Ancienti

Here’s that Mesembria helmet coin I told you about:

Not in fantastic shape, but what the heck, it was cheap.

Yes, another Marcus Aurelius, but look:

This is the first I’ve seen so far with this eagle reverse. Had to have it, to replace the one that I had kept for myself, but which I decided to give to my brother. (He loved it, and so did that friend of mine whom I gave the last Marcus Aurelius that I pictured here.)

So, as yet no bids on the previously mentioned quarter stater (auction still going on), but I set a high initial price, so I’m not surprised. Hopefully it will sell, but if it doesn’t, I won’t be too disappointed. In other news, I am in the midst of acquiring a new item, a Mesembria helmet coin, of which I’ve wanted a specimen of for some time now. What happened was that I bid on it at VAuctions, but it didn’t hit the reserve, and closed; but then the seller contacted me with a note on how low he’d let it go for, and I emailed him that I’d pay that. No photo right now, because the one in the listing is awful. It looks better/clearer as a thumbnail (which led me to bid on it, there). Will keep you posted on any new transpirings. Cheers.

Selling this Philip II quarter stater I got a few months back:

Click on the pic to go to the auction. Happy bidding!

This was on massive sale at one of the places I like to look for coin buys:

This is a Sasanian Dirhem: the Sasanian Persian Empire was one of the states that held to more of an “old school” Christianity, which in my opinion was more to the message. Not that many of them exist anymore, who think of things like they did in the good ol’ days, much in thanks to Justinian’s convening of the Council of Constantinople (though there were other factors, too). Anyway, this was really cheap for silver, a opportune find.

Had a spare moment, so I did some cleaning:


Not that great of specimens, but take the good with the bad. I like the lower left one, the phoenix being a symbol for Christ, but none of them are in that good a condition.

Yes, I did receive that Marcus Aurelius, and I can’t wait to give it to my friend. But otherwise, I haven’t done very much in ancient coins of late. No cleaning, that is. Do have my eye on a Mesembria Diobol at eBay, but don’t know how much I’d like to pay for it at maximum. As far as coins in general, I’ve bought a roll of 1923 Peace Dollars, to give away as special presents. Yes, I like giving away coins. But I also ordered 2500 wheat pennies, because I was itching to maybe sort another batch. A big batch that I can take my time with. So, I’ll post if I get a chance to clean, of course, or buy anything real old. But this is where we are, right about now. Cheers.