lordmarcovan

2 hours ago, Kaleun96 said:

I'm not sure if it's the original source but it may have come from the r/AncientCoins subreddit as it was the monthly "meme posting day" (last day of the month).

 

Seems likely.  I don’t do Reddit much, but I figured it came from somewhere like that.

Aha.  I’m not surprised to find it’s already made the rounds.

11 hours ago, Qcumbor said:

The item I'll write about is both not coin related AND coin related.

During the first half of the 40's in then occupied Corsica, while there was a shortage of about everything, my grandad built a kind of weird tool to cut out stripes of pasta in order to get tagliatelle in the end. Nowadays you would use something like that for your DIY tagliatelle :

 

Back then he had the brilliant idea to save 20 holed 25 cts coin that were in use at the moment, like the one below

 

Then he had to wash them (hopefully), file them to have them sharp enough to cut pasta and arrange them as follows

 

I still have it with me, together with the sestertius he found at Verdun battle (pretty sure he wasn't the one who shot @DonnaML's grandad 🙂 , and he got shot himself during that battle). I swear I never use that "thing" to cook !

 

... and I made sure there's no key date in it (they would be ruined anyway 😄 )

 

Bon appétit !

Q

 

 

Brilliant!  What a wonderful, one-of-a-kind artifact!  (And I love pasta.)

His Verdun battlefield sestertius was already amazing enough!

(Sorry, don’t know the source)

9 minutes ago, kirispupis said:

I would have to say the only known firecracker pack and label from the Goldstein's Company in Rochester, NY.

I used to collect antique firecracker packs and still have both of these. When I first started collecting these this was my "dream pack" because I grew up near Rochester. When they came up for auction, I sprung for them both.

Despite my fondness for them, I'd consider donating them to a museum in Rochester, but I'm too worried they would be ignored and destroyed.

Must be rare indeed- I can’t imagine very many of those survived their own time!  
 

(Edit- yeah, I guess “unique” is something more than just “rare indeed”.)

What is the craziest item you’ve ever owned that other people rarely have?

I was asked to answer this on Quora.

Here’s my answer. (Not coin-related.)

What’s yours? What’s the most interesting, unusual, weird, wacky, or rare object you’ve ever owned, which few other people ever have?

Considering our demographic here, I would imagine that for many of you it might be some kind of ancient artifact.  If so, great, let’s hear about that!  But what else have you had that might fit the bill?

The ideal theme song for that alligator:

https://youtu.be/dBN86y30Ufc?si=ZvuFzIy8OJu_fHpi

On 4/21/2024 at 8:17 PM, lordmarcovan said:

This guy was seen near our local Waffle House today.  Big ‘un!

(Not my photo- wife saw it on Facebook.  I don’t get the juicy neighborhood news like she does, since I closed my FB account.)

 

Heee’s baaack!

I don’t pay enough attention to shipping details, but my feeling is that as long as all the terms and costs are clearly described up front for me to base my decisions on (i.e., factor into the cost of the coin), then it’s up to the seller what they want to charge.  I can either accept that, or walk away and shop somewhere else.  

(I do agree, however, that it is shady for a seller to charge a high price for a basic, slow service and not be transparent about it.)

Here is my most recent purchase, from Ritter via MA-Shops.

Shipped from Germany to USA for $21.40 USD.  As I recall, it was shipped via UPS.  It arrived quickly, within 2 or 3 days.  Regular post for $20+ would seem a bit high to me, but for 2-3 day transatlantic shipping it seems pretty reasonable.  (Whether the price I paid for the coin itself seems reasonable to you is an entirely different question.)

Note to self: when browsing, always look for the same coin on other platforms or on the dealer’s own site for comparison-shopping.

(I instinctively already knew this, and have done it a few times, but I don’t always do it.  I need to make that a matter of routine.)

Well, since we started with a Tribute penny, I’ll share two sets of comparisons between my the Tiberius and Claudius coins of my first Twelve Caesars set (completed in 2013 on a modest budget), and my present, slightly more ambitious set (which is now 75% complete):

Tiberius Tribute pennies:

Then

Now

Claudius Æs:

Then

 Now

(I know, this second pair was kind of an apples-to-oranges comparison.)

Say what you will about the relative merits of each coin, but I think it’s safe to say (at least from a technical standpoint) that both scenarios show an upgrade.

I would imagine the convex scyphate shape of the coin in the OP also likely caused some challenges with lighting?

Then again, the second one looked OK.

I’m a pretty lousy photographer (mediocre to adequate on my best days), so I usually repurpose the seller photos or have PCGS or NGC image my coins for me.

So the photographs in my collection come from a variety of sources, but I edit them all into a standard template for a matching format.

Sourced from CNG images:

Sourced from PCGS TrueView images (I was a big fan of Trueviews during the tenure of Phil Arnold at PCGS.  Nowadays, less so.  I don’t think Phil did this one.):

Sourced from my own wretched cellphone shots through the slab plastic (lighting is the bugaboo that bedevils me the most):

Sourced from NGC Photovision images (NGC’s Doug Plascencia does great work, and I’m sold on their Photovision service.  I have them/him shoot all my ancients now):

So, my unhelpful tip for good gold coin photography?  Let the pros do it for you, unless you just enjoy the process and experimentation of coin photography for its own sake, as I suspect most of you here do.

For me, good photography is vital, as my coins are shared mostly online and spend all their time locked in a safe deposit box.  But the process of photographing them is more like a chore and less like fun for me, so I take the lazy man’s way out and pay the pros 90% of the time.

12 hours ago, Phil Anthos said:

 

Excellent.  Added to my Spotify playlist.  Thanks.

PS- I had to Google your acronym to see what “BDE” stands for.  Not sure what that says about me.

If we were on CoinTalk and I was wearing my moderator hat, I’d have to censor you. 😉

Since we’re not, and I’m hatless here, I can say, “cool thread, bro!” 😛

I, alas, have nothing in the ithyphallic department.  I wonder if that makes me less of a man?  How to treat my problem?  Meds?  Hmm.  Maybe I just need to buy one.

This is the only thing in my current  collection that has any naughty bits showing, and you’ve gotta squint through your loupe to see it.

This happens fairly often when I’m texting or typing in bed, and lay my phone down for a moment.

4 hours ago, ChrisB said:

One of my favorite US pieces. I have a few of them but this is the only one currently with an image. 

 

Nice.  Before upgrading to the MS64 above, my other example was an AU53 like yours.  I find they tend to look good in almost any grade.

On 4/26/2024 at 2:19 PM, Curtisimo said:

here is my JC:

Roman Imperitorial
Julius Caesar, 49-44 BC. 
AR Denarius (Lifetime Portrait), P. Sepullius Macer (moneyer), Rome mint, struck first half of March 44 BC
(17 mm, 3.53 g, 4 h)
Obv.: CAESAR [DIC]T PERPETVO Laureate and veiled head of Julius Caesar to right. 
Rev.: P•SEPVLLIVS - MACER Venus standing front, head lowered to left, holding Victory in her right hand and long scepter adorned with star in her left; to right, round shield set on the ground. 
Ref.: Babelon (Julia) 49 and (Sepullia) 4, Crawford 480/11, CRI 107b, RBW 1684, Sydenham 1072
Ex Seaby’s Coin & Medal Bulletin (January 1976), lot A51; Ex Seaby’s Coin & Medal Bulletin (December 1976), lot C541; Ex Münzhandlung Ritter Lagerliste no. 19, lot 327 (November 1983); Ex Collection formed in the Rhineland, Leu Numismatik Web Auction 24, lot 496 (Dec. 3, 2022)

 

Color me jealous on that one!

16 hours ago, jdmKY said:

Last week my wife and I were in the Netherlands and saw the tulips. Added bonus - dinner with Martinus who brought several of his Antony fleet coins for me to see.

 

Amazing shots!  Thank you!  The tulips in particular are stunning.

16 hours ago, Phil Anthos said:

In 1998 some friends of mine started a community garden at another friend's house not to far from me. I saw this as an opportunity to do something I'd always wanted to do, stand some really big stones on their end. My wife and I had recently watched a show on PBS about the stones at Stonehenge and the great obelisk at Alexandria, with two groups putting their theories to practice and I thought "we could do that". So I spoke with a friend who was a rigger for a local power company, and another who was a geological engineer. We decided we could do it, but we wanted to erect the stones with no modern equipment. 

A year later we erected the uprights (14 tons of columnar basalt), and 15 months after that we placed the lintel, (3.5 tons of granite). All this was done with ropes and simple pulleys, and a LOT of volunteers pulling on the ropes!

Over the next decade we added smaller stones around to make a circle 

It was one hell of an experience which none of us will ever forget.

~ Peter 

Very cool!  I always wanted to do this.  If I did it here, it would really stand out, as we do not have local rocks (our coastal soil is all sand or clay).

On 4/20/2024 at 5:45 PM, Salomons Cat said:

@lordmarcovan, your Augustus, Claudius, Vespasian and Domitian are excellent and in very high grade; it's also nice that you have 2 aureii... 
Otho and Galba are great, too, with their complete names in the legends. It's a beautiful composition of coins that you have.

I find it particularly enjoyable to view entire collections. 
When I have a sense of the collection a coin belongs to, it alters my perception of each new acquisition. A collection, in my view, is usually more than the sum of it's parts. Regrettably, I haven't had the opportunity to create a comprehensive virtual overview of my collection yet.

As of now, I'm still missing Caligula. However, I've decided against purchasing coins featuring Galba, Otho, and Vitellius. I'm not sure if I will ever build a complete 12 caesars set. To provide some insight, I've captured a screenshot of the initial segment of my collection:

Thank you for the detailed commentary!  You have quite an impressive array there.  The Claudius cistophorus... that razor-sharp Tribute penny... the big Nero tet... the Judaea Capta... wow.

On 4/20/2024 at 6:33 PM, John Conduitt said:

Some really nice coins there. The reverses are interesting too - it's not just any old 12 Caesars.

I have 11 of the 12. The fact that I only collect Roman coins found in Britain has meant it was pretty cheap and easy to get 11 but impossible to get many in good condition. All of the coins from this era were brought over in trade or by soldiers and used for hundreds of years - in some cases the Romans hadn't even invaded yet - so are very worn. A few have interesting countermarks, though. I'm missing Julius Caesar, which I think I may never get. His 'invasion' didn't go very far and by the time Claudius arrived, Julius's coinage was nearly a century old. It's also very expensive, so it might only be possible to get a slug.

Thanks!  I do try to go beyond the simple "someone standing there" reverses, sometimes (not that there's anything wrong with those basic personifications).  You too have a sharp Tribute Penny.  I also like the Nero denarius.  Is that Otho a fourree?  I'll bet any and all of those really made some detectorist or archaeologist's day when they popped up!  Pretty remarkable that they're all British finds.  (Or maybe not, on the other hand- Britain's a big place, after all- but I think it's an interesting theme, nonetheless.)

On 4/20/2024 at 7:43 PM, Octavius said:

My mouth waters every time I see your Claudius sestertius! Great collection.

Thanks.  I'd consider swapping it for your avatar. 😉

On 4/21/2024 at 3:19 PM, JeandAcre said:

The judiciousness with which you've pursued this so far is admirable, even (if not especially) for a second collection.  And I have to like it that your remaining Missing Persons are only Julius Caesar and two others who are arguably no less unsavory than they are scarce.  I'm rooting for you landing a solid denarius of JC, whatever type you like best.  Sure, it could be a project....

I appreciate it.  I'm bidding on a pretty nice JC (lifetime, portrait) denarius.  If I win, it's gonna cost me four figures.  But I knew I wasn't gonna get a lifetime portrait denarius of JC for under 500 bucks, like I did the first time I collected the Twelve Caesars, a decade ago.  It was an ugly duckling, but had its redeeming qualities, too...

2 hours ago, Limes said:

@panzerman That pie looks very tasty 🙂

@DonnaML The one I bought is this one https://www.amazon.com/Marketing-Holders-Countertop-Pedestal-Collectibles/dp/B01575VTE8?th=1 

I put in 'multi level transparant display stand plastic' in google, and then searched for a specimen with the right measurements. They also use names like 'make up stand' or 'cupcake stands'. You can try those words too. (I swear, I wasnt looking for a display stand for my cupcakes...!) 

@lordmarcovan Your cat looks very relaxed. I like how they always end up in funny spaces. Well, decided to show a photo of one of our cats, chilling, while the youngest is playing with her dolls. I hope the cat isnt pondering about the possibilities to mess up my coin display! 

I have an orange cat who looks very much like yours!

Of course we have 14 cats, so the odds of my having one similar to yours were fairly reasonable, anyway... 😆

9 hours ago, Limes said:

Had some fun re-arranging my private coin museum. Decided to put several imperatorial and Imperial denarii together on the transparant stand. Looks pretty good in my opinion.

The 12 C's and some friends placed together:

I have some cats sleeping somewhere as well. But the internet is already filled with cats. No crocodiles walking around though. 

Your sleeping cats are dreaming of ways to get up on the furniture and scatter all those coins!

 Bean says he’s up to the task, if they aren’t…

@CPK - urban alligator sightings here are not exactly common- but they’re not entirely unknown, either.

Love the lake pic!

Dinner last night was at our favorite little hole-in-the-wall Mexican joint.  Very authentic.  More than half the clientele (and almost all the staff) are Latino.

I had the Molcajete: chicken, beef, pork, shrimp, bell peppers, onions, and some kind of Parmesan-adjacent cheese, served in a smoking, 8,000°F stone bowl.  I learned that “molcajete” is not just the name of the dish, but of the stone bowl itself.  Molcajetes were the bowl part of the ancient mortars & pestles of Mayan and Aztec origin.

Ladymarcovan had the Fried Ice Cream.  I got the two cherries.