robinjojo

Nice group! My pick is the Lucius Verus denarius, a nice coin that would stand on its own merits outside the slab. That Faustina II sestertius is also very nice and a very generous gift to boot!

That's a wonderful gift! Wonderful coins posted as well. I only have one crusty bronze of Aurelian, purchased decades ago: Aurelian, Sestertius, 274-275 AD. And a rough Alexandrian tetradrachm: Aurelian, potin tetradrachm, Alexandria, 270-75 AD. 7.76 grams

Well, the interpretations are as different as night and day. To say that Kudritskaya's performance is not as nuanced as the Hill performance would be a serious understatement. The same can be said of Gould's take on Bach. I was brought up with Gould's recordings of Bach in the 1960s. In fact, at Stratford, Ontario, attending the festival in the early 60s my family met, of all people, Glenn Gould's housekeeper! It was so long ago that I forget the circumstances, but it might have been at a place where we had breakfast. At any rate this was the time for Gould mania and Bach on steroids. This is not to say that his interpretations were bombastic; they were just very different from the original harpsichord arrangements. I have (I think) a wide appreciation of music and I recognize that nothing remain the same forever, so I appreciate the very different dynamics of piano versus harpsichord performances and welcome both; each instrument provides a different perspective on the works of Baroque and early Classical composers. Now, I must go back to work on my comprehensive rewrite of the works of Bach for the kazoo.....

Here's a coin and a little music for the season. Rameau wrote some wonderful works for harpsichord and orchestra, in the time of Louis XV. Here's the same work performed on a piano by the gifted Natacha Kudritskaya. The work takes on a definite Romantic character with the full-throated percussive effect created by the piano - very different indeed!

Thanks! I bookmarked the YouTube video.

Thank you! Those performances of the Scarlatti and Debussy pieces are wonderful! It is so nice to hear the Scarlatti sonata performed with a harpsichord, as it was originally intended. Nowadays most performances are the transcription for piano.

Syracuse, tetradrachm, Second Democracy, 460-406 BC. 17.3 grams

Wonderful coins for this year! My favorite, just for its artistic merit, is #2 the signed Syracuse tetradrachm.

The Athenian owl is a nice example of this iconic coin, and the Ptolemy bronze puck is an impressive example!

A stellar group! It's hard to choose a favorite, but I'd vote for the Nero sestertius - excellent quality in all aspects! Still, the others are equally meritorious. Congrats!

Excellent group for 2023! My favs are #8 Septimius Severus denarius (portrait and reverse), #9 Septimius Severus (reverse particularly) and #13 Gaul, Massalia obols. Thanks for sharing.

Thank you all for your votes and comments. This has certainly been an eventful year to say the least, and I think the future of our hobby is full of the promise of new hoards discovered, interesting coins entering the market and hopefully new collectors bitten by the ancients bug! This is truly a hobby that can unite a diverse array of people from all walks of life and differing views and beliefs through a common interest and passion for ancient coins, and other coins for that matter. May everyone's journey of discovery and bliss continue in the New Year! Happy Christmas and 2024!

An intriguing package arrived today from "SS", Colorado. Inside were two wonderful coins! Thank you so much! Secret Saturnalia 2023 gift A LRB, desert patina and a Lydia, Sardis, AE 14. Happy holidays!

You're right about past salvage practices, including the use of huge vacuums that literally suck up swaths of ocean floor - quite destrauctive.

Insofar that the wreck is at a depth of 3,100 feet, I wonder if such a salvage or archeological exploration is even feasible for anyone to undertake. I guess they would use remote robotic subs.

Here's an imitation owl that I finally got around to photographing today. This coin came from the Harlan J Berk Buy-Bid Sale 225. This is a very high grade example, and while HJB calls it "mint state" (whatever that is), it is certainly an attractive coin. The label describes the coin as an "Eastern Mint Type of Athens"; I would go one step further and say that it is likely from the region of Philistia. I can say with virtual certainty that it is not an Egyptian pharaonic owl. The style isn't close to the pharaonic types that I have seen and handled. Philistia owl, imitating Athens, late 4th-mid 3rd centuries BC. HJB 225, lot 235. 17.2 grams

From today's Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/dec/21/san-jose-shipwreck-recovery-treasure-colombia-spain This wreck, the San Jose (1708), is said to have an estimated 11 million gold and silver coins, making it by far the largest find if this number is true. So, stay tuned. Perhaps you'll have a chance to buy an 8 escudos cob at your local Walmart!

Great thread and postings! I like to think that collecting ancient coins fosters a degree of humility and appreciation on the part of collectors in terms of preservation along with other aspects such as artistic style and historical significance. The imperfections that almost all ancients coins possess in varying degree serve as confirmation that they are true time travelers having been passed along for millennia. I really like many of the Salonina coins posted here. I only have two. First my much shown (and worn) AE As: Salonina, AE As, Rome, 260-268 AD. IVNO REGINA SC RIC 49 10.04 grams And my only antoninianus: Salonina, antoninianus, Rome, 260-68 AD. RIC 5(Gallienus); MIR 36, 581aa;RSC 39a 2.43 grams

Sad story. In hindsight perhaps the dealer should have offered to give the couple a percentage of the auction proceeds, as I am sure that this mask was destined for that venue. That would have been the fair thing to do in my opinion. I agree that this mask, with its rarity and cultural relevancy should be repatriated to Gabon, but it likely won't.

A diverse group for 2023 and some very nice coins! The Tacitus and Philip the Arab coins are very nice. The runner up Bar Kokhba bronze is also excellent, especially the obverse, as you noted.

'Tis a well traveled path my friends. I could use a little smoothing and tooling but I don't think Medicare or Kaiser covers that! With ancients I see the issue as a matter of degree, since virtually all have been "processed" in one way or another. I think the full disclosure of the sestertius's condition is laudatory and something that I wished many other dealers and auction houses would use as a model.

As part of an ongoing effort to acquire earlier and later (post-100 BC) new style owls, here is an early issue, Thompson 37. While this is an early owl, it is also the first date with a sizeable number of examples listed in Thompson's catalog, with 33 tetradrachms: 18 obverse, 29 reverse dies and 1 drachm. As far as I can determine this coin is closest to 37A.on the plates. Condition-wise the coin is a crude example, but struck on a wide flan of 34.5 mm. There is some porosity, a so-so strike, a scratch on the obverse, and the coin has been cleaned. Overall, though, not to bad for one of these relatively elusive coins. It is interesting to note that the obverse strike, while being off-center, does avoid a thin section of the flan, creating a dip in the surface. Apparently some care was taken in the striking to avoid this area, unless this all was a matter of luck, which is also possible. Athens, new style owl, 156-5 BC, trophy reverse, Thompson 37. 16.06 grams

A very nice group for 2023! I voted for the Antimachos I tetradrachm, with its nicely centered obverse strike and surfaces on both sides. Congrats!

Yes, very interesting charts. However, these numbers apply only for coins appearing at auction, so if one were to somehow factor in coins sold at the retail dealer level they of course would be higher. Getting to the point of this thread, what is the future for ancient numismatics, I think that would be dictated on: 1) the supply of coins entering the market primarily through hoards and individual finds; 2) the types of coins entering the market; 3) the world economic and geopolitical situation and ; 4) the number of new collectors entering the ancient coins arena. Now, being a forgetful old foggie I might have missed a factor or two, but I think those are the main ones. As a general observation I have noticed a significant influx of coins that were considered to be in the past quite rare, such as the Tigranes II tetradrachms that now seem to be coming out the woodwork. Also, I have the impression that as conflict increases in parts of the world, or persists, it seems that lots of coins are entering through back channels, something that I am sure has existed almost since the dawn of collecting ancient coins, and other types as well. Lots of pharaonic have been coming out of Syria and other places in the Middle East for the past few years, which in turn seems to have increased collector interest in these coins. This might be just my impression, but there is definitely an ebb and flow in the supply of these and other coins.

A truly golden group for 2023! They are all truly exceptional coins and picking a favorite is difficult, given my proclivity to like just about everything. The Kushan and Sassanian coins are absolutely beautiful, so I would pick them as one and two, respectively, as my favorites. The Ostrogothic Kingdom AV tremissis is a true gem of a coin!