mcwyler

I reckon if you're the emperor you're all of those. Until the likely assassination and subsequent damnatio memoriae.

Interesting coins, to add to the long "must get one of those" list. Your map represents the south as Arabie Heureuse, so I suppose those northeastern issues are from Arabie Triste.

Carthaginian Domain, Sardinia, c. 264-241 BC. Æ (20mm, 4.88g, 3h). Wreathed head of Kore-Tanit l. R/ Head of horse r.; letter before. Piras 54; SNG Copenhagen (Africa) 151. I can't help thinking the eating babies stuff is just another example of the victors writing history to suit their narrative. Not saying they were angels mind you. Septimius Severus was born in the town of Leptis Magna and spoke Punic. Well he spoke Latin too but with a Punic accent. Just a bit of trivia for you!

Exactly! My very worn example

I don't think the sellers were duped. The first and third are proud members of this useful list of fake sellers.- http://augustuscoins.com/ed/fakesellers.html#U

Nice! But to emphasise your point, this is what we get in the real world.. £10, so mustn't grumble.

I'm starting to like little coins. Of course the bigger the better for ptolemaic bronzes etc. Or for that matter bars of gold. But there's something about those tiny coins. The artistry? The cuteness? More likely the price...

Ela126 has the better face of Christ, but I like my example of SB1918 too. It's certainly my most attractive trachy, and it came in the post today! 28mm, 4.1g.

I was interested to read this today, thought I'd share it. (Trabzon is what we know as Trebizond.) https://www.theguardian.com/science/2024/apr/03/endangered-greek-dialect-living-bridge-ancient-world-romeyka?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other

Let's have some more...

Campgates? Now you're talking! I'll have to stop there because I could literally post another hundred and I don't want to make this thread unreadable. But yes, I like a good campgate! Don't mind the bad ones come to that..

Just to prove how "good enough" yours are, here are mine. Swap?

Mine is a bit worn and crusty but I like it, 34mm and 32.64g so not a record breaker but nice and chunky anyhow.

What is a good portrait? If I were a lowly diecutter asked to create an image of the most powerfuL (and usually vainest) man in the world I think I would err on the side of handsome rather than ugly. I agree with romancollector, Val baby was probably what we would call in these parts a bit of a minger. Mine was maybe the best the guy in Samosata could do... That said, perhaps in this case he wasn't the most powerfuL, Shapur was?

Zero feedback, what could go wrong? I note that, in the English translation, the "authenticity guaranteed" bit seems to have been omitted... Probably just an oversight.

My Constans II has no pretension to legends at all, but I did like the portrait, so for a 10 euro snack I couldn't resist!

Good points here from many angles. My view is that tooling is not only deceptive, but unnecessary. Unlike collectors of modern coins, we mostly accept that many if not most of our coins will not only show signs of use but sometimes significant wear. I'll go further - some of my favourite coins are really well worn. An orichalcum sestertius, for example, can grow old very gracefully. Why tool it? If there's enough detail to identify it, I'm happy. The only motive for tooling in most cases is profit. Don't make these people richer!

Thank you so much for that, I read this 10 minutes ago and have already successfully used the tool for a purchase from 8 years ago that I lost details of!

Nice! Did goatherds always have spikes on their backs in those days?

Seconded DDG, just as easy on most android browsers too.

I use them quite a bit. They ship to me in the UK for £6, so no complaints there!

About a year ago I thought I'd give Catawiki a try. A coin I was interested in was offered by a Spanish firm that seems to use that platform a lot. I bid, it was under the (apparently top secret) reserve. I bid again at a higher price, and again. No joy. After a while I thought oh well, and gave up. A little later I was emailed with the "GOOD NEWS!" that since the reserve had not been met they were willing to sell it to me at my highest bid... This renders the so called auction a joke and while not illegal is in my opinion very sharp practice. If you wish to set a reserve, start the bidding at that and stop messing with the bidders. I didn't darken their doorstep again!

Gavin, I just replied to the "basililikons" thread below about Opisthodomos. I had a problem about 2 months ago with them- heard nothing from them but my coins eventually arrived after 3 weeks (I'm in the UK). Also noticed today that they've gone from vcoins though, and that doesn't look too hopeful. I was lucky I guess... I think you'll be financially OK with PayPal, from what I've heard. My fingers are crossed for you!

Interesting. I had an order from this company around the same time, got mine several weeks later - I'm in the UK so no excuse - but I did get them and was pleased and relieved to do so! However I notice today the entire company has disappeared from vcoins...