Limes top 10

[Limes]

OK, so, this year I added 12 coins to my collection. Im currently negotiating with a seller about the price of a coin that would surely make it in my top 10. But that process is ongoing, and I don't think it will be here this year, so I will have to add it to my list next year. 

To try and keep in line with tradition, I tried to make a real top 10. It proved nearly impossible and although me, myself and I are still debating the order of this list and the two coins that had to be excluded, I decided to post it and search for inner peace. Thing is, I collect very specifically, trying to add coins I really, really want to add and I think are fitting in my collection. That, in combination with a good, but not limitless budget, and soaring prices, makes it necessary to be strict in choosing which coins to add.

I've added a poll to see if my list matches the preferences of other collectors. And yes, I'm an (almost) exclusively imperial guy, so it's strictly Romans here, and they deserve love too!

Anyway, so in order of awesome to cool, here's my top 10: 

1. Aureus of Domitian as Caesar. Yes, its a lovely aureus, but it's my no. 1 because I gifted myself this one in celebration of the birth of our daughter, in February. Nothing can beat that. 

2. Augustus - IMP X ACT. One of my most beautiful coins, and a historical fascinating issue celebrating the defeat of Mark Antony and Cleopatra at Actium. 

3. Sextus Pompey. I've long searched for an affordable specimen of this type, and good quality. This great coin ticks all the boxes. 

4. Trajan sestertius. I was able to catch this great piece for an acceptable bid, to my surprise. The portrait and patina are amazing, and it's the atristic composition of the reverse that made me want this coin for a long time. 

5. Severan dynastic issue. Although when I posted this coin together with the Trajan DIVVS PATER type, hardly anyone replied, it's a coin I've wanted for a very long time. The portrait of Julia Domna is a bit worn, but the portrait of the boys on the reverse is simply perfect! 

6. Domitian's coin reform - Sphinx. I think it was in the collection of AncientJoe's when I first saw a coin with the Sphinx on the reverse. Added the type to my wantlist and I finally was able to catch this one, which has obvious flaws, but shows a lovely depiction of the Sphinx on the reverse. What really blows my mind is that I have a Roman coin of nearly 2000 years old, showing a monument of 2500 something years before the time this one was struck! 

7. Nero's market. Despite what you may think of this emperor, he sure had interesting coins. I was happy to acquire this desirable type with a great depiction of Nero's Macellum on the reverse. 

8. Galba. I've been on the search for a denarius of Galba with a fine looking portrait for quite some time. Happy to have procured this denarius. A magnificent portrait of the emperor who refused to pay the praetorians, which added to his ultimate downfall! 

9. Trajan AE As. A lovely coin with a great depiction of the temple of Honos, and I love coins with buildings and temples on the reverse. I enjoy the brown colour and portrait of Trajan as well. 

10. Another Trajan - VIA TRAIANA. This is one of the coins that had been on my list for quite a while. As they are often seen in auction, I tended to spend my budget on other coins that were scarcer and harder to come by. This one came in a lot together with the DIVVS PATER type, which was also on my want list. I chose to add this one to my list, because I personally think the reverse is historically speaking just a bit more interesting. 

Thanks for looking, replying and/or voting! Below you may find the two coins that did not make it on the list. I did however put them in the poll, so you can vote for them. 

Edited December 17, 2022 by Limes

[Limes]

And the two runner ups:

Trajan - DIVVS PATER. A magnificent coin, strong portrait, lovely toning and interesting reverse. 

Septimius Severus sestertius. I lacked a sestertius of Septimius Severus, and although I was not specifically looking for one, this coin made me stray away from my wantlist. Magnificent portrait, and what a lovely green patina! It's also one of the earliest coins struck in Rome, which also gives a bit of interesting historical context. 

[ambr0zie]

Lovely coins. You should have added a multiple vote poll.
Normally my first choice would be the Domitian aureus, but I don't think I can afford something similar too soon so I can't consider it a choice because of this. When I vote for a top 10, I usually choose what I would have bought and added in the top myself.

I particularly liked the Domna dynastic coin - this would fit perfectly in my collection (writing down and preparing hunt for 2023). I also like a lot Nero's Macellum, the Galba denarius and the Sextus Pompey.

[JayAg47]

My favourite is that Sphinx, pretty much settles the debate of how the monument is supposed to look!

[Spaniard]

Wow @Limes...

Domna with kids is a difficult expensive type to find especially with such nice detail...I eventually went with the Brutus, great looking portrait!....

Ps...All are really nice looking coins.

[Al Kowsky]

12 minutes ago, Limes said:

And the two runner ups:

Trajan - DIVVS PATER. A magnificent coin, strong portrait, lovely toning and interesting reverse. 

Septimius Severus sestertius. I lacked a sestertius of Septimius Severus, and although I was not specifically looking for one, this coin made me stray away from my wantlist. Magnificent portrait, and what a lovely green patina! It's also one of the earliest coins struck in Rome, which also gives a bit of interesting historical context. 

Limes, you had a stellar year 😊! I've had a serious interest in the Severan Dynasty for a long time & believe your sestertius of Severus deserves a high ranking in your top 10 🤩.

[Di Nomos]

Not my collecting area, but enjoyed seeing your coins. I voted for number four, very interesting reverse. And an honourable mention for the sphinx.

[Limes]

36 minutes ago, ambr0zie said:

Lovely coins. You should have added a multiple vote poll.
Normally my first choice would be the Domitian aureus, but I don't think I can afford something similar too soon so I can't consider it a choice because of this. When I vote for a top 10, I usually choose what I would have bought and added in the top myself.

I particularly liked the Domna dynastic coin - this would fit perfectly in my collection (writing down and preparing hunt for 2023). I also like a lot Nero's Macellum, the Galba denarius and the Sextus Pompey.

Thanks, I think I fixed that poll. Not quite sure, but ticked the 'multiple question' something box. Seems one can chose more than 1 coin now. 

And good hunting 😄 

[Nerosmyfavorite68]

Wow, that's a strong list!  If forced to pick a favorite, I'd pick the Pompey with the Aureus being a close second.

[happy_collector]

Congrats to the birth of your daughter, @Limes. I agree that adding a Domitian aureus is a great gift to yourself. 🙂

Your Sphinx coin is also my favorite, together with your #4 coin. Cool reverse design. 

[DonnaML]

@Limes, congratulations on the happy event! You had a great year in every respect. All the coins are fantastic, but I voted for nos. 1, 2, 3, 4, and 6.

A question about your wonderful Sphinx coin: am I imagining things, or is that one of the Pyramids in the background to the far left behind the Sphinx?

If so, that would negate the theory that the Pyramids never appeared on an ancient coin.

[Ancient Aussie]

Extremely impressed indeed, would love any in my collection but although Nero's Market and Trajan temple tug at my heart strings, I have to say I have not seen any of your Sextus/galley have not seen one and are overly impressed with yours must be rare. Congrats.

[Furryfrog02]

Those are all absolutely amazing! 
If it were me though, I would add the Domna/Caracalla/Geta. Wow.

[Limes]

Thanks everyone for liking, replying and voting! Good to see the runner up also getting some deserved appreciation. And the Sextus Pompey issue is going strong in the poll! 

20 hours ago, Spaniard said:

.I eventually went with the Brutus, great looking portrait!....

Thanks! But I missed that I got a Brutus this year 😉

12 hours ago, DonnaML said:

@Limes, congratulations on the happy event! You had a great year in every respect. All the coins are fantastic, but I voted for nos. 1, 2, 3, 4, and 6.

A question about your wonderful Sphinx coin: am I imagining things, or is that one of the Pyramids in the background to the far left behind the Sphinx?

If so, that would negate the theory that the Pyramids never appeared on an ancient coin.

Haha, true! And here I was, thinking it was some kind of intentional damage, or accidental damage caused by e.g. plowing the field. As you can see on map, I've marked the side of the Pyramid vis a vis the location of the sphinx, in the perspective given on the coin. I think you can indeed safely say thats a pyramid! 😁

[Spaniard]

@Limes...Sorry Pompey🤦‍♂️

[DonnaML]

9 hours ago, Limes said:

Haha, true! And here I was, thinking it was some kind of intentional damage, or accidental damage caused by e.g. plowing the field. As you can see on map, I've marked the side of the Pyramid vis a vis the location of the sphinx, in the perspective given on the coin. I think you can indeed safely say thats a pyramid! 😁

 @Limes, I would love to believe that I'm right. The problem is that none of the other examples of this type that I found on acsearch shows any sign of a pyramid on the reverse; in each case, the fields behind the sphinx appear to be empty of any design. On the other hand, all of them seem more worn to me than your example, so who knows? I'm not quite ready to give up on the idea that that's a pyramid on the reverse!

[Qcumbor]

The Sphynx is #1 !

I wouldn't disregard the others though !

Q

[Hughie Dwyer]

Nice coins! The Sphynx is number 1 for me as well!

[panzerman]

I like them all! But cannot go wrong with the Sphinx.... as my pick.

[David Atherton]

On 12/17/2022 at 6:33 AM, Limes said:

OK, so, this year I added 12 coins to my collection. Im currently negotiating with a seller about the price of a coin that would surely make it in my top 10. But that process is ongoing, and I don't think it will be here this year, so I will have to add it to my list next year. 

To try and keep in line with tradition, I tried to make a real top 10. It proved nearly impossible and although me, myself and I are still debating the order of this list and the two coins that had to be excluded, I decided to post it and search for inner peace. Thing is, I collect very specifically, trying to add coins I really, really want to add and I think are fitting in my collection. That, in combination with a good, but not limitless budget, and soaring prices, makes it necessary to be strict in choosing which coins to add.

I've added a poll to see if my list matches the preferences of other collectors. And yes, I'm an (almost) exclusively imperial guy, so it's strictly Romans here, and they deserve love too!

Anyway, so in order of awesome to cool, here's my top 10: 

1. Aureus of Domitian as Caesar. Yes, its a lovely aureus, but it's my no. 1 because I gifted myself this one in celebration of the birth of our daughter, in February. Nothing can beat that. 

2. Augustus - IMP X ACT. One of my most beautiful coins, and a historical fascinating issue celebrating the defeat of Mark Antony and Cleopatra at Actium. 

3. Sextus Pompey. I've long searched for an affordable specimen of this type, and good quality. This great coin ticks all the boxes. 

4. Trajan sestertius. I was able to catch this great piece for an acceptable bid, to my surprise. The portrait and patina are amazing, and it's the atristic composition of the reverse that made me want this coin for a long time. 

5. Severan dynastic issue. Although when I posted this coin together with the Trajan DIVVS PATER type, hardly anyone replied, it's a coin I've wanted for a very long time. The portrait of Julia Domna is a bit worn, but the portrait of the boys on the reverse is simply perfect! 

6. Domitian's coin reform - Sphinx. I think it was in the collection of AncientJoe's when I first saw a coin with the Sphinx on the reverse. Added the type to my wantlist and I finally was able to catch this one, which has obvious flaws, but shows a lovely depiction of the Sphinx on the reverse. What really blows my mind is that I have a Roman coin of nearly 2000 years old, showing a monument of 2500 something years before the time this one was struck! 

7. Nero's market. Despite what you may think of this emperor, he sure had interesting coins. I was happy to acquire this desirable type with a great depiction of Nero's Macellum on the reverse. 

8. Galba. I've been on the search for a denarius of Galba with a fine looking portrait for quite some time. Happy to have procured this denarius. A magnificent portrait of the emperor who refused to pay the praetorians, which added to his ultimate downfall! 

9. Trajan AE As. A lovely coin with a great depiction of the temple of Honos, and I love coins with buildings and temples on the reverse. I enjoy the brown colour and portrait of Trajan as well. 

10. Another Trajan - VIA TRAIANA. This is one of the coins that had been on my list for quite a while. As they are often seen in auction, I tended to spend my budget on other coins that were scarcer and harder to come by. This one came in a lot together with the DIVVS PATER type, which was also on my want list. I chose to add this one to my list, because I personally think the reverse is historically speaking just a bit more interesting. 

Thanks for looking, replying and/or voting! Below you may find the two coins that did not make it on the list. I did however put them in the poll, so you can vote for them. 

You had a tremendous year coining wise! Gold, the Great Sphinx, and architectural types ... wow.

[Limes]

On 12/18/2022 at 7:32 PM, DonnaML said:

 @Limes, I would love to believe that I'm right. The problem is that none of the other examples of this type that I found on acsearch shows any sign of a pyramid on the reverse; in each case, the fields behind the sphinx appear to be empty of any design. On the other hand, all of them seem more worn to me than your example, so who knows? I'm not quite ready to give up on the idea that that's a pyramid on the reverse!

hi DonnaML, I was having a bit of fun with the idea of pyramids on the coin, hope thats ok 🙂 Thanks for sharing your thoughts, but im 110% sure there's no pyramid shown on this coin, or any other coins showing the sphinx (do note, the sphinx is shown on coins of other emperors too). If I may say so, the finest specimen is in the collection of AncientJoe, and you can clearly see there's not pyramid on the reverse.

Looking at the cuts on my coin, the only question is are they intentional, or caused by accident? The colour suggests they have been there a long time. I don't know. And I am sure no expert as well, so, just my amateur thoughts! 

[Sulla80]

@Limes, Congratulations on the lovely set of coins - a year with a Pompey the Great, and aureus and a dynastic Julia Domna (my favorites from your list) is a good year in my view.  Best wishes for 2023!

[singig]

Difficult to choose between them , all are interesting , my preferred are :  Trajan sestertius  , Septimius Severus sestertius , Trajan As and the Nero dupondius. Congratulations , you had a great year !