Kazuma78

@AncientJoe I was lucky to be able to acquire a copy of Jenkins & Lewis this year and here is a photo of your coin from the book (though I'm sure you already have it). Again, spectacular coin!

Awesome additions @AncientJoe!!! particularly impressive are the long provenance many of those have. Incredible! My favorites in order would be:

Carthage Trihemistater, Maximian Hercules Aureus, Akanthos Tetradrachm and Kyrene Teteobolus. 

Spectacular as always and cheers to a great 2023 for you! 

1 hour ago, KenDorney said:

I have been getting less and less with CNG, so I didnt get anything in this one.  I am hopeful for the new auction which has a load of things I am interested in, but we will have to see where they end up on closing day!  As others have posted, I sold my antiquities collection which did fairly well.  @Cordoba, you will see your pot in the very center of the photo below, taken some 30 years ago.

Awesome picture! Love the Calvin and Hobbes drawings on the cabinet too!

7 hours ago, Al Kowsky said:

$35.00 is a ripoff 😖! My hard cover ABC book cost me $15.00 for shipping from London.

I thought it was excessive also. When I ordered ABC a couple months ago, it was the same as yours- which is what I expected for this order. 

I won a copy of Hirsch XV which I had been looking to find for awhile, for the sale of the Gustav Philipsen Collection, which I have a coin from. I was happy to get it, but bummed that the shipping from the UK office was $35. 

Very nice additions this year! My favorite is the owl. Despite the test cut its super attractive and a gorgeous piece.

Great selections this year! I have to go with the Thasos Stater and Alexander Stater. Both types on my want list and yours are beautiful!

Beautiful coin @lordmarcovan! The iridescent tone, style and size of the flan really make this coin pop! 

Accidental duplicate post

@NewStyleKing @Severus Alexander @Sulla80

Thanks for the information and analysis of the Mithradates Tetradrachm Mint. To be honest, I didn't get a chance to research it as much as I would like to yet. I found a sale of the identical die type (I believe) and used most of the attribution from that. I attached it so you can see where I got the information from. 

Great list and top 10 for the year! I specifically enjoyed the Anglo-Saxon gold- I can't say I recall seeing any of those types before. Congratulations! 

20 hours ago, Limes said:

Amazing additions, from a historical perspective but also quality wise; all are magnificent coins. Congratulations on such a good year. To keep up with tradition, I picked 3 favorites, being the Sikyon Stater, the Ptolemy I Tetradrachm and the Seleucus Nikator Tetradrachm, although I doubted between the latter one and the drachm of Larissa. But the elephants pushed me in their direction, so ... 😉 

My favorite of the lot is your Sikyon stater (contrary to popular opinion). I'm simply drawn to the rendering of the Chimaera on the obverse. Such a beautiful design, and your specimen is of great quality, making all the lovely details visible. I also really enjoy the dove on the reverse, the feathers are beautifully engraved. I wish I will be able to add a specimen to my collection one day. 

 

 

Thanks! It's nice to see the Sikyon getting a little love. It's really a beautiful coin in hand. Even though I don't like white ancient coins, it's very well struck and the details in the Dove wings are fantastic- as you point out. 

11 hours ago, singig said:

I voted for six coins , my prefered is the Ptolemy I tetradrachm. Congratulations !

Thanks! It seems like the Ptolemy I is a favorite, it has the most votes currently. Always fun to see what is the most popular just for the heck of it. 

Beautiful! A great addition to your early RR set

22 hours ago, Jeremy said:

They're all exceptional - congrats on a successful year of collecting!

Thank you!! It's been a fun year for new acquisitions! 

3 hours ago, robinjojo said:

Boy, that's a tough lineup of coins to rate!  Each example is a fine representative of its type.  I have to select "all".

Thanks! I'm glad you like them since you also have a great eye! 

1 hour ago, Curtisimo said:

Absolutely wonderful group @Kazuma78. That Shekel of Tyre is far and away my favorite which is saying something because they are all great. 

Thanks! I think that is also my favorite for the year! The toning and luster is quite fantastic in person. 

1 hour ago, Jay GT4 said:

You had a fantastic year

Thanks! 

25 minutes ago, Sulla80 said:

A spectacular set @Kazuma78 MIthridates and Eukratides I Megas get my vote.

Thanks for voting! The style of the Mithradates is artistic, which I love, and the Eukratides has some wonderful toning that makes it striking. 

5 hours ago, AncientJoe said:

Congratulations on an absolutely tremendous year! I chose your Tyre Shekel, Mithradates, and Ptolemy Soter but could have easily selected others. It's an excellent group and a major set of additions to your collection!

Thanks Joe! I sincerely appreciate your help throughout the year!

4 hours ago, Qcumbor said:

Well, I've been browsing them all three times yet and couldn't decide which ones I prefer. I will have to think about it further or I would vote for 15 of them....

Q

Thanks! This is exactly why I had such a tough time narrowing my picks down this year. 

3 hours ago, Cordoba said:

I love the eukratides tetradrachm! the portrait is amazing

Thanks! I actually kept this one over another with a technically higher grade because I liked this style of portrait and toning better. There are a lot of them floating around these days so it's nice to have choices! 

59 minutes ago, Broucheion said:

Hi @Kazuma78,

Wow for all the coins!

Your GORGEOUS Ptolemaic stater is Lorber CPE-79, which she dates to ca 306-303 BCE and attributes to Uncertain Mint 02 in Egypt, perhaps Naucratis.

- Broucheion

Thank you! I really appreciate the extra attribution! 

33 minutes ago, Oldhoopster said:

Wow!!  Amazing coins.  Usually it's easy for me to pull out 1 or 2 that I really like,  but i m stuck voting on all of the above for your stuff. 😁  Outstanding. Thanks for sharing. It's always nice to see cool coins from other members.

Thank you! Looking at everyone's top lists for the year are almost always my favorite threads to read. I always look forward to posting mine also, especially when the year has been exceptional for new additions like this one was. You guys get more excited about the additions than my wife, though she does try to humor me lol

22 minutes ago, happy_collector said:

All amazing selections, @Kazuma78. You have a very fruitful year!  🙂

I like the cool obverse portraits of coins # 4, 5, 10, 16, 17 and 19. Wow! I understand why you cannot shrink your list to just 10. Thanks for sharing. 

Thank you! Some of the portraits this year were fantastic- I was very thrilled to add those. 

4 minutes ago, Romancollector said:

Wow...you had a terrific year of collecting!

My favourites are the Tyrian shekel, Mithradates VI, Ptolemy I, Magnesia ad Meandrum, Kamarina ae, Lucania nomos, Kassander, and Eukratides, but I couldn't possibly narrow it further......

Thanks! All good picks! So hard to just a few! 

9 hours ago, El Cazador said:

@Kazuma78great list, I voted for 2, 4, 5, 9

Thanks!! Good picks!

9 hours ago, CPK said:

Good grief where to even start??! Incredible!

It's a hard choice but I think my votes go to:

#4 - Ptolemaic tetradrachm of Alexander the Great;

#1 - Absolutely stunning Shekel of Tyre;

#12 - Who can say no to a Caesar elephant denarius?

#13 - Beautiful example of an early Republican silver coin

But really, they are all fantastic! Congratulations!

Thanks! All good choices-I think the shekel is my favorite. The Roman pieces were additions of unexpected opportunity that I was thrilled to run across. 

9 hours ago, Nerosmyfavorite68 said:

Wow!!

Thanks! 

7 hours ago, Roman Collector said:

My goodness! What a lovely assortment of acquisitions to your collection, @Kazuma78!! It was quite a year for you!

Thank you! I never would have anticipated such a great year on January 1st! It's been crazy! 

7 hours ago, Di Nomos said:

I like them all.

If I had to pick, I'd go 2, 3, 6, 9 and 11.

But that's leaving a lot of coins I like out. As I said, all great coins.

Well done!

Thank you! That's why I had a hard time narrowing to only 10. There were some great coins in 11-20. 

4 hours ago, FrizzyAntoine said:

Great selection! The standouts for me are 3, 6, and 8, but not by much. Congrats on a great year!

Thanks! 

4 hours ago, ambr0zie said:

What a fantastic year. For me it's impossible to deselect a coin, not to select one. I chose the Koson stater, the Kyzikos hemihekte and the Syracuse but each and every coin in this list would deserve a place in a yearly top.

I agree that after a year like this it's impossible to reduce the number of coins to 10. I will do the same (although the coins I got in 2022 are no match).

Thanks! I'm looking forward to seeing your list for the year! 

3 hours ago, Al Kowsky said:

Josh, You had a sensational year 🤩! I voted for the stunning Tyre shekel with gorgeous toning, the Artemis/Apollo Tet (for obvious reasons ☺️), & the Ptolemy I Tet with the masterful die engraving on both sides 😉.

Thanks! You helped with that Al! I will cherish your contribution in my collection for many years! 

I have been super blessed this year with my ancient coin purchases and barring some unforeseen luck in December (I have nothing left this year I am bidding on), I feel comfortable wrapping up my top coins list for the year. This has been a banner year for ancient coin additions and my best yet, mostly with a LOT of luck and so I wasn't able to narrow to a top 10, so I picked a top 20. Please feel free to vote or comment on your favorite(s) if you like and thanks for taking a look!!! I also apologize that not all of the photos are stellar. I need to get some better photos of a few of the coins. 

Congratulations! All great buys! Hard for me to pick a favorite because I like them each for different reasons. 

I chose the Solidus, great additions! 

Great addition! The strike and detail on this coin is exceptional. Even better that it's so great on such a rare piece. 

On 10/23/2022 at 3:57 PM, dougsmit said:

While toning is always a plus, what I like about Ancient Joe's coin is the snake tail is on the flan.  I find it odd that the slab company can say all those nice things about coins with one of the animals missing.  Mine is not as nice in several ways including graffiti initials on both sides (phi) and crowded flan on both major animals but it is the variation with distinctive snake features.  It was fortunate that the mint made so many thousands of variations on the popular themes so we each can select the one that speaks to us.  Coin collecting is not a binary subject but one where there are as many right answers as the are coins.  The AJ coin is 'fine style'.  Mine is only special in regard to the snake.  If I sent it in to be slabbed, I would hope for a grade of "Fine 3/5 1/5 - Fine Snake".

On 10/23/2022 at 6:26 PM, idesofmarch01 said:

The OP coin is a wonderful example of this highly desirable mythical beast of ancient times.  Any collector would prize it in his/her collection.

If AncientJoe were to have NGC slab and grade his coin, I imagine that it, too, would receive a grade of "Superb EF with brilliant lustrous surfaces. NGC CH AU Star Strike 5/5, Surface 5/5 Fine Style."

From a purely academic perspective, I wonder if a novice collector of ancient coins would view these two NGC slabbed coins as equivalent?  

Dougsmit's observation ("I find it odd that the slab company can say all those nice things about coins with one of the animals missing.") raises a substantive and meaningful topic regarding NGC's grading system, and I'm curious how other NUMISFORUM members think about this topic?

I also much prefer Joe's example because of the better centering and toning, but as these don't come this nice very often (maybe a couple times a year), I couldn't turn it down. I wouldn't mind potentially upgrading it if the right example comes along at some point that's not in the nosebleed section in terms of cost.

I did bid competitively on this coin when it crossed the block, and lost. I must say, I probably prefer it over my OP coin.

5 minutes ago, AncientJoe said:

An excellent new purchase, @Kazuma78 and @Curtisimoand @kapphnwn's examples are also very attractive (especially the latter's centering which is uncommonly superb).

Here's mine which had a premium for its toning which developed from it being on display at the Cincinnati Museum of Art for ~10 years where they clearly didn't control its conditions well as several coins from the displayed collection acquired vibrant toning:

A spectacular example as always! That toning is absolutely stunning. I've seen a few that were displayed there, and they all had acquired similar fantastic toning. If I had loaned them out, I would have been thrilled to get them back that way. I may have lent them some more! Haha

18 minutes ago, kapphnwn said:

Both above are great coins. This mint either has die cutters with great imagination or someone should lay off the fermented grape juice, 

Sikyon Ar Stater 335-330 BC Obv Chimaera standing left. Rv Dove flying left within laurel wreath BCD 219 HGC 201 12.20 grms 23 mm Photo by W Hansen

 

It would seem to me that this coinage was struck as the Spartans were making a push to regain their dominance over the Peloponnese, This was done with the financial assistance of the Persians. They were hoping that this war would distract Alexander from making any more trouble for them, This in turn caused Alexander's commander in the region Antipater to strike the new coinage bearing the name and types of Alexander.

That is an excellent example and well centered! Interesting history on the events of the time. I've read a little bit about it, but not as much as I'd like- sounds even more interesting than I could have hoped.