You know you're addicted to ancient coins when...

[kirispupis]

1. You know most European cities by their ancient names.
2. Visitors to your house are given strict orders from your spouse and children to not bring up coins or history.
3. You visit a medieval city, but find it too modern for your tastes.
4. You know the average weight and size of a denarius and a drachm, but not of a dime, nickel, or quarter.
5. You spell 'drachm' without the ending 'a'.
6. You keep an obol in your wallet, just in case...
7. The numbers 336 and 323 have special importance to you.
8. You plan your days based on auction schedules.
9. When someone says "look! an owl!" your first instinct is to look down.
10. For relaxation, you read Herodotus, Thukydides, Pausanias, Strabo, or Polybios.
11. You visit a tourist trap in Greece and remark "Zeus and Poseidon weren't depicted like that..."
12. You write posts on "you know you're an ancient coin nut if..."
13. You identify with many of the statements in a "you know you're an ancient coin nut if..." post.
14. You normalize place names and get upset when the wrong orthography is used.
15. You've read the entirety of the unabridged version of The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.
16. You correct others when they use Hercules vs Herakles in the wrong context.
17. You've actually looked whether any ancient coins depict a lioness with a cheese grater.
18. When you look at modern coins, you just shake your head at the weak strike.
19. You can name the '12 Caesars' without looking it up.
20. When you watch a movie about ancient Greece or Rome you remark "hey! I have that guy!"
21. You've calculated the value of your home in talents. 
22. You've also calculated it in sestertii.
23. The last time you were at a zoo reminded you of a Gallienus type you're missing.
24. You visit a museum filled with Roman sculptures and wonder whether they have anything original.
25. You show someone a Greek coin but don't understand why they can't read the inscription.

Obligatory coin.

[John Conduitt]

Yes I've had conversations with people who found something really old in the attic, and it turns out it's from 1923.

[JayAg47]

A side effect of collecting Roman coins made me pronounce Caesar as Kaisar, Germany as Germany (as in Get).

[Hesiod]

You wake up at 5 am or 5:30 for auctions after staying up to 3 AM for an auction 😬

[Deinomenid]

You (I) have a somewhat irrational personal animosity towards the Carthaginians for wiping  out so many Greek Sicilian cities and their mints. 

[CPK]

Haha! Brilliant, @kirispupis!  🤣

I've caught myself seeing this dashlight on the van and idly thinking "winged thunderbolt"

Or if you've ever seen a dusty vehicle and thought of it as an "earthen patina"

 

[thenickelguy]

You know you're addicted to ancient coins when...

You find yourself in handcuffs leaving the museum because you believed what somebody told you about the age old superstition that

"Italians always placed coins under statues for good luck and health."

Edited May 19, 2023 by thenickelguy

[ominus1]

...you wear shirts that justify  your 'hobby'...:P

[Deinomenid]

1 hour ago, thenickelguy said:

You know you're addicted to ancient coins when...

You find yourself in handcuffs leaving the museum because you believed what somebody told you about the age old superstition that

"Italians always placed coins under statues for good luck and health."

 

At the Glyptotek Museum in Copenhagen they have some great ancient statuary but also  have  (or had a few years ago) one which was made to look like  it had fallen over and was all smashed up. I am sure we were far from the first "wits" to think of this but I had one of my boys stand next to it in apparent despair. We got some fairly shocked unsuspecting tourists walking  into the room and seeing it and him. He was even shouted at  by one elderly couple.

 

[Hughie Dwyer]

Great post @kirispupis!

I can certainly say that I have fallen victim to a few of those!

 

23 hours ago, kirispupis said:

You correct others when they use Hercules vs Herakles in the wrong context.

I never knew that there was that much of a difference.  At what point would you use each one?

[DonnaML]

9 minutes ago, Hughie Dwyer said:

Great post @kirispupis!

I can certainly say that I have fallen victim to a few of those!

 

I never knew that there was that much of a difference.  At what point would you use each one?

Numismatically, Hercules in a Roman Republican or Imperial context. Herakles in a Greek or Roman Provincial context.

Edited May 19, 2023 by DonnaML

[John Conduitt]

6 minutes ago, Hughie Dwyer said:

You correct others when they use Hercules vs Herakles in the wrong context.

 

I never knew that there was that much of a difference.  At what point would you use each one?

Good question. There might even be at least three contexts - Heracles (Greek), Hercules (Roman adaptation) and Herakles (Greek tragedy by Euripides).

[AETHER]

When u want a time machine 

[ValiantKnight]

Every time you read about the fall of the Western Roman Empire you hope that it ends differently with the empire making a comeback and kicking the barbarians out. 

[kirispupis]

BTW, I'm still waiting for @Ryro to show his coin of a lioness and a cheese grater.. 🙂

[Pantoffel]

11 hours ago, Deinomenid said:

 

At the Glyptotek Museum in Copenhagen they have some great ancient statuary but also  have  (or had a few years ago) one which was made to look like  it had fallen over and was all smashed up. I am sure we were far from the first "wits" to think of this but I had one of my boys stand next to it in apparent despair. We got some fairly shocked unsuspecting tourists walking  into the room and seeing it and him. He was even shouted at  by one elderly couple.

 

This is gold. 

Edited May 20, 2023 by Pantoffel

[thenickelguy]

Not something a "normal" person would say

[Rand]

Jokes aside, the hobby of collecting is addictive, giving the endorphins of intense happiness for most but putting some of us at serious risk of substantial financial loss.

While there are stories about remortgaging houses as a sign of commitment from 'serious' collectors, this is more likely than not to be a wrong decision. All collectors should assume, from the onset, the likely financial loss at the time of collection disposition. Even if the sale values are above the purchase values years after the purchase may still mean a loss due to inflation. It is tempting to see collecting as an investment hobby. This would require strict purchase discipline when planning and bidding, a slippery path. 

Sadly, I have met a family affected.

Every time I joy a 'good' purchase below the coin's previous sale, it is also a selfish me celebrating someone else's loss. One day I will be in the same shoes (pretty certainly with my niche collecting pattern). 

Happy collecting.

[Alexios]

My addiction is quite obvious to many a friend and date. Those who know me have learned never to join me to a museum... we end up spending about the whole day looking at old coins. Not to mention the unsolicited history lessons. 

This is from the Coptic Museum in Cairo out with my date. A hoard of Heraclius coins. Doesn't need to be mentioned that she wasn't as excited as I was to see the Roman eagle standard captured by Muslim forces after taking the fortress at Babylon.  

[Sulla80]

You know you are addicted to ancient coins when: when you look at this coin and think: EO(V) SE (4)75 = AD 163/4, as the Romans were advancing on the Parthians during the reigns of Marcus Aurelius and Vologases IV, before the Romans captured Seleukia on Tigris.

Edited May 24, 2023 by Sulla80

[Edessa]

You check NumisForum more often than you check Facebook...

[Edessa]

On 5/19/2023 at 9:26 PM, kirispupis said:

BTW, I'm still waiting for @Ryro to show his coin of a lioness and a cheese grater.. 🙂

Lioness with a cheese grater. Glad to be of service!

[Roman Collector]