Show Us Your Top 10 Coins/Artifacts Of 2020.

It's interesting to see what other people have been collecting, especially the artefacts! I've never really looked into that, but it's definitely something I'll be paying attention to the coming year.
The amount of history is just astonishing.

Looking back at my own year I had the feeling it was a rather calm year, but when I actually consulted my records it turns out my ancient collection grew by 39 coins in 2020. More than I expected.
I think working from home most of the year due to the Covid situation screws up my perception of time a little.

#10: Perge - Pamphylia, ca 100BC (2.1g, 12mm)

Not the nicest of coins, not even the best example of this type, but I couldn't pass up on a bit of Pamphylian Greek. "Wanass[as] Preii[as]"

#9:Akarnanian Confederacy?, Trihemiobol, 420-380 BC (0.88g, 11mm)

It's always nice when coins spell out their value, but I would actually have preferred if they could have just engraved the ethnic. Then different references wouldn't disagree whether to attribute this to the Akarnanian confederacy or to a specific Akarnanian city.

#8: Kaulonia - Bruttium, Stater, 525-500 BC (7.84g, 25mm)

The first purchase of the year on 01/01/2020.
A crude example of an incuse reverse. Definitely not as refined as the ones from Sybaris or Metapontion.

#7: Aspendos - Pamphylia, Stater, 465-430 BC (10.77g, 19mm)

Nice early example of Aspendos. My first coin with a test cut.

#6: Selinous - Sicily, Didrachm, ca 440 BC (8.27g, 24mm)

I like adding new cities to my collection, so I was thrilled to discover a coin from Selinous existed that fits the theme of my collection.

#5: Anaktorion - Akarnania, Drachm, ca 430BC (2.81g)

(Picture from the auction house as I just won this one today!)
It feels like it's been a very Akarnania centered year, this being the 4th Akarnanian addition.
This coin was on my radar since I spotted it in the HGC reference books last year.
The ethnic is unfortunately partially cut off, but I don't have the patience to wait another year for a nicer example.

#4: Taras - Calabria, Nomos, 500-490BC (762g, 20mm)

I've been on the lookout for an early Taras hippocamp coin for a while. I'm glad this one crossed my path.

#3: Chersonesos - Caria, Trihemitartemorion, 500-480BC (0.91g, 10.6mm)

It's always frustrating when you don't get a coin you really want on an auction. But luckily a slightly different type popped up in the inventory of a dealer this year for less than half the hammer price!

#2: Rhegion - Bruttium, Tetradrachm, 445-435 BC (16.92, 27mm)

I bid a little more than I'd originally planned. Then with the auction fee and conversion from GBP to EUR on top I experienced a bit of buyers remorse after seeing the invoice.
But that feeling immediately disappeared as soon as I received the coin and held it in my hand for the first time.
It's difficult to capture on camera, but the high-relief on the lion scalp combined with the large flan is just amazing to see in real life.

#1: Syangela? - Caria, Tetartemorion, 450-400BC (0.18g, 5mm)

Just won this huge coin today too!
At just 0.18g and 5mm this is definitely the smallest addition to the collection.
I sometimes skip entire sections of auction catalogues if I think there are no coins of interest to me in that section. Luckily this time I didn't do that and saw this apparently unpublished tetartemorion attributed to Syangela.
Besides discovering new coins, It's also fun to learn of entire new cities I'd never heard of before. Apparently it appears on the Athenian tribute list - and that's about all the information available on Wikipedia.


Looking back I'm quite pleased with 2020 - at least as far as collecting is concerned.
There are still a couple of coins on my wish list that have eluded me thus far, so hopefully 2021 will prove to be just as fruitful.
And I wish the same to everyone here as well!