Question (materials posted elsewhere) and my first article (Richard J Plant)

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Virgil H:
I love his books, especially his Greek types book. That is one of my go to books when I don't have a clue. It almost always gets me in the ballpark for more specific research.

Virgil

mauseus:
Hi

I was sadly outbid on all the lots of his post mortem sale but acquired and exchanged a number of coins with him. He had a wonderful, "plummy", voice that was so engaging. His books were sometimes criticised for the drawings, but they were engaging and his Greek coins volume pointed me in the right direction so many times.

A gentleman always willing to share his knowledge.

Regards,

Mauseus

Curtis JJ:
Using drawings was an interesting strategy. I think it's even possible they've become more useful over time, since now it's easy to find photographs. In 1979 photographs of every imaginable type didn't yet abound, so some of them may have been unfamiliar. But now, having an idealized drawing plus photos can be helpful for highlighting and emphasizing which details are important. Especially for the inscriptions / legends, a main interest of his, which can be much easier to read in a line drawing. (Or for a coin type that's almost never centered/struck with complete legends, like the type below.)

One of my most treasured "plate coins" is a nice-enough but otherwise rather ordinary Provincial bronze from Samaria, Neapolis, which I'm fairly confident he used as the model for his Greek Coin Types # 1881 (for the reverse, anyway):

--- Quote ---Roman Judaea, Samaria, Neapolis, Domitian AE20 (Assarion or Dupondius?) (20mm, 7.11g, 6h), dated Year 11 (L-AI), 82-83 CE.
Obverse: ΑΥΤΟΚ ΔΟΜΙΤΙΑΝΟΣ ΚΑΙΣΑΡ ΣΕΒΑΣΤΟΣ. Laureate head of Domitian.
Reverse: ΦΛΑΟΥΙ ΝΕΑΠΟΛΙ ΣΑΜΑ L – ΑΙ. Palm tree.
References: RPC 2220; Plant 1881 (this rev. illustrated?).
Provenance: Ex Collection of Rev. Richard J Plant (1928-2020); Naville 64 (2021), 235.
--- End quote ---

I noticed another one at a CNG auction recently, an Antoninus Pius Alexandrian Drachm with the Lighthouse of Alexandria [LINK] which I'm sure served as the model for his # 456. I really wish I could've hung in the bidding on that one, especially since I thought it sold for too little.

I've got a little smattering of ex-Plant coins from various Naville sales:

Virgil H:
I have to admit, I like the line drawings better that photographs, which is one reason I so love his books, especially, as mentioned, the Greek one. Also, the cross references, etc, are invaluable. In todays photo world, we have lost the value of drawings I think. Once I have narrowed a coin down, that is when the research with photos come in, but if coin ID sites used line drawings rather than photos, I would't argue. I know, not going to happen. The interesting collorary is that medical art illustration seems to have remained alive (at least to a point, I guess) because it depicts things photographs just cannot.

Virgil

Joe Sermarini:
The Roman coin photos on the covers his Roman Silver Coin - A Price Guide and Roman Base Coin - A Price Guide were from the FORVM shop.

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