Remains Of Ancient Days

Welcome to the board, Circusmax120. Sorry you had to sell off what sounds like a big part of your collection, but it's clear you kept some beauties (that Hadrian portrait on the left...Wow!) - hopefully you can hold on to those. You can look forward to the fun of building up the collection again, once the $$ issues are resolved.

I know how difficult it is to part with things it took years to collect but sometimes we have no other choice. You still have a few nice coins left.

Been there, know the problem. Eventually things stabilize again, but.... this might be a chance to rethink how you want to collect, and what. At one time I had a nice collection of Roman Republican silver, the leading part of a display I had prepared to show in a library, which I had called "Seven Centuries of Roman Silver" (a couple of hundred examples from just before the beginning of the denarius in 211 BC up to some siliquae of the late 4th century). Getting a new apartment for my family gutted that display, and I had to rethink my interests. I held on to some of my favorites, but let go of most of it. Today I still have those few silver pieces and a bunch more as well, but I barely look at them anymore, having gone over to late Roman Bronze as my first love. Situations like yours force us to think in ways we might not even consider otherwise. Hang on, the best may yet lie ahead.

Thanks, Irbguy. Words of wisdom, to be sure. The magnificent Hadrian sestertius will have to be pried from my cold, dead fingers! *smile* A favorite emperor (in part due to his appreciation and support of the Arts). He appears youthful in that excellent portrait.

I´m sorry about your circunstances...
It´s hard to say goodbye to your coins, but...
Think in this circunstance as a temporarilly stop, you can improve your acknoledge at ancient coins reading lots of works and books about them (there are hundreds of them in Pdf...)
When in Spain arrived the "Crisis", my incomes were cut off a 10-15 % from one day to the next day, but as you can imagine my debts with the bank weren´t cut off...
They were very hard times, I was forced to sell some gold coins that I had to solve the problem till I could hire an apartment...
By now, things are better, my debts with the bank (oh, those children´s studies...) are lowering and I have found that perhaps I cannot afford to buy a denarius, but I can afford to buy a cheaper "LRB" (Late Roman Bronce, as you says).
I had filled the numismatic need by studying and translating into spanish a lot of classic numismatic books.
In spanish we have a sentence that translated into english says: "When God closes a door, he opens a window"

Solid advice, Sel. I will definately do exactly that! For me...that coin is the dark green Hadrian sestertius. It has everything I love in an ancient coin. Roman...favorite emperor...great portrait...beautiful patina....size...weight. Even that imperfect crack is...well...perfect! It can't be seen in the pic, but the coin also has accretion along the edge. I like to think it was one of a stack of coins, buried by a legionnaire just before going into battle. Oh how my imagination flies!

Well, my sharp-eyed friend, I believe it's a sestertius. The reverse depicting Aequitas with scales and sceptre surrounded by COS III/ SC. Beautiful tone...and nice weighty thickness! It is noticably larger in circumference than the other toned Hadrian coin. Speaking of that other toned Hadrian...it is also a sestertius. Reverse: SC...with Diana holding an arrow and bow. What I enjoy most about all three coins is, of course, the portraits. They show a progression of age...and the wear n' tear of running an empire at it's height of power.