I was reading the threads about "how many roman coins do you own" and "what coin would you most like to own" and it got me thinking about a question I've been mulling over lately. The direction of your collection. Currently I'm all over the map, and I get different ideas all the time. One week its roman denarii and the next its medieval pennies. But I figure I cant be the only one thats has this problem!
So besides telling us what your collecting now, what did you focus on in the past and why did you change direction? I bet a lot of people here have switched direction on their collecting habits many times as interest change(I assume that because interests almost always do) I find it fascinating how some people can stay so on track! To collect the coins of only one roman emporer for instance, and ignore all other coinage.
Started with Coins related to
Alexander the Great. I thought they would have a great historical aura abouth them. So I picked up an ATG tet, then a
Philip II tet (ATG's papa) and then
Lysimachus tet (ATG's general)...................then I
ran into a problem when I could not find a really great
Ptolemy I
satrap tet.
While searching, I stumbled on the Sicilian coins. I thought.........wow, what artistry. So I started collecting them also, but the prices skyrocketed and I have
had to be patient................so while being patient I stumbled upon Magna Graeca
incuse coins. How could I pass on those archaic beauties.....so I grabbed a special one.
Then suddenly I saw an
Augustus Cistophoric Tet with
Capricorn reverse.....................hmmmm like that too.....and it has great tie to an important historic figure (plus I am a
Capricorn)......................it's now on my list. Tried for one at
Triton...but it went at over 4x estimate.
Hmmm. some of those
Julius Caesar coins look neat. Need to get one of those some day.
Gee...........don't some of those AV
Solidus with 3/4 facing
portraits look great..........yup need one of those.....on my list.
I have no interest in
Roman Republics............until Phil
Davis shows me a beauty at Gemini...................hmmmm.....like that also. Probably take a run at one of those some day.
Love those Byblus staters (
hippocamp and hoplites).........absolutely have to have one of those
Et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.............
So.......................now my "focus" is very high
quality coins of either historic interest or appealing artistry. That limits me to two to four coins a year, but it should ensure me a few decades of collecting.
Abandon
hope, all ye who enter here.............coin collecting.
BR
Mark