INTERVIEW WITH A MEMBER: Victor_Clark

[Ocatarinetabellatchitchix]

In the world of ancient coinage, there are two types of collectors: generalists and specialists. This week we are going to discuss with a true specialist, who have developed over the years an expertise on Late Roman Bronzes (LRB’s), especially those of Constantine the Great. He already acquired in the past a hoard of 300 coins, he is a very complete numismatist who created his own website, started his own business as a dealer of ancient coins…let’s meet Victor Clark.

 

Victor, can you tell us a bit about yourself, where you’re from, your family, hobbies, work…?

 My father was in the military and I was born on a USAF base in Puerto Rico. As a child, we moved a lot; but Tennessee was always home. In 1988, I joined the US Navy and served as an aviation machinist mate for seven years and served during Desert Storm with VA-75 (A-6 Intruders) aboard the USS Kennedy. 
 

 

 

After getting out in 1995, I worked different jobs for a few years, even working in Saudi Arabia as a jet mechanic. In 2001, I decided to use my GI bill benefits and went back to college. I got my bachelors in history with minors in biology and archaeology. I then went to grad school and completed my master’s in history. I don’t have many hobbies; but I like reading and I play video games (currently playing Assassin's Creed Mirage); but my biggest hobby is ancient coins. After grad school I decided to start selling coins full time because I was a middle-aged history major with not a lot of options! I currently live in Nashville, TN with my wife, a dog and a cat.

 

 How did you get interested in ancient coinage ?

 When I got out of the Navy in 1995, I was going to get back into collecting US coins. I was surprised by how reliant people had become on grading their coins and it seemed to suck a lot of enjoyment out of the hobby. What really turned me off, was that slabbing was also becoming a big deal. I decided that I was done with US coin collecting. 

 

 What was the first coin you ever bought ? 

In the back of a US coin magazine a saw an ad about buying an ancient. It cost me $50 and was a denarius of Caracalla. I was hooked and also saw an ad for a magazine called the Celator and the rest is history!

 

Can you tell us an anecdote about a coin you own ? Your best bargain ? Your rarest   coin ? The specimen you will never sell ? The one you dream of acquiring ?

 

The rarest coin that I have ever found was an unknown type for Constantine I

 

https://www.constantinethegreatcoins.com/VICTORIA/

 

 

I sold it to a museum in Arles, as it seemed like that would be a better home for it.

 My current rarest coin is a unique example of a Constantine I coin from Constantinople.

 

 

 

I sell coins from my collection if I get better examples; of course, for many I will probably never find a better example.

 

 What do you collect exactly ? What is the size of your collection ?

 My collecting interests start with Diocletian and go up to the end of the 4th century; but I am mainly interested in the Constantinian period. I collect coded Siscia coins of Diocletian and Maximianus, Carthage coins of the Tetrarchy, coins of Maximinus, coins of Maxentius, London mint coins (mainly Constantine I), VICTORIAE LAETAE PRINC PERP coins of Constantine I from Siscia, Constantinople coins of Constantine I, Rome coins of Constantine I and 4th century unofficial coinage, mainly VLPP’s copying Siscia and then anything else that interests me. I have around 400-500 in my main collection and my unofficial collection has at least that many; but many of those still need to be catalogued.

 

 What did you write about ?

 My master’s thesis was “Constantine the Great: The Coins Speak” and talked about how ancient coins can be used as another source for interpreting the past. Perhaps not a novel idea for ancient coin collectors; but something not many people outside the field think about.

 

 What part of history are you interested in ?

I am interested in the Medieval period; mainly the beginning. That is why I collect nad research mostly the Constantinian period. Constantine made Christianity the state religion and changed everything in Western Europe. The Catholic Church became an intimate part of everyone’s life. It was a cradle to grave institution— from birth, to marriage and death and everything in between. An interesting question to ask is whether Christianity would have flourished without Constantine I?

 

 Do you have a numismatic goal for the next year ?

 I don’t set goals; I just keep on the look-out for interesting coins.

 

 What numismatic books do you own / consult most often ?

 

 

I have a pretty large library. I mainly use RIC VI, RIC VII and RIC VIII. I also consult more specialized works like-

Alten, D., and Zschucke, C.-F. Die römische Münzserie Beata Tranquillitas in der Prägestätte Trier 321-323.

Bastien, Pierre. Le Monnayage de L'Atelier de Lyon

Cloke and Toone. The London Mint of Constantius and Constantine.

Drost, Vincent. Le monnayage de Maxence (306-312 après J.-C.)

Ferrando, Philippe.  L'atelier monétaire d'Arles de Constantin Le Grand a Romulus Augustule (313-476)

Zschucke, Carl-Friedrich. Die Bronze-Teilstück Prägungen der römischen Münzstätte Trier. 

 

 

Victor, can you give us a description of what it is to be a dealer (Vcoins store) ?

 I have been a Vcoins dealer for almost 15 years. I named my store Victor’s Imperial Coins because I thought that the abbreviation was cute—VIC…like RIC and I pretty much only sell Roman Imperial coins, so it is accurate. For the most part it has been a good experience being a dealer and it allows me the opportunity to research coins that I normally would not be interested in. I also get to talk with a lot of people across the world.

 

 Please tell us more about your website.

 I have a website that is mainly about Constantine  that I started in 2005.

 

https://www.constantinethegreatcoins.com/

 

I originally started it as a way to catalogue my collection and serve as an online companion piece to my master’s thesis. After I submitted my master’s thesis, I was actually accused of plagiarism. The dean’s office ran an internet checker against my paper and, of course, my website gave them numerous hits. They contacted my advisor, who asked them why they had not noticed the name on the website was the same as the thesis. 😄

 I have recently added more diverse topics and coins of other Emperors, mainly the Tetrarchy. I have lots of work that needs to be done and some pages are merely stubs that I need to flesh.

 

Many Thanks Victor for your participation in this series of interview. Here in Numisforums, we have several collectors who focus on this period of the Roman Empire and will certainly appreciate your website and writings. Here are the links for readers who would like to learn more about it. As usual, we’d like to read your comments about the interview.

 

https://www.forumancientcoins.com/gallery/index.php?cat=24936

 

 https://independent.academia.edu/VictorClark

 

https://www.constantinethegreatcoins.com

 

https://www.vcoins.com/en/stores/victors_imperial_coins-208/ancient-coins/Default.aspx?

[CPK]

Another great interview! Thanks @Ocatarinetabellatchitchix for sponsoring, and thank you @Victor_Clark for sharing with us. I also enjoy Constantinian history and coinage.

Edited December 16, 2023 by CPK

[Roman Collector]

Another great interview by @Ocatarinetabellatchitchix! And kudos to @Victor Clark for maintaining such an informative website and for selling reasonably priced ancients!! This one is ex-Victor's Imperial Coins:

[Limes]

Great interview again, thanks! That anecdote about the thesis is very funny. And that library, just WOW! 

[seth77]

Victor sold me one of my favorite coins ever:

[Heliodromus]

Nice library and camera setup there, Victor!

I'm curious how long it takes you to make your (very nice) coin photos? Are these always/usually artificial light (do you blacken the window) or natural? How many photos per coin to get the one you like? What sort of "post-production" photoshop/whatever work do you do?

I'm also curious how you balance being both a collector as well as dealer - how do you decide what to keep and what to sell? It seems many collector-become-dealers eventually stop collecting because it is too difficult.

 

[Ocatarinetabellatchitchix]

Just a little precision if you want to congratulate or contact our numismatist of the week , please use @Victor_Clark instead of @Victor Clark.

[Al Kowsky]

Another interesting interview with Ocat. & Victor Clark 🤩! Victor's achievements in the field of numismatics can be matched by very few people 😉. I enjoyed browsing through his websites & was impressed with their professional layouts & photos ☺️.

[DonnaML]

Another wonderful interview! And what a library! I've bought probably half a dozen coins from @Victor_Clark, as far back as 2018 -- long before I joined Coin Talk or any other forum, and only a little while after I began to collect ancient coins -- and have been very pleased with all of them. This one is probably my favorite, even though it was outside Victor's "wheelhouse":

Faustina II (wife of Marcus Aurelius & daughter of Antoninus Pius), AE Sestertius, ca. 161 AD, Rome Mint. Obv. Draped bust right, low chignon at back of head, FAVSTINA AVGVSTA / Rev. Felicitas (or Faustina as Fecunditas) standing left, between four girls (two standing at each side), holding two infants in her arms, each with a star over its head (representing the Dioscuri), TEMPOR FELIC [-IC almost entirely worn off], S - C across fields. RIC III 1673 (at p. 147), var. [no stars above infants’ heads]; BMCRE MA 949 var [same]; Cohen 222; Dinsdale 006760 & n. 1 [Dinsdale, Paul H., The Imperial Coinage of the Middle Antonines: Marcus Aurelius with Lucius Verus and Commodus, Ch. 4, Faustina II - Undated, 158-176 (http://romanpaulus.x10host.com/Marcus/04 - Faustina II - Undated, 158-176 (med_res).pdf) at p. 70] (“Minor rev. variation: sometimes each infant held in arms has star above head”). 31 mm., 24 gm. Purchased from Victor’s Imperial Coins, March 2021. Ex. CNG E-Auction 476, 9/09/2020, part of Lot 762; ex. BLS Collection.* [Footnote omitted.]

 

[Rand]

A very interesting interview, an excellent website and a fascinating topic for specialist collection.

Constantinian bronzes are so vast that a lifetime would not be enough to complete them. Finding new types is like discovering new life species. It is exciting to see the history uncovered. 

Cudos from the specialist collector club.

[Curtisimo]

Great interview with one of our most knowledgeable forum members.

I love your library @Victor_Clark!

[Furryfrog02]

Another great choice for an interview @Ocatarinetabellatchitchix!

Thank you very much @Victor_Clark for freely sharing your wealth of knowledge online via your website. I can't tell you how many times I have referenced it when looking through Constantinian coinage. 
That Victory reverse of Constantine is beautiful. I am in awe! 
Thanks again to both of you!

[Victor_Clark]

12 hours ago, Heliodromus said:

Nice library and camera setup there, Victor!

I'm curious how long it takes you to make your (very nice) coin photos? Are these always/usually artificial light (do you blacken the window) or natural? How many photos per coin to get the one you like? What sort of "post-production" photoshop/whatever work do you do?

I'm also curious how you balance being both a collector as well as dealer - how do you decide what to keep and what to sell? It seems many collector-become-dealers eventually stop collecting because it is too difficult.

 

 

I always use artificial light and usually only take one picture. I have photoshop but like an older program that I have been using for years called ArcSoft; which they stopped supporting years ago. I typically use darken and contrast or "auto enhance" and sometimes use a feature called scratch removal. My setup is great for silver coins but bronze with mottled surfaces take a little effort.

 

As far as balance, I buy lots of Roman coins that don't really interest me. I recently bought 20 3rd century ants that will be for sale. I also bought some ex-Ramskold that are all mine. I will buy large lots of 4th century coins and maybe keep 1 or 2 and sell the rest. Sometimes I sell a coin if I get a better example. I actually sold most of my collection in 2009; but I think it is a much better collection now.

[Prieure de Sion]

Thanks for this interesting interview ….

[Qcumbor]

You have an admirer here @Victor_Clark, thanks for letting us know you more

20 hours ago, Ocatarinetabellatchitchix said:

... I was actually accused of plagiarism. The dean’s office ran an internet checker against my paper and, of course, my website gave them numerous hits. They contacted my advisor, who asked them why they had not noticed the name on the website was the same as the thesis.

That one made my day : morons at their best !!

Q

[Ancient Coin Hunter]

Great bio @Victor_Clark and it's nice to see a Navy connection. My Dad was drafted in 1961 and went to OCS school in Rhode Island. He was commissioned as an Ensign and sent to the South Pacific on the USS Black. While there he crossed the equator and they had some kind of celebration of Neptune. In 1968 he was sent to a year in Viet Nam as a Lieutenant and served as Captain of the USS Madera County, an LST. Before that he taught celestial navigation at the Naval Academy where I was born. We moved to Washington DC, San Diego, Hawaii, and Japan. He was Captain of the cruiser USS Fox in the Persian Gulf during the Iran-Iraq war. He rounded out his career as Commandant of Military Sealift Command (Pacific) which was during the 1st Gulf War, then he retired. Anyway it was interesting moving all the time.

Great collection and thank you for kindly gifting me a few coins including Maximinus Daia GENIO IMPERATORIS type follis from Alexandria and also a coin of Galeria Valeria. That was a very nice intro to CoinTalk for me a few years ago...thanks for the engaging interview!

[panzerman]

First off great interview by Ocat! You have an amazing reference library Victor! Thank you for sharing your biography and hobby with all of us!

 

John