Author Topic: Pocket pieces... (Read 5202 times)

mihali84 · « **on:** October 01, 2009, 08:05:07 pm »

I know a lot of us like to carry coins on us, for some like me on a daily basis. Picking my "pocket piece" for the day has become an enjoyable daily ritual. Aside from the pleasure we all get from our pocket pieces, carrying a coin can sometimes become a complete mistake with irreversible consequences.

I have a couple niightmare situations that i will later share but first i would like to hear what stories you all have:

mihali84 · « **Reply #1 on:** October 01, 2009, 09:41:53 pm »

I'll go ahead and share my most recent "accident" while carrying my Alexander Tet. I was driving home from work the other night and decided to pull out my coin for a bit. When i got home i had forgotten that i placed the coin on my lap and when i got out of my car....yup! there goes Herakles flying across the driveway!

The coin picked up a few fresh scratches that i "like" (i don't really like) to think of as just an addition to damage and use the coin has sustained throughout the millennia. It's a profound feeling, when YOU damage, or ruin, something that has been around for thousands of years, and passed through so many hands. Safe to say i don't ever! leave a coin on my lap no matter where i am now.

commodus · « **Reply #2 on:** October 01, 2009, 11:00:28 pm »

I never carry anything of value or that is irreplaceable as a pocket piece as sometimes they aren't in my pocket anymore when I go looking for them.

Randygeki(h2) · « **Reply #3 on:** October 02, 2009, 01:05:08 am »

had a sestertius of marcus aurelius (was is bad shape) to show a friend, when i pulled up to my home i put it in my pocket, got inside and went to put it up and couldnt find it. look all over the car with a flashlight. eventually i found it burried in the dirt next to m car.

mihali84 · « **Reply #4 on:** October 02, 2009, 01:31:48 am »

Quote from: commodus on October 01, 2009, 11:00:28 pm

I never carry anything of value or that is irreplaceable as a pocket piece

A wise choice Commodus, and Randy its like your coin was reborn when you dug it up from the dirt as im sure it once was. I always carry my coin in a small velvet pouch to try and prevent the coin from sliding out so easily, but the problem now is the knot on the pouch doesn't want to stay tight.

Philoromaos · « **Reply #5 on:** October 02, 2009, 03:38:08 am »

I work in a warehouse and had an EF Hadrian denarius in my pocket. I pulled it out and it slipped through my fingers and dropped onto the floor of my fork truck and somehow managed to squeeze through a tiny gap along the edge of the floor pannel. I had to get one of the mechanics to rip the floor to find it. Stopped carrying good quality coins after that!

areich · « **Reply #6 on:** October 02, 2009, 04:07:45 am »

In theory I like the idea of a pocket piece but it's just not practical.
I don't want to scratcht a worn but attractive coin and I don't want to carry a coin that's
so ugly I wouldn't care if it got scratched.

mihali84 · « **Reply #7 on:** October 02, 2009, 01:37:10 pm »

Adrian i'm sure your work wasn't to happy about the floor but at least you got your coin back in one piece.

Areich that is most definitely a good point, I regret scratching my Tetradrachm every day, yet i also wouldn't want to carry an ugly coin i don't care much about.

Judging by everyone's responses there seems to be a lot of varying opinion on the subject so i decided to add a poll to the topic.

Paul D3 · « **Reply #8 on:** October 02, 2009, 02:02:51 pm »

While I don't carry a pocket coin, I did once have a "car coin". It was a Nicia Bythinia Severis Alexander that I had taken to a show to get a question answered. I left it in the car for the same reason that some collectors have pocket coins. When I sold the car, I could not find it during my clean out. I hope I made a collector out of the new owner of the car.

areich · « **Reply #9 on:** October 02, 2009, 02:37:26 pm »

I pretty much always carry a coin in my backpack since I have most of my coins mailed to my work address. I once showed one to a friend (it came up in a conversation, I'd never bring it up actively) and it was the (I assume) usual mixture of 'that can't be genuine' and 'you really shouldn't touch that without gloves'.

I really would have expected at least a little enthusiasm as it was a pretty nice coin.

Philoromaos · « **Reply #10 on:** October 02, 2009, 02:45:27 pm »

Very nice coin areich. The truck floor only needed unbolting so it wasn't a problem really.

cmcdon0923 · « **Reply #11 on:** October 02, 2009, 02:58:23 pm »

Here's what happened to a friend of mine...it was in the Celator about a year or so ago......

dougsmit · « **Reply #12 on:** October 02, 2009, 05:42:23 pm »

1. About 30 years ago, I got a rough slug grade coin of as size in a group of junk coins. It had no detail. I drilled a hole in it and put it on my keyring. After daily use for about 20 years (and replacing the keyring at least once) I started to see a profile emerging from the roughness. It looked like Septimius Severus from one of the Moesian cities but it was faint at best. After a couple more years the profile disappeared and we are back to a disk of increasing smooth metal.

2. Several (15???) years ago, I attended a coin show in a fancy downtown hotel in Washington DC. It was the only such show I can recall being held there. A dealer/acquaintance reached into his pocket and pulled out a handful of US coin change as would be found in many men's pants pockets. Included was a lump of rough encrustation with considerable details of a Syrian tetradrachm. He said it looked a lot better than when he started carrying it. It was getting to the place that it would look smooth enough to stop carrying and add to his dealer stock. I never saw it again but wonder to this day if that tet of Uranius Antoninus survived its 'processing' and looks any better in someone's collection than it did among the nickels.

Romanorum · « **Reply #13 on:** October 02, 2009, 06:21:04 pm »

I actually walk around with a folder containing some 300 coins at most times. I spend a lot of time cataloguing and attributing coins, and rather than doing it in a dark, murky room, I sit at a little café outdoors and open the folder on the table as I work (under the umbrella, of course). Interestingly enough, a lot of onlookers ask me about the coins, so I get to rant about them quite a bit. I have even converted some unsuspecting coffee drinkers to Roman coin collecting. It is really fun to introduce people to Roman coins, and I get to do that almost every day.

gavignano · « **Reply #14 on:** October 02, 2009, 10:04:28 pm »

Carry one almost everyday. Have rotating group, my favorite is a VF Trajan sestertius with some issues. Only lost a few of the smaller ones. I don't carry any too valuable.
I will say though old Trajan has gone through the laundry at least ten times. My wife finds it amusing when he appears in the lint holder.
The patina on him is quite decent, and the wash doesn't touch it.
Joe

cliff_marsland · « **Reply #15 on:** October 02, 2009, 10:38:11 pm »

I must admit, this is the first time I've ever heard of the pocket coin phenomenon.

I almost never mention my ancient coin hobby to anyone I know, and then only to a select few I know very well, to prevent becoming a larger target for theft.

slokind · « **Reply #16 on:** October 02, 2009, 10:59:25 pm »

OK. Since this sestertius, interesting for teaching, came to me ineptly smoothed and 're-patinated' as well as very worn, but clearly identifiable, so long as I was teaching I kept it in a pocket (for passing around a class in Roman art) or in a side-pocket in my handbag (ladies' pockets being not good for much), or in my office desk drawer to hand to students who came to office hour. Given its size and age, many students were in awe of handling it (even though I could assure them that neither Jesus nor anyone else especially famous probably ever touched it). Well, any old coin does deserve respect, but this was one that I didn't have to worry about.
When I got it, I had only about two dozen coins and could identify it only as follows:
• 01 XII 99 AE Sestertius. 24.92 g. Commemorative bronze coin of Antoninus Pius struck by Marcus Aurelius. RIC 1269. Obv. Bare head of A. Pius and DIVVS ANTONIN [INVS (the first three letters faint). Rev. Column of Antoninus and Faustina, of which the base alone is preserved, at the Vatican; notice the statue on top. It was not storiated but smooth. DIVO PIO and SC, of which only PI and SC remain legible.
Pat L.
Click to zoom

Edessa · « **Reply #17 on:** October 02, 2009, 11:48:38 pm »

I used to carry a pocket piece, a Constantine AE3 that had been harshly cleaned. One dark morning I got out of the car and dropped it while fumbling with my keys. I panicked and decided to back the car up and turn on the headlights so that I could find this lost bit of history. Unfortunately, I pulled back over a curb and did about $300 of damage to the car looking for a $2 coin. Que Sera, Sera.

Eugene

Danny S. Jones · « **Reply #18 on:** October 04, 2009, 01:49:57 pm »

I would love to carry around a pocket piece, but I would lose my head if it wasn't attached to my neck. I'd lose my mind if I ever stuck it in my pocket. There's no way a coin would last a single day. I don't wanna take that chance. And, as others have pointed out, if I didn't care about losing the coin, I wouldn't care to carry it around either.

I do have to ask, with no bias toward any answer, but are you carrying around a coin to show it to other people, maybe have a "good luck charm," or to pull it out and enjoy it yourself? Or maybe some other reason?

commodus · « **Reply #19 on:** October 04, 2009, 03:17:59 pm »

I jut like having a little piece of antiquity with me.

Jochen · « **Reply #20 on:** October 04, 2009, 03:44:28 pm »

I don't need an ancient coin in my pocket. I do know that with every of my breaths I inhale about 10 molecules of Caesar's last breath before he died. I think that this really is an intimate relationship!

Jochen

Danny S. Jones · « **Reply #21 on:** October 04, 2009, 03:54:02 pm »

Quote from: Jochen on October 04, 2009, 03:44:28 pm

I don't need an ancient coin in my pocket. I do know that with every of my breaths I inhale about 10 molecules of Caesar's last breath before he died. I think that this really is an intimate relationship!

Interesting tidbit of information. Makes me want to hold my breath.

Edessa · « **Reply #22 on:** October 04, 2009, 04:58:17 pm »

Not wanting to lose another ancient coin, I now carry a very worn George III 2-pence as a pocket piece. Its comforting to carry around a "real" coin of good weight rather than this alloy-token coinage of today!

Eugene

gavignano · « **Reply #23 on:** October 04, 2009, 07:08:48 pm »

Just a note on my beloved Trajan. Have carried it for almost 2 yrs, not lost yet. On the rare occasion it has fallen out, it makes a heck of a ping, or visually it is quite noticeable. I thin casue it weighs so much, it is much less easy to fall out of the pocket, vs a few AE3s (lost all of them).
So, I recomend big, honker style sesterii, with problems, like ancient acne

and yes, I show them, I fiddle with it during committee meetings (the coin), etc etc. Joe

wandigeaux (1940 - 2010) · « **Reply #24 on:** October 04, 2009, 07:21:10 pm »

A big, heavy slug is just the ticket. Works like worry beads for me. George S.

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Do you carry a pocket piece?

Author Topic: Pocket pieces... (Read 5202 times)

gavignano

gavignano