Are you ashamed of any of your coins?

[CPK]

I like some more than others, but I'm not really ashamed of any of them.

[Nerosmyfavorite68]

I guess the ones that bug me are the disappointing ones which I spent a lot on.  I didn't spend a lot on the Caesar, but I'm always too ashamed to do the here's mine thing when a JC is posted.

There's a lot of coins which are more decrepit than those, especially some of the dirtyoldcoins pseudo-uncleaneds from a couple of years ago.  However, for $3 each, one expects as much.  That was just in one category, though.  They certainly were filthy but stripped is hardly uncleaned.

[Nerosmyfavorite68]

While I spent a lot (by my standards) on my two recent budget solidi, these two went in my 'enjoyment' category rather than ashamed.  While they're significantly worse than the norm, the circulation wear does bring up the question of what journeys they went through.  I'm also curious about the red adhesions.  I thought that gold was unusually nonreactive?

[ela126]

I have a lot of bad coins as I’m a coin cleaner and a lot don’t turn out. 
 

I bought this Justinian from Rome, follis which had been stripped. I attempted to repainate it, but the surface is very bad. I keep it in my collection until I’ll one day get a good example.

[seth77]

The short answer is no, the long answer is hell no. 

[Sulla80]

6 hours ago, Nerosmyfavorite68 said:

Are you ashamed of any of your coins?

I've been collecting for 30 years, and while I have many decrepit coins, there's only a small handful of which I'm truly ashamed of.

I hadn't consider this question and perhaps I should have an affirmative answer (although nothing to do with the condition of this coin).  This coin was the first one that came to mind - a coin that celebrates a famous prostitute from Corinth, Laϊs, with the image from her tomb.

Athenaeus tells this story of Lais and two of her lovers, Aristippus and Diogenes:

"And when Diogenes said, "Since you, O Aristippus, cohabit with a common prostitute, either, therefore, become a Cynic yourself, as I am, or else abandon her;" Aristippus answered him- "Does it appear to you, O Diogenes, an absurd thing to live in a house where other men have lived before you ?" "Not at all," said he. "Well, then, does it appear to you absurd to sail in a ship in which other men have sailed before you?" "By no means," said he. "Well, then," replied Aristippus, "it is not a bit more absurd to be in love with a woman with whom many men have been in love already.""

more here: https://www.sullacoins.com/post/lais-of-corinth

Edited May 11 by Sulla80

[Limes]

Feeling shame? No. Feeling ashmed? To whom? Nobody in my surrounding cares 😁

1 hour ago, DonnaML said:

I remember being utterly fascinated by the idea of holding something 1,500 years old in my hands.

I think this is import to realise, no matter how terrible the state of preservation of a coin is. All coins have value, are interesting, tell a story, simply because they are thousands of years old and part of human history. The only question relevant is: what quality is acceptable to you, as a collector (including budgetory reasons). 

I think this is just one example of a coin in my collection of 'poorer' quality. But unless I win the lottery, I will not depart from it, and I really love it. 

I must say I sold quite a few coins. I didnt feel like they were fitting in the collection for some reason. I used the money to buy other coins. But 'shame' does not apply to the coins I've sold. 

Edited May 11 by Limes

[ambr0zie]

Ashamed? certainly not. Some regrets when realizing the price I spent is too much compared to the amount of joy the coin brings (this why I collect and most of us would agree)? sometimes but NOT often. And usually it lasts a few seconds. 

Although I try to keep a decent level of condition in my collection, I am not impressed about excelently preserved coins. It is not a major criteria. I like them, of course, but there are other things I consider more important. 

And when I consider what we collect - 2000-2500 years old coins, the wear is a witness of centuries and millenia of history. As long as 1. I like the coin, 2. it fits in my collection; and 3. it had a right price I consider them good coins and important parts of my collection. 

Some coins that were 10 euros or under. I like them all. 

Edited May 11 by ambr0zie

[traveler]

5 hours ago, Nerosmyfavorite68 said:

I guess the ones that bug me are the disappointing ones which I spent a lot on.  I didn't spend a lot on the Caesar, but I'm always too ashamed to do the here's mine thing when a JC is posted.

There's a lot of coins which are more decrepit than those, especially some of the dirtyoldcoins pseudo-uncleaneds from a couple of years ago.  However, for $3 each, one expects as much.  That was just in one category, though.  They certainly were filthy but stripped is hardly uncleaned.

If the coin makes you unhappy, you could consider upgrading it. Alternatively, you could make your peace with your own example. There is no need keep up with the Joneses.. there is no end to that. 

You also mentioned coin photography. It doesn't need to be expensive, although I've seen the elaborate rigs other members have created.

At the simplest a cellphone supported by two books, near a window with daylight is enough. Daylight will help to reduce shadows cast by the cellphone. Use the camera app's timer to remove button shake. There is no need for a lightbox or lamps if you have access to natural light. I also do not think there is need for a copy stand unless you have a very heavy DSLR camera.

If I had the budget I'd spend it on a more advanced camera with focus stacking and the like. But it's certainly not needed to take basic photos.

As for Vcoins and auctions... the Vcoins sellers are getting their stock from somewhere... they certainly aren't digging the coins up themselves. In my experience, their source is often from auctions they won themselves, plus a reasonable markup. Wouldn't it be cheaper to try and win from auctions directly? Difficult yes, cheaper, probably.

Edited May 12 by traveler

[Nerosmyfavorite68]

I'll have to make my peace with the coins.  With the exception of the Decius - a deal seems to come along once or twice a year - the others are pretty much out of my budget.  And there's opportunity cost.

I do have an Alpha 77 Sony DSLR.  However, I don't have a macro lens.  My cell phone is a huge Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra.

Per the Galaxy I've tried experiments with the Galaxy supported by various numbers of CD cases. There's a lamp on the dresser above the Philco.  I could never get the coin into sharp focus.

There was also a problem of getting the obverse and reverse image to come out the same size when I would crop.

I could try the Samsung in manual, raw mode.  What ISO would be best, something like 125?

[traveler]

11 minutes ago, Nerosmyfavorite68 said:

I'll have to make my peace with the coins.  With the exception of the Decius - a deal seems to come along once or twice a year - the others are pretty much out of my budget.  And there's opportunity cost.

I do have an Alpha 77 Sony DSLR.  However, I don't have a macro lens.  My cell phone is a huge Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra.

Per the Galaxy I've tried experiments with the Galaxy supported by various numbers of CD cases. There's a lamp on the dresser above the Philco.  I could never get the coin into sharp focus.

There was also a problem of getting the obverse and reverse image to come out the same size when I would crop.

I could try the Samsung in manual, raw mode.  What ISO would be best, something like 125?

Apparently the Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra doesn't have autofocus, which could explain why you couldn't get the coin into focus.

Maybe you can try the on-board telephoto mode. More info available here: https://xdaforums.com/t/note-20-camera-modes-macro.4160575/#:~:text=Note 20 and 20 Ultra,macro is not an option.

[rasiel]

10 hours ago, Nerosmyfavorite68 said:

Due to my lack of coin photography skills (which would probably be fixed if I could buy a pre-built stand for a cell phone)

 

Oh come on! No excuse. How's this for a quick and dirty setup?

Do a test shot..

And it's, uh, passable quality

This is all quite "ghetto" but could be improved pretty easily. And costs nothing.

Rasiel

[Nerosmyfavorite68]

What's the glass/plastic thing?

Where did you find the little raise for the coin?

I've spent hours in the past, pitifully trying different things with both my camera/phone.  Both had non-sharp results.

[rasiel]

2 minutes ago, Nerosmyfavorite68 said:

What's the glass/plastic thing?

Where did you find the little raise for the coin?

I've spent hours in the past, pitifully trying different things with both my camera/phone.  Both had non-sharp results.

Just the top half of one of those plastic coin capsules. Just something that was within reach lol.

Seriously, you could get honest-to-god pro quality shots with well less than $100 worth of used gear on ebay. Any old point and shoot camera with a dedicated macro setting, a cheap desktop tripod and a lamp with a 5000k light. 

And for the love of all that is holy pleeeease use a white background. Or at least black. It will help your camera autofocus and color correct better and your pics will look have that clean "auction house" look.

Bonus: if you have a rarity it could end up being published and it will greatly help the editor to have the clean background.

Rasiel

[Nerosmyfavorite68]

As traveler noted my Note 20 Ultra doesn't seem to have an autofocus, which would possibly explain the less than stellar pics it takes of people.  With objects, it usually does ok.  However it does have a focus tracker (like if the person/object is moving) so it has some kind of focus.   One has to to tap on the screen where one wants the main focus.

When I got the phone I watched the third-party Samsung reviewers and they were getting better results than the iphone. I detest itunes/how one is forced to do playlists on the iphone, and since audio is my main thing, it had to be android.

I even went with the 20 because they were saying that the camera was better on the 20 than with the 21.

When I'm ready to experiment again I'll use the 12mp camera, not the 108, and use the raw mode.

You are achieving some very nice results with that 'ghetto' setup. I'm all for it!

My a77 takes pin-sharp photos of people, but like I said, I don't have a macro lens.  I was getting adequate record label pics when I was advised to use some mode, I forget what it was called, might have been multi-frame noise reduction, where it woudl take a bunch of pictures at once and merge them together.  I tried taking coin pics with my tripod but the moving parts would droop when it was pointed downwards.

[Alegandron]

I agree with @DonnaML & @John Conduitt & others not ashamed. I never get ashamed of actually holding ancient living history with coins or artifacts.  I DO get FRUSTRATED when I discover I purchased a FAKE.  That is when I feel like we need to send Military Special Forces to solve the origin of that problem. 🙂

 

[Amarmur]

I'm not embarrassed by these as much as I hate the condition 

 

Commodus as Hercules found in a group lot. Toasted lol

 

Nero denarius horn silver galore but paid $20. 

[GERMANICVS]

Like a few responders have already said, I'm not ashamed of any of my coin - rather, I am ashamed of making bad purchase decision, paying too much, or mis-handling them. In this sense, I am probably not different to any other collectors.

 

This Agrippina sestertius is one example where I should have waited for a better coin. The portrait is a bit damaged and makes her look like she is in fright.

The Nero denarius is my biggest regret: it fell to the floor and broke. Probably heavily crystallized and thus fragile. It was a beautiful example.    

[Ancient Coin Hunter]

I am only ashamed in that when I got back into the hobby say in 2016 I purchased bulk hoards of 1/2 kilogram for $350.00. The only problem was that there were 20 maybe passable, ho-hum coins in the pile. A Constantine here, an Aurelian there, a decent Severina, etc. Lots of fallen horsemen. Too many in fact. Probably 60% were culls. The marketing blurb said "truly ancient coins, hold history in your hand" and promised unexpected prizes and treasures since nothing was picked out.

 

Well, yes. Look there's a Regalianus! Just kidding. A green Severus denarius and a miserable Decius were in one lot. Look, silver coins! A large Maurice Tiberius with powdery green bronze disease which I quarantined immediately.

Then I realized after spending $1.5 k on these that they were pretty much worthless and I put them in mayo jars. Enter Cointalk into the equation and I started buying passable coins. I never have had the stomach to acquire bulk lots since. I gave piles of these to my nephew's elder brother for his ancient history show-and-tell at school, which went over well with the classmates I hear. So there's a bit of a happy ending to the story.

Edited May 12 by Ancient Coin Hunter

[Nerosmyfavorite68]

That's terrible, Germanicus.  Such things do sometimes happen, but are sad.  That's why I gave up on coin trays early in my collecting career.  I didn't like how they'd move around and after an inexpensive AE popped out and chipped, that was it.  I keep mine in flips.

It might be a trick of the light, but it looks like there might be some bronze disease going on in back of Agrippina's head.

I also try to handle my coins as little as possible.  When I was experimenting with photography, an otho spurted out of my hand, but luckily hit the carpet and no damage was done.

Ancient Coin Hunter - I'm not exactly sure when the golden age of bulk lots ended, it was sometime between 2004 and 2014. Up to around 2010, I was getting pretty sweet fixed price picks ($5-25) from Dr. Fishman.  Different genres of tetrarchal folles, high-quality uncleaneds, etc.  In the late 90's, I picked up a lot of as-sized coins for $1.50 each.  Not worth a lot, but very few culls.

Edited May 12 by Nerosmyfavorite68

[MrMonkeySwag96]

I participated in my first online auction last Saturday and I made a couple of impulse purchases. One of my impulse purchases was this L. Procilius denarius:

Sure, it has nice toning & the Juno reverse is engraved in decent style.  
 

However I’m quite picky about the grade of my Republic denarii. This L. Procilius denarius isn’t quite as “crisp” as the other denarii in my Juno Sospita type set:

Am I being OCD, what do you guys think?

 

Edited May 17 by MrMonkeySwag96

[sand]

5 hours ago, MrMonkeySwag96 said:

I participated in my first online auction last Saturday and I made a couple of impulse purchases. One of my impulse purchases was this L. Procilius denarius:

Sure, it has nice toning & the Juno reverse is engraved in decent style.  
 

However I’m quite picky about the grade of my Republic denarii. This L. Procilius denarius isn’t quite as “crisp” as the other denarii in my Juno Sospita type set:

Am I being OCD, what do you guys think?

 

It looks pretty good to me, even compared with your other coins.

[Prieure de Sion]

How can you be ashamed of an ancient coin? Every coin has its own history - no matter what condition it is in. 

It all started with an Elagabal coin from Ephesus, which I found at a flea market. It took me - with the help of a local coin dealer - weeks to identify it because it was in very poor condition. But it was my greatest treasure. Also because researching it kept me busy for days.

Nobody should be ashamed of a coin. And certainly not if they want to show it here or to a collector friend.

My 2 Cent 😉 

[Postvmvs]

Like others, I am not ashamed of any coins, excepting a few fakes, but there are certainly regrets. Paying more than a coin is worth. Finding out only when you receive it that there are shiny spots where the patina is not intact that were not apparent in the dealer photo. Opting for lower grade specimen of a rare coin only for a much better one to pop up...

This rare Postumus antoninianus is two of those categories: a low grade specimen that I paid too much for (opinion) that I ended up getting a much better one not long after.

Obverse: IMP C POSTVMVS PF AVG

Reverse: PM TRP VIIII COS IIII PP bow, club, Scythian quiver

Reference: AGK65a

 

So not ashamed, but a little bit of regret.

 

[Nerosmyfavorite68]

I guess the eyeless Decius and the Caesar denarius are the only ones I'm reticent to trot out in show-and-tell.

With prices what they are, and what I've spent recently on home repairs, I'll have to be content with the cheap Caesar.

I'll just wait around until the price bubble bursts.  What goes up must come down.