maiorina); Thessalonika Mint; Obv: DN FL CL IVLIANUS PF AUG; Diademed, draped and cuirassed bust right; Rev: SECVRITAS REIPVB; Bull standing right, two stars above;*TESΓ in exergue; Ref: RIC 226;

My nephew returned from study abroad in Redding just before Christmas and he said he didn't see a single Charles III coin while there. He must have just missed them. He did see quite a lot, though, since he first arrived three days before the Queen passed away.

Probus AE Antoninianus. Antioch, 281 AD. IMP C M AVR PROBVS AVG, radiate draped bust right / CLEMENTIA TEMP, Probus standing right, holding sceptre, receiving Victory from Jupiter standing left, holding sceptre. Officina letter in lower centre. Mintmark XXI. Ric 921, Bust type C

GORDIAN III AR silver antoninianus. IMP GORDIANVS PIVS FEL AVG, radiate, draped & cuirassed bust right. Reverse - P M TR P VI COS II PP, Gordian standing right with globe & spear. RSC 276. 22mm, 5.3g. 242-243 AD.

Marcus Aurelius. AR Denarius. Struck 161/2 AD. M ANTONINVS AVG, bare head right / CONCORD AVG TR P XVII, COS III in exergue, Concordia seated left, holding patera, resting left elbow on statuette of Spes set on base. 18mm 3.4gm

I have always found this an interesting paradox of collecting: the desire to obtain things that didn't fulfill their intended purpose by being used less. In a way it becomes a celebration of uselessness. 😄 Yet I completely understand the desire to possess bright and shiny objects from the past. They probably look more like the original users experienced them, creating what can seem like a more direct connection with history. In the case of coins, they display details that worn coins won't have. But I would be disappointed, at least a little bit, to find out that the provenance of a coin I bought is that the minter accidentally dropped it into a ditch and it sat there doing nothing for 1,000 years. Yet I would still very much appreciate the condition of the coin. So it's a little complicated, at least for me. As for books, I no longer collect books for the sake of collecting them. I can no longer stand having a book on my shelf that I have no intention of ever reading. A few books that I had signed by the authors in person remain the only exceptions. I can't consistently apply the same concept to coins, because I do appreciate pristine coins that did not fulfill their monetary destinies. So I apparently love unused coins but loath unused books. Such are the vicissitudes of possessing grey matter.