FORVM`s Classical Numismatics Discussion Board
Numismatic and History Discussion Forums => Ancient Coin Forum => Topic started by: Philoromaos on June 30, 2009, 05:34:48 pm
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I've been collecting Roman coins for a few years now and although I've bought the odd greek coin in that time I've focused mainly on the Roman stuff. Just recently I've got more in to the Greek side and have been buying quite a few of the small archaic fractions and small bronzes. The thing is after handling these and and checking out all the different types and designs, my Romans just don't seem so ancient to me anymore in comparisson. Am I just strange or has anyone else experienced anything like this? Regards Adrian
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your just strange im afraid lol
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The same thing is actually happening to me. I really cant put my finger on it, but my Romans remain the apple of my eye never the less! I think it really a case of one broadening one's interests into the 'unknown' which in itself has a peculiar fascination.
I have seen very advanced collectors on this forum branch off into completely different fields, so relax, it seems to be a commonplace phenomenon! :)
Romeo seems to have picked up that germanic brand of humour apparently! :laugh:
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I'm collect only Greek coins within ~10 years, mostly archaic and classical periods.
At last some years most of Roman's looks forgered for me. :o
So, you are has very dangerous sympthoms, guys ;D
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Beware of GREEKS !!
They are addictive.
Especially Greek Silver !!
Larry
;D
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only way to cure it is to give all the invoices of the coins you recieve to your sigificant other for record keeping.
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Funny you should ask,
I have been collecting Romans for about a year and a half,
than went to Judeans then Nabateans.
And now I have just purchased my first Ptolemy II.And I am getting real interested in Greeks.
The core is Roman denarii,there is so many interesting types but they are mostly AD coins.
I have always loved history and it is great having coins of historical people,
Hadrian,Trajan,Nero ets.
But now in my collection it is possible to have Alexander the great,Ptolemies,Cleopatra etc.
I have learned of ancient kings and empires all my life
and to own coins I have only seen in books....awesome ;D
I hope to have coins going back to the earliest times of coinage and all major empires.
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Watch out or next you'll be collecting arrowheads and pre-historic stone and bone tools! ;D Seroiusly though, of course Greeks from the 5th century BC are quite older than Roman Imperials. A comparison would be the LRB's to earlier Imperial coinage (several centuries also separate these coins). On the other hand, Roman Imperatorial coinage is closer to Hellenistic Greek, and, thus, easier to think of as "older" Roman. I actually had some Alexander the Great and Philip II coins, but became disinterested in them when I became enthralled with the Roman Imperials. It is just a matter of what interests you...
Best, Noah
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I'm actually going younger...
my last hobby:
(http://thumb15.webshots.net/t/26/27/5/35/99/284253599bqMxRf_th.jpg)
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I too started with the romans and got recruited by the greeks afterward. They are something else :laugh:
Style is in the hand of the engraver, really, but I basically find that the variety and archaic beauty of the greeks surpass everything the romans did. Is there a more powerful depiction of character than the one shown on Alex III coins (Herakles/Zeus) ? Not that I can resist a nice imperial, byzantine or celtic coin... I'm profoundly obsessed with ancients :-[
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Tell me about it...
It's like I've fallen under a spell.
Pretty dangerous for a newbie like me (see gallery).
:)
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That´s quite normal for a real, addicted collector who is still interested what is beyond the horizon.
After a while every collecting focus becomes unaffordable and boring.
But the neglected coins will consume no food, time or money if you start a different focus.
Maybe some day you will resume the old themes or change them to different values.
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only way to cure it is to give all the invoices of the coins you recieve to your sigificant other for record keeping.
That's suicide, man! :o
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only way to cure it is to give all the invoices of the coins you recieve to your sigificant other for record keeping.
That's suicide, man! :o
Exactly...so I am saying the cure is.... ;D
...unless of course if your name is Potator II who married the right one ;)
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only way to cure it is to give all the invoices of the coins you recieve to your sigificant other for record keeping.
That's suicide, man! :o
Exactly...so I am saying the cure is.... ;D
...unless of course if your name is Potator II who married the right one ;)
Man, I only wish my wife was more tolerant of my hobby! I don't spend much, but it is difficult to re-route cash in order to buy a coin because my checks are direct deposit, and she controls and balances the checkbook! :'( This has put a damper on my collecting, but, on the other hand, it has kept us afloat financially... Still, I manage to sneak a buck or two here and there to get that next coin I have had my eye on! :evil:
Best, Noah
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The Greek? What's so special about the Greek? ??? ;D
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Beware of GREEKS !!
They are addictive.
Especially Greek Silver !!
amen!
i have noticed this sort of transition before and my own experience is not much different, although i have always been drawn to Greek art.
i think Roman coins fit the niche most previous collectors of other numismatic material are more comfortable with, ie the 'fill the hole' approach. Greek coins almost defy this type of collecting, so it may take some time before the bug hits, if ever.
i still collect Roman coins on a limited basis, but every time i see one that captures my attention (and many do) i think "yeah, but if you don't buy it you'll be that much closer to a nice Greek silver!"
i'm just a hopeless Greco-phile i guess.
(this doesn't mean you're not strange though! ;) )
~ Peter
The Greek? What's so special about the Greek? ??? ;D
lol!
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I think such a progression is natural.
I started with Romans, most of them late Romans, but after a while they became boring,
too close to collecting modern coins for my taste. So I went to Provincial coins from the Balkans.
After a while it was the same here. The rare reverses are expensive and you can only see so many
Homonoias before you're bored out of your skull. Minor differences in busts, legends or combinations thereof
are not interesting to me although they make almost all coins rare. :D
Asia minor is not only more interesting but more varied as well. As a focus it REALLY broad
but I still often deviate. Silver didn't interest me at all but Greek Silver is something different.
I'll probably never really collect them but surely buy the occasional tetradrachm.
Greek bronzes are beautiful as well and often very affordable.
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I started with a shotgun approach to Roman coins, collecting anything I could afford that I found interesting. I developed some focus areas in Roman coins and I have maintained those focussed collecting areas but the lure of Greek coins is too great to ignore and I have moved more and more towards Greek coins. If I buy a coin that is outside my collecting focus then it will be Greek. I don't have a focus with Greek coins yet, much as when I started with Roman coins, it is coins that catch my eye that I can afford. There are simply too many beautiful coins to focus an anything particular as yet.
In answer to the original question...
Yes you are strange, but you are not alone.
Regards,
Martin
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only way to cure it is to give all the invoices of the coins you recieve to your sigificant other for record keeping.
That's suicide, man! :o
Exactly...so I am saying the cure is.... ;D
...unless of course if your name is Potator II who married the right one ;)
:angel:
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I collect mostly Greeks. To me they look more like art whereas Romans look more like... well money.
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I collect only Romans, mostly bronze. I think the thing that draws me to them is that they appeal to me on different levels, and so my appreciation for them is quite multi-faceted. The perfect synergy of art, historical record, portraiture, and propaganda on some coins is positively spellbinding, and can literally stop me in my tracks. I also find that I am particularly drawn to coins that have some bit of mystery as to the events or things they depict, or in their exact function or place within the monetary system. I have never seen another coinage which is so informative and evocative of the history and psychology of it's people as is the Roman coinage.
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Sometimes I cross into the darkside...
(https://www.forumancientcoins.com/gallery/albums/userpics/12015/morgan18788tf.JPG)
:evil:
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The shotgun approch of just buying any Roman coin (because they're cheeper) I came across was kinda how I started out too. I really like the warts and all style of the Roman engravers but I think now in comparison with Greek styles it kinda seems a bit close to modern coins style wise. Denarii though are always going to been the main core of my collection, I stray for a while but always go back to them, then they get a little boring again and so on and so on. Asia Minor is where I really wanna focus now. I've been to few of the ancient citys such as Side, Aspendos, Perge, Heirapolis, Ephesos and Halikarnasos so I want to collect coinage from these (I already have some). Regards Adrian
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When I was in high school and told anyone I was "into greek" I would have gotten beaten up. So now I am into Roman but very discreetly collect Greeks on the side. But I don't advertise it so I don't get beat up.
Now we know...and watch out behind you ;)
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only way to cure it is to give all the invoices of the coins you recieve to your sigificant other for record keeping.
That's suicide, man! :o
Exactly...so I am saying the cure is.... ;D
...unless of course if your name is Potator II who married the right one ;)
:angel:
I'm single and fear I may have to remain this way. I spend very little money on the hobby but I doubt any woman would put up with the 3 to 4 hours a day I spend cleaning and attributing. And that is a deal breaker!
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only way to cure it is to give all the invoices of the coins you recieve to your sigificant other for record keeping.
That's suicide, man! :o
Exactly...so I am saying the cure is.... ;D
...unless of course if your name is Potator II who married the right one ;)
:angel:
I'm single and fear I may have to remain this way. I spend very little money on the hobby but I doubt any woman would put up with the 3 to 4 hours a day I spend cleaning and attributing. And that is a deal breaker!
You might be surprised, there are many women out there who would kill to have an intelligent man who spends his leisure time on anything other than belching and yelling at the TV. I am lucky, while she is not quite nerdy enough to completely share in my passion for ancient coins and history, my wife has told me many times that she sees it as one of my more admirable quirks. Just the other day, I was prattling on about Domitian, and how I enjoyed seeing this bust of him that we once saw in a museum in Toledo, Ohio, and she says, "Wasn't he the one who flooded the Colosseum and had those fake sea battles?" I nearly cried as I swept her into my arms and kissed her! Who knows, I'd wager that there are certainly more females in our little hobby than there have ever been before, maybe you will hit the jackpot! ;D
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...Just the other day, I was prattling on about Domitian, and how I enjoyed seeing this bust of him that we once saw in a museum in Toledo, Ohio, and she says, "Wasn't he the one who flooded the Colosseum and had those fake sea battles?" I nearly cried as I swept her into my arms and kissed her!
lol! I'm always taken back and amazed when my wife remembers some fact from my incessant babbling on coins and history.
And to the original topic... I thinks it's great to branch out into other areas like Greek coins or otherwise. I just began collecting ancient Southeast Asian bronze ingots used before coinage. (I listed some in my gallery). The true ancient coin collector's love and obsession (in my opinion) is that of the wonder and amazement of the history behind the coins. My love of the study of history drives me to expand in all directions, even though I still have a small area that I focus the majority of my attention on. If you have a love for history and the search for knowledge, you will always have a drive to expand your horizons.