Nerosmyfavorite68

Very cool and informative! I have a somewhat more decrepit version of the Philip Ant, so I'll go a different route for the sun: Attribution: Mitch 982 Date: 1240/1 AD, AH 638 Obverse: Lion walking right, above, sun flanked by two stars Reverse: Kufic legend in four lines Size: 22.07mm Weight: 2.65 grams For the moon, I don't know. I don't think I have any photographed examples of empress Antoninianii.

How cool! I bought a Trebonianus Sestertius from the VOTA collection, for the patina. That's very cool to have a Sear plate coin. Maybe Jeff Clark was an important collector? Yours also has a pretty nice patina. You've been sticking to your goal of getting good quality coins. I've been in the budget gold pool, which are low-grade by AV standards, but still enjoyable and an upgrade to little nummi. I don't have many pictured coins of Commodus, and very few in general. I don't really collect the Antonines that much. The only pictured ones I have are a couple of low-grade ones with nice patinas. Many times I'll buy a coin for the patina and the type which it's on is fairly irrelevant. I didn't copy and paste the platform scene one. Commodus � Sestertius 22.96 g / 32 mm M COMM ANTON AVG PIVS BRIT Laureate head right R/ VOTA SVSCEP DECEN PM TRP VIIII IMP VII COS IIII PP S-C Commodus sacrifying over tripod left C.988 (6 fr), RIC.441 scratch on reverse green patina

Classical Numismatics just did a video on Heliokles, from Bactria proper. I enjoy the Indo-Greeks a lot! For whatever reasons, probably because they're mostly small coins, I don't have a lot. I suppose it'll be an enduring mystery what the decrepit Indo-Greek AR Tetradrachm is. I pulled it out of an HJB pick bin in the '90's, back from when they had tons of Indo-Greek stuff. It's pretty far gone, but I suspect that it's Menander (seems to be helmeted). I'd have to find it, then I'd have to conquer my coin photography woes to show it.

That's pretty cool! I don't have that type. Wouldn't it have been easier to save a picture or printscreen option?

How fun! Unless some are hiding in my bag o' provincials, I have none of this type.

Yay, very cool!

Very interesting! Sadly, I don't think I have anything of ancient Spain.

Pretty neat, especially the OP (and the rare double portrait coin, as well). I love coins of Probus, although I have a grand total of two, one of which was purchased in the 1990's, the other in 2009.

Parthians are fine, but Sasanian coins are my guilty pleasure; namely those of Khrusru II and later kings. I also like the very early ones, but they're quite expensive.

Interesting!

Ok, cool. That kind of makes sense. I don't have much experience with the later, stylized ones. When I buy Parthians, it's usually the ones with a more realistic portrait. Should these be considered billon? Would that explain the BD on some of the uncleaneds? The Sasanian drachms were of high quality silver, but many managed to have green adhesions, mostly stable verdigris.

Very cool. I enjoyed the writeup! Here's my only Quietus. It wasn't a bad bargain coin: Quietus, Usurper. 260-261 AD. Billon Antoninianus (4.03 gm, 23mm). Samosata mint. Obv.: IMP C FVL QVIETVS P F AVG, radiate, draped and cuirassed bust right. Rev.: APOLINI CONSERVA, Apollo standing left, holding branch and resting hand upon lyre; star to left. MIR 1728n; RIC 3. (nice surfaces in person).

I apologize for being an annoying numpty per Sasanian and Parthian coins, although I'm pretty good at ID'ing the ruler, I have no references for these. I try not to ask for ID help too much. I've just been on a Parthian/Sasanian kick lately. However, the upcoming coin which I purchased with this, the star of the order, is ID'd fully! More to follow on that. I chose the best one they had (in my opinion, although it wasn't the most expensive). This was one of the rare times that I wanted a later, stylized king. This one was actually one of the best of the uncleaneds, not having too many adhesions (and some had BD). What was the silver content at this time? Here's the Vologases VI, adn the sparse information in the listing. And if I remember the So You Think You Can Rule Persia? podcast correctly, I think Vologases VI was the last Parthian king? And that he briefly controlled an Iranian rump state? And the massive amount of information... 20mm, 3.14g.

That is an exquisite portrait, reminiscent of the later ones. Those are the only ones I usually collect of Domitian.

Pretty cool. Sadly, the only Carthage issues I have are Byzantine.

Zurqieh had offered an uncleaned Heraclius solidus, which had hard sand stuck to the harder-to-get places.

Perhaps there was a sale, and they didn't update it on one platform? Marc B's coins are often cheaper on his own website, probably due to fees on vcoins, etc.

Very nice! I examined my solidus again, and under certain light, it does look like the picture. What's going on is a blob of metal in the nose area. It doesn't seem to be a divot or gash. There doesn't seem to be damage on the reverse, so I'm guessing there wasn't a repaired hole. My guess would be a serious die break? Unless one looks at it really closely, it doesn't look bad from afar. It's certainly an upgrade to my sub $20 nummus.

Wow, that's quite a nice bust, especially for the time. I love stuff like that; thanks for sharing!

Unless it's something like this, and even this appears to have had a tiny amount of cleaning, virtually all ancient coins have had some level of cleaning.

That's quite a nice 8 Euro find!

Yes, I think the notes only applied to Constantinople. At least, that's the way I interpreted it. It's pretty cool that my budget solidus was made during the 'fall' of Rome. Were it one of the Western emperors, it would have cost a lot more. It could very well have been made to finance the ill-fated Basiliscus expedition (what a numpty). This humble coin has certainly brought me a lot of joy.

Yes, I should have elucidated; I was tired and kind of stressed out from the day. I meant, in terms of thanking the dealer when the transaction is exceptional or something truly special. It's silly to write over mundane situations. Or, if their service is truly exceptional, one can thank them the first time, to let them know that their efforts are appreciated. For example, the recent Magnus Maximus siliqua brought me a lot of joy. I've done it three or four times. Sometimes they write back. Sometimes not. The thank-you's are best done sparingly. I had also written to Aaron Berk. I wanted to discontinue the paper auction catalog, and I would never both someone of his stature with such a mundane request, but I had wanted to express positive feedback concerning his podcast and to pass along some special memories of shopping at HJB, so it was kind of a 'two-fer'. He was gracious enough to write back, although unfortunately, the latest paper catalog just showed up. I guess it's like the "Cat Came Back" cartoon. My potential black swan fear did occur. The stupid catalog arrived at the same day as some coins. I had feared the careless mailman would bend everything, but luckily, the coins were in a small enough mailer. I'll try, try again with another HJB member. No disrespect is intended; I am trying to declutter and since I'm legally blind in one eye, a catalog is kind of useless. Or, I guess there's the opposite end of the spectrum, the plea letter, such as to a large European dealer, who through extreme carelessness, broke a cheap Nero, and then I never got any refund or store credit. Lol, maybe I should hire Packgod (the platinum standard of insult comics) to make that entity a 'thank you' video.

A few recent buys from Incitatus Coins and David Connors, respectively, have given me a lot of joy, and I sent them each a note about how much I enjoyed the coins. Do you ever send a thank-you note for special coins?

Quoting from Sear, "RIC distinguishes two phases of this issue. The earlier (457-68) has an angled form of the letter G in the inscriptions, while the tip of the emperor's spear on obverse normally points between the P and E of PERPET. The later (468-473) has a rounded G and the spear points between the E and T. I guess mine is the second phase one? Sear pictures two 21404's but the spear's in the same place on both.