Svessien

I've felt a relief every time I've seen him post ever since he told about his condition. Good to hear he's around and staying optimistic.

On 1/16/2024 at 5:40 PM, Licinius Lucullus said:

Hello, I hope this is the right forum area for my question.

For my coins I use a wooden box measuring 2x2. I store the coins themselves in 2x2 PVC flips. Without plasticizers, of course.

What I'm missing now are the little index cards that fit into my 2x2 flips. But! I don't want individual cards that I write on by hand, I would like a sheet of paper. I want to label the flashcards on the computer. The sheet of paper should not be too thin and not too thick (for the printer). And the index cards can be removed from the paper sheet.

I'm looking for cards like this:

 

But not like the well-known self-adhesive address labels.

I've been looking for days, but either I'm blind. I can't find any offers on the internet. Can someone maybe help me? Thanks.

 

I have a template on Word where I make 3x4 48x48 mm frames that I fill with the text I want about the coin. Then I print it out on art paper (for water colors painting) and cut them with a paper cutter. A bit of work, but the coin cards turn out good enough for me.

I don't have an answer to your question, but stars are interesting and I commend you for the die matching and good observation work you have done.

I myself have been wondering why Bohemund III, a crusader king, has an inverted pentagram on some of his coins, and an upright one on others, in addition to a horizontal crescent moon. We may never know, but reading the theories on this thread is at least interesting and entertaining.

After having been alive for 50 years, I have finally picked up the Bible. I find it a very interesting book, although this desert god in the old testament is a rather unsympathetic figure.... 

Also, I came across a book that I knew I needed to have: "The book of symbols". It even has a coin in it.

Here's my defaced coin. It's not a fouree. I believe it's a result from a "damnatio memoriae" decree.

Pescennius Niger, 193–194 AD

Denarius, Antiochia 193 AD. Damnatio Memoriae? 

Obverse; IMP CAES C PESCE NIGER IVST, Laureate head right.

Reverse: MINER VICTRIS, Minerva standing facing, headleft, holding Victory and spear.

Reference: RIC 60, RCV 6117, BMCRE 309

Sixe: 18 mm.  Weight: 3.57 g. Conservation: Scratches, flan damage: cleaned - Rare.

"The battle of  Issus took place on 31 March 194, and Pescennius Niger was defeated. According to the historian Cassius Dio, 20,000 people were massacred. Pescennius tried to flee to his ally, the Parthian king Vologases V, but he was intercepted by the soldiers of Severus before he could cross the Euphrates. His reign had lasted less than one year. He was killed and his head was sent to Byzantium in order to induce the defenders to surrender. Severus punished Pescennius' adherents and sent his family into exile. The Senate convened and pronounced a damnatio memoriae."

A very nice coin, Doug. Congrats. Great pictures, as always.

Sear GCV 5788 looks similar, but all the AEs from Paphos in Sear have head of Aphrodite left. I think Broucheion may be on to something.

This is a bit hard, as two rules of thumb are set against each other:

1. Don’t buy a coin you don’t actually like. 
2. Don’t wait too long when looking for difficult pieces. They will keep getting more expensive, and eventually move out of reach. 
 

I’m definitely leaning towards not buying here, though. It sounds like you don’t like the coin at all. Let’s say you buy it for a ridiculous amount of money, get it in hand and have to work with yourself to enjoy it, and then a sample that you really like and gladly would have paid double the price for, shows up? I think I’d hold. 

11 hours ago, ewomack said:

Who is the Roman god/goddess of baking soda? I owe that deity a debt.

I believe that would be Bacchus, the man behind the ancient Bacchin Soda. 

On 7/22/2022 at 11:34 PM, ewomack said:

I figured who better to ask about a musty book than people who collect ancient things? 😁

The book itself is not ancient, or even old. It's Spink's Coinage in the Roman World from 2004. Yet someone must have stored it in an ancient tomb for years. I've handled books from the 18th century that weren't as corrosive to the nose and throat.

When it arrived from the dealer, a smell like I've never experienced before emanated from the box. I could barely even look through the book, as the flapping pages would waft the odor right back into my face.

I put it in a container with some baking soda and checked it over the course of a week. The odor subsided, but didn't vanish. So, deciding to resort to desperate measures, I then buried the book in baking soda, sealed it in the container, and will see what happens (below).

I really want to read the book, of course, and perhaps I should have returned it, but I didn't think the odor would prove so invincible.

How do others deal with musty and smelly books? Am I traipsing down a fool's path?

 

Not sure if I’ve ever gotten a book as smelly as yours, but I have quite a few that come from the man cave of a smoking numismatist, so there is little to remind one of flowers and perfume. 
 

I tend to think that the odor is from my rotting brain. What else can cause me to spend salary after salary on smelly books and coins that don’t work anymore. 

On 8/20/2022 at 5:26 PM, Nerosmyfavorite68 said:

I started collecting for real in about 1993, and started collecting Byzantines soon after that. And thus began my on again, off again Byzantine collecting journey.  There would be phases where I would heavily be into Byzantine and years where I'd completely collect Roman or Hellenistic coins.

My mom began to call Byzantine AE, 'slag heaps'. While she's right in a sense, virtually none of them were as artistic as the best-done Roman or Hellenistic coins, these slag heaps are endearing. Some of them exude a dignity or even majesty.

My favorite periods are from 539-630, 668-c.720 and 1092-1204. My favorite mints are Rome and Ravenna, but since I don't have Bill Gates' type money, I only have a few of these, and no AV from these mints.  Ravenna made my favorite gold issues, but alas, I can only gaze at those in references.  It's a bucket list goal to obtain a Ravenna Solidus with an annular border.  Who knows?  I never thought I would get a Heraclius 'Jerusalem', but one popped up at a coin show.  A finder's gash, thankfully only affecting a couple letters of the beginning of the obverse legend, made it affordable.    At the same show, I also remember looking at a tray of 7th century Pegasi Ravenna AE and my eyes popping out when I saw $700 price tags.  More than my 'Jerusalem' cost.

After a collecting lull from 2014-2022 (I was still interested in coins throughout), I jumped back in, and with a bigger budget than before.  Maybe 70% of my purchases this year have been Byzantine.  The 'History of Byzantium' podcast was the main culprit in reviving my interest.

Byzantine coins are also one of the most 'affordable' realm of gold coins.  I can at least afford to slowly pick off a few of the emperors that way.  It's the most satisfying way to get a Leo or Zeno (I know, they're not 'Byzantine.').

My favorite affordable type; the large post-reform facing 40 nummi of Justinian I (although I also like collecting Justinian II).  Oh, and I'd like to find a nice VF example of the two bust Heraclius Seleucia 40 nummi. And perhaps a first-reign bearded Christ Justinian II Solidus.  I find the beardless second reign version kind of weird-looking.

My frustrating incompetence with coin photography has prevented me from photographing anything which doesn't have a dealer's picture. I can only share pics of coins which you've mostly witnessed previously.

I know, this one is ad nauseum, but it's my favorite buy of the year.  A lucky shopping accident and Dr. Haymann's patience enabled me to buy this Tiberius Apsimar (another bucket list emperor).  While the picture doesn't show it, it's by far my most lustrous gold coin.  The event also helped me trust DHL Express more. It's my second most expensive coin ever, although I feel I got a good deal on it.

 

While the AE and billon of the post 1092 reform don't do much for me, I rather love the scyphate gold.  And since gold has largely become too expensive for me, there's the electrum Trikephalon.

Easily my second favorite buy of this year, a John II electrum Trikephalon:

While I find some of the immediate post-1204 history interesting, I find the late, late period much too personally depressing to collect (not meant as an insult, just a personal preference).  There's many people here with magnificent late collections. 

Oh, it also didn't hurt that noted Byzantine collector Mike Braunlin was my college librarian.  That really helped fuel my Byzantine kick.

My collecting goes in phases. I'll probably soon return to Roman, but Byzantine will always have a place in my collection.

Please feel free to post Byzantine, especially coins from Rome or Ravenna, the huge Constantine IV folles, nice pre-1204 Hyperpyra, or Heraclius from Seleucia.

Great post and coin, Nero’smyfav. I have stayed away from Byzantine coins most of my collecting years (started in 2003), but got bit by the bug two years ago. I’m also slowly picking up the solidii, starting with Zeno and Anastasius. I recently bought Heraclius, and only lack Justin II and Tiberius Constantine among the easy early ones. 
 

I have a question: The auction house stated this coin as Sear 291, Rome mint (DOC 320e). I didn’t fully trust that, but haven’t been able to rule it out either. It’s either Sear 291 (Rome) or the far more common Sear 140. I notice there is a 6-pointed star (as described in Sear 291), but Sear doesn’t say how many points the star on 140 has….. Sear also describes the Rome mint as “more spread fabric”, but I haven’t seen enough of these to discern different fabrics. What do you think?

Really likable coin and even better writing! I agree with your assessment of Constantius II. He really can’t have had an easy job, with his brothers and cousins around.  Plus all the rest! I feel his father has gotten an undeservedly good reputation, and the son an undeservedly bad one. 
 

On 8/12/2022 at 5:26 AM, Curtis JJ said:

How about ancient coin literature? I just got my "sendungsbenachrichtigung" email from DHL about a second group of winnings from the Hermann Lanz (1910-1998) & Hubert Lanz Library (sold in a pair of G. Hirsch auctions). This time it was mostly auction catalogs. They're in Frankfurt now, about to cross over. ("Sendungsbenachrichtigung!" I love German!)

 

A couple months ago I received about 10 vols. or so from Lanz Library Part I (G. Hirsch e-Auction 7). A couple favorites:

(maybe I'll take some more photos for a new "Literature" thread, haven't been many new ones...)

An original BMC Corinth with the bookplate of Sir George Francis Hill (1867-1948) and red ink stamp from Hermann Lanz Library (plus his inv. no. 538). Also shown: my homemade custom "Lanz BMC box". (Not shown, but also in the box: Hermann Lanz's BMC Central Greece [Locris, Phocis, Boeotia, Euboia].)

The other favorite doesn't have a photo yet, but it's the Kunstmuseum Winterthur Library copy of the 1871 large folio size (LARGE!) volume of Friedrich Imhoof-Blumer's (1839-1920) Choix de Monnaies Grecques du Cabinet de F. Imhoof - Blumer. What makes it special is that it's signed and beautifully inscribed by Imhoof-Blumer to the Winterthur Kunstmuseum on the title page. It's a bit fragile and has the typical spotting found on 19th century engraved plates.

The current "sendungsbenachrichtigung" group includes mostly catalogs:

• Hess No. 207 (1931, Slg. H. Otto, from which I have one coin);
• Hubert Lanz's custom hardcover sets (1 of 2 sets?) of the 3 Leo Benz Collection sales (1998-2000, Lanz 88, 94, 100, from which I have one coin; luckily I have copies of two catalogs, so these ones can be my "shelf' copies);
• Munzhandlung Basel No. 6 (1936), an important sale of Alexandrian coins (here's my web page on important auction sales of Alexandrian coins);

The one I'm most excited about is the Kunsfreundes (Gillet) sale. It's an important sale but not rare or valuable or anything. But there's something special about this one: “beigeschriebenen Ergebnissen und meist auch Käufern sowie Ergebnisliste.” I don’t speak German, but that sounds like a priced and “mostly” named copy. That's a big deal for provenance research and catalog collectors. I went for it because it was selling at a normal price for this catalog (actually kinda low).

 

Maybe there were other hand-named and priced copies made at the time. Previously, I’d only heard of one named copy (not the same one, and unlike mine, fully named), which sold at the second BCD Library Duplicates auction in 2015 (hammer, 700 CHF):

This particular copy, bound in full leather, in the ‘BCD style’ as some like to say, has an added attraction. The names of the buyers are bound in at the end, copied from a confidential list stolen from the offices of M&M in Basel … Forty years is a long time but nevertheless I hope the buyer of this lot will keep this sensitive information to himself.

BCD Library Duplicates Sale II, Auctiones GmbH Auction 39 (Online, 5 July 2015), Lot 214. (Emphasis mine.)

Presumably the present copy was annotated live in 1974 by Hermann Lanz (or Gitta Kastner or the owner of one of the other libraries absorbed by Lanz). Once I have the document I’ll know more.

Really nice to see you got your hands on some literature from that auction. I considered bidding myself, but concluded that my coin literature budget is close to spent for this year. My most important purchase was the first 6 BMC volumes of Roman Imperial Coins. I’ve also bought “The coins of Troy” by Bellinger, one volume of SNG Copenhagen, “Ancient Greek and Roman coins vol. 1” by Sear, plus some more antiquated works that are more collectibles than usable material now. 
 

I’m now waiting for coins instead. These two are in fact waiting for me down at the post office. Here’s Yazdgird I (399-420) and Varham V (420-428) from the Sasanid empire. 

I need some reading up on Sasanid coins, when I come to think of it. Any recommendations for books or web pages, anyone?

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16 hours ago, shanxi said:

Some nice coins, the Alexandreia example with the grazing horse is beautiful, also Perinthos  and Amisos.

Enough beautiful coins to cope with the two or three (Odessos?) tooled coins.

 

Hi shanxi

Thanks. Could you please point out which 2-3 coins you consider to be tooled?( Didn’t occur to me that any of them were. )

I’m waiting for an interesting group of coins from the last Savoca auction.

These coins were 15-25 euro each, so I’m quite happy to see it’s still possible to get a collectable ancient coin for that. 

Really glad to see a Parthia expert here, Alwin. I hope Parthicus will contribute to this board too.

Really happy to be here, and to see some of my favorite posters on this thread being here already. 

I decided to quit supporting CT after the rude sticky thread was posted on top of page 1 there, as if we were children. So my chat board supporter money for 2022 aren’t spent, and I’m happy to contribute. 

There seems to be no «like» function here, which is just as well. Please just assume that I like all your posts.