Salomons Cat

Wouldn't surprise me either. I own only a handful of Flavian coins - but I already check out @David Athertons collection at forumancientcoins.com quite regularly. Especially, when I consider buying another Flavian coin. I'm certainly not the only one. I really like the descriptions, they're as short as possible and as long as necessary. And there are some phenomenal coins. The Domitian RIC 6 denarius mule or the Titus Colosseum sestertius are incredible... It's a pleasure to just click through it 🙂 I remember how I looked at the Curtis Clay collection in the H.J.Berk Buy or Bid Sale and didn't understand the prices. But since I learned about the historical context of the Domitian RIC 6 denarius mule it seems to me like it was an absolute bargain buy. It's interesting how the view on a coin can change completely as soon as you know a bit of context. @David Atherton, I hope that you have a backup of everything that is on forumancientcoins.com? My experience is that all websites can experience issues and I imagine that it would be a huge amount of work to recreate all of that.

Great interview, thank you @Ocatarinetabellatchitchix and @LONGINUS! I'm always amazed when I look at the virtual coin trays, too. Not only due to the stunning visual presentation. The selection of coins seems incredibly thoughtful to me; they fit together in terms of toning, centering, grade,... and they complement each other regarding their reverses. Not only the visual representations that Longinus creates but also the composition of the collection by itself looks like an artwork to me.

Nice idea @JayAg47 and interesting to see what your iceberg looks like! 😄 You inspired me to create my personal one. I assume that every person has their own iceberg when it concerns ancient coin collecting. For me, the different tiers represent special ideas around Roman coin collecting that I encountered and how difficult they seem to me.

I wonder how many silent readers and regular visitors we have who are not even members. Hundreds? Thousands? Maybe this forum has a big impact in the world of ancient coin collecting and we’re not even aware of it. Or maybe not. I don’t know. Would be interesting to know the statistics.

Please not! 😀 Discussions are only worth something if they happen at a certain level... More is not always better. Congratulations to the forum and to @Restitutor and I hope that the quality of the discussions stays high 😊

Interesting! I was not aware that this is scientifically proven... "She" was only 14 to 18 years old as an emperor. Should 14 year olds be allowed to change their gender? Should they be allowed to become Roman emperors? I believe that it is in the best interest of all 14 years olds if we don't take everything that they say for 100% serious until there is some consistency... But I assume that the historians and the museum have thought about that before they made their decision. Here's my favorite coin of "her" 🙂 Elagabalus, 218-222. Denarius (Silver, 20 mm, 2.76 g, 12 h), Rome, 220-222. Obv: IMP ANTONINVS PIVS AVG Laureate and draped bust of Elagabalus to right, seen from behind. Rev: LIBERTAS AVG Libertas standing front, head to left, holding pileus in her right hand and vindicta in her left; in field to right, star. BMC 220. Cohen 92. RIC 107.

Beautiful Neros!! This motivates me to post my Nero tetradrachm, once again 🙂 I also have a Nero denarius, but the tetradrachm is my favorite due to the style of the portrait. These are all of the Neros that I have. Nero (AD 54-68). Tetradrachm (14.97 g - 25 mm). Seleucis & Piera, Antioch. AD 65/6. Obv: ΝΕΡΩΝ ΚΑΙϹΑΡ ϹΕΒΑϹΤΟϹ. Laureate bust left, wearing aegis. Rev: ΕΤΟΥϹ ΔΙΡ. Eagle standing left on club, with wings spread; palm-branch to left. RPC I 4191; McAlee 266; Prieur 91. Ex Naumann Nero (AD 54-68). AR Denarius (19mm - 2.92 g, 6h), Rome mint. Struck circa AD 64-65. Obv: Laureate head right Rev: Jupiter seated left on throne, holding thunderbolt and scepter. RIC I 53; RSC 119. Ex CNG

I like coins that have nice portraits and a reverse that tells a special story. And I like it when a certain kind of motive is specific for a period or for an emperor, like Judaea capta for the Flavians, the travel series for Hadrian or Hercules for Commodus. Although, in some cases a very expressive portrait is enough to fascinate me. This coin shows the first documented personification of Hispania. Apart from that, I find it aesthetically very pleasing... Postumius Albinus. AR Denarius serratus, 81 BC. This portrait! The quadruple chin! Nero tetradrachm, Antioch, AD 65. RPC I 4191; McAlee 266; Prieur 91. Judaea capta denarii are somehow always special to me. Although they are not especially rare I just find them fascinating. I find this coin quite nice in hand, but neither me nor F.S.Robinson are able to take very good photos. Vespasian denarius, Rome mint, RIC 2. I just really like the portrait. Vespasian denarius, Rome, 70 AD, RIC 29. Titus as Caesar. Another judaea capta coin. Denarius from the Antioch mint, AD 72-73. BMC 518. Cohen 392. RIC 1562. RPC II 1934. I'm very glad that I found this Julia Titi for a price that I could afford. Julia Titi denarius, Rome mint, AD 80-81. I find the reverse of this coin fascinating. It's very difficult to find a better one of this type. On the reverse, a dacian is kneeling to the feet of Pax and extending his hands. Like the judaea capta issues, the motive should show what happened to the enemies of Rome. Trajan denarius, Rome mint. Struck circa AD 106-107. RIC II 189; Woytek 220f; RSC 418. One of the first denarii of Hadrian, where he announces that he was adopted. Hadrian denarius, Antioch, 117 AD. RIC 2959. I really like coins from the travel series and I don't think that it's easy to find one with such a nice obverse and reverse. Hadrian denarius, Rome, ca. 130-133 AD. RIC 1494. My second coin from the travel series. I wonder if Hadrian believed that Nilus might take better care of Antinous if he worshipped both. Hadrian founded a cult around Antinous, so I believe that he certainly seeked consolation in religion after Antinous' death. But I'm not sure if he found it. RIC 310. Ex CNG Auction VIII 1989 Young commodus, at a time when there was still some hope that education could have shaped him into a reasonable person. Usually, I do not care much about rarity. For me, it's just an inconvenient circumstance that many coins that I like are also a bit rare and therefore more expensive... This here is an exception because it is very rare and was not as expensive as I would have expected. Commodus denarius, Rome, 175-176 AD. RIC -; BMC -; Cohen -. MIR 342-14/15 (no example recorded). Apparently unpublished with this bust type. Ex Leu 07/2022, Adrian Lang collection. I have a very weak spot for Commodus Hercules denarii... I own 3 of them. This here was my first one. I like the nice color, the good condition and the bold and clear relief (very untypical for this type). Commodus denarius, Rome, 191-192 AD. RIC 253. Ex Jeremy numisforums There are of course more coins in my collection that I like a lot. This here is just a selection. It was really difficult to stop at 12 coins...

Beautiful presentation, @LONGINUS! And happy 1993th birthday, Nerva. Nerva Denarius (3,50g, 18/19mm), Roma, 96 BC. Obv. IMP NERVA CAES AVG P M TR P COS II P P, laureate head to right. Rev. CONCORDIA EXERCITVVM, clasped hands. RIC 2, RSC 16. Ex GM 108 (2001), 1765. Ex A. Lang collection (not in auction).

I won this Hadrian today. It‘s my second coin from the travel series. I find obverse and reverse very attractive. I think that it would be difficult for me to find a specimen that I like more. Hadrian, 117 - 138 AD. Denarius ø 17mm (3.24g). Ca. 130 - 133 AD, Rome. Obv: HADRIANVS AVG COS III P P, Laureate head right Rev: AFRICA, Africa with elephant headdress reclining left, holding scorpion and cornucopia, basket of grain at feet. RIC 1494; C. vgl. 137-141; BMC 816; Strack 297; BN 4640. Ex Gorny&Mosch e-auction 299. I hope that it will look good next to my Hadrian with Nilus reverse: Obv: "HADRIANVS AVG COS III PP" Rev: "NILVS", Nilus reclining right, holding reed and cornucopiae, crocodile below, hippopotamus to right. RIC 310. Ex CNG Auction VIII 1989

Hadrian, 117 - 138 AD. Denarius ø 17mm (3.24g). Ca. 130 - 133 AD, Rome. Obv: HADRIANVS AVG COS III P P, Laureate head right Rev: AFRICA, Africa with elephant headdress reclining left, holding scorpion and cornucopia, basket of grain at feet. RIC 1494; C. vgl. 137-141; BMC 816; Strack 297; BN 4640. Ex Gorny&Mosch e-auction 299. After some consideration I decided against Toto's Africa and for Elton John. The elephant headdress just reminds me of Lion King. What a trauma this movie was when I was in Kindergarten...

When did Vespasian become emperor? Summer of '69 😎 Vespasian, 69 - 79 AD. Denarius, Rome mint. Obv: IMP CAESAR VESPASIANVS AVG, laureate head right Rev: IVDAEA in exergue, Trophy; to right, Judaea seated right in attitude of mourning, head resting in hand. RIC 2. Ex Frank S. Robinson auction 122.

May I suggest turquoise? 😊

I would rather suggest an additional "mixed" sub-forum instead. Because threads like "Show me your blue coins!" should have a place, too. Roman Empire - Period Edward Gibbon Liked - Period Edward Gibbon Didn't Like - Mixed I'm not sure how it could be called, though... "Mixed" doesn't sound very sophisticated. And is the "World Banknotes" Forum is really needed?

I don't think that Roman coins and modern silver coins can be compared, because they contain different amounts of copper. Even coins from the Roman Republic will not tone in the same way as coins from the later Roman Empire, usually. The vapor from the scrambled egg contains sulfide and the toning happens because the sulfide ions attach to the surface of the coin. The thickness of the silver sulfide layer determines which wavelengths of light get absorbed and reflected and therefore it produces different colors. A very thin layer causes a yellow toning, a thicker layer causes red, blue, violett and when it's very thick it becomes black. What is also black is copper sulfide, so it makes the coins dark. I believe that a Phillippine peso probably contains a higher amount of copper than any Roman silver coin, so I wouldn't be surprised if the egg toning doesn't work so well with it.

My 2 egg toned coins still look like the same. Probably because they're in coin capsules. But I believe that it's not so relevant if they become darker or not, anyway. It is a lot more important that you create an even toning (and not a "spotty" one). If the toning is very even, then the coins will appear attractive even if the toning gets darker. To achieve that, I would not follow the standard advice from youtube for the egg toning. I have seen how they put coins inside a plastic container together with an egg. They even put some egg directly on coins. That looked horrible. Not only because this can only produce a spotty toning but also because eggs certainly contain some chloride that should not get into contact with silver coins. I would start by cleaning the coin that you want to tone as well as possible with a cotton swab and with acetone. This removes oil and dirt from the surface that would disturb the toning. Then I would make a scrambled egg and let it cool until there is no visible steam anymore. Then you can put the coin in a kitchen strainer and hold it above the scrambled egg for 2 minutes. There will be a very even toning afterwards and the coin will still look good if it becomes a bit darker.

I wanted to find that out, too. Thats why I did some experiments with cleaning and toning on the obverse of 2 coins that I got cheap. I didn't have time to work on the reverses yet. The egg toning looks a bit special. Can be anything between light rainbow toning and deep blue. I find it really hard to define what kind of toning is "natural" and what is "artificial" because egg toning uses the same chemical process as natural toning. But I'm quite sure that the coins that circulated 1800 years ago usually did not have a rainbow or blue toning. That's why I think that you could certainly call this toning artificial. Anyway; here are the results from my experiments. Julia Mamaea, before cleaning (I mainly used ammonium thiosulfate): Julia and Gordy after cleaning and egg toning: But if a coin already has such a kind of toning I would not try to remove it. I believe that this would damage the surface, even if you cannot see it with bare eyes.

Marcus Aurelius as Caesar. Denarius. Rome mint. Struck AD 154-155. Rev: Minerva standing left, holding owl and shield set on ground, cradling spear in left arm. RIC III 463a That's a very interesting reverse! I had to read the story of the bull. Minos was king in Crete. In order to confirm his right to rule, rather than any of his brothers, he prayed Poseidon send him a snow-white bull as a sign. Poseidon sent Minos the bull, with the understanding that bull would be sacrificed to the god. Deciding that Poseidon's bull was too fine of a specimen to kill, Minos sent the bull to his herds and substituted another, inferior bull for sacrifice. Enraged, Poseidon had Aphrodite curse Pasiphaë, the wife of Minos, causing her to fall in love with the bull. She subsequently gave birth to the half-man, half-bull, Minotaur. Poseidon passed on his rage to the bull, causing him to lay waste to the land Hercules, made temporarily insane by the goddess Hera, murdered his wife and children. Once recovered, and distressed by his actions, Hercules consulted the Delphic Oracle to find a means of expiating his sin. As a punishment, Apollo replied that the hero would have to serve his cousin Eurystheus, the king Tiryns, a man whom Hercules despised, for a period of twelve years. Because Eurystheus also hated Hercules, he devised a series of ten feats of such difficulty that they would be either insurmountable, or Hercules would die in the attempt. Because Hercules received assistance in completing two of the tasks, Eurystheus added two more. Each labor became more fantastic, and eventually Hercules was compelled to break the bonds of the supernatural in order to complete his task. Once he accomplished the Labors, Hercules was absolved of his guilt, and preceded to perform many other heroic feats. Hercules seventh labor was to capture the Cretan Bull. Minos, the king of Crete, gave the hero permission to take the bull away, as it had been causing destruction on the island. Hercules subdued the Bull with his bare hands, and shipped it back to Athens. Although Eurystheus wished to sacrifice the bull to Hera, the goddess refused the sacrifice because it reflected glory on her sworn enemy. The bull was released and wandered into the town of Marathon, where it became known as the Marathonian Bull. Androgeus, a son of Minos and Pasiphaë, competed in the games held by Aegeus, King of Athens. He won all the games, but the bull, which broke free from his pen, rampaged through the city and trampled Androgeus. Devastated, Minos went to war with Athens and won. As punishment, the Athenians had to send several youths every 9 years to be devoured by the Minotaur. Theseus set to try to capture the bull. On the way to Marathon, Theseus sought shelter from a storm in the shack owned by an old lady named Hecale. She swore to make a sacrifice to Zeus if Theseus was successful in capturing the bull. Theseus did capture the bull, but when he returned to Hecale's hut, she was dead. Theseus built a deme in her honour. He then dragged the bull to Athens where he sacrificed him to Athena and/or Apollo. Theseus then went to Crete where he killed the Minotaur with the help of Minos' daughter Ariadne.

I’m still young, but I already have a few scenarios in my mind. Option 1 - my heirs will be rich: Let’s hope that my heirs get very rich - without having to sell my coins. So they could bury me together with my coins. Please also add a ceremonial sword, some jewelry and the remains of a horse and for maximum confusion of future generations I would like to be buried on the moon. I’m sure that this could be arranged via one of these newly available commercial space flights. Option 2 - my heirs will not be rich: If my collection ever has to be sold, then I would like to eliminate the 15% seller’s fee, the 20% buyer’s fee and the fortuitousness that selling via auction usually includes. Instead, I would either open a vcoins store or I would give my coins to a trustable vcoins seller who could sell them for me. I do not own many coins and there are no 20$ coins among them, so there should not be much work involved for handling and shipping. That’s why I assume that the seller would probably agree to a quota of 10% of the price for himself. Option 3 - my heirs will be interested in ancient coins: Well, then it‘s clear… They should keep the collection.

The coin has been withdrawn from auction 😊

Coins that show the Roman kings do exist, even though they weren’t issued by them. Maybe he meant something like this? (Art Institute Chicago) The denarius issued in Rome by the monetary magistrate L. Titurius Sabinus in 89 BC shows on the obverse the head of Titus Tatius, (the mythical) king of the Sabines, and on the reverse a scene relating to the history-legend of the Rape of the Sabine: two young, moving, hold in the arms two women trying to break free. It's a suggestive composition both for the sense of movement and immediacy of significate. According to the legend, Titus Tatius was chosen as Sabini's commander in order to seek revenge for their women kidnapping. After the peace was established that Romans and Sibini should be a unique population, ruled by Titus Tatius and Romolus. (Source) So, I assume that Augustus might have collected coins like this one 🤔

There is this new auction house, “Priapus Numismatics”: https://www.biddr.com/auctions/priapusnumismatics/ Of course, their emblem is Priapus. Just imagine all the giggling during the establishment of this new company. Whoever is behind that - they’re hosting their first auction in a few days. I couldn’t detect anything suspicious about their coins, although I didn’t check all of them. But I just wonder: Why would they prefer to stay anonymous?

I’m quite sure that some people at that time collected coins. Not sure if Augustus - but people were obviously aware of old coin designs and their meanings. For example: Tetradrachm of Alexander IIi as Heracles, 336-323 BC (Source) And a few centuries later Commodus had the same idea: Denarius of Commodus, 192 AD (mine). Here is what Suetonius wrote about Augustus: (Source) Sounds as if they enjoyed looking at coins from different times, kings and places. It seems like someone must have collected these coins and apparently, Augustus found them interesting enough to give them as presents.

Thank you! I was also wondering about the color. The CNG coin reveals some orichalcum - so I would assume that it’s the better “later cast after Giovanni da Cavino” than the one that I posted above.

Absolutely! Thank you! That’s the same, I think that there is no doubt now… I will send an email to the seller.