John060167

Hi all,

I have a Leontinoi Tetradrachm that apparently came from Tom Cederlind’s 134 sale, but I do not know the date of that sale, and I would like to find my coin in that booklet. Does anyone have a copy or know where to find one? Cant seem to find one anywhere.

Here is a photo of the coin incase you have one and can look through it…if you can and send me a pic it will be so appreciated!!!

Thanks!

On 3/7/2023 at 3:04 PM, Ancient Coin Hunter said:

PTOLEMAIC EMPIRE

EGYPT, ALEXANDRIA. Ptolemy IV 221-205 BC AE Drachm. (75.52g, 41mm, 12h)

Obverse: Bust of Zeus Ammon right

Reverse: ΠΤΟΛΕΜΑΙΟΥ ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ, Eagle standing left on thunderbolt, cornucopiae in front, ΛΙ between legs

Reference: SNG Cop 199. 

Besides the Greek name Ptolemaios he also used this short honorific in Egyptian...

Iwaennetjerwy-menkhwy Setepptah Userkare Sekhemankhamun, which means "Heir of the [two] Beneficent Gods, Chosen of Ptah, Powerful is the Soul of Re, Powerful Image of Amun."

He actually embellished the temple of Sobek at Kom Ombo, I visited the temple of this crocodile god on the Nile several years back and had the distinction of being held up at gunpoint in the town after darkness had fallen. I wasn't sure at the time if I was going to make it. Eventually I made it back to the temple grounds and the guards watched over me. At 5:30 the first calls to prayer were heard from several mosques, even from those across the river. With sunrise I was able to catch the first train and head north to Coptos. 

Back to Ptolemy IV - He was somewhat dissolute according to the sources, favoring strong drink and other pleasures and ignoring foreign affairs, hence Syria was lost to the Seleucid Kingdom and the natives also revolted in Upper Egypt. Also, silver came into short supply and as a result, more of the large bronze types were struck. He eventually recruited an army of 55,000 men and marched against Antiochus III at Raffa where he was victorious, or at least the Seleucid forces were turned back... 

Thats an awesome pickup, congrats! I have one, my baby nephew absolutely loves them cuz they look like brownie bites….then he lost his two front teeth biting into it.

He doesn’t love them so much anymore. 

At least the coins okay!

Ptolemy III AE drachm, 43mm, 70g

Won one of these bad boys in a recent Stacks Bowers auction. 

Ptolemaic Kingdom/Kingdom of Macedon

”Alexander” AR tetradrachm,

24mm, 16.74g, 11h.

Struck 322-321BC, Memphis mint under Ptolemy I as Satrap

Price 3971

Alexander tets are a dime a dozen, but the “memphis rose” varieties are quite special. These are considered one of the finest style varieties of the whole Alexander tet series, indeed they are quite beautiful! They were once attributed to Alexanders lifetime but have since been reattributed to after his death.

Early Ptolemaic coinage, from when Ptolemy was still just a satrap, can be quite stunning. Here is another example I have from a bit later on which i quite love, the elephant variety. This one was struck between 306 and 300BC at the Alexandria under a reduced standard-the last issues before he started putting his own image on the coinage. This one is particularly cool because it has the “delta” on the elephant skin, so the die engravers signature! You see this also on later tetradrachms of Ptolemy I.

（I apologize for the poor image quality in advance , I would take better pictures but am feeling in no mood 🤣)

Here is a decent video though, really like the toning! https://imgur.com/a/rimgxQU

Any cool finer styled hellenistic coinage to show, or whatever you feel relevant?

Lets see! 

Cheers

5 hours ago, I_v_a_n said:

Yes!

These are ex-mine at highest point of collecting before 2022.

woahhh! amazing, congratulations on achieving such a collection! im jealous haha

18 hours ago, I_v_a_n said:

Hello @John060167

Congratulations with entering into AV Alexandrines theme. I had own a few of staters for last about 10 years and now I am with this one possibly from Side (?) mint.

Sexy coin, who doesnt love gold?? 

I like the little griffin on the helmet you have, and the nike is of nice style too. Do you happen to have any other greek gold? Theyre quite pricey unfortunately:-(

Cheers

Nice Caligula coins! He is  tough in general with Roman imperial issues, but especially his precious metal issues…not affordable, yikes! Here’s two i have:

Caligula AE As, struck 37-38, Rome mint. “Vesta” Reverse-RIC I 38

Caligula AR denarius, struck 37-38, Lugdunum mint. “Germanicus” reverse-RIC I 12

7 hours ago, kapphnwn said:

The so called Leontini "wet head" Tetradrachms were a part of a hoard but not the Randazzo hoard as commented on by @DeinomenidThis was a separate hoard possibly found in the 1980's and appears to have be purchased in large part or in whole by Numismatic Fine Arts out of Beverly Hills California. A few of these coins were put on auction during the late 80's by NFA,  however the bulk were kept in what became to be known as the Athena Fund, a venture run by NFA in partnership with Merrill Lynch. Eventually with the collapse of NFA the Athena fund was auctioned off in three Auctions in late 1993. One of these auctions Auction II October 26 1993 had along with a number of these coins offered as individual lots, at least one bulk lot with at least a dozen or more of these coins.  I have been told that my coin is one of the coins from this bulk lot. I believe this as I purchased this coin very soon afterwards.   

Leontini Ar Tetradrachm circa 440-430 BC Obv Head of Apollo  left/ Rv Head of roaring lion left surrounded by three kernels of grain and one leaf HGC 671 17.34 grms 25 mm Photo by W. Hansen

One of the features of the coins struck with this obverse die is the evidence of die deterioration. This die started to fall apart very quickly. It is interesting that even on @John060167coin shown above that the large die break (which I usually call "the shield") is evident on his coin as well. What is not evident on his coin though on mine is the diebreak behind the eye. 

Very beautiful example, thanks for sharing! Your coins are always beautiful.

I recently read about the Randazzo hoard of 1980, which had a lot of coins from places in Sicily such as Messana, Syracuse, Gela, Akragas, etc. But from what I have seen, the hoard of “wet hair” leontinoi tetradrachms comes from somewhere else, and there were apparently 1-2000 of them found? I didnt know about the NFA/Merrill Lynch venture, thats pretty cool though. So most Leontinoi tetradrachms probably have provenance back to that 1993 sale.

 (By the way here is another picture of mine from the 2004 Dr. Busso sale if anyone wants another shot)

Cheers!

Hi again!

Coming with a Leontinoi tetradrachm this time, a wet hair example! 

Sicily, Leontinoi

AR tetradrachm, 24mm, 17.03g, 1h

Struck 430-425BC, reverse die engraved by the leaf master

Obv: Laureate head of Apollo facing left, with “wet hair”

Rev: ΛΕΟΝΤΙΝΟΝ, Head of a lion with open jaws facing left, around, three barley grains and behind head, a laurel leaf

SNG ANS 257

Video: https://imgur.com/a/qe2uWw8

What is interesting about this coin is that is was made by a die master sometimes called “maestro della foglia”, or the leaf master, who signed his dies with a leaf. He also apparently made dies for Katane too.  The style of this piece is what attracted me for sure, so am happy to add it to my collection!

Something also interesting is that this is a circulated “wet hair” Leontinoi tetradrachm. Almost all of the wet hair Leontinoi tetradrachms known today came from a hoard found in the 1980s, and they are all in mint state grades from what i hear (there are super forgeries made from the hoard coins-see how similar the genuine and fake coins are-only thing i can tell is the edges on fakes are smoother)-good thing mine is circulated so i have to worry less about this 🤣

Before that hoard, wet hair Leontinoi tetradrachms were extremely rare and always found in circulated conditions, which makes me wonder if this coin has an old provenance? Maybe someone familiar with the series could help? All i know is it has a Dr. Busso Peus provenance from 2004 and is also ex-Tom Cederlind.

Please share your knowledge or your coins of Leontinoi, or whatever you wanna show!
 

cheers!

Hello!

After itching for one of these gold staters types for so long, I finally picked one up! This one is actually of Philip III, so not of Alexander the great, but has that iconic Athena and Nike on it so close enough for me. Went for a great price at Naville!

Kingdom of Macedon. Philip III (r. 323-317BC). AV Stater, 19mm, 8.56g, 10h

struck 323-317BC, Babylon mint

Price P180

Anyone have any kind of greek gold/electrum? Please share!

Video link: https://imgur.com/a/T56Pnod

On 2/16/2023 at 12:26 AM, Kazuma78 said:

Beautiful coin and a wonderful pickup! It is a type I would love to eventually add to my own collection.

I completely understand why the coinage of Sicily is so hotly collected. So many talented engravers and great designs. I have a handful myself but am always looking to add more:

Amazing set, wow! Especially love the entella tet and the Agathokles tet, super jealous. How long you have been building this  set?

Cheers

Late as hell but thanks for sharing Deinomenid! I guess I spoke on them but showed no images haha…I really like the underwater portrait  type and hope to get one eventually; right now am building my sicilian typeset so that one’s on my hit list 👍

Maestro della Foglia is interesting since unlike Eumenos and his contemporaries, he only signed with a leaf! I wonder how do they know his issues of Katane and Leontinoi are really of him when his signatures are different anyway?

Anyway, I have one issue from him, but from Leontinoi. I love it quite a bit!

Cheers

On 2/15/2023 at 11:31 AM, Deinomenid said:

And because you mention the leaf master, here he is. Arguably the Maestro della foglia was the engraver who began Katane's coin design transformation and who likely was  a major source of   inspiration for Choiron, Euainetos, Herakleides etc

Katane. Circa 434-415 BC. AR Tetradrachm. Reverse die signed by the "Maestro della foglia.". Charioteer, wearing long chiton, holding kentron in left hand and reins in both, driving fast quadriga right; above, Nike flying right, crowning horses with wreath held in both hands / Head of Apollo right, wearing laurel wreath; plane leaf to left (signature), KATANAION to right. Mirone –; HGC 2, 572 (same dies as illustration); SNG ANS 1256; SNG Lloyd 898; Gillet 392; Gulbenkian 185 = Jameson 541; Pozzi 417; Rizzo pl. XII, 11 (all from the same dies).

 

Hello, long time no see! Its 3:50am the morning after valentines day and my mind won’t let me sleep tonight, so here we go…🤣 I have not posted here in a while…mostly was posting Roman stuff before, but now its Greek season for me so gonna post some more Greek coins I’ve  had picked up! Here is a really awesome one I picked up at the last NYINC:

Sicily, Syracuse

AR tetradrachm, 23mm, 16.92g, 6h
struck 415-405bc, second democracy era
double signed dies by eumenos
Tudeer 31 (v11/r21)
Obv: charioteer , driving galloping quadriga left , holding kentron in right hand, reins in both; nike flying above, crowning charioteer; in exergue, dolphin chasing fish to right, EV signature below horses
Rev: ΣΥΡΑΚΟΣΙΟΝ, head of arethusa left, wearing earring and necklace, four dolphins swimming around. EV signature below neck

Whats awesome about this coin is that it was struck during the height of Syracusan numismatic art following the defeat of the Athenians who invaded  Syracuse during the Peloponnesian war era (c.413bc if i recall) . The Syracusans  employed some of the finest artists around Sicily to make dies for the coins, and they started doing experiments with the dies and raising coin art to a new level not seen before. The artwork was so good that syracuse allowed the artists who made these dies to sign their coins , and the artists apparently became famous in their own day for it. You can see some really experimental designs, such as arethusa facing front, arethusa under water(which i really want, shared below-not mine),  and very lively variations of the quadriga. This is the era in which the decadrachms were made too, so yeah.

In this case, both dies were signed EV, by Eumenos it is said. I find it cool that some “signed” issues are signed only on one die while the other side is unsigned, some dies have both sides signed by different artists, Ive seen some by Eumenos and Eukleidas, etc. In this case, the coin was made only by one artist entirely, and it is cool that we know this was entirely made by one master engraver. Signed issues became was a thing in Sicily before 415bc, you see them in issues from Katane, Akragas, Leontini, etc. even Syracuse had an earlier case of a master engraver signing their coins. Sometimes the artist only signed with a symbol of some sort, not actual lettering like the “Leaf Master” of Leontini & Katane. The artists were not necessarily restricted to one city either but appeared to move around to different cities who contracted their services, which is interesting and i do wonder more on how that worked. Only if we knew more about these master engravers… would be cool to know their stories.

Have any coins from sicily? Please share! Cheers

PS: Here is an imgur video of the coin for anyone interested 

https://imgur.com/a/14xR1tA

10 hours ago, Qcumbor said:

No Ceasar lifetime issue in my trays, but 4 related to the dude

Q

those are nice! id say those first three are lifetime issue caesars, just not lifetime issue portraits so more than good enough! high quality lovely specimens.

cheers!

On 8/16/2022 at 10:47 PM, Octavius said:

 Great and desirable coins!

Silver denarius CAESAR IMP, minted in Rome by P. Sepullius Macer, January to February 44 BC.

sick quality example! wow! what good metal and handsome portrait on that issue.

thanks for sharing!

On 8/16/2022 at 8:34 PM, Curtis JJ said:

@John060167! Totally didn't notice thre username lol. Good to see you! I love Reddit & the discord but something about keeping up with people on those interfaces kinda stresses me out sometimes. I like these kinda forums best for some reason.

Looks like you've made a wonderful addition with that great looking BVCA ! Pretty sure I recognize your veiled MACER now that I've put 2 and 2 together. This is a fun series. Personally I always refer to elephant denarius as the first of the "coins that killed Caesar" (plural), since he basically strolled over the Rubicon & iimmediately struck treasury silver in his own name with no Senate authority, at the point of a sword. What do you think? 

haha yeah thats a good point on that elephant denarius. Never thought of it that way….Lets just say these dict perpetvo denarii are the “coins that put a nail in caesars coffin”(well not coffin since he was cremated but!)

cheers!

On 8/14/2022 at 11:52 AM, Curtis JJ said:

That's a nice pair! I don't have one of the veiled ones yet. I've got two DICT PERPETVO with laureate Caesar, BVCA and Macer. Both have very rough reverses (otherwise I couldn't have afforded them!), especially the BVCA, but I actually find the portrait quite nice:

 

 

 

 

lovely coins! both still of nice quality for the type, not sure which i prefer! i remember you showed em to me on reddit, i dont see you there too often anymore.

cheers!

3 hours ago, shanxi said:

Nice coin, much better than the old one ! Congratulations !

 

I don't have a livetime 

Marcus Antonius
AR-Denar, ca. 43 v.C.
mint in Gallia
Obv: M ANTON IMP Head of Marcus Antonius r., lituus behind
Rev: CAESAR DIC Laureate head of Julius Caesar r., jug behind
Ag, 3.81g, 18mm
Ref: Cr.: 488/1, Sydenham: 1165, Sear 118

 

 

 

ohh thats very cool, love that issue! my favorite thing is that it has a double portrait of caesar and antony, you can see here how antony was really trying to come off as caesars true successor, even if octavian was his real designated heir lol.

thanks for sharing!

Hi everyone!

Hope y’all are doing well, I would just like to share a new pickup of mine, a type of coin that is among one of my favorites out there to collect. 

I am talking about the portrait denarii of Julius Caesar, especially the lifetime issues struck between Jan and March 44BCE, especially the DICT PERPETVO types. These coins are particularly significant because they are known as “the coins that killed caesar”. Not to mention they are also the first proto-Roman Imperial coin issues too, as no Roman coin ever before beared a portrait of a living man nor did anyone before Caesar ever put such a powerful title on their coinage such as dictator for life, or even held such power like Caesar. This trend that Caesar started would be continued by his successors Octavian and Mark Antony (as well as others including Caesar’s asssassin, Marcus Junius Brutus, ironically ) and would be used in the Roman Empire for the rest of its history.

Here is the coin anyway:

Late Roman Republic

Julius Caesar (d. 49-44BC)

AR denarius, 17mm, 3.88g

struck mid Feb-mid March, 44BCE , Rome mint

RRC 480/8

Obv: CAESAR DICT PERPETVO, Laureate head of J. Caesar facing right, border of dots around.

Rev: L. BVCA, Venus standing left, holding Victory in right hand and long sceptre in left hand. Border of dots around.

(and here is a video: https://imgur.com/a/pGuZJja)

This coin was issued by one of the 4 moneyers that year, Lucius Aemilius Buca. An interesting  fact is that typically there were only 3 moneyers during the republican period (this system was called this tresviri monetales, meaning the three moneyers). However, in preparation for Caesars anticipated parthian war, the mintage output was increased and so Caesar appointed 4 moneyers that year. It is clear production was high that year based on the known coinage as well as the quality of the coins themselves, ie weight tolerances were fairly large and the dies/striking quality was not always the best. 

My example is fairly high grade , but is struck on a thick flan and slightly off center so a portion of Caesars portrait and the legends are off. It has really nice surfaces and metal, and no bankers marks. The die itself seems to have some wear as evidenced by the die cracks present on the obverse and reverse.

The RRC 480/8 denarius I picked is an upgrade to another DICT PERPETVO type I already have, specifically an RRC 480/13, which is a veiled head type struck by P. Sepullius Macer, another of the 4 moneyers for 44BC. This coin is well struck but fairly beat up, it has been well circulated, scratched up, bankers marked, etc. but still a decent example of the type.

Late Roman Republic

Julius Caesar (d. 49-44BCE)

AR denarius, 19mm, 3.15g

struck mid Feb-mid March, 44BC, rome mint.

RRC 480/13

Obv: CAESAR DICT PERPETVO, veiled head of J. Caesar facing right. Border of dots around.

Rev: P SEPVLLIVS MACER, Venus standing left, holding victory in right hand and sceptre in left with shield at bottom. Border of dots around

(a video: https://imgur.com/a/05lAB0Z)

Anyway, do you have any coins of Caesar? If so please share, would love to see what you got! If not, share something you have that you feel is relevant!

Cheers!

Wow, some wonderful owls here!! A big owl thread is always fun! I see classical mass emissions, transitionals, archaics, new style, intermediates, and also various denoms! Even a gold one, darn! Awesome variety.

I have a few owls, but here are two pretty neat ones you do not always see:

(left coin) 1-Athenian Owl tetradrachm, struck 465-455bce, Starr group VA (transitional series).

22mm, 17.14g

(right coin) 2-Athenian Owl Drachm, struck 449-404bce, Kroll 10; HGC 4, 1631.

15mm, 4.22g

If you all had to pick getting one athenian owl coinage for free (you cannot sell it), which would you choose?

cheers!

8 hours ago, Cordoba said:

i have some silver dirhams that i suspect have pvc residue on them. they're a bit sticky to the touch, but otherwise i can't see anything unusual about them. they were in pvc flips before, but i have removed them. is acetone good to use to remove the residue, and how long should i soak it?

 

Hi ! I have some experience with acetone, I would recommend using pure acetone only(make sure it is the only ingredient, even bitterants should be avoided.) Best way to find them is at the hardware store or sometimes you can find pure acetone at places like walgreens where it is the only ingredient.

I would soak for at least several minutes each side, could be longer depending on severity of the residue…at least do it  until you cannot see the residue on the coin anymore. Make sure you do not use plastic as a container and maybe use glass or something like that instead as acetone eats through plastic. Also keep your container in a well ventilated area with some lid over it, as acetone evaporates quite easily and you 1) do not want to inhale and 2) do not want the acetone to evaporate to the point where the coin is no longer fully saturated in the solution and acetone is evaporating on the coins surface, otherwise pvc residue can be redeposited…a big no no.

When you take it out, I would suggest a thorough distilled water rinse ideally before the acetone has much time to evaporate. Then to dry the coin without using, I keep the coin tilted at an angle( I use a piece of paper folded into a V like shape and rest the coin there, picture included as an example). That way the liquid falls down the coin and doesnt dry on the coin. Also since paper absorbs the liquid, it also helps dry up the coin without rubbing it with anything. You can flip the coin around to get this done on both sides. I have done this numerous times and have never had an issue with spotting. 

Good luck with doing the pvc residue removal! 

Cheers

On 6/8/2022 at 10:58 AM, AncientJoe said:

Syracuse used coinage as a means of showing their strength, producing some of the most influential and beautiful coins in history. Here's just a pair from Syracuse to avoid over-loading the thread:

Kimon dekadrachm (unsigned, but I significantly prefer this style over the signed Kimon dies):

SICILY, Syracuse. Dionysios I, 405-367 BC. Dekadrachm (Silver, 37mm, 43.51 g 7), unsigned but by Kimon, c. 404-400. Quadriga galloping to left, driven by a female charioteer who leans forward, with a kentron in her right hand and the reins in her left; above left, Nike flying right to crown the driver; in exergue below, panoply of arms on pedestal inscribed with ΑΘΛΑ. Rev. ΣΥΡΑΚΟΣΙΩ Head of Arethusa to left, her hair bound in an ampyx with a net behind, and wearing a pendant earring and a pearl necklace; around her head, four dolphins: two swimming towards each other before, one swimming downwards behind, and one nestling under the neck truncation. Gulbenkian 309. Jongkees 12. Rizzo pl. LVI, 6.

A tetradrachm with an impressively engraved horse (see the veins on the horse's stomach):

 

Amazing decadrachm, definitely a dream coin…maybe one day! Must feel good to hold that in your hands!

I really do like the diework on the tetradrachm too, so much going for it! I like the detailed horse and the chariot rider, could make out facial features on him! Arethusa looks great too. For these coins, I feel style and die state are very important as they are highly valued for their beauty. 

Thanks for sharing, cheers friend!

On 6/8/2022 at 10:42 AM, Alegandron said:

Here is my fat-boy from Syracuse...

Gelon



Syracuse
Gelon 485-478 BCE
AR Tet
24mm 16.7g
Slow Biga Victory
Arethusa 4 dolphins
Sear-Greek S 914
Ex Charles Reeve

love this tetradrachm, really like arethusas head and the detailed obverse! Thanks for sharing!

16 minutes ago, Alegandron said:

First Coin:
I started collecting when I was 8 or 9. Started with Moderns. Believe it or not, I found a US Civil War Token in my Grandparent's change jar. I asked my Grandmother if I could have it, and gave her a dollar bill so I felt that It was mine. We went to a local coin shop, Mr LLoyd Fudge’s Coin Shop in Mountain Home, AR. He explained the coin and all the history behind it. I WAS HOOKED! In fact, I would spend my summer's savings from working (farm work, cutting grass, cleaning out barns, etc. to make money), on other US Modern Coins. In fact, I gravitated to the Odd Denominations (1/2c, 2c, 3c Ni and AR, 20c), Trade Dollars chopped or not, Fractional Currency, Civil War Tokens, Hard Time Tokens, several Feutchwangers cents, etc. as it was cool HISTORY. Yes, of course, I collected some of the other denoms, but that was boring. No real HISTORY.

This is my COIN #1 for my Coin Collecting Hobby:


US Civil War Token, 1863.


First Ancient Coin:

After 25 years, I dumped 90% of my Modern Coin collection, and really pursued my passion of Ancient History. I captured 4 Athens Owls and an Alexander III Makadonwn Drachm in one transaction.

 Alexander III Drachm

(and 3 other Athena/Owls)

So cool, finding a civil war token? That would hook anyone lol. Did you end up buying any other tokens after that one? 
 

Love the owl, looks like a later intermediate pi style tetradrachm, those cuts/marks add another level of history to it over a pristine one! Good strike and centering for the type too.

Cheers and thanks for sharing

15 minutes ago, ominus1 said:

...this was my 1st bought 'coin'.. a $5 piece that sold for face value with free shipping i bought from a TV commercial ..it sits on its display amongst all the others that followed  ..the rest is 'history" and the love of ^^:D

Haha thanks for sharing, I think i know what you mean, like HSN network right? Can’t remember the last time i ever saw anything for $5 on there lol, must have been a while ago! Love your setup btw, cool coins on display!

Cheers

Hey! I would like to ask this question to the various numismatists old and new in this forum.

What got you into coin collecting? 

I always find it interesting to know what was the spark for someone to start collecting coins…

My story is as follows:

I was 8 and was in a flea market with my dad. I passed by this guy selling some US coins, and I started looking and was amazed to see these really large sized coins with old dates on it like 1795, 1885, etc! I asked the vendor if i could see one of the coins, it was a 1795 Flowing Hair dollar, and just holding it in my hands felt like something really special, to see what the old money of yesterday was like. The size, heft and peculiar design intrigued me, so I asked “how much”? The vendor said “for you, only $5! a steal!” Then my dad went and bought over 10 of them, some were Morgans, Draped busts, Flowing hair and even a  1906 American Silver eagle. So when I took them home, I stared at them for a while and become more and more excited and decided I wanted to add another coin to my collection not too long after.

My first (real) coin purchase was an 1899 Indian head cent on Amazon or something like that, for $5 plus shipping …when I got it in I was so happy and spent long periods of time just staring and feeling it up.  Eventually after some more researching I found some local coin dealers, and a month later my mom took me to one. When I went in, it was surreal! The sight of old coins and monies all over as well as the smell of these old coin shops(if you know, you know), I was a kid at a candy store! I asked the dealer if I could see a old toned up Morgan dollar, and I asked him “how much”? He said “$30”, I laughed and said “thats too much! I got some others which are nicer for $5 each” and pulled out my bag of 10 silver dollars I bought from the flea market and proudly showed him it with a grin on my face. When he looked at it, I saw him slightly smirk and he simply said “they’re all fake”. The more he smirked the more I frowned. He then explained to me the various issues with them, how some issues such as the 1795 dollar are extremely expensive, etc, and out of pity, he told me that he will give me the morgan for half off, that I could buy two for the price of what he would normally  sell one, so that I could finally own some “real coins”. And so I walked out of that store with two genuine morgan silver dollars and a bag of fake silver dollars. Then I told myself that one day I would own the real deal 1795 Flowing Hair dollar, my dream coin..the rest is history!

For me it was a bunch of fake coins and an overpriced 1899 Indian head cent that got me into coin collecting, and here I am today! Whilst I do not buy US much anymore after having purchased my dream US coin, I still greatly appreciate the US coins I have purchased and have owned/still own. Nowadays I mostly buy ancients as you can see from my post history, but yeah…. 

Anyway, whats your story? Please share!

Here are pictures of some of the fakes my dad purchased! Which one do you find the most funny? It is the 1906 ASE for me! Haha

Cheers! Cant wait to read the stories you all tell!