INTERVIEW WITH A MEMBER: Qcumbor

[Ocatarinetabellatchitchix]

There are over 500 active members on this forum, coming from all over the world, with different professions, diverse family situations and varied opinions and beliefs. But what allows us all to come together on Numisforums and be united despite our differences? Isn't it our love for ancient history, numismatics and our individual collections of ancient coins ? Some of us have shared these passions for decades, without this excitement diminishing with the passing years. So why not ask these experienced members what triggered the exercise of this extraordinary hobby, collecting coins that have passed from hand to hand for centuries ? Starting this week, we will get to know some of them who have generously agreed to answer a few questions about the common passion we share between us. Let’s begin with our favorite Frenchie, Qcumbor, aka Q.

 

Q, HOW DID YOU GET INTERESTED IN ANCIENT COINAGE ?

 

I was born in France in 1960, the same year as the « nouveau franc ». As a kid I would get the occasional silver coin (5 francs semeuse, 10 francs Hercule) for my birthday or Christmas, my Godmother being the main provider back then. Later on my parents’ friends would give me their loose change when coming back from a trip to Italy, Spain, Yugoslavia or wherever, just because they new I was interested.

 

The real start of my ancient coins collection has been in 1978 when my grand dad, knowing I had a love for coins, gifted me with the Commodus sestertius he had found at Verdun battle in 1916 while digging a trench. I think every people involved in coins on the internet know that story now !!

 

 

Link to a fun thread about it

 

The second important event was in 1982 when my wife’s grand ma gave me some old artifacts she had misidentified as junk. There was an as of Titus, a sestertius of Lucilla and a few LRBs’. I had to go to the coin club nearby to get them properly IDed. That’s where I met @Alwin for the first time, who became a close friend shortly thereafter. I got immediately hooked and never ceased collecting since.

 

WHAT WAS THE FIRST COIN YOU EVER BOUGHT ?

 

My first purchases , as a teenager, have been a Napoleon III 10 centimes and a Walking liberty half dollar. The first ancient I bought was an Aurelian antoninianus, that is still sitting in my trays.

 

WHAT DO YOU COLLECT EXACTLY ?

 

That’s a tricky question !

Mainly, as a generalist I collect roman coins, i.e. republican, imperial and provincial. For the most they’re coins that appeal to me for no other reason than « I like it ». But I often go sideways : As a matter of fact, I have several roman sub-collections taking quite a big part in my pleasure and expenses on coins : Trajan Decius Divi series, Plautilla denarii, She wolf reverses, Diana Lucifera reverses, Syro-phenician tetradrachms, Gallienus zoo series, Alexandrian provincials. And when I’m broke I will manage to find some Gordian III coin to get me my fix anyway…

 

I also put together a small a series of greek bronzes that I love, and a few parthians as well. Apart from ancients I also collect some french coins with a few specifics on Jean II (the good) rule and the french revolution era, and british coins.

I’m probably a bit too much all over the place as you can see !

As a specialist, on the other hand, I try to built as complete as possible a collection of coins from de principality of Dombes (small region in France around the place I live). I tend to follow the necessary discipline to put together something being attractive and educational, and why not, someday when I retire, writing a book about them. Here's the complete series of all the Grande Mademoiselle demi ecus known to exist :

 

WHAT IS THE SIZE OF YOUR COLLECTION ?

 

I don’t keep exact records. An approximate count would give about 450 ancients, 300 Dombes, 250 french and 250 british.

 

WHAT DID YOU WRITE ABOUT ?

 

Not much really. Four articles for numismatic reviews in total : two were about roman coins, featuring the Trajan Decius Divi series for one, and Plautilla denarii for the other, and two about Dombes gold coins. All of them were written in french. I have translated the one about the Divi series though, and it has been put online at CT.

Link to the article at CT

 

DO YOU HAVE A NUMISMATIC GOAL FOR THE NEXT YEAR ?

 

I never know what’s next. I keep enough spare money, should something I suddenly « need » pops up at auction ! 😄 

 

WHAT NUMISMATIC BOOKS DO YOU OWN / CONSULT MOST OFTEN ?

 

My library is a reflection of my collecting habits : almost everything ever published about Dombes and generalist books for everything else : Cohen, Roman coins and their values, auction catalogs, and the like. For the subcollections I try to get at least one of the available reference books : regarding Syro-phenicians I have Prieur, Alexandrian I have Emmett, Zoo series I have Wolkow, etc…

 

 

 

Q, merci beaucoup for taking the time to answer these questions. For those who would like to admire the superb Qcumbor’s collection more closely, here is the link:

 

https://www.colleconline.com/fr/users/258/potator-ii

 

We would also like to read your comments about the interview, and do not hesitate if you have more questions to ask, our numismatist of the week will surely be happy to do it in this thread.

[Sulla80]

@Ocatarinetabellatchitchix a great idea for a thread - thanks for posting!  nice to get to know Q and his wonderful coins.  I can relate to the early inspiration: for me it was finding silver coins in change after the U.S. switched to clad coins with copper cores, and sifting through change for unusual dates and errors.  I also enjoyed the excellent article on Trajan Decius' DIVI series with discussion of history, and evidence (weights, dies, hoards) that contribute to the understanding of these coins.

 

Edited October 8, 2023 by Sulla80

[Steppenfool]

Great read, and great idea for a potential series! The Verdun story is incredible and it's always good to be reminded of it!

[Al Kowsky]

Wonderful interview with Okat & Q 🤩! If you lived in the USA I'd treat you to a glass of Chateau Lafite-Rothschild wine 🍷☺️.

[Ryro]

Great to read and get to know you better, Q! And INSANE book collection!!! And interesting side collection of coins from de principality of Dombes. If anyone ever tells you that you collecting coins is dumb, you can correct them and say, No. It is Dombes.

Thanks for sharing. And thanks @Ocatarinetabellatchitchix for putting these together

[Curtisimo]

Everyone loves Q! @Qcumboris one of the nicest people I know and is truly a lifelong friend.

Here is one of a few coins I own that came from the Qcumbor collection.

Philippus II 
AR Tetradrachm, Antioch mint, AD 248
Dia.: 27 mm
Wt.: 12.5 g
Obv.: ΑΥΤΟΚ Κ Μ ΙΟΥΛΙ ΦΙΛΙΠΠΟC CΕΒ, Laureate, draped and cuirassed bust of Philippus II right
Rev.: ΔHΜΑΡX ΕΞΟΥCΙΑC ΥΠΑΤΟΔ, Eagle standing right, holding a wreath in beak. ANTIOXIA / SC in exergue
Ref.: BMC 551, Prieur 474
Ex Qcumbor Collection; 2021 Saturnalia gift

Also I agree with the posters above. Great idea @Ocatarinetabellatchitchix and thank you for taking the time to put all this together.

[CPK]

Many thanks @Ocatarinetabellatchitchix and @Qcumbor for sharing this with us! I really enjoyed the interview and the chance to know one of our members a little bit better. I think it's a great thread idea and I hope you consider doing other interview threads @Ocatarinetabellatchitchix! 

[Ricardo123]

On 10/7/2023 at 6:52 AM, Ocatarinetabellatchitchix said:

found at Verdun battle in 1916 while digging a trench

the most extraordinary provenance I heard of. And by far. Felicidades !

[Qcumbor]

Thanks @Ocatarinetabellatchitchix for a brilliant idea for a series of threads and for giving me an opportunity to present myself and my collecting fields a bit more deeply.

I'm humbled and honoured to "open the ball"

And thanks folks for the kind words and comments about my coins, especially (as always) on the subject of my Grandad's finding at Verdun battle. It remains the milestone of my collection !

And for everyone to know, @Ocatarinetabellatchitchix takes his username from a character in the "Asterix in Corsica" cartoon, himself inspired by a corsican singer named Tino Rossi (he was the french crooner of his time). Here is the song 😄 

 

 

Q

Edited October 8, 2023 by Qcumbor

[Ancient Coin Hunter]

Great idea for a thread topic and also its nice to learn about Q @Qcumbor. Thanks for sharing your collection and background info. A lot of us probably have inteteresting stories we could share.

[El Cazador]

@Qcumborso glad to see your QA session here… Your collection actually was 100% inspiration for me to switch to quality collecting with fine style focus.

well done and thanks for being an inspiration to many collectors like me out there!!

[Furryfrog02]

What a great idea for a thread @Ocatarinetabellatchitchix! And a great choice for interviewee, @Qcumbor!
I really enjoyed the read and getting to learn a bit more about one of our esteemed members.
 

What an amazing library!!

Thank you both for being such awesome members, collectors, and friends. I look forward to reading about more of our members.

[DonnaML]

A wonderful interview! Of course I have always loved @Qcumbor's Verdun story, given that my grandfather was also at Verdun, although on the other side. 

And what a library! I am curious, @Qcumbor: at the very top, what is that long shelf of books all bound uniformly in white? 

[Qcumbor]

50 minutes ago, DonnaML said:

A wonderful interview! Of course I have always loved @Qcumbor's Verdun story, given that my grandfather was also at Verdun, although on the other side. 

How nice it is History could make it happen that one century later we can be friends !

51 minutes ago, DonnaML said:

And what a library! I am curious, @Qcumbor: at the very top, what is that long shelf of books all bound uniformly in white? 

They are CGB catalogs, from almost when they started. The early material isn't available online, hence, since I've room enough, I keep them all

Q

[ominus1]

..very kool & interesting! 🙂

[DonnaML]

40 minutes ago, Qcumbor said:

How nice it is History could make it happen that one century later we can be friends !

They are CGB catalogs, from almost when they started. The early material isn't available online, hence, since I've room enough, I keep them all

Q

Nice indeed!

I thought that's what they might be; they looked familiar. I get them in the mail sometimes. I'm not sure why they still bother putting them out; by the time I get them anything really interesting seems to be already sold on the Internet.

Edited October 8, 2023 by DonnaML

[GinoLR]

The story about @Qcumbor's grandpa finding a Commodus sestertius in Verdun during WW1 is so interesting !

That's funny, my own grandpa too found some very ancient relic during WW1, but I don't know exactly where and under which circumstances (probably digging a trench? he was in the artillery). It was not a Roman coin but a very elegant neolithic flint polished axe, c. 4th - 3rd Millenium BC.

 

Another question : if @Ocatarinetabellatchixtchix took his name from an Asterix character, what about @Qcumbor? Is it from ...

   ?

Edited October 10, 2023 by GinoLR

[Ocatarinetabellatchitchix]

10 hours ago, GinoLR said:

what about @Qcumbor?

On other forum his pseudonym is Potator… so many he’s just vegetarian😜 ?

[GinoLR]

15 hours ago, Ocatarinetabellatchitchix said:

On other forum his pseudonym is Potator… so many he’s just vegetarian😜 ?

Well... that's still compatible with the Masqued Cucumber hypothesis.

[Qcumbor]

On 10/10/2023 at 2:26 PM, GinoLR said:

 

Wow !

That's some great find indeed 

(green with envy) Q

[panzerman]

On 10/11/2023 at 10:09 AM, GinoLR said:

Well... that's still compatible with the Masqued Cucumber hypothesis.

Hey/ I love cucumber salad/ and potatos in any form/ esp. creamy mashed with sour cream and philadephia cheese. At family meals I eat half of the mashed potatos/ make a lake in the middle for tons of gravy!

I got to know my nice French friend from the other forum/ funny thing it was the Dombes thing that  interested me. I have the same attitude towards auctions/ some coin just speaks to you and you try your best to win it. Thanks for sharing your thoughts and coins with us/ much appreciated.

John

[lordmarcovan]

On 10/7/2023 at 6:52 AM, Ocatarinetabellatchitchix said:

There are over 500 active members on this forum, coming from all over the world, with different professions, diverse family situations and varied opinions and beliefs. But what allows us all to come together on Numisforums and be united despite our differences? Isn't it our love for ancient history, numismatics and our individual collections of ancient coins ? Some of us have shared these passions for decades, without this excitement diminishing with the passing years. So why not ask these experienced members what triggered the exercise of this extraordinary hobby, collecting coins that have passed from hand to hand for centuries ? Starting this week, we will get to know some of them who have generously agreed to answer a few questions about the common passion we share between us. Let’s begin with our favorite Frenchie, Qcumbor, aka Q.

 

Q, HOW DID YOU GET INTERESTED IN ANCIENT COINAGE ?

 

I was born in France in 1960, the same year as the « nouveau franc ». As a kid I would get the occasional silver coin (5 francs semeuse, 10 francs Hercule) for my birthday or Christmas, my Godmother being the main provider back then. Later on my parents’ friends would give me their loose change when coming back from a trip to Italy, Spain, Yugoslavia or wherever, just because they new I was interested.

 

The real start of my ancient coins collection has been in 1978 when my grand dad, knowing I had a love for coins, gifted me with the Commodus sestertius he had found at Verdun battle in 1916 while digging a trench. I think every people involved in coins on the internet know that story now !!

 

 

Link to a fun thread about it

 

The second important event was in 1982 when my wife’s grand ma gave me some old artifacts she had misidentified as junk. There was an as of Titus, a sestertius of Lucilla and a few LRBs’. I had to go to the coin club nearby to get them properly IDed. That’s where I met @Alwin for the first time, who became a close friend shortly thereafter. I got immediately hooked and never ceased collecting since.

 

WHAT WAS THE FIRST COIN YOU EVER BOUGHT ?

 

My first purchases , as a teenager, have been a Napoleon III 10 centimes and a Walking liberty half dollar. The first ancient I bought was an Aurelian antoninianus, that is still sitting in my trays.

 

WHAT DO YOU COLLECT EXACTLY ?

 

That’s a tricky question !

Mainly, as a generalist I collect roman coins, i.e. republican, imperial and provincial. For the most they’re coins that appeal to me for no other reason than « I like it ». But I often go sideways : As a matter of fact, I have several roman sub-collections taking quite a big part in my pleasure and expenses on coins : Trajan Decius Divi series, Plautilla denarii, She wolf reverses, Diana Lucifera reverses, Syro-phenician tetradrachms, Gallienus zoo series, Alexandrian provincials. And when I’m broke I will manage to find some Gordian III coin to get me my fix anyway…

 

I also put together a small a series of greek bronzes that I love, and a few parthians as well. Apart from ancients I also collect some french coins with a few specifics on Jean II (the good) rule and the french revolution era, and british coins.

I’m probably a bit too much all over the place as you can see !

As a specialist, on the other hand, I try to built as complete as possible a collection of coins from de principality of Dombes (small region in France around the place I live). I tend to follow the necessary discipline to put together something being attractive and educational, and why not, someday when I retire, writing a book about them. Here's the complete series of all the Grande Mademoiselle demi ecus known to exist :

 

WHAT IS THE SIZE OF YOUR COLLECTION ?

 

I don’t keep exact records. An approximate count would give about 450 ancients, 300 Dombes, 250 french and 250 british.

 

WHAT DID YOU WRITE ABOUT ?

 

Not much really. Four articles for numismatic reviews in total : two were about roman coins, featuring the Trajan Decius Divi series for one, and Plautilla denarii for the other, and two about Dombes gold coins. All of them were written in french. I have translated the one about the Divi series though, and it has been put online at CT.

Link to the article at CT

 

DO YOU HAVE A NUMISMATIC GOAL FOR THE NEXT YEAR ?

 

I never know what’s next. I keep enough spare money, should something I suddenly « need » pops up at auction ! 😄 

 

WHAT NUMISMATIC BOOKS DO YOU OWN / CONSULT MOST OFTEN ?

 

My library is a reflection of my collecting habits : almost everything ever published about Dombes and generalist books for everything else : Cohen, Roman coins and their values, auction catalogs, and the like. For the subcollections I try to get at least one of the available reference books : regarding Syro-phenicians I have Prieur, Alexandrian I have Emmett, Zoo series I have Wolkow, etc…

 

 

 

Q, merci beaucoup for taking the time to answer these questions. For those who would like to admire the superb Qcumbor’s collection more closely, here is the link:

 

https://www.colleconline.com/fr/users/258/potator-ii

 

We would also like to read your comments about the interview, and do not hesitate if you have more questions to ask, our numismatist of the week will surely be happy to do it in this thread.

Wow, what a superb interview!  I am only now catching up on these!  I had never heard the story of @Qcumbor's grandfather digging up that Commodus sestertius while digging the trench at Verdun!  Fascinating indeed!

@Ocatarinetabellatchitchix - thank you for these!  I hope the series continues, and also hope that one day someone will turn the microphone around so we can see the interviewer interviewed, as well!