Nerosmyfavorite68

Yes, I agree. Although I don't collect extreme slugs, even something like my recent Trajan cull sestertius received the respect of having a story made up about it. A coin like that could start a collecting journey for someone. There are certain times where marks and other 'damage' are actually pluses for me, such as my recent Egyptian? Athens tet - the scorpion countermark and the marks on the reverse.

It's always double the fun when an impulse buy turns out to be something more special!

Be sure and post whatever future coin the supplement went towards, please. That would be fun to see.

Watching earlier series, the series 6 was somewhat of a 'bargain.' About 75% ended up losing $500+ on the series 5's. One American collector said it best, "I'm disgusted", and sans the cussing, had the reaction I'd have when pulling out silver eagles and other worthless coins. The 1850's shipwreck ones were pretty cool, but not worth getting soaked for. Even if I did hit it 'big' on one of the red cores, since I don't care much about American numsimatics, it probably would have gotten tossed in the basket,where junky coins go.

My date guesses are probably terribly wrong. It's a bit frustrating not to read these well.

I was watching a bunch of VaultBox 5 unboxings. Some people are apparently collecting different slab decorative motifs for silver eagles.

When did the town switch from Seleucia to Zeugma?

I enjoy Indo-Greek a lot, but I don't really have any significant examples to share.

During the 1990's glory days of cheap coins, I bought bulk lots of as-sized (Imperials were mostly 2nd c., provincials early 3rd), in about the quality of the above fleet coin ranging up to the Titus coin of the same lot, for $1.50 each. Very few had BD. The imperials were mostly stripped, but one can't have everything.

Yeah, really. When I was watching some Vaultbox 5 openings, I was rooting for the more sedate collectors to get something good, but it was rarely something good. Oh boy, a proof 2017 eagle! I like Morgan dollars ok, but not when one pays $1200 for 3 coins.

Hopefully I'm not jinxing myself. This thread inspired me to pick up an example. I wanted one with a nice patina. Philip I AE28 Commagene, Zeugma. Tetrastyle temple with statue of Zeus AYTOK K M IOYΛI ΦIΛIΠΠOC CEB, laureate, draped and cuirassed bust r., Rv. Tetrastyle temple with statue of Zeus seated, holding sceptre peribolos below containing grove below, capricorn leaping right. ZεYΓM - ATεΩN. SNG Cop. 32. AD 244-249. 14.93g.

It's a type which I've admired, but it appears I've never gotten around to getting (unless there's one in the bulk provincials bag). I will have to change that in an upcoming buy.

I really didn't collect these until recent years. I always preferred coins with rulers or what-not. However, I've gained an appreciation for them, especially the series A2. I'm trying to find passable examples of the different decoration varieties. Here's my 'best' one. A2, 28mm, 12.25 g, with a possibly original flan chip. Here's my version of the 1867. While the coin isn't very worn, the terrible strike leaves the coin muddled and most of the 1866 is still apparent.

This video is the most erudite of the VI videos that I've come across. Too bad he received such poor coins (for the purchase price). He really deserved better. I watched a couple unboxing videos of earlier, U.S. editions. One box was around $1400! To quote a radio personality, 'How 'bout no?"

The problem with me participating is my lack of coin photography skills (or, the lack of a proper lightbox). Very few are photographed. They range from nice to crap. My first two coins were purchased when I was under 10, at a coin store whose name and location I forget. They were two junk box pieces, andboy, were they junky. It took me years to figure out what they were. One is an MSC, worn but somewhat pleasing. I always wondered about the MSC. The black patina was awfully thick. Maybe it was painted on. The other is a super-decrepit Nero, seated figure as/dupondius. Fast forward a few years and I started my permanent collection. The main coin store in town always had quite a nice array of coins, presumably supplied by Jon Kern, but I don't know for sure. I'll always remember the colorful ID tags - they'd be written in different colors using colorful markers. There were always quite a few nice coins. I stupidly threw most of the tags out when I made computerized ID tags. It's been 30 years, but it would be something like this, the name would be written in red?, another portion of the tag would be another color, etc. The owner eventually passed and there weren't any decent local options. Some years later, I started getting birthday/Christmas presents, purchased from the local coin chain which specializes in American coins. At least some of the raw ancients (usually the ones I like) are supplied by Jon Kern. starting around 2014, slabs started showing up and there's a depressing tendency for more and more slabs. All of my favorite coins from here have been of the raw variety.

Neat! I enjoy his videos and I look forward to watching this one!

So that I can have the ID tags ready for when the coins arrive, I'll beg your indulgence with the dates. Top one: couldn't even guess, looks like all hash marks to me. middle 15? (based off the end squiggle) bottom: 33? Aside from Sasanian, I rarely ask for ID help. Many of these numbers and letters look so similar, and they're often a bit different than the tables.

I like it!

Prizes sent.

What's worse, I never got a refund/store credit. The Constantine IV large follis would have been much more of a crushing disappointment, but that was the fault of the post office, not the dealer. Luckily, the Constantine IV was a phantom listing and not in stock.

It was fine. I liked it! Writing a story isn't an easy task. Ok, I see the little notification above. I'd prefer to go to paypal at the same time, so when Roman Collector's pm comes in, I'll do both at once. I'm currently waiting for the grocery delivery to arrive, and then I'm dashing off to the ice cream shop.

I'm excited to announce the winner; ambr0zie, for his heartwarming entry. However, because Roman Collector's story was also delightful, I'll do it this way. First prize receives $30 and second prize receives $29. Get back to me via PM and sometime today or tonight I'll paypal it, via family and friends. The money can subsidize an upcoming coin buy. This seemed the easiest way. The winner thus can buy the coin anywhere. You're both winners!

I struggled to think of a first example, although there have been such coins. I suppose this Aemilian would fit the bill for worked out. Not only was it fairly cheap, 195 Euros, in-hand it looks basically like a regular Ant with deposits. Much less bad than the photo. It's not so much a 'bad' photo; it's just difficult to photograph. The spots aren't as obvious in person. Aemilian AR Antoninianus, Rome, 253. 21 x 22 mm - 3.41 g IMP AEMILIANVS PIVS FEL AVG Radiate, draped and cuirassed bust of Aemilian to right R/ PACI AVG Pax standing left, leaning on column with her legs crossed, holding branch in her right hand and transverse scepter in her left. Cohen 26. RIC 8 The crushing disappointment is easy. It wasn't so much the cost, which was 80-something dollars, it was the opportunity cost. I now would have to spend a lot more to get another Nero as Caesar denarius. Furthermore, I never did receive satisfaction - over a cheap coih. Although to be fair, I had recently picked up some delightful coins from that dealer. My orders were way cut back, for two reasons; that, and I was afraid of getting anything fragile or small, because of the el cheapo, floppy mailer. I had to go DHL Express for anything decent, doubling the cost of shipping. It was bad luck; I ordered it during the Christmas rush and the packing was sub-par. But hey, the droopy mailer is environmentally-friendly! Here's the coin before being snapped in half. If the Philip Dacia provincial had been damaged I wouldn't have cared as much. To paraphrase Aaron Berk from one of his podcasts, a buying relationship can be going along dreamily with a dealer...until it's not (i.e. the first problem pops up). Nero (Caesar, 50-54). AR Denarius (19mm, 3.23g, 12h). Rome, AD 51. Bareheaded and draped young bust l. R/ Simpulum above tripod; on r., lituus above patera. RIC I 77 (Claudius); RSC 312.

Thanks!

ID help insofar as mints and years, if possible. That's the downside of that particular dealer. There's good deals, but the descriptions are barebones. I've been listening to the So You Think You Can rule Persia? podcast. Coin 1: AH mint?? Coin 2 A? Coin 3 LAM?