Nerosmyfavorite68 Posted November 13 · Member Share Posted November 13 There's zilch chance Dad will read this forum so there's very little chance of spoiling the surprise. It's not the main present, just the coin part. The piece is very respectable, having a nice patina and pretty decent details. Also many thanks to Aegean Numismatics. It arrived very rapidly. I should be able to inspect the actual piece once my hands become sufficently dry. I had just washed dishes when it arrived. 9.91g, 26.5mm Radiate bust of Augustus left "DIVVS AVGVSTVS PATER" Altar, with closed, double panelled door, "PROVIDENT SC" RIC I 81 (Tiberius) Ex CNG eAuction 519, lot 389 with tag. The second one is for myself. It's homely but I had wanted an Alexander Zabinas and his silver issues are generally fairly pricey. 1.61g, 11.5mm Diademed head of Alexander II Zabinas right Nike advancing left, holding a wreath and palm. Monograms to inner left. SC 2224.d 19 1 3 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benefactor kirispupis Posted November 13 · Benefactor Benefactor Share Posted November 13 The Augustus coin should make an excellent gift, though if I were giving it to my father I'd probably leave out what "divus" means. 🙂 Recently I gave ancient coins as gifts to several of my relatives. All were also purchased from Aegean. I don't have any photos because they aren't my coins. My uncle, whose family is from southern Italy, received a Sybaris diobol. One cousin, who loves horses, received a Carthage coin with a horse. My aunt, whose nickname is "Godzilla", received a Julia Maesa denarius. Another cousin, who loves dolphins, received a Sinope drachm. Another cousin received an Antoninus Pius Vesta denarius. And another cousin, who collects coins himself, received a post-lifetime Alexander drachm from Kolophon. 8 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nerosmyfavorite68 Posted November 13 · Member Author Share Posted November 13 Those are very thoughtful presents! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benefactor Ancient Coin Hunter Posted November 14 · Benefactor Benefactor Share Posted November 14 Nice idea. Unfortunately when I show my mom a coin the only thing she says is "Oh, that's nice." Otherwise no curiousity or interest at all. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Kowsky Posted November 14 · Member Share Posted November 14 15 hours ago, Nerosmyfavorite68 said: There's zilch chance Dad will read this forum so there's very little chance of spoiling the surprise. It's not the main present, just the coin part. The piece is very respectable, having a nice patina and pretty decent details. Also many thanks to Aegean Numismatics. It arrived very rapidly. I should be able to inspect the actual piece once my hands become sufficently dry. I had just washed dishes when it arrived. 9.91g, 26.5mm Radiate bust of Augustus left "DIVVS AVGVSTVS PATER" Altar, with closed, double panelled door, "PROVIDENT SC" RIC I 81 (Tiberius) Ex CNG eAuction 519, lot 389 with tag. The second one is for myself. It's homely but I had wanted an Alexander Zabinas and his silver issues are generally fairly pricey. 1.61g, 11.5mm Diademed head of Alexander II Zabinas right Nike advancing left, holding a wreath and palm. Monograms to inner left. SC 2224.d I love the patina on Augustus bronze 😍. I'm sure the "old man" will like the coin if you present it with some written history 😉. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nerosmyfavorite68 Posted November 14 · Member Author Share Posted November 14 He's collected off and on, mainly budget coins. I'm pretty happy with my choice. It's a nice side present. The patina was also the clincher, for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greekcoin21 Posted November 14 · Member Share Posted November 14 I wish my son would buy me a similar coin 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benefactor LONGINUS Posted November 14 · Benefactor Benefactor Share Posted November 14 Great coins and post @Nerosmyfavorite68! Here is my Alexander Zabinas. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nerosmyfavorite68 Posted November 18 · Member Author Share Posted November 18 I finally opened up the coin (three days later, lol). The Augustus looks nice. It's not as vivid as the pic; the green is more muted, but it's still nice. Well, my Christmas shopping kind of got thrown for a loop. He doesn't want gift cards, so I was thinking about a coin as the main present, too. Drat, London Ancients is out of the office until Dec. 10th. (they've been out pretty often in the past couple of months), so that's one main source that's out. Savoca doesn't have quite the selection LAC has (although still a lot), and it's a bit harder to navigate (they got a bit lazy with the sidebar - it's 'Imperial', not Augustus-Claudius, etc. The pricing is also kind of all over the board. There's a bunch of reasonbly-priced ones, though some of the most recent additions are way too high for the types, in my opinion. I'm doing a general search by price. I should look around before just jumping on a coin there, however. He wants a coin with a ruler/emperor on the obverse. Roman Republic is out. So, that kind of leaves Hellenistic and Roman. I was looking at Nero recently and price inflation has really hit. One's hard-pressed to find an imperial, as or above, AE below $300 that's not crummy. Or, I guess a wildcard could be a huge King Louis medallion, like I got mom. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Furryfrog02 Posted November 18 · Supporter Share Posted November 18 That is a great coin! That green patina is beautiful. If I were your dad, I'd love it. PS - do you need another one? I'm looking to adopt haha. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Qcumbor Posted November 18 · Supporter Share Posted November 18 I'm positive your dad will love the coin. It's an interesting cointype and the patina is gorgeous, well done ! Q 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nerosmyfavorite68 Posted November 18 · Member Author Share Posted November 18 The patina is closer to forest green. It's slightly less attractive than the photo (just because the colors just popped in the photo), but it's still quite nice for the money. I'm still trawling around for the 'main.' I'm even looking at French medallions. However, I just don't have the expertise to know if a restrike is an old one or not, besides avoiding the really new-looking ones. Some of the patinas do look old. Perhaps I should just play safe and keep it ancient. The current contenders are a Domitian denarius in VF/F+, with a bold portrait and very nice toning (the latter is why I'm looking at it - it's nice, but slightly overpriced, IMO) or a Demetrius I Tetradrachm. The price difference is around 60 bucks. The Demetrius probably has more 'wow factor.' Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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