akeady

A couple of cover versions - Fatima Mansions playing Stigmata by Ministry - turn up to 11 and hide behind the sofa 🙂

And My Bloody Valentine turning down the guitar feedback for We Have All The Time In The World...

This coin is something of a cover too, as it's an Eraviscan version of a Roman coin.
 

ATB,
Aidan.

Next - off-centre strike

To add a bit to the Tantalus advocacy - I want people to join it and keep the platform alive!

When you log in, there are many features which may not be obvious from a quick browse.

Here's what I see with what Tantalus calls a grid:

It's possible to set up these grids to include any coins you have in any particular arrangement.   I made this around 10 years ago - at least, I can't see any coins bought after 2013.   My intention then was to have a separate grid for each tray I had.   You can click on the coin and bring up the data page for that coin.   As you can see, I was mostly using combined obverse/reverse photos at that stage and that doesn't translate well to grid views as they are squashed into the square grid slots.   I had one Obverse-only photo', which worked well enough.

I gave up on this idea after only one tray as moving coins around means a lot of work.   Maybe I can write something that will process a photo' of a tray to an imagemap with links to each coin.   I later did it manually for a tray of Augustus coins, but don't have a link to that at the moment (it's not in Tantalus, but my own website, which is a WIP and has been for many years!).

This grid is viewable here - A grid of mine.

There are some pre-defined grids and it's easy to generate more.

The "Deep Search" is reasonably useful:

You can search in any of those fields, for your own coins or anybody's.   It would be better if ranges (of weights or diameters, for example) could be searched, but it's not bad.

This is an example of what you see when entering a coin (or editing it, as in this case).   Note that there are different fields exposed when entering different types of coins, this is what you get for Roman Republican:

I think 3 images is the most you can have.   This was a very worn but cheap "Shield & Carnyx" denarius.   Three currencies are supported - €, $, £.   There's a helpful Stats page to add up all the numbers and show how much you've squandered.

For RR coins, I generally use RSC, Sydenham, Crawford, sometimes adding RBW, BMCRR & HCRI, depending on whether I can be bothered to look them up - it's got room for up to 5 references.   There's room for Notes and people can add comments too.

ATB,

Aidan.

I use Tantalus - it's far from perfect and has bugs, but I've used it for a long time.

Tantalus

I'd like:

1. Better catalogue entries and ability to sort by catalogue entry (though you can make galleries and arrange coins, so that is possible to some extent)
2. Better search
3. Longer fields for the like of "Moneyer", as right now it doesn't crop names when they're too long - instead, the entry fails and you've got to enter the coin again
4. Fix the Export feature!

And that's about it - Ras has included most or all the fields of use.

There are forums there, but the last post was in 2017...

ATB,
Aidan.

This is reasonably intact, not clipped at least.

Ruler:	Constantius II (Augustus)
Coin:	Silver Siliqua D N CONSTANTIVS P F AVG - Diademed, draped and cuirassed bust right. VOTIS/XXX/MVLTIS/XXXX - Legend within wreath
Exergue:
Mint:	Lugdunum (Lyon) (361 AD)
Wt./Size/Axis:	2.05g / 17mm / 0h
References:	RIC VIII Lugdunum 216
Acquisition:	Irish Coin Fair 11-Apr-2010

Next - someone else diademed.

Here's my favourite aes grave coin.

Next - some more aes grave

I suppose the bes was an unpopular denomination, as it was minted just once, in 126 BC.

Next - some other unusual denomination.

1 hour ago, Prieure de Sion said:

 

When I visited the grottoes, I could picture the "old emperor Tiberius" in his own spa area overlooking the sea. Who used the caves after him? Who all visited the caves? Who was a guest here? Who was an involuntary guest here? In my opinion, a visit is definitely worthwhile! The entrance fee is cheap and - since it is not very well known - it is not overcrowded. You have all the time in the world to visit the exhibits and the area outside at your leisure.

 

So I hope you enjoyed this little insight. Here is a coin of Tiberius - the lecherous old man 😉 ... I look forward to your reactions - feel free to post more coins of Tiberius or whatever comes to your mind!

 

Spontaneous trips and detours are the best 🙂

ATB,
Aidan.

Cr. 463/3 denarius.

Here's my example - https://www.tantaluscoins.com/coins/42066.php

ATB,
Aidan.

Back in June I posted a My Bloody Valentine song in this thread.   A short time later, Hot Press magazine published a "50 Greatest Irish Albums" list and put MBV's Loveless at number 1.

According to Wikipedia - Loveless - was expected by MBV's record company to take 5 days to record, but actually took two years, finally appearing in November 1991.   Their next album appeared in 2013 and a fourth album was expected around 2017, but is still in the works - something like RIC Vol. II.2.

The main guy behind their (infamously loud live) sound is Kevin Shields - I found this interview with him - this is part 1.   "... how many Jazzmaster guitars do you have?... 10, 12, 11 or 12, there's more, there's more.... maybe 25, but 12 good ones... I need more, I do!":

So, I listened to Loveless again and it's got into my head - I hope to see them someday...

Here's a coin from a recent Elsen auction - no connection to the music.

ATB,
Aidan.

Here's the younger Faustina.

Next - sestertius

I like the depth of reverse on this medal.

Next - silver medal

Eagle on thunderbolt...

Next - ancient gold coin

A few coins from Jacquier arrived yesterday - I didn't find them until today as the postman put the packet under the mat.   He had turned the mat upside down, but I didn't notice that last night!

Anyway, the coins are all nicely toned and better than the sales photos.

Here's one.

Cr. 533/2, 3.74g. Mark Antony. 37BC, South Italy mint.

I'm on my 'phone so will just pull the CRRO description.

• Obverse

  • Legend: M·ANTONIVS·M·F·M·N·AVGVR·IM͡P·TER͡T
  • Type: M. Antonius standing right, togate and wearing veil, holding lituus in right hand. Border of dots.
  • Portrait: Mark Antony
  • • State: Roman Republic

• Reverse

  • Legend: III·VIR·R·P·C·COS·DESIG·ITER·ET·TERT
  • Type: Radiate head of Sol, right. Border of dots.
  • Deity: Sol

ATB,

Aidan.

Next - another Celtic coin.

Here's a modern Irish €50 gold coin, just a NCLT.

Next: ancient gold.

Here are a couple of my favourite Athenas.

Seated - reverse of a Lysimachos tetradrachm (Thrace, Lysimacheia), HGC 3, part 2, 1493 (this coin illustrated):

And a New Type tetradrachm - NSSCA, 66 b pl. 9 which is badly struck but has a decent portrait which could do with a new photo':

ATB,
Aidan.

Here's an Athens tetradrachm.

Next - a Greek silver coin not from Athens.

Once again, I've spent the evening trapped in YouTube 🙂

It started with the Manics and Nina Hoss, but ended up with The Waterboys.

I posted this song on CoinTalk a few years back, but this is a different live version - "Long Strange Golden Road".

One of my favourite Waterboys songs since the 1980s (meaning that this is, for me, one of the best songs Mike Scott has written since the 1980s - it's fairly recent).

"She was Aphrodite, Helen, Thetis,
Eve among the satyrs
She was Venus in a v-neck sweater
She was all that ever mattered"

I suppose Venus could be wearing a V-neck sweater here...

ATB,
Aidan.

I suppose it is arguable that Quirinus is the same as Romulus (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quirinus) and he is depicted on Cr. 427/2.

ATB,
Aidan.

The portrait of Gallienus is very nice.

ATB,
Aidan.

10 hours ago, Phil Davis said:

L. Julius Bursio, Crawford 352/1c, 85 BC. Remarkably, the engraver opted to use a tiny rendition of an early Republican as as a control mark; the Janus head is unmistakable. (If I squint just right, I can pretend to see a prow on the other coin depicted.) To the best of my knowledge, this is the only such instance in the whole long parade of Roman coins. Nor have I found another example of this die; de Ruyter lists a "two shield" control, which is possibly this mark misunderstood, but since his study lacks illustrations we can't be sure.   One of my favorite coins in my collection!

Next: Another cool control mark.

Wow! - I love it, Phil.

ATB,

Aidan.

The good news is that the Tantalus website is back online - hopefully it will stay up this time.   I've downloaded my data "Just in case" as I do want to do my own database and automating parsing the spreadsheet view into this will be a nice task.

I added this coin tonight - another that was waiting for me last week.

Cr. 100/5 - Canusium sextans of 209-208 BC.

5.08g, 19mm.

Here's another from the same auction - Cr. 41/9 - this is overstruck on something, but I'm not sure what - anyone hazard a guess?   Ca. 215-212 BC, 16.78g, 27mm.

ATB,
Aidan.

On 9/14/2023 at 3:03 PM, Victrix said:

The Triumvirs. Mark Antony and Octavian. Spring-early summer 41 BC. AR Denarius  Ephesus mint; M. Barbatius Pollio, quaestor pro praetore. Bare head of Mark Antony right; M • ANT • I(MP) • (AV)G • III • VIR • R • P • C • M BARBAT • Q • P around / Bare head of Octavian right, wearing slight beard; CAESAR • IMP • PONT • III • VIR • R • P • C • around

Managed to get this very cheap for 350 , while the Octavian part is quite worn. I like the fact that it's a scarcer die and the multiple cuts all over the coin shows it travelled plenty. 

Actually, that's a much scarcer coin than the BARBAT you mention - it's Cr. 517/8 and the obverse legend is:
M·ANT·IM͡P·A͡VG·III·VIR·R·P·C·L·GELL·Q·P

CRRO link

ATB,
Aidan.

18 minutes ago, El Cazador said:

Nice, where did you go on Holiday?

I took 3 weeks off as we finished a long-running project and I needed a break.   I had no idea what to do but finally decided to go to Spain and walk some of the Camino de Santiago.   I booked a flight to Madrid and back from Santiago and went the following morning.   One night in Madrid, AVE to León, a night there and 11 days walking.   A night in Santiago and met some friends there and then home.   It's the fourth time I've done a stint on the Camino, but the first since 2010 and the first on my own.   It went well enough, especially after I posted 4.5kg of dirty clothes and deadweight to Santiago and lightened my load a bit!

I'm on my 'phone and unable to resurrect a photo' of the 2010 Spanish €10 coin with the botafumeira from Santiago cathedral, but here's a photo' of the cathedral from last Tuesday (12th September).

ATB,

Aidan.