akeady

You should just factor the buyer's premium into the price and there's no surprise.   Of course, it's easy to get carried away and to bid too much and this is the only way we can pay too much at auction.

The money the buyer pays goes to the consignor and to the auction house, so premiums ultimately come out of the consignor's pocket.

Rates have certainly been rising - CNG used to charge 10% buyer's premium in their esales - the oldest invoice I can find, from 2010, charged this rate.

Like Prieure's last complaint with Leu, my biggest gripe now is about being charged and overcharged VAT on things from outside the EU.   In Ireland, the correct antiquities rate is 13.5% (for items over 100 years old), but I usually am charged 23%, irrespective of whether the correct TARIC code is used or not.   I've never got any money back, but have also paid nothing sometimes (though rarely nowadays), so maybe it has evened out.   I buy less from outside the EU now - as bidding to allow for a 23% hit after premium means I don't win so often!

ATB,
Aidan.

Here's an Augustus provincial from Augusta Emerita (Merida)

Next - a cut coin

I got there very late yesterday (Friday), but will be returning today.  I've only got 2 Abafil trays to show for yesterday's quick run around!

ATB,

Aidan.

I picked up a coin from CNG last year and said "Hello" to Tom Mullally, but otherwise there wouldn't have been much to see.

I submitted the form earlier too, with a bad (I hope) pic.

Aidan.

I am going - finally booked last Friday.   It will be a short trip as I only get to Newark on Friday afternoon and fly back on Sunday afternoon - 49.5 hours in New York.

I may be too late to get to the bourse on Friday, but will make it on Saturday and Sunday morning - I don't have anything in mind to get, but I'm sure something will grab me.   Maybe the new RIC V.4 (I see Leu have it at a 20% discount at the moment), so if I get it at a bargain price at the show will pick it up there.

Other than that, meeting some people on Saturday for lunch and will make it to Juliana's for pizza one night and Strand to browse for books and walk around a lot.

ATB,
Aidan.

I posted this recently, but what the hell - it is bigger than 60mm in diameter...

Next - a cast coin

Here's a coin with a flag:

Next - another shiny silver coin (preferably not with fingerprints!)

Oh - I see there are no drawings - "Il n'y a évidemment pas les reproductions de pièces (l'auteur n'est pas dessinateur !)"

A lot of work!

I wonder if they drew any coins too? - I don't see any in the pages shown.

ATB,
Aidan.

Here's William Butler Yeats.

This is the second one of these I bought as I hadn't added the first to Tantalus and thought I didn't have it - I need to add the two of them.   WB's brother, Jack, was a well-known painter and was also commemorated on a coin - perhaps this is a first - two brothers commemorated for different achievements on coins?

Next - some other modern commemorative.

ATB,
Aidan.

Super coins 😄   I like all of them 😄

Happy New Year, all!

I wasn't going to bother with a Top 10 for 2023, but decided to stick together something.   I selected these by just looking at all the coins added in the last year and picking 10 that stood out for whatever reason.   The order is based on when I added them.

1. RR Aes Grave as
I'd wanted a big cast coin for some time and got this in January last year and picked it up from CNG at NYINC.   I wondered if security at JFK would take an interest in it (it was in my coat pocket), but no, fortunately!

A practical difficulty with storing these is their thickness.   Abafil make double depth trays which work well for them, but the Marmotta cabinet only holds standard thickness trays.   However, at NYINC, they told me they can make a Marmotta cabinet for the extra-deep trays as well, so I got one of those made during the summer.   It takes 10 of the extra-deep trays (or the regular trays), so I've moved most of my RR bronzes into that and left the other Marmotta (20 regular depth trays) for the smaller silver coins.   I should have enough storage now for RR coins for several years.

When I took the photos below, I didn't have a an extra-deep tray with spaces big enough for this, but that's been rectified now.

2. Papal Medal
I picked up a couple of references on papal medals during the year - including Bartolotti - and a few medals as well.   This was the first one to arrive.   I like the big bridge on a pontifex maximus medal 😄

3. RR Denarius
The Irish International Coin Fair returned in February '23 after an absence since 2020.   There weren't many ancient coins, but Richard Walshe had some and I picked up a couple (both I already had, but these are upgrades) - this is one of them.

 

4. Caracalla Aureus
My only gold coin of the year - not really sure why it attracted me, but I guess it's nice to have some bling, holes and all.

 

5. Voce Populi Halfpenny
The first Belfast coin fair in years was in June, organised in part as an event to mark the Numismatic Society of Ireland (Northern Branch)'s 60th anniversary.   Baldwin's had a table and had a pile of their Fixed Price List catalogues - unfortunately for me, they'd brought mainly Irish coins rather than ancients from the list, but I'd wanted a Voce Populi coin, so got this.   UK-based dealers hadn't, for the most part, travelled to Dublin for the earlier fair as they now have to pay VAT on their stock coming in (13.5% or 23%, depending on age) and claim it back going out.   They could attend the Belfast fair without these up-front payments and so a few did.   Since the Brexit agreement, Northern Ireland is in an interesting situation as there are no cross border checks between Republic and Northern Ireland and it remains in the EU Single Market.   So... goods to be kept within the UK can cross freely to N.I. from Britain while goods to be exported to the EU through N.I. should pass through checks and be taxed (at what rate?).   I could freely buy things in N.I. and bring them home without paying 13.5%/23% as they were already in the Single Market (well, sort-of!).   Anyway, the Voce Populi slot is now filled - quite an ugly coin, I suppose, but I got it at a reasonable enough price.

6. Ireland World Cup €15
The Ireland women's soccer team qualified for the World Cup for the first time in 2023 and this coin was issued to mark the occasion.   In the event, Ireland probably underperformed - they managed a draw and two defeats and went out after the group stage.   The manager was dropped after the campaign and they've won their last six matches with a new interim manager, so we hope there's more to come.   A second cousin of mine (I don't know her, though a sister has met her a few times and she's given a jersey to my niece) was on the team and played in all the matches, so I thought it was worth sticking this coin on the list.

7. Spain €30 Xacobeo 21/22 Commemorative
Nothing to do with coins, but the best thing I managed to do in 2023 was walk the Camino de Santiago (Camino Francés) for 11 days - from León to Santiago.   I'd done shorter stints of up to a week before in 2003, 2006 and 2010, but this was the longest (315km according to my official cert.) and fastest.   I'd taken 3 weeks off after a tapeout and was short of ideas - it came down to a choice between a fast "Round-the-World" or just go to Spain and walk - this was easier and turned out well - I had no time to plan anything elaborate.   I booked on 30th Aug (4.32PM I see from a quick check of emails) and flew to Madrid at 6.20AM on 31st.   A night there, fast train to León, a night there and started walking on 2nd Sept.   I'd a flight home from Santiago booked for 13th (Numismatic Society meeting on 15th and 13th was the last direct flight to get me there on time), so I had to get to Santiago by 13th - the Camino passes Santiago Airport, so in the worst case, I could walk straight to Departures and finish there 😄   I got to Santiago on 12th and met up with some old friends there and safely home.

Here's a panorama shot I took along the way.

Recommended for anyone who likes a nice walk 😄   I'll certainly do it again, but no idea yet when or which route.

Anyway, here's something I picked up on eBay after - a €30 uncirculated issue marking the 2021 Xacobeo (Holy Year - so-termed when the 25th July - Feast of St. James/Santiago - falls on a Sunday).   It's not as impressive as the 2010 proof I have marking an earlier Holy Year, but nice enough for an uncirculated issue.   The little hologram panel has a few little images of the scallop shell, the date, mintmark and a flecha (arrow) - which can be seen by tilting the coin back and over (hologram image taken from numista):

8. NSI Northern Branch Medal

As mentioned earlierm, the Norther Branch of the Numismatic Society of Ireland celebrated their 50th anniversary in 2023 and here's the medal they minted for the occasion, with Carrickfergus Castle.   A mint operated at the castle in the late 12th/early 13th centuries; the obverse is based on the very rare John deCourcy halfpenny of the late 12th century.

 

9. RR Denarius
Most of the coins I bought this year were again RR coins - here's another.   It's fairly worn and the only reason it makes the list is that it was quite a bargain at €44 - the Shield & Carnyx denarius is quite rare.   Maybe I'll upgrade from it some day, but it fills the slot for now.
 

10. Another RR Denarius
Here's another one - in decent condition, but an off-centre strike.   On the obverse, I suppose we're looking at the edges of the die at the left of the flan?   A hexagonal or octagonal die from the looks of it.

 

And that's it - Happy New Year to all!   Any comments, etc. welcome.

ATB,
Aidan.

Super coins!  I especially like the Terina stater, but all great!

ATB,

Aidan.

I have "Ancient Coin Collecting" down as a hobby in my CV (IC design - as noted above, quite a few engineers collect coins).

It's quite a while now since I've changed job, but at one interview the HR interviewer remarked on it - her late father had collected military buttons.  I got that job, though I don't think the coins and buttons were a big factor in that.   I remember a long time ago ('89) talking about telescope mounts and the aurora borealis in interviews as astronomy was an interest at the time (still is, but on the back burner) and there's no harm at all in talking about something you're interested in.

I can't recall any CVs we get here mentioning ancient coin collecting, but I would see that as a plus - people hire people like themselves.  At one time, we half-jokingly decided we needed another runner for our 5K relay team and asked anyone who mentioned running as a hobby about their times, etc. 😄  In fact, our team never took to the field (or track) - our keenest runner has since left (he told me he suggested running at lunchtime to his new colleagues and got blank looks) and the rest of us are aged and slowing, so I might be better off getting people interested in coins.

ATB,
Aidan.

The story is from 2022 and the ANS has an article fro Dec. 2022 on the coins.

https://numismatics.org/pocketchange/sponsian/

Indeed, the first point against them is that they are cast, which is not in dispute.

ATB,

Aidan.

On 12/8/2023 at 7:59 PM, DonnaML said:

I continue to be amazed by the number of different Roman Republican coin types you have. I know you said that there are about 40 types that are unique and unattainable and many more that are extremely rare/expensive, but what is the exact total number of different types listed in Crawford?

 

I make it 2270 types in Crawford - I may have made a mistake or two along the way, but when I made a spreadsheet of all the types, that's what I ended up with - still in China, but have been able to get access to some things through VPN!

ATB,
Aidan.

Impressive coin - the best thing about Segovia is the aqueduct, though!

From 2002, taken with a fairly early Fuji digital camera.

A cloudy day in 2006 (slightly better Canon):

I haven't been back since!

ATB,
Aidan.

7 hours ago, jdmKY said:

Marcus Arrius Secundus, denarius, 41 BC

Not in hand yet, so this is Kunker’s photo. I was pretty proud of myself as this is coin #100 in my Imperatorial collection and then I read about @akeady’s collection of over 2000 coins! I’m not worthy!

This coin is the final piece of an interesting “triumvirate” of Imperatorial coins - note the portrait’s strong resemblance to Octavian. At the same time, two other moneyers, L Servius Rufus and Numonius Vaala, struck coins that bear striking resemblances to Brutus and the late Julius Caesar. These coins have been the subject of much speculation - was it just coincidence or were these moneyers subtly signaling their allegiances during these unsettled times?

 

Three great examples!  I have lesser ones, maybe someday to be upgraded!

ATB,

Aidan.

Hi Donna,

I have quantity rather than quality!   There are others with more, though.   I made a spreadsheet of all the types in Crawford some time ago - I cannot remember offhand how many entries there were - it was slightly more than 2500 I think.   CRRO was organised that way, but now has lumped some varieties together under one number at the main search page, so now it shows 1747 entries - varieties are only listed when you select a type.   Some of the varieties seem minor to me - in some cases legend varieties are lumped together, in other cases they merit a separate entry - but others are more significant.   Right now I'm in Shanghai and don't have access to the spreadsheet (I have a copy on Google Docs, but that isn't accessible in China - I had a VPN, but that stopped working on Day 2 here, so a bit cut off!), but will update in a couple of weeks.   CRRO doesn't render properly for me here, I suppose it's pulling in some files which are inaccessible, so it looks like this for me - most of the text is Black On Black, so has to be selected to be read:

Anyway, there are some types not in Crawford - e.g., the H denarius.   Additionally, more recent work by Andrew McCabe and others splits up some of Crawford's bronze categories - e.g., the 56 series, into different issues.   Cr 56/x is a catch-all for anonymous bronzes and several different issues are represented.

There was a strange quinarius sold by Artemide a couple of years ago which quickly reappeared (on Roma?) which is a new and strange type, if real!

Yes - plenty of symbols to keep anyone busy for lifetimes.   There was a large collection of RR coins sold fairly recently (2 - 3 years ago) by a Spanish auction house with many different examples of symbols on the coins - there were at least of dozens of different symbols per type represented.   I threw in a few bids but didn't win anything.

I don't think any Irish banks will take on new customers for deposit boxes either, so we are also stuck with expensive private operators.   Some of us from the Numismatic Society of Ireland went on a tour of the Bank Of Ireland's College Green branch last year - a fine building which once housed the Irish Parliament, before the Act Of Union.
When the parliament building became surplus with the abolition of the parliament, it was sold to the bank and has been a commercial bank since.   Anyway, part of the tour went to the vault, where they have shelves and shelves of stuff left there for, in some cases, a couple of centuries.   There are not as many treasures as alluded to in the article below, but I wouldn't mind a rummage (our guide was disparaging of the guy mentioned in the article):

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/right-here-in-the-banks-there-s-literally-hoards-of-stuff-unclaimed-1.3815521 

I will not be happy if Sentinel goes out of business or I go in sometime and find I've been raided!

ATB,
Aidan.

Nice ones - I'll vote for Sihtric, one of his pennies has been on my wishlist for a long time.

All great coins!

ATB,
Aidan.

5 hours ago, kirispupis said:

Congrats on reaching such a milestone! I just looked at my database and I'm at 661 total coins (with 11 on the way). I think my wife will kill me if I break 1000 next year, so it should be a few more years for me. 🙂

Good luck!  Overall, I've got 2340 coins on Tantalus.  The RR part has grown to be the largest, but I'm still attracted to other coins too 😄

ATB,

Aidan.

That's lovely and no need to count past 1!

ATB,
Aidan.

Congrats on a wonderful aureus!

ATB,
Aidan.

I'm in Shanghai at the moment and the Great Firewall of China is blocking Google images, but I will look properly when I get home and pick a top 3 from these.

VPN to work was working yesterday and I could see things, but not today - oh well!

ATB,
Aidan.

53 minutes ago, Xeno said:

Congratulations! Admirable goals, once your collection gets to that point efficient storage becomes much more important.

Storage is an interesting issue.   Most of my RR coins are in Abafil trays, some of them in this Marmotta cabinet:

This takes 20 trays - when I took this photo', I had mixed bronze and silver coins in the same cabinet - denarius-sized and smaller coins fit into the trays with 77 spaces, so this can hold 1540 coins if filled with 20 of those trays.   For larger bronze coins, I was using 40 space trays.   There are seven or eight trays with bronze coins in the picture.   I had one tray of Augustan denarii there too - Augustus overlaps the Republican and Imperial eras, so I put him with the Republicans.

I've since got another Marmotta made by Abafil for the double depth trays for Aes Grave - this takes 10 trays.   So far, I have only two of the extra-deep trays, so I moved 8 trays of normal thickness bronze coins into that as well.

It is better to store the bronze and silver coins together as they were issued together each year - the same moneyers issued bronzes as well as silver coins.   However, the largest bronze coins are much larger than the silver coins, so storage-wise I'd have to use more trays.   Hence the separation into trays of denarii and trays of bronzes.

The really large Aes Grave coins are in trays with only six spaces.

I'll take more photos, but it will be a couple of weeks before I get to it.

One annoying thing about trays is that you need to leave some empty spaces to allow for additional coins.   Otherwise, after each addition a big reorganisation is needed.   One solution might be to start off with enough space for all available coins and just populate the ones you have.   Of course, this doesnt' allow for duplicates - but perhaps only one coin of each type should be in the trays and duplicates (or near duplicates, such as varieties with different symbols) could be kept in envelopes?   For now, I've got everything in trays, but for some types I have several examples (e.g., 13 of Cr. 340/1) and am tempted to relegate some of them to envelopes!

The rest of my collection - Roman Imperial, Greek, Modern - is in a mixture of loose trays and cabinets - by Alberto Zecchi, Peter Nichols and Swan - and folders and some in envelopes.   Shamefully, there are 2 ancients in slabs 😄.

As far as security - I keep my most expensive coins in Sentinel Vaults - which is safe but a hassle to get them out.

ATB,
Aidan.