Correcting/Updating My Tags

[Meepzorp]

Hi folks,

Here's another progress report:

Today, I "processed" all of my Medieval, colonial Genoese coins (Caffa, Chios, Cyprus, Tripoli, Rhodes, etc.). I have about 20-30 of them. I had initially skipped over them because I wanted to do them all together (on the same day). So, I went back and did them today.

Fortunately, I have the Lunardi, colonial Genoese reference book, published in circa 1980. It was invaluable during my research. The Caffa and Chios sections are very complete and comprehensive. It cross-references to Schlumberger and Retowski. However, it doesn't contain all colonial Genoese coins. There are no Tripoli coins at all in it. And it only contains Rhodes coins up to the early 14th century. But I noticed that some of my colonial Genoese, Tripoli and Rhodes coin tags contain references (from the Italian dealer) from Lunardi that are not in this volume. In fact, these reference numbers contain the prefix CT (for Tripoli) or OR (for Rhodes), which are not used in my Lunardi volume. Apparently, there must be another Lunardi volume out there that I don't have, one that picks up where this volume leaves off. I know that Lunardi published a volume about imperial Genoese coins. But I'm not aware of another (second) Lunardi volume about colonial Genoese coins (a volume 2 ).

Meepzorp

[Meepzorp]

I'm seeing Rush tomorrow night, in fact.  Saw their Clockwork Angels tour as well a few years ago, which was the 2nd time I'd seen them since Moving Pictures a lifetime ago.

Hi carthago,

I hope you enjoy the concert!!!

Moving Pictures?!!! That was in circa 1981. I was only 14 years old.

During their Time Machine tour a few years ago, they performed every song from their Moving Pictures album.

The first time I saw Rush live was during their Power Windows tour in 1985-1986, when I was 18 years old. It was during my freshman year of college. I've seen them live during every tour since then. But I missed 3 tours because of my illness.

Meepzorp

[Meepzorp]

Hi folks,

While I was researching my Medieval/Crusader coins, I was poking around on the internet. I came across this excellent Crusader coin PDF:

http://www.numismatas.com/Forum/Pdf/David%20Ruckser/Coins%20of%20the%20Crusaders.pdf

I don't know if there are already any links to it here in Forum.

Meepzorp

[lawrence c]

Thanks, very useful!
Best,
Larry

[Meepzorp]

Hi folks,

Here's another progress report:

Today, I "banged off" (processed) a bunch of Crusader coins.

I am now almost done "processing" my Medieval coins. I have 1 or 2 coins left. And then I'll be all done correcting/updating my Medieval coin tags.

Meepzorp

[Meepzorp]

Hi folks,

Here's another progress report:

Today, I finally finished grinding through all of my Medieval coins.

And I started "processing" my Magna Graecia coins. I have 6 boxes of them. I was flying through them. Fortunately, I have the SNG ANS reference books (all 5 Italy/Sicily volumes). I flew through my Apulia coins. I was (past tense) making great time. Then, you guessed it, I hit another snag. I came upon yet another mis-attributed coin. And I got bogged down in it.

Several years ago, I purchased a small AE coin from a dealer in Italy/San Marino. He attributed it as Apulia, Rubi, Athena/Nike, reference SNG Cop. 677. I compared it to the coins in SNG ANS, and it was quite a bit "off". Athena is wearing an Attic helmet versus a Corinthian helmet. The reverse figure looks like a male, with the legs visible, versus Nike in a dress (with no legs visible). And the inscription was wrong.

Fortunately, I was able to make out a partial inscription. It looked like: ... ...   (or ) (?)...

Armed with that scant information, hoping that it was a Magna Graecia coin, and using my SNG ANS reference books, I tried to figure out what it was. I literally grinded through every coin in SNG ANS, coin by coin. I got lucky and found a coin that looked an awful lot like my coin. And the inscription matched too.

It turns out that it is actually a coin of Lucania, Heraclea, Athena/Herakles, reference SNG ANS 101-110.

The correct inscription is:   .

Of course, I had to write up new tags form scratch. And I had to put it in a different storage box, which involves moving dozens of coins. It's a real hassle, and very time-consuming.

Since I started correcting/updating my tags a few months ago, I can't tell you how many mis-attributed coins I've come across. It is literally in the hundreds.

Meepzorp

[Meepzorp]

Hi folks,

Here's another progress report:

Today, I "processed" a bunch of Magna Graecia coins. I finished my Apulia coins. And I'm now about 1/3 of the way through my Bruttium coins. I have a few dozen Bruttium coins, about 30-40 coins or so. I'm "chumming along". I go through periods where I make great time. But then I get bogged down on certain coins, mainly because I strongly suspect they are mis-attributed.

It happened 2 more times today. I have a small AE Apulia, Salapia coin (Apollo/horse) that I'm still confused about. I'm not sure if it is mis-attributed. It can go either way. I killed about 1 1/2 hours researching it, just to try to determine if it is mis-attributed or not. After all that time and work, the result is inconclusive. It may also be a Sicily, Eryx, or Siculo-Punic, or Carthage coin. Apollo's head is facing the wrong way for it to be a Salapia coin. But his hair style matches Salapia coins.

A little while later, I came across a small AE coin (Herakles/owl) that is definitely mis-attributed. The dealer attributed it as Bruttium, Croton. He also thought that the owl was an eagle. I could clearly see that the bird has a large, owl-style head. It looks nothing like an eagle. After looking at literally every single coin in my SNG ANS books (all 3 Italy volumes), I finally figured out that it is actually a Lucania, Velia coin, reference SNG ANS 1409-1411.

These are the types of dealer errors that are just killing me. They eat up so much of my time.

Meepzorp

[Meepzorp]

Hi folks,

Here's another progress report:

Today, I finished "processing" all of my Bruttium coins. I'm now up to Calabria. I have one coin left to process in my Magna Graecia box #1. All total, I have 6 boxes of Magna Graecia coins.

As usual, I found numerous dealer errors. With regard to my Magna Graecia/Bruttium coins, by far, the largest percentage of errors are dealers putting the wrong reference numbers on the tags. Close to half of my Bruttium coins had the wrong reference number on the tag. It was like literally every other coin. It is just mind-boggling. They can't copy a number from SNG ANS to a piece of paper? I don't understand it.

And yes, I came across yet another mis-attributed coin. A dealer attributed a small AE coin as Bruttium, Vibo Valentia, veiled head/double cornucopiae. The examples in SNG ANS all have non-veiled heads, and the head is facing the other way. And something was "off" about the reverse too. So, I knew something was "fishy".

Doing an online (acsearch) search, I discovered that it is probably Sicily, Panormos, references CNS III, 205 and HGC 2, 1679. It is not in SNG ANS. It turns out that it is actually a rare coin, rarer than the Vibo Valentia coin. So, financially, this particular dealer error worked out to my advantage.

But it is a hassle. Of course, I had to write up new tags from scratch. Then, I had to put it in the proper box, which requires me to move dozens of coins. In other words, I had to transfer it from my Magna Graecia box #1 to my Magna Graecia box #5. It's all time-consuming.

Meepzorp

[Meepzorp]

Hi folks,

Here's another progress report:

Today, I "processed" about 2/3 of my Calabria coins. I am almost up to Campania.

I didn't catch any dealer errors today. It's a miracle!

Meepzorp

[Meepzorp]

Hi folks,

Here's another progress report:

Today, I finished "processing" my Calabria coins. I am now up to Campania.

I didn't notice any dealer errors today. That's 2 days in a row. It's a miracle!!!

I came across a few coins that were not in SNG ANS. And at least one coin (Calabria, Taras, small AR) wasn't in SNG ANS or Vlasto.

Meepzorp

[Meepzorp]

Hi folks,

Here's another progress report:

During the past few days, I've been "processing" my Campania coins. I have several dozen of them. I did Allifae, Atella, Cales, Capua, Compulteria, Cumae, Hyria, etc. Today, I finished my Magna Graecia box #2. I'm about 90% of the way through my Campania, Neapolis AR didrachms. I'm just about to start my Neapolis AE coins. And then, it's on to Nola, Suessa Aurunca, and Teanum Sidicinum.

Meepzorp

[Meepzorp]

Hi folks,

Here's another progress report:

Today, I "processed" a bunch of AE Campania, Neapolis MFB coins. Of course, Nick's MFB website came in handy.

I came across another serious dealer error. A dealer mis-attributed an AE Neapolis MFB coin, in "choice VF+" condition. He attributed it as Sambon 623 (coin #247 in Nick's MFB website). After researching it (primarily using Nick's MFB website), I discovered that it is actually Sambon 629 var. (coin #255 in Nick's MFB website).

My coin, on the obverse, clearly has an  at left. And, on the reverse, it clearly has a  below the bull. Using a powerful magnifying glass, I can clearly see a bird in the wreath.

In my mind, the dealer's error worked in my favor. I think it is now a more desirable coin. A bird in a wreath is better than just a wreath (with no bird in it). Of course, my coin doesn't have an amphora on the obverse.

As usual, I had to re-write new tags from scratch.

Meepzorp

[Molinari]

Unfortunately, you'll have to update all these tags again, since we use a completely new numbering system in the book! 

[Meepzorp]

Unfortunately, you'll have to update all these tags again, since we use a completely new numbering system in the book! 

Hi Nick,

You are assuming that I am writing the reference numbers from your MFB website on my tags. I'm not.

I vaguely remember you stating that you were going to be changing the numbering system for your book. For that reason, I decided to not use the numbers from your MFB website. And I decided to wait for your MFB reference book to be published before I wrote the numbers on my tags.

So, I averted that potential problem.

Meepzorp

[Meepzorp]

Hi folks,

Here's another progress report:

Today, I finally finished grinding through all of my Campania, Neapolis AE coins. I am now up to Nola.

And I found yet another serious/catastrophic dealer error. A dealer mis-attributed a low-to-medium grade AE Magna Graecia coin (Apollo/tripod) as Campania, Neapolis. As soon as I compared it to examples of that issue in SNG ANS, I immediately knew that something was very wrong. The size is way off (my coin is too large). The style of the Apollo head is all wrong. And the reverse inscription doesn't match. It looks nothing like  .

I could make out a few letters:  ... ... .

I immediately suspected Sicily, Tauromenium. It turned out that my hunch was correct. My coin is an exact math for that issue.

Of course, I must now write up new tags from scratch. And I must transfer it to a different Magna Graecia storage box, which involves moving dozens of coins.

Meepzorp

[Meepzorp]

Hi folks,

Here's another progress report:

Today, I finished "processing" my Campania coins (Nola, Nuceria Alfaterna, Phistelia, Seussa Aurunca, Teanum Sidicinum, etc.). I also did my Frentani, Larinum and Latium coins.

I am now up to Lucania.

Meepzorp

[Meepzorp]

Hi folks,

Here's another progress report:

For the past few days, I've been "processing" my Lucania coins. I have several dozen of them. I'm almost done. I am now up to Lucania, Thurium.

I also finished my Magna Graecia box #3 (out of 6 boxes).

I am almost up to my Sicily coins.

In the past few days, I didn't come across any serious dealer errors. But I did spot a bunch of minor errors. The overwhelming majority of those minor errors were that the dealers provided the wrong reference numbers.

I have numerous Lucania, Paestum coins. In one case, I have a Paestum AE coin that I thought was Greek. For many years, I couldn't read the inscriptions on it. After looking in SNG ANS, I realized that the inscriptions are Latin, not Greek. And the coin was minted after 89 BC. Therefore, it is a Roman Provincial coin, not a Greek (Magna Graecia) coin. Of course, I had to transfer it from my Magna Graecia storage box to my Roman Provincial storage box, which involves moving dozens of coins.

With regard to Lucania, Paestum coins, the line between Greek (Magna Graecia) coins and Roman Provincial coins can be blurry. I let the inscriptions (Greek vs. Latin) be my guide. If you look in SNG ANS, that changeover (from Greek to Latin) occurs just before the AE issue with a temple on the obverse and a "PAE Q VI" inscription (SNG ANS 780). I believe that is the first Paestum coin with Latin inscriptions on it (P instead of  ).

Meepzorp

[Meepzorp]

Hi folks,

Here's another progress report:

During the past few days, I finished "processing" my Greek Italy coins (Lucania, Samnium, Sardinia, etc.).

I started grinding through my Greek Sicily coins. So far, I did Abacaenum and Aetna. I also did all of my Akragas coins (I have about 10-15 of them). I am now up to Alaisa.

In the past few days, I didn't come across any serious dealer errors (mis-attributed coins, etc.). But I did spot numerous examples of the usual stuff (wrong reference numbers, etc.). In one case, a dealer confused marine animals. He thought a crayfish was a tunny fish.

Many years ago, I bought a low grade AE Magna Graecia coin (Zeus/eagle). The dealer attributed it as Bruttium. Shortly after I purchased it, using my SNG ANS reference books, I realized that it was mis-attributed. It didn't look anything like the Bruttium issues. It is actually a Sicily, Akragas coin (SNG ANS 1147, SNG Cop. 124). But I corrected this error years ago. Yesterday, I just had to "fine tune" the tags. For example, I added the years of issue, which I obtained from SNG Cop. (which I didn't have back then). SNG ANS doesn't provide years of issue.

Meepzorp

[Meepzorp]

Hi folks,

Here's another progress report:

I am now up to Sicily, Katane.

I also just finished my Magna Graecia box #4 (out of 6).

So, that means that I have 4 more boxes (2 more Magna Graecia boxes and 2 Roman Republic boxes) to go through. Then, I'll be all done correcting/updating my tags. And I'll be able to start taking my photos.

The end is in sight.

Meepzorp

[Meepzorp]

Hi folks,

I don't know if I will be able to "process" any coins tomorrow.

My neighbor and I are supposed to work on one of my father's antique cars tomorrow. He is changing the gas tank and fuel pump, and I am supposed to help him.

Then, we must flush out the fuel lines and change the fuel filter. Then, we must check the floats in all 3 carburetors to make sure they aren't stuck (so that it doesn't explode).

I hope the battery is still good yet. And I hope nothing else goes wrong.

Maybe we can finally get it running, after all these years. I've "only" been waiting 30 years to drive it (since I was 17 years old).

Meepzorp

[Meepzorp]

Hi folks,

Here's another progress report:

I am currently "processing" my Greek Sicily coins. In the past few days, I've grinded through Katane, Kamarina, Kenturipae, Leontini, Lilybaeum, Menaenum, etc.

I am now up to Messana.

I haven't encountered any serious dealer errors (mis-attributed coins, etc.) in quite a while. For some reason, the dealers didn't commit serious mistakes with regard to my Greek Sicily coins. I don't know why the numbers are disproportionate.

However, I still had to re-write numerous tags from scratch because of "lesser" issues (incomplete tags, sloppy tags, ethnic spelling errors, etc.).

Fortunately, about 90-95% of my Greek Sicily coins have been in SNG ANS or SNG Cop. (or both). The coins that are missing from both of those references have been in Hoover. Unfortunately, I don't have Calciati.

Meepzorp

[Meepzorp]

Hi folks,

Here's another progress report:

Today, I "processed" all of my Greek Sicily, Messana/Mamertini coins. I have about 10-15 of them.

My Messana/Mamertini tags were severely lacking in information. So, I had to re-write just about every tag from scratch. It was a long and tedious process.

Many tags lacked proper reference numbers. That is a chronic problem as I'm grinding through my coins.

With the exception of 2 coins, they were all in SNG ANS and/or SNG Cop. That made my research easier. The 2 coins that were missing from both references were attributed by the dealers to Calciati (which I don't have).

I am now up to Sicily, Morgantina.

Meepzorp

[Meepzorp]

Hi folks,

Here's another progress report:

For the past few days, I've been continuing to "process" my Sicily coins, mostly Panormus. I have about 15-20 Panormus coins. My tags were very incomplete, with some of them severely lacking in information. I've had to re-write just about every one of my Panormus tags from scratch. Of course, I am continuing to use my SNG ANS, SNG Cop., and Hoover reference books.

I came across a serious dealer error. It is a large AE Sicily, Panormus coin (SNG ANS 558). First, the dealer confused the obverse and reverse. But that mistake is understandable because (a) the ethnic inscription is on the obverse on this issue, and (b) my example of that coin is incused (concave) on the obverse and convex on the reverse...whereas all of the examples of that issue in the reference books are incused (concave) on the reverse. That is interesting in and of itself. Second, the dealer thought that the reverse depicted Hermes, with a caduceus symbol. That's what he wrote on the tags. It is actually Persephone, with a poppy head symbol. Another interesting thing is that the obverse die used on my particular example looks like a barbarian imitation (Athena looks more like Mussolini than Athena). But the reverse die looks like an official mint die. Strange.

I also came across 2 or 3 coins that appear to be unpublished, unless they are in Calciati (?).

Anyway, I finally finished "processing" all of my Panormus coins, with the exception of the one I inquired about in the ID section of Forum (Apollo/lyre).

I am now up to my Sicilian coins minted in cities that start with the letter "S". I am almost up to Syracuse.

I also just finished my Magna Graecia box #5 (out of 6 boxes). I have only one more Magna Graecia box to do. And I have 2 Roman Republic boxes to do. Then, I'll be all done correcting/updating my tags. And I'll finally be able to start taking my photos.

Meepzorp

[Meepzorp]

Hi folks,

It looks like I am going to have another setback. And I was finally making good time.

As many of you know, for the past 6 years, I've been helping my niece with her homework. She graduated with her bachelor's degree in June. I thought I was all done helping her with her homework. I thought I was a "free man". But she is now going to school for her master's degree. And she is bugging me to help her with her homework again. She called me last night to ask me. I am planning on helping her tonight. So, it looks like this detour is starting again.

Obviously, this may affect the speed at which I can process my coins, possibly substantially. Depending on how much time I must devote to helping her, it can significantly slow me down.

Meepzorp

[Bill W4]

hey Meep, If she is working toward a Masters; it's not really homework.  More like presentations and research papers.  I think she should give you a break and do this herself, though maybe you enjoy helping.  I helped my wife with her masters but not much more than a few pointers in writing here and there.  It's something you need to do on your own.