Coin Show Report - 20 Ancients From Three Dealers

dougsmit => also, perhaps you could tell us how you get the awesome "black background" to your coins? (thanks, brother)

awesome => thanks Martin (and indirectly Doug) ...

From dealer #3 came 17 coins ranging from Trajan to Arcadius (I did not even look at the Greeks this time because I spent so much on the Romans). I'll try to group them in ways that make a little sense but in no particular order. The first two show two different surface conditions commonly seen on ancients. The Maximianus follis has a glossy dark patina with a bit of a green tone but more dark than colorful. I picked it out for the reverse which is not one of the Genius types so common in this period. The coin is better looking than the photo because I never have good skills with glossy patinas. I should stop buying them but the coins are pretty and I forget that they will be a problem to me later. In comparison see the very matte surfaced Maximinus II with ligher greenish textured surfaces. The photo problem here is more from the weaker relief details possibly explaining why this coin cost 1/3 of the glossy one. I liked it because it has the distinctive Alexandria mint style including liquid pouring out of the patera (dish) on the reverse. Many Genius coins show a dry dish. I'll invite you RIC mavens to decide whether this is RIC 103, 105c or 107c depending on whether the laurel wreath ties are parallel, divergent, rounded or pointed. Methinks the authors of RIC worried too much about such things. You could mention such matters without assigning a number to each bit of minute detail.

Excellent coins.