Kaleun96

I wasn't implying the views were, I was suggesting the subscribers were. It's very odd when a channel quadruples its subscriber count in a few days and sees no increase in engagement in its videos Doesn't mean the subscribers were bought per se, I've heard it can happen if you pay for YouTube Promotion and target certain countries that are cheap to advertise in. Suffice to say, a conversion rate of one new subscriber for every 5-7 views is extremely high so something weird is going on. If you look at channels with a similar number of subscribers and rapid view growth from a particular video going viral, the conversion rate is more like one new subscriber for every 100-200 views. Of course I can't say what's happening, only those with access to the account will really know, I can only say what it looks like from the outside and something doesn't add up. You can probably tell from your channel statistics where these subscribers are coming from and if they're watching for long or if they stop watching after 30s or so.

Might just be me but in my mind Solidus already has this reputation 😅 They're one of the auction houses that I wouldn't buy anything from without doing my own due diligence first. It's not just that there are multiple fakes in every auction but that they don't seem to be getting any better at catching them.

This one qualifies as "I had money for a better looking Alexander tetradrachm but not one of this type" 😄 Suffice to say, the left-facing Herakles variety of Alexander's tetradrachms are very rare and sought-after so fetch a high price. This one, presumably due to its wear, went very cheaply and would be one of the few examples of the type I could afford. That being said, I really do like the obverse, the wear doesn't bother me at all.

Yep that's me! Glad you like the site. I like what you've done with yours as well, some cool ideas with the design of the filters and drop-downs etc. Out of curiosity, do you have some frontend experience? I like the "article" pages you have for the coins too, such as how you have the provenance table and additional photos etc. I've been meaning to add provenance info and also a section for notes on specific coins to my version of your "article" page but haven't gotten around to it yet.

Thanks! It's a 30% wood-filled plastic so with a bit of sanding and staining it can look quite convincing. It even smells a bit like burnt wood as it is heated to ~220°C and printed.

3D printed a little mount for it. The design of the base actually comes from my Parthenon 3D model, it's the base of one of the ionic columns in the Opisthodomos.

Seems likely and if so, The Ancient Coin Hour probably won't be far behind

Here's a bronze spearhead I picked up recently. I managed to find a great book that categorises Late Bronze Age spearheads from South Eastern Europe and mine falls into that region and period quite nicely. The shape of the blade is known as "flame-shaped" as it bulges to its widest width in the first third of the blade, narrows on a curve for the second third, and then has a more even taper for the last third where it narrows to a point. These are most often found in the Balkans and Carpathian Basin but can also be found in Italy, Germany, Scandinavia, and Bohemia. My blade also has a decorative element on the end of the shaft: two horizontal lines around the circumference with oblique lines in a herringbone pattern above and below them. This is another trait commonly found in bronze age spearheads from the Carpathian Basin but it is found in the aforementioned regions as well. I messaged the author of the book to see if I attributed it correctly and he confirmed it falls under his "Shape K" series as part of the typological order 15. These spearheads date between 1600-900 BC, with mine likely falling between 1300-900 BC and probably from somewhere in the Carpathian Basin. I can really recommend the book even though the majority is in Bulgarian. There's an English summary that is useful but you can also use Google Translate to translate the text parts of the book (use Chrome to "print" the book as a PDF and add in a custom page range to exclude the figures at the end of the book). There's a great section on the manufacture of spearheards that I found quite interesting. It sounds more difficult than I first thought to try and balance a "core" inside the mould so as to make a hollow shaft and midrib. The core extends very nearly to the tip of the spear so they'd have to be extra careful that it was aligned with the mould or the core would break through the surface of the spearhead. Distribution of spearheads with the horizontal line and oblique herringbone pattern decoration: Distribution of spearheads of Shape K typological order 15 (K.VI): Temporal distribution of the Shape K spearheads (mine is likely Type V-VI):

That's more of a camera/user problem than a background problem. If you can control the exposure manually through shutter speed, ISO, and aperture or if you can change the metering mode (e.g. from frame average to point or centre) then it doesn't matter if the background is white or black. It's only an issue if the camera is on auto or the settings can't be changed. Even if taking coin photos with a mobile phone, I'd recommend using a "pro" mode that lets you get as much control as possible over the camera. Not all phone manufacturers offer this level of manual control but it's definitely a lot better than relying on the default settings, same goes for DSLR/mirrorless cameras too.

Perfect example of why you should always check the terms and conditions before bidding. I simply don't bid with these auction houses, it's their loss.

I think the satrapal staters of Tarsos issued by Pharnabazos, Datames, and Mazaios have some interesting backstory to them while also being visually quite interesting. With Pharnabazos there's the wars with Athens and Sparta, the whole Egyptian invasion thing, his involvement in Xenophon's Anabasis, the possible use of the coins to pay mercenaries from Sicily (iirc), the connection via his granddaughter to Alexander the Great etc. Datames then takes over and starts a revolt and it's interesting to try and hypothesise whether he made his feelings known via slight changes to the coinage, and lastly Mazaois had a long and storied career lasting all the way up until Alexander's conquering of Babylon and a few years after.

I think you mean starting price 😉 Though with Leu, "x times the starting price" is pretty meaningless, even more so than "x times the estimate" at other auction houses. The coin I won went for 13x the starting price and I'm very pleased to have won it. My max was actually 20x the starting price.

It is interesting how similar the pattern, shape, and distribution of the hair curls are on the obverse given how different everything else is. Either they had a very strict "style guide" to follow (e.g. two big swooping curls below the ear, one swooping above the ear over the diadem, a clockwise pattern of pairs of curls emanating from the crown of the head etc) or it's the same engraver just introducing some variety to the proportions and size etc. The similarities seem, to me, to be too close for it to be chance or a loose following of some example they were given. The number of curls, their direction, distribution and shape are almost identical in many places. I guess it likely points to it being the same engraver, that would seem to be the simplest explanation.

Think it's this one that Amentia discusses here: https://www.numismatikforum.de/viewtopic.php?f=49&t=53721&start=1305#p613964

Does anyone have any ideas for what other ancient structures might make for a good model? Not that I can commit to making another one anytime soon but it has crossed my mind! The Parthenon is a bit special in that it is so widely studied and so much of it is still extant, other ancient structures will probably require a lot of guesswork. Herod's Temple or the Lighthouse of Alexandria could be fun, the latter having the benefit of a much smaller footprint so space is less of a concern.