AncientJoe

Gold is tough, especially concave/convex coins. My suggestion would be to use very diffuse light, ideally cloudy sunlight or artificial lights decently far away from the coin. Slight angle changes relative to the camera can make a significant difference in a concave coin so ensuring your setup allows for subtle movements will be helpful as well.

Incredible! I've been to Pompeii three times now and there's always a reason to go back. The Naples Archaeological Museum is also a must-see where many of the painted walls now reside; I only visited that last year and was absolutely blown away.

This was my second total solar eclipse and it did not disappoint! I had to drive 6+ hours to evade cloud cover and maximize totality but it was an incredible experience. I should have planned ahead and invested in/learned about astrophotography but instead just took this with my phone with some last minute Pro mode tinkering while totality was nearing: 20240408_150957_1_1.mp4

Congratulations on an excellent distater: both sides are particularly attractive! There's something truly magical about holding a distater: the relief makes it particularly dense and certainly far more interesting than a handful of bullion! Here's my example, with a 1965 Hess/Leu pedigree: And in classic Numisforums "show and tell" style, here are a few other of my favorite Greek gold: From Kyrene, with an uncommon facing quadriga: Pantikapaion, with the "uncontrolled" Satyr, pedigreed to Jameson and the Grand Duke Alexandre Mikhailovich: And a Thasos hemidrachm which is small but packs an artistic punch:

I'm easily won over by nice toning, despite knowing that it's ultimately transient and in the fullness of time will become gray. That said, I do ensure I'm storing my coins in as inert of a manner as possible to avoid accelerating toning. Here are a few of my favorites:

Some of my favorite coins happen to be my smallest (and they're certainly my favorite to store as they all fit in one, tiny box!) Thasos hemidrachm, 3.95 gm, 12mm: Athens diobol, 1.43 gm, 11mm - minted from the melted down statues of Nike on the Akropolis to fund the creation of a navy against Sparta in the Peloponnesian War: Timoleon Syracuse hemidrachm / 30 litrai (a recent purchase / upgrade which I haven't posted here yet): 2.16 gm, 12mm Cicilia, Uncertain Mint. Trihemiobol (?), 4th c. BC. AR 0.99 g - 11 mm. Janiform head, bearded male head on the l., female head r. Rev. Three faced bearded male head. SNG Levante 201-202 Akragas Litra (0.80g, 13mm). approx. 471 - 430 BC BC Obv.: ΑΚΡΑΓΑΝΤΙΝΟΝ, pair of eagles on a killed hare lying on its back, the front eagle with its head thrown back. Backs: crab, below grouper, above A. SNG ANS ; SNG Cop. ; SNG Lockett 719; Jameson 516.

I've sold many coins while refining my taste, the intended goals of my collection, and when upgrading to nicer coins. I know many members here are staunchly against selling: I'd strongly recommend trying it from time to time. The cost of coins does add up and it's a good learning experience as you or your heirs will have to sell your coins eventually (or maybe practice burying them if you're not selling!) I have no regrets from the coins I've sold as they've brought me to where I am now. In some cases, I've iterated three or four times to find the "final" coin of a given type for my collection. I like to think I'm patient but... it is fun to buy coins! Here are a few"before and after" coins: Kamarina tetradrachm: v2: dramatically better eye appeal Alexander the Great distater: v1, no pedigree, an overall mushy appearance and unrefined reverse style v2: Finer style, sharper, better struck, and with a 1960s pedigree Claudius Imper Recept aureus: v2, a much better pedigree, better centering, and sharper lettering - this one isn't as stark of an improvement but still enough to justify the upgrade Nero "Colossus" aureus: v1, with no pedigree, weak strike and flat points v2, with a decent pedigree I found and an interesting portrait, albeit with some marks and a weak reverse v3, more refined portrait, much better strike, with an 1890s pedigree and a light Boscoreale tone Eid Mar: v1, some porosity, slightly cut off legend, an inconsistent strike v2: more of a pedigree, stronger metal, much better eye appeal, and sharper detail

Happy Eid Mar Day! I store this pair of coins next to each other just to create some historical contention in my trays: Ex CNG 45, 1998, lot 1813; Ex Jean Vinchon November 20, 1992 lot 92; Ex Munzen & Medaillen Auction 52, June 19, 1975 lot 522; Munzen und Medaillen Auktion XXVIII (19-20 June 1964), lot 251; Otto Helbing 63, 1931 (Professor Prix), lot 290; Helbing Auktion (March 1928), lot 460 Ex NAC 120, lot 646; NAC 62, 2011, Markoff lot 2005; Triton IX, 2006, 1356

I see this as less of a demand issue and more of a supply issue: there haven't been many meaningful collections on the market recently. I've skipped several major auctions where I just didn't find anything I "needed". That said, it will likely be heating back up in the spring with a few important collections coming to market at NAC and Nomos. Until then, we're in that lull period post-Triton/pre-Spring (although even all of last year was admittedly a bit hit or miss on finding coins to bid on for my collection).

It very much depends. I'd suggest posting a picture of the coin you're referencing. "Tooling" could be anything from enhancing a few details to completely re-engraving a different type on a coin. Personally, I avoid tooled coins but some degree of smoothing is understandable. That said, the curve from smoothed to tooled is continuous.

Happy Superb owl Sunday! Here are my two owls (or technically three because of two-in-one): ATTICA. Athens. AV Diobol (1.43 gms), ca. 407/6 B.C. Svoronos-pl. 15#7. Head of Athena facing right wearing crested Attic helmet adorned with palmette and olive leaves; Reverse: Two owls standing confronted, olive branch between, ethnic in exergue. Minor scuffs, though commensurate with the assigned condition. Ex. John Whitney Walter Collection Athens was a prolific producer of silver coinage, minting millions of owl tetradrachms. Gold, however, was much scarcer in the region and Athens only minted gold coinage when in severe crisis. This gold diobol comes from the final years of the Peloponnesian War and is one of the most important and rarest Greek coins. Athens faced heavy losses against Sparta. Near the end of the war, they blocked Athens from accessing its silver mines, resulting in an economic emergency. After four years of being starved out, the need for funds became so dire, the authorities ordered the melting of seven of the eight massive gold statues of Nike which were standing around the Parthenon on the Acropolis. These statues were symbols of the city’s great economic reserves making this a true moment of desperation for Athens. The gold from these statues was minted into coins and used to construct a new fleet of ships to attempt a naval retaliation. Because of their value, to protect against forgeries, the dies used to strike the coins were stored in the Parthenon treasury in an alabaster box. Further indicating the importance of their minting, the historical context of these gold coins is exceptionally well documented by the playwright Aristophanes and by the Athenian treasury records. Unfortunately, even with the influx of funds, Athens was ultimately defeated at sea and surrendered to the Spartan general Lysander. While many thousands of coins were minted with the volume of gold from the statues, only a very small number survive today. This coin is one of only two diobols in private hands with the four others residing in museums. Other denominations are also known but exist in similar numbers, with only one or two examples of each available to private collectors. ROMAN PROVINCIAL COINS. PELOPONNESUS. SULLA, 138-78 BC. Tetradrachmon ("Leukolleion"), in the manner of Athens (NS), struck in an uncertain mint, about 88-87 BC. AR 16.65 g. Head of Athena r., wearing triple crested Athenian helmet, decorated with Pegasus and four horses. Rev. Between two monograms, owl, head facing, standing r. on amphora inscribed with A; the whole within laurel wreath. Boehringer, CMM (1972 28-31 and pl. 29, 10; Thompson, NS 426, 1293. Ex Trampitsch Collection, Auction J. Vinchon, Paris 13 & 14 November 1986 (Monte-Carlo), 183; Ex. J. Vinchon 27 February 1961, Lot 157 Few Athenian coins are as historically relevant as those of 87/6-84 B.C., when the Roman consul Sulla landed his army in Greece to wage war against Mithradates VI, the Pontic king who recently had taken the region by force. Not only are these coins the last ‘ancient’ silver coins struck in Athens, but they are directly tied to historical events, and are mentioned in the ancient literature. The Sullan coinage at Athens consists mainly of silver tetradrachms, a smaller component of silver drachms, and a bronze coinage that today is very rare. The silver coins employ the basic designs of Athenian ‘New Style’ tetradrachms, which in ancient times were called stephanophoroi (‘wreath-bearers’) because the reverse design was enclosed within a wreath. But that is where the similarities end between Athenian coinage and the Athenian-style coinage of Sulla. The style of Sulla’s coins is quite different than their predecessor Athenian coinage, and the symbols and weighty inscriptions that cluttered the reverse field of the Athenian coins are replaced only with two monograms or two trophies. The monogram coins seem to have been the first issue, for which Thompson suggested a starting date of 86 B.C., after Sulla captured Athens. The trophy coins are regarded as the second issue, and presumably were struck shortly before Sulla left Athens to return to Rome. However, there seems little reason to doubt that some of the monogram coins were struck outside of Athens, and for this and other reasons they often have been described as ‘pseudo-Athenian’ coins. Sulla landed in Greece in the spring of 87 B.C., and did not capture Athens for a year. During that period he would have needed coinage to support his army and to conduct a siege. Appian (Mith. V.30) describes how Sulla immediately collected money from the Greeks who supported the Romans against Mithradates. Might not this new fund have been converted into coinage that had a familiar Athenian type, but was easily distinguishable as a product of Sulla? Another source, Plutarch (Lucullus II.2), describes how Sulla’s proquaestor L. Licinius Lucullus was put in charge of coinage on this expedition, and that he did such an fine job that the coins he made came to be named after him: “...it was called ‘Lucullan’ after him, and circulated very widely because the needs of the soldiers during the war caused it to be exchanged quickly.” An inscription from Delphi concerning the sale of slaves echoes Plutarch: “...they paid for these in one sum of a hundred and fifty ‘flats’ of Lucullus...” A colloquial description like ‘flats’ would be fitting for Athenian ‘New Style’ coins, which are broad and thin, and would lend themselves to such a nickname.

I agree with sand - traveling internationally with coins is a dangerous idea. Airport and customs employees aren't experts in cultural property: an old coin surely must have been stolen from a museum. You could end up detained or have the coins confiscated. They could theoretically be returned at some point but not without a lengthy battle; not worth the risk in my eyes. Sure, you could end up going through completely unscathed and save some shipping hassles but the risks don't outweigh the benefits. I'd also question the need to slab $200 coins. The slabbing costs will amount to >20% of the value of each coin: would it be better to just put them in holders which could be re-opened? Further, if you're looking to sell, slabbing bronze often doesn't help the coins as NGC will point out the issues (it's rare that bronze doesn't have at least some smoothing). I'd sooner sell to another collector or dealer rather than deal with the gamble of traveling to have coins graded which could ultimately hurt their value. And more importantly: bronze coins are simply too fun to hold to be encapsulated in plastic.

If you wanted to own only one Greek coin, you certainly picked a highlight! That is an excellent coin and a particularly rare denomination. I'd store it labyrinth-side up but the portrait is also a remarkable work of atypical art. My Knossos stater is a bit smaller but one of my favorite coins: And, keeping with the mythology of Crete, I'll follow @happy_collector's lead and post my Gortyna as well:

That's so sad! I was hoping to see him at NYINC this year. Such a loss of a great person and collector.

That should indeed be a smooth and swift process (I picked mine up this morning before the auction in 30 seconds).

FYI, I'd suggest registering online or planning for extra time entering the show. They're requiring their own printed photo IDs which will mean that everyone entering the show needs to get their headshot taken and printed out. Very long lines are expected - I'll be at the Early Bird Preview tomorrow so we'll see just how bad it is. This is to deter crime after the unfortunate theft that happened at last year's NYINC.

Glad to see you venturing into the Greek side of the ancient pond as well!

This was a steal: mine is a bit nicer but has an extra zero in the price. A great coin!

I happily managed to buy everything I wanted. That's the first time this has happened in a Triton auction; I can't complain!

Any coin of Julius Caesar is an instant conversation topic for collectors or non-collectors alike. Here's my aureus, one of my most recent additions: Ex. CNG Auction 45, March 18, 1998 lot 1813; Ex Münzen und Medaillen Auktion XXVIII (19-20 June 1964), lot 251; Helbing Auktion (April 1931), lot 290; Helbing Auktion (March 1928), lot 460

An excellent year for you, @Kazuma78! It's tough to pick a favorite but I'd say #1 and #3, especially knowing how long you've waited for an example of the Agathokles. Looking forward to what you find in 2024!

LM / Rob's influence on coin forums - and my own collection - can't be understated. His posts introduced me to the "Box of 20" concept, specifically focusing on quality over quantity and his world coin collection helped encourage my transition away from US into Ancients (and I haven't looked back). His posting/community building on the PCGS forum in particular was instrumental in my own building of a website and (in)frequent posts. This directly introduced me to a wider group of collectors and marked a turning point in my collecting journey. One of these days, I hope to find myself in your neck of the woods, @lordmarcovan, as it'd be great to shake your hand in person! And, after 10+ years of reading thousands of your posts, I'm thrilled that you've been fortunate to take home two excellent aurei - especially the Titus elephant aureus. Here's to many more decades of collecting!

Great to see you around here too, LM! And indeed, a coin-terview would be fun!

I was hoping you'd post your/our example here too! It's an excellent coin and took me this long to find a slight upgrade.

Thank you! The photography is my own, a love/hate relationship as I'm far from a professional photographer but have managed to cobble together a fairly reproducible approach through brute force effort. My other coins are listed on my website: https://www.colosseocollection.com/p444364358 I don't think I'll build the Twelve Caesars in gold but Julius' portrait is indeed one of the "keys".