ewomack

The reverse resembles a Gordian I have in my pile Gordian III Antoninianus 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.

The smell of this book definitely doesn't rival cat pee (speaking from experience, having lived with "not optimally disciplined" cats myself in the past), but it's far beyond any book, new or old, that I've ever had shipped to me. Though I do lean towards a more sensitive schnoz (finally an opportunity for a Jimmy Durante reference), even my wife says that the book sits well beyond the "offensive" side of the tolerable book odor continuum. Having spent much time in antique stores and antiquarian book shops, and having plenty of old stuff around (including a 1905 Edison cylinder phonograph, some cylinders, old magazines and books and family heirlooms from the 1910s - 1930s), I can definitely take musty. But I can't take a level of musty that nearly inspires a gag reflex. This book ranks far above anything I have encountered and has moved indubitably to my #1 position of stinky books I have encountered. I hope that nothing ever tops it.

The book looks absolutely fine, brand new even, and has no appearance of water damage. No page wrinkles, stains or signs of warping exist anywhere in the book that I can find. But it does reek of mildew, strong mildew, mildew dredged up from Hades. I've purchased other older items with similar odors, such as copies of "Puck" from the late 19th century, old silent film press kits from the 1920s, etc., and I expect at least some odor from items of such vintage. But none of them have even come close to the stench emanating from this book not yet 20 years old. I would guess, similar to the cigarette story, that the book lived for some time in a wet basement and it absorbed the stench from something nearby, or perhaps from the environment itself. I would really hate to smell the source of that odor. I did read online that baking soda could remove such odors, but apparently after only a few days. Yet the book has sat in a sealed container going on two weeks now with only meager signs of improvement. Perfume or a scent of some kind may allow me to actually read the book, so if my latest attempt at smothering it in baking soda goes nowhere, perhaps I'll try that. Since my first post, I also came across something called "Smelleze," which purports to rid old documents and books of odors. But is it just baking soda or some equivalent in a fancy package? Hard to say. Other sources suggest kitty litter or dryer sheets. Yet another source recommends "MicroChamber Enclosure paper," but it looks expensive. And then I came across a source that said to not put baking soda directly on books because "this will cause another problem," but it does not mention what. More significantly, it adds that the baking soda technique can take up to a month, so perhaps I just need to apply patience. Further update: I found no other sources that warned against putting baking soda on books. Then I came across a video of someone who literally fanned their smelly book's pages directly with baking soda throughout, so I am going to try the same. The picture below shows the book bulging with baking soda (without impacting the spine). So we shall see.

I figured who better to ask about a musty book than people who collect ancient things? 😁 The book itself is not ancient, or even old. It's Spink's Coinage in the Roman World from 2004. Yet someone must have stored it in an ancient tomb for years. I've handled books from the 18th century that weren't as corrosive to the nose and throat. When it arrived from the dealer, a smell like I've never experienced before emanated from the box. I could barely even look through the book, as the flapping pages would waft the odor right back into my face. I put it in a container with some baking soda and checked it over the course of a week. The odor subsided, but didn't vanish. So, deciding to resort to desperate measures, I then buried the book in baking soda, sealed it in the container, and will see what happens (below). I really want to read the book, of course, and perhaps I should have returned it, but I didn't think the odor would prove so invincible. How do others deal with musty and smelly books? Am I traipsing down a fool's path?

Here are a few things that have grabbed my senses ferociously enough to bring home. The closest object that I have to a fossil: a small piece of amber with an unfortunate insect/spider encased inside The rest belong subsumed under "carvings." Stone and bone hand carved narwhal by Igloolik artist George Aggiaq (b. 1917), c. 1955 - 1960 - it came with the Canadian Igloo tag Soap stone beaver carved by unknown Anishinaabe artist Hopi Nataska Ogre Kachina (I know it's wood, but I wanted to include it here anyway)

France-Lorraine 1506 - 1544 1/2 Gros or Double Blanc

١/٤ or 1/4 Riyal from Saudi Arabia, ١٣٧٤ 1374 Hijri or 1954. The fraction, in Arabic numerals, appears on obverse bottom center. The date appears at bottom center of the obverse's inner circle. Japan 1885 (明治十八年) 1/2 Sen - fraction on obverse and the "半銭" on the reverse means "half sen" Do early US Half Cents count since they have the 1/200 on the reverse?

I just put this in another thread, but I think it may belong here as well This was the dealer's verbiage: Mittelalter Deutschland. Pfennig (1441). Leichte Prägeschwäche. Sehr schön-vorzüglich. Augsburg-Bistum u. Stadt (gemeinschaftlich).

I find the worn American Silver Eagle pretty amusing, actually. I will just say this: no thank you.

My favorite Japanese coin for 安倍 晋三 Meji 36, 明治三十六年, 1903, 1 Yen, Japan 大日本, antiquated Yen symbol on reverse 一圓

Just like I sought out a Marcus Aurelius coin because of his association with Stoic philosophy, I also wanted to find a decent Julian II specimen because of his association with Cynic philosophy. Though not considered a "true Cynic," he defended traditional "lived" Cynicism, practiced by Diogenes of Sinope, against the more "literary" Cynicism of his day. I have read excerpts of his "Oration 9, Against the Ignorant Cynics" and "Oration 7, To the Cynic Heracleios," both of which discuss Cynic maxims, especially "Know Thyself," and defend the life of Diogenes as worthy of emulation. He also incorporated aspects of theurgy and Plotinian Neoplatonism into his religious beliefs. Of course, his attempt in 362 to "Make Rome Pagan Again" and return it to its classical roots marks him as the last Roman non-Christian Emperor and a pretty fascinating historical figure all-around. His attempts at pagan revisionism apparently didn't quell the momentum of Christianity and his early death at the Battle of Samarra against the Sasanians left the question of whether he could have stemmed the Christian tide forever unanswerable. This is a pretty dark coin that looks great in hand, but resists photography, perhaps slightly due to the slab. Not everyone likes slabs, and I may someday "free" the coin, but it seemed like one of the better examples I could find. The slab grades it "Ch. XF," does not include any subcategories such as "Strike" or "Surface, and adds "lt. smoothing." A more complete attribution is below the pictures. I'm still relatively new to ancients, I believe this represents only my 7th on the pile. Any thoughts? 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

This Constantius II was the second ancient coin that I ever purchased. If I remember correctly, I paid almost nothing for it at a local show. For a few years I've had the following photograph for this coin, where it appears almost blackish in tone: I had taken the photograph myself and, now that I look at the coin itself, I'm surprised that I didn't retake the photo, because the coin has more of a light chocolate color. So I decided to rephotograph it and received the result below, which far more resembles the actual coin, though the magnification really shows its obvious flaws. Perhaps the high-resolution effect actually detracts from the coin in this case? Is this an appropriate level of detail to photograph an ancient? Or is it too much? Or is the coin in this case just not nice enough to tolerate too much detail? 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.

Henry III Penny, Voided Long Cross, Class 3c, 1248 - 1250, Nicole - London, crowned facing bust of Henry, i.m. star, HENRICVS REX III, rev., voided long cross with trefoil of pellets in each angle, NICOLE ON LVND, (N.988; S.1364)

The nearest coins of mine to WWI

I always thought I would have made a great Canadian, but fate deposited me a few hundred miles too short. I've visited Canada many times (Winnipeg, Thunder Bay, Toronto, Ottawa) and I always miss it when I leave. I also love Canadian money, but these appear to be my only readily available photographed Canadian coins: I'll throw in a banknote as a consolation:

A few of mine: Dealers at live shows who try to gauge your income, and then your worthiness of interaction, from your appearance. I once attended a larger local show and was very surprised to see a display of hammered coins in one of the corners. I wasn't dressed too elegantly and I never dress up for shows, I go to relax and enjoy myself. At this particular show, I wore less than perfect jeans and a t-shirt, probably with some old obscure 19th century baseball team logo on it. As I approached the empty hammered coin booth I saw eyes look at me and then look away immediately. All of the dealers at the booth, I think there were three, had on "business" or "business casual" dress. They remained silent. No one said anything to me even as I looked intently at the coins for maybe 5 minutes. No one made eye contact, even when I looked up at them and scanned their faces one by one. No one looked back or said anything. Not only that, no one else visited the booth during this time. They had a coin I would have actually been interesting in looking at. I could afford it. But I decided to walk away because my existence wasn't even acknowledged. I was the only one there. I was one and they were three. I felt like a pariah. They might have actually had a sale, but I didn't want to purchase anything from people who ignored me outright. And I don't need a ticker-tape parade. A simple "hello" would have sufficed. Of course, I'm assuming that they judged me on my appearance, but I couldn't think of other reasons why they would have completely ignored my obvious interest. Maybe they were just snooty? Maybe I should have just broken out into Latin? I've had similar, but less intense, experiences with dealers who seemed to brush me aside until they saw my wad of cash. Only then did they begin treating me like a human being. Thankfully, it's not common, but it's a huge pet peeve of mine. Dealers who assume that you're uneducated on your subject matter. I was perusing Japanese coins at another local show and the dealer held up a slabbed Meiji dragon coin and said "This is a one year type coin for this series" with confidence. He was referring to the Taisho dragon, only minted in 1914 or 大正三年. I said "oh! Is that the Taisho?" and his face immediately sank. I looked at the coin, clearly saw that it was a Meiji and handed it back to him. "Nope, that's a Meiji," I said. He looked at me with puppy dog eyes, which I interpreted, maybe incorrectly, as guilt, and said, with much less confidence, "you know... now that I think of it... maybe it's the one after this that is the one year type." He wasn't even right about that. Had I remembered, I should have known better, because the same dealer had earlier tried to sell me "a Sen" that was not any Sen that I had ever seen. He likely didn't expect me to know any Japanese, possibly because I in no way look Japanese. Dealers who become grumpy or distant the second they think that you're not going to purchase something. At another show, I saw a small cabinet of ancients. Among them sat a Marcus Aurelius silver coin. The dealer greeted me, talked to me, was extremely pleasant and fun to to talk to. I forget what we discussed, but we spoke for a few minutes about ancients. I asked to see the Marcus Aurelius and he handed it to me, beaming. The obverse looked pretty good, but the reverse was a bit of a mess, so I said "thank you" and handed it back. He immediately clammed up, looked upset and didn't look at me or speak another word to me. I walked away knowing I would not visit his booth again. Though I wasn't going to purchase that particular coin, for all the dealer knew I was on my "first round" where I look at a bunch of things before deciding what to buy. I could have easily returned in 15 minutes and bought it. I still don't understand his reaction, but his entire demeanor changed drastically the second I handed the coin back to him.

It's Monday again?!? Here is my helm denier - 1163 - 1201 - I think it badly needs a new photo

Some of what I consider the "most beautiful" coins in my pile: Mexico 20 Pesos Mexican Caballito Marcus Aurelius denarius Japan 1903 Meiji 36 One Yen Saudi Arabia 1954 Quarter Rial I've always loved the Buffalo nickel as well

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

I'm very sorry to hear about your loss. Very sad. I currently live with a bird (below) and they are so intelligent and exploding with personality that it's hard to imagine our place without him flying around (we don't clip his wings so he's taken over the living room). I love Quakers. I met one named Lampchop, who would have impressed Seneca with his stoicism. Another one, named Skeeter, was quite a bit more rambunctious, but always did an impressive jig when I hoisted him up on my arm. In my experience, only time helps these things, so please take the time to grieve, heal and remember. I don't have any ancient or medieval coins with birds on them, so I'll post my favorite bird coin instead:

I agree, some of the older coin collectors may not know how to search resources more frequented by younger people. More younger numismatists, some of who may not know or care how to search for forums, may lurk there awaiting discovery. But I agree that coin collecting seems to remain a very male dominated hobby. When my wife has accompanied me to coin shows, she said that she felt like she had walked into a "geriatric men's locker room." The local coin club I attended a few times only had 1 woman out of dozens of members and I rarely see women perusing and buying coins at shows I've attended. I don't think the hobby has done a lot to reach out to women. Once again, my wife also said that she was a little put off by the "100 Greatest Women on Coins" book being written by a man and containing a large number of allegorical women. I know others probably feel differently, but I can see her point. I don't know if the new series featuring women on quarters will help this situation or not, but it's nice to see more historical, real women on coins. I'm sad to see "Women in Numismatics" go, though I honestly hadn't heard about the organization until this thread. I hope the hobby does more to reach out to women and create a better balance.

Wow, it's Monday again... |