Jay, I've largely been with you, though ever since
FORUM added the full coin description below each thumbnail in a
gallery viewer, I think having too much description makes a
gallery look cluttered.
I appreciate all the research some
members do to post everything they know about a coin, placing it in historical context. For example, if a
Phillip I antoninianus commemorative includes a writeup about
Rome's millenial celebration, why the coin was minted, what was going on in the emperor's reign that made him want to
mint such coins, etc. But since the
gallery views changed so that all that text appears under each thumbnail, I've grown to find long descriptions irritating - I can't
help it.
Personally, I've been keeping my descriptions to the essentials lately. Here's an example from a random coin in my
gallery:
Coin title, the
part that is bolded under the thumbnails view:
Ariarathes V Eusebes Philopator Drachm HGC 7, 811And the description you get if you click on the coin, but it's also now pasted under the title in smaller font when browsing
gallery thumbnails (annoying!!):
Ariarathes V Eusebes Philopator AR drachm
4.03g, 20.0mm, 0 degrees, Kingdom of Cappadocia. Mazaka-Eusebeia (Kayseri, Turkey) mint, Regnal year 33 (130 BCE)
Attribution: HGC 7, 811.
O: Diademed head right.
R: ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ AΡIAΡAΘOY EYΣEBOYΣ, Athena Nikephoros standing left; monogram to inner left and ΓΑ(E) to outer right; in exergue, ΓΛ.
Ex-Pars Coins Auction 21 (15 Dec 2021) Lot 61, EX-Economopoulos Numismatics No. 12000957.
At times, I almost think this is too much info, but am at a loss what to cut further. I give the dimensions,
mint, year,
attribution, O and R descriptions in typical format, and whatever
provenance I have. That's it.
Based on the feedback in this
thread so far, I almost feel like now I should add in a little writeup about who the issuer was, why they minted this
style coin, maybe a description of where
Cappadocia is, etc. It seems like people either really like this, or are really turned off by that kind of detail.
Honestly - I feel if we went back to the old format, people would appreciate more detailed writeups much more!?!?
So what do other people add to their descriptions that most people would like, beyond the examples I've given here? Enquiring minds want to know