Introducing Myself To The Community

Hi everyone
I am Claude, and I leave in Paris, close to saint Germain des Pres. When I was a little boy, I used to collect coins, but this passion decreased over the years, and copletely disappeared when I bebame a teenager (soccer and my friendship for my dog became then my main centers of interest, and my long and demanding studies took much of my energy.
Coins completely get out of my mind for at least thirty years, replaced by books, mainly, litterature and art history.
One day,a few years ago, my grand-mother (she is stll living and is close to 100 years) insisted to give me a coin that she founded herself by change when she was a litle girl in a small village where she used to live. It is a sesterce from IULIA Mamaea. I was perplex and I wondered what to do with this coin.I had absolutely no idea of it's value. I confess that at that time I haven't the slightests idea of what a roan coinage could look like. I was entering in a complete stranger world for me. So, I started looking on internet on several websites in order to identify this coin, ifs character and time.
But by looking at the websites that use to sell ancient coins, I became more and more fascinated by the beauty of many greek coins, and also by their extraordinary variety. You can loook for months on the catalogues of the auctions houses and discover ever new types almost evey week... It seems almost endless, I recently read somewhere that it can be assumed that there are around one million of different types in ciculation, just for Greek coins? So, I became really fascinated, and this fascination entered in resonance with my od interest for Ancient Greece (I teach myself philosophy).

So, I passed the Rubicon and started buying a few lots, just for fun and without any particular project. But I was more and more emotionnally involved especially when I started having the feeling that I was mastering better the field evey day. Now, I collect almost exclusively Greeks coins ranging from the archair period, the classic period and the early hellenistic, and I sepcializes on Magna Grecia, especially Sicily, Tarentum, Apulia, Bampania, Bruttium. I like aslo the Macedonian coinage, especially that of Olynthos, and also the coinage of Corith, Thrace and Thessaly. The Cyclades and Creete captivate me too.

I hope to be able to share more my passion with you (but I have still much to learn). Thanks for admitting me among the members of your comunity! I'll try to do my best to contribute to it in a fruitful way.

(And sorry for my Engligh, not always good)

best
Claude