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Gorgeous! I don't recognize the beautiful coin. Massalia? Can I see both sides?

EGYPT, Alexandria. Nero Regnal year 14 (CE 67/8) AE diobol; 27 mm, 10.9 gm Obv: NEPΩKΛAVK[AIΣΣEBΓEPA]; laureate head right Rev: L - IΔ; 7-bowled bong* Ref: Dattari-Savio Pl. 1, 2 (this coin); Dattari cf 286; RPC 5322; Emmett 153.14; Poole (BM, 1892) cf 188? https://www.cointalk.com/threads/more-to-this-than-meets-the-eye.309276/ The real reason silphium went extinct during Nero's reign? *kidding, of course. "vase" (Emmett), or "oinochoe" per others (others are probably correct) Next: second century Roman provincial

Erin, hi!! I didn't realize that was you/that you were here on Numisforums. Good to see you :).

Terrific coins, congrats 🙂

ISLANDS OFF ATTICA, Aegina 456/45-431 BCE AR stater; 20mm, 12.32 g Obv: land tortoise, head in profile, with segmented shell Rev: large square incuse with skew pattern Ref: SNG Delepierre 1774ff; BMC Taf. 24.11 Next: a high relief obverse

BRUTTIUM, the Brettii 216-214 BCE Æ quartuncia, 13.5mm, 2.06 g Obv: head of Amphitrite left, wearing crab headdress Rev: crab; torch above, BPET-TIΩN above and below Ref: Pfeiler p. 33, 4a; Scheu, Bronze 51; HN Italy 1944; SNG ANS 123–4; SNG Lloyd –; McClean 1579 Next: let's get crabby 🤣

ACsearch has prices realized for all four of those auctions. Not in convenient list form, but each of those auctions is listed.

Link: stag IONIA, Ephesus. Anoynmous c. CE 1st century Æ tessera, 19mm, 5.14 g Obv: CKωΠI, stag kneeling left, head right; E to left, Φ to right Rev: KHPIΛICωΔEΠPOCΠAΛVPIN surrounding a bee Ref: SNG Copenhagen 355; BMC 186; SNG von Aulock 1875 There are a some colorful theories about these tessera. Barclay Head, in Historia Nvmorvm (1911), says: Eckhel believed they were apothecaries' advertisements. Babelon felt they were charms with inscribed with magic formulae (the coin's legend, which is either nonsense or abbreviations whose meaning has been lost to history). Head thought they might be charms used in apiculture. In 2016, a CNG cataloger had this to say about the type: "A series of tesserae, or tokens, was produced at the cult center of Ephesus during the Hellenistic period and later. The legends generally cannot be translated and are probably, for the most part, meaningless mystical formulae." Twenty years ago, another CNG cataloger offered this story: "In the ancient world, many people carried magic talismans to ward off evil. In addition to symbols, these devices often included magical incantations, though many times there is no coherent meaning to the pharse. Such incantations are known as "Ephesian letters", since their source was alleged to be Ephesus, as is the case with our example. The obverse legend may refer to the Greek verb skopew, or "look", an allusion to the "evil eye" against which many of these objects were intended. The reverse legend can best be translated as "This, as a coating toward the disease," with PALVPIN being a corruption of palurion, some type of disease." Another interesting theory about these strange bronzes was published in a medical history journal. The Tesserae of Ephesos in the History of Medicine, Med Hist. 1968 Jul; 12(3): 292–294. I invite you to read that short article. To briefly summarize, the authors make a case for these being health amulets. While Asklepios and his family are perhaps the best known ancient medical figures, in Ephesus it was Artemis who assumed the role of protector of health, among her many other roles. Non-metal versions of these tessera were produced near the Temple of Artemis in earlier centuries. The charms were worn around the neck as treatment for disease and protection from evil. So... I guess we may never know the real story behind these tesserae. Feel free to conjure up your own theory. Perhaps I'll try holding this tessera and whispering kerilic ode proc palurin next time I have a headache 😄.

Thanks, me too! Looks like Poseidon just arose from the Mediterranean, seawater still dripping from his beard. The lack of an obverse legend makes the portrait stand out even more, like a little work of art. 95% of the time, I buy coins for their interesting reverse, but I love both sides of this coin 😍.

CELTIC, Central Europe (Rhineland). "Dancing Mannikin" type 65 BCE - CE 1 AR Quinarius, 13 mm, 1.62 gm Obv: dancing mannikin right, head turned left, holding snake in right hand, torque in left hand. Rev: horse standing right, head turned left; around, zig zag border. Ref: SLM 1118. Dembski 73, 396. (I'll have to take the seller's word on that for now. If any of you have a Celtic reference and find this inaccurate, please let me know.) Next: dancing? If I can't find a dance partner, then another Celtic 😁

Link: gate Here's a coin I bought in 2021, looks like I have never shown it before. I remember putting it on my top 10 of 2021 list but I guess I never finished/posted that either 🤣. THRACE, Bizya. Pseudo-autonomous Time of Antoninus Pius (138-161) AE 21 mm, 4.64 gm Obv: Draped and bearded bust of Poseidon right
Rev: ΒΙΖVΗΝΩΝ; Monumental city gate: wall section with closed gate between two round towers; upper wall decorated with gallery of arches; on top, quadriga right. Ref: RPC IV.1 online 9314, temporary (4 specimens; not including this coin) Rare

For me, it depends on the overall availability of the type. Often-- at least with bronze provincials-- there may be no or few examples known, or maybe the type is rarely available. If it's an interesting coin-- iconography or whatever I'm after in each specific case-- I will buy it unless there is obvious tooling. Clumsy cleaning marks and smoothing are not deterrents.

Knock wood but I've had pretty good luck with all shippers. There was one memorable exception-- a six month journey-- but it ended well. Generous CT member Andres2 sent me a gift from the Netherlands-- an old display of faux ancient coins, issued as a promotional item from British Petroleum. I lived in the US Virgin Islands at the time. Weeks and then months went by. We both gave up, and being the great guy he is, he sent me another one! It arrived promptly. Soon after, the first package arrived 🤣. It had been sent to the wrong country-- the British Virgin Islands. Only 15 miles away, but it took three months for the package to go those last miles. We decided to regift that set to another CT member who lives in England. I sent it via USPS and the well-traveled package went on yet another wild and winding journey. In its six month tour (counting first and second trips), those BP tokens were in the Netherlands, New York, Miami, Puerto Rico, US Virgin Islands, British Virgin Islands, and Canada... some locations multiple times. It went south, then north, then south, then west, then south, then north, then east.... truly a dizzying trip 🤣. In the middle of the second journey it landed in my PO box before moving on again. Turns out I was to blame for the faulty start of the second mailing- I used initials for my name (sender name), and customs requires spelling out the full name. Lesson learned. Anyway... all this to say that it is possible your package may eventually arrive. 🙂 Here's the second set Andres sent-- the one I received first and kept.

Thanks, Sulla 🙂 I've missed coin forums and hanging out with everyone. I'm going to make an effort to be more active now. It's hard. I got out the camera and tried to take pictures of some coins never shown and forgot how much time I used to spend fussing with photos and such. Really wish I had a better camera setup... one that allows me to see a LARGE image as I'm setting up or shooting. It's a bummer when I get all set up and shoot a bunch, load into the computer, and then find specks of crap on them and have to start over.

Egyptian iconography? You betcha 😀 EGYPT, Alexandria. Hadrian year 11, CE 126/7 billon tetradrachm, 26 mm, 12.6 gm Obv: AVTKAITPAI AΔPIACEB; laureate, draped, and cuirassed bust right, seen from behind Rev: L ENΔ EKATOV: Canopus of Osiris right Ref: Emmett 827.11, R3; Milne 1205 Next: keep it going! MORE Egyptian iconography