Medoraman

21 hours ago, Kali said:

I love Byzantines, they may not have the art of Greek, Roman, or even Parthia, but they have their charm.

Give me a bag of "slag heaps" vs China washers any day. I find all Cash Coins absolute junk.

Funny you would say that. I think of Byzantine and Chinese similarly, both are not attractive to those who only collect for artistry, but for what the coin is and represents. I find they have more in common than Byzantine and Greek tetradrachms do.

On 7/30/2022 at 12:17 AM, Egry said:

Yep, I’m sure the recipe is similar. I heard it’s just a flavour enhancer like MSG. 

Can you give me a brand of a top quality Asian fish sauce? I’ll compare and report back.
 

Likely these guys in Portugal would have more influence from an Asian fish sauce than an ancient Roman one. But like you said, the recipe is simple, almost so simple that anyone one can stumble upon it. 

Sorry for late reply. My wife says three crabs, MegaChef or Red Boat are all really quality brands if you want to compare.

Good topic. I guess maybe my first ancient, a pretty emerald green Larissa bronze, or such items I lucked into like a XF Alexander tet with a Bowers and Ruddy flip. I bought a whole collection of Greek bronzes from Stacks that were all bought in the 60s and 70s, still listing the dealer lot numbers. That is pretty cool.

Then, there is the literal definition of irreplaceable. I own a few items identified as unique. I guess that is the other answer.

I find that all coins have a taste or interest that can be acquired. The one I have never caught yet is Islamic except for pre-reform coinage and Turkomen figural bronzes. I just haven't gotten into the script types, don't know why.

I do find disassociated collections help maintain an interest in numismatics. I get bored with all sections I collect, usually due to no material on the market then, so rotate through them based upon availability. Sometimes I can go years without seeing areas for sale like Parthian bronzes, then a lot hit the market and I buy a lot of them. This keeps me from getting bored like I am sure I would if only collecting a narrow hobby. But, I am also a hoarder. My latest purchase was actually a stone, lapis lazuli weighing 6.3 pounds in the black hills, so I guess I will always find something to buy lol.

On 7/24/2022 at 5:02 PM, sand said:

@ewomack Welcome to the Dark Side of the Dark Side.

My favorite Byzantine coin books are as follows, in order of favorite, with my favorite first.

"Byzantine Coins And Their Values" by Sear : I've used this book, more than any other, whenever I want to lookup a Byzantine coin.

"The Dumbarton Oaks Collection" can be downloaded for free on the internet, and is excellent. I've used this quite often, to lookup Byzantine coins. It has more coin photos, than any other reference, that I've seen.

"ERIC II" by Rasiel Suarez : I like this huge book. It's skimpy on the Anonymous/Jesus folles, but I like reading his descriptions of the Emperors and their coins, and it covers both the Roman Empire and the Byzantine Empire.

"Byzantine Coins" by Grierson : This book has a lot of good information, and has lots of photos of coins.

"Byzantine Coins" by Whitting : This book is interesting to read, and has some good photos of coins.

"Ancient Coin Collecting V : The Romaion/Byzantine Culture" by Sayles : This book only has 1 coin photo per Emperor, but it is an inexpensive book, and is fun to read. I like all of the books, in Sayles's 6 volume series.

For Byzantine history books, I've heard a lot of good things, about the 4 Norwich books. I have the 4 Norwich books, but I haven't had time to read them, except for a few pages.

"Byzantium : The Early Centuries" by Norwich : This is Volume 1 of the detailed 3 volume series.

"Byzantium : The Apogee" by Norwich : This is Volume 2 of the detailed 3 volume series.

"Byzantium : The Decline And Fall" by Norwich : This is Volume 3 of the detailed 3 volume series.

"A Short History Of Byzantium" by Norwich : This is a 1 volume short version of the history of the Byzantine Empire. Even this "short" history book is 431 pages long.

Good summation. I have to say basically Sear is the one book "catalog", and Grierson has information no other one volume, (or any volume), has. Those would by my 2 choices starting out if I had to choose 2. The Witting book can be had cheap on Ebay at times, and for a lower price good to pick up. 

8 hours ago, velarfricative said:

Hunnic tribes are a worthy area to get into; I don't mean to be prickly about Baktrian coins, and Roma is generally quite good (I saw some very nice Hunnic coins in the last sale, in fact, that were quite fantastic). It just gets frustrating seeing a lack of attention in the area (not necessarily referring to you, just among numismatists in general). By and large Roma does a fine job, certainly far above the average for how Baktrian is handled.

Shhh man, quit advertising them. Geez, keep this on the downlow and maybe we can keep this area to ourselves and just a few others!

Seriously, it's a fascinating area. Not a lot of material on the market, though, for anything other than a few common issues. I am only somewhat tongue in cheek about keeping it quiet. Not much material, just a little more interest and prices would skyrocket 

8 hours ago, Severus Alexander said:

@velarfricative, I assume you've checked on zeno.ru for matches to the coins you're suspicious of?  The eagle series diobols you linked on acsearch look fine to me, while I agree, the one you attached could certainly be a cast.

Perhaps you'd like to walk back your claim that Roma sells a lot of Baktrian fakes. 😉  Nobody will think the worse of you for it!  Personally I have great confidence in them.  As Richard notes, it's impossible for every fake to be caught before it enters the catalogue, particularly in a difficult area like imitations of Baktrian coinage. I would add that Roma is really good about withdrawing coins that prove questionable, and also making good on any errors.  Way to go, @Richard Beale, you rock! 🙂 

It so happens that the only (modest) coins I happen to have won in Roma 100 were Baktrian or Baktrian imitations.  Here they are:

While the last one, lot 541, is ID'd as coming from the official mint, I believe it is in fact an imitation.  I have a later coin based on these earlier Antiochos horse-head imitations and I wanted to build a bit of a series, but at low cost.  Happy to have done so!  Here's the later one (also purchased from Roma, but a long time ago):

Congratulations on the Ai Khanoum pieces. I would have lusted after them, (I did buy an extremely nice early contemporary derivative piece a few years ago from Roma), but was able to first buy a nice one, then a group lot of decent ones from Album a while ago. They are very important pieces, both from an important mint but also as prototypes for dominant Samarkand coinage later.

Roma is my go to source for coinage of this era/area, and have nothing but good things to say about them there. Unfortunately I just got back tonight from the big summer vacation with the family. 😞

I cannot imagine, without a definitive recipe being found, and considering it was made by thousands of producers across the empire, it would be much different than Thai Nam pla. That is what they have used for untold centuries. Basic garam, from what I have read, is similar. Layer in small fish like sardines, layer of salt, layer of fish, salt, repeat until full. Then put weight on lid and wait for fermentation, strain, and use.

Please, I am curious, get a good bottle of Nam pla and let me know if it is similar.