| Author |
 Replies: 12 / Views: 1,333 |
|
|
Pillar of the Community
United States
842 Posts |
I'm super-stoked about the coins I got for Christmas this year! My parents gave me money to spend on coins that I wanted to purchase, and here they are!  I absolutely love the desert patina on this coin. Picked it up for $14.57.  My second antoninianus of Gordian III. This one cost a total of $20. It has been overcleaned as so many of these silver coins have been, but it is in nice shape and the price was right.  I got this coin because I like how well-centered the strike is. And I'm a fan of the western European mints  This ran just over $10.50.  At just over $7.50, I had to have this one. While it may not seem like anything special at first glance, it helps me out in my quest to collect all the varieties of this coin. I have identical coins with mint marks SM(leaf)RP and SM(leaf)RQ. Finally found the third officina! Now where is the second?   This is my first coin of Magnentius.  And it only ended up being about $11.50! Someday I will find a coin in better condition, but for now this is fantastic.  Finally, the coin I am most excited about. Decentius! I don't have a coin of his either, so this fills another hole in my collection. Nice price at $20.50. I can't wait to see what you guys got! |
|
|
|
Pillar of the Community
Canada
5417 Posts |
Very nice! The only ancient I got for Christmas was a Hemiobol of ionia. The reat of my money went toward Canadian scrap silver and a nice 1765 Maria Theresa Thaler.
|
|
Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
3626 Posts |
Well done! Great set of coins, love that desert patina!
|
|
Pillar of the Community
 United States
842 Posts |
Interesting side note: The last coin, the one of Decentius, was super hard to find a match of. I found lots of hits with a mint mark of PAR, but only found *ONE* record so far on the entire internet with a SAR mint mark. I spent quite a long time searching, too. Turns out the RIC # is the same, but I had to be sure. I was getting quite anxious when I couldn't find an exact match! Is this an indication that the SAR mark is very rare?
|
|
Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
4208 Posts |
A good source for the many varieties of these late roman bronzes is Helveticas RIC lists. Wildwinds is ridiculously incomplete and no website has definitive sources, but helvetica has never drawn a blank for me.
Heres her ID for your Decentius:
Decentius
DN DECENTIVS CAESAR
A Behind Bust
VICTORIAE DD NN AVG ET CAE
VOT-V-MVL-X on wreath
SAR
Epsilon over IS below wreath
Arles
RIC VIII Arles 183
Rarity: R (Rare)
20-21 mm
|
|
Moderator
 United States
56855 Posts |
Very nice coins. If I may ask,where did you buy them at such a low price? John1  |
|
Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
4208 Posts |
Id guess he bought them from ebay by the unrounded prices. Ancient coins are very cheap in the grand scheme of things and ebay often has great bargains. Here, id be inclined to say that ACG got a good deal but if you're willing to put in the hours, you can find some ridiculously good deals (though they are rare these days and you need to know how to find them). Also, I forgot to say...are you planning on cleaning up the Magnentius? |
|
Pillar of the Community
United States
842 Posts |
I got them from my favorite seller on ebay, Lucernae. He is located in Spain, so shipping and handling costs are $8.50 per coin. I bought them all at the same time so I was able to get the costs reduced to the equivalent of one purchase. I think the price of shipping kept these coins lower in cost overall. |
|
Pillar of the Community
United States
842 Posts |
Thanks for the ID, Ben! And I am still debating on cleaning the Magnentius further. It should be easier to make a decision when the coins arrive. It is also from Arles (FSAR).
|
|
Pillar of the Community
United States
549 Posts |
I got Christmas books:  The open book is the recently published SNG Greece 7 "The KIKPE collection of Greek bronze coins." |
|
Pillar of the Community
United States
4778 Posts |
Cool set. Especially the Gordian. Don't want to draw too much attention away from your new acquisitions, so I'll only post one of my Christmas coins. Its already been posted but its going to be one of my gifts to myself (I say 'going' because its still not here  ) King Athalaric (reigned 526-534 AD), Ostrogothic Kingdom of Italy Rome mint Extremely Rare  Edited by VisigothKing
12/25/2013 6:48 pm
|
|
Moderator
United States
23731 Posts |
Excellent group of coins. Nice Christmas gifts.
|
|
Pillar of the Community
United States
4973 Posts |
|
| |
Replies: 12 / Views: 1,333 |
|
Posted 12/25/2013 4:10 pm
