Hi Virgil,
Great
thread to resurrect. Unfortunately I can’t compare my reasons for collecting in 2012 to now, as I didn’t start until about 4 ½ years ago.
Why do I collect?
I’ve always been interested in
history and the coins have sometimes led me to the
history (
Sextus Pompey) while the
history (
Aurelian and the Palmyrene Empire, Odenathus to Shapur I and therefore to the
Sasanian empire, the interregnum after
Aurelian’s murder) has led me to the coins. Then I can enjoy the best of two worlds:
buying coins and
buying books/hunting down journal articles (numismatic and purely historical).
Buying coins naturally leads to
attribution and study, and that in turn satisfies my urge to do research, collect information about something, and then write it up. I feel that I often go overboard in my
Forum gallery, but as someone on this
discussion board once told me, if I enjoy it and it’s not hurting anyone, then I shouldn’t even think of it that way.
A given coin
type can also inspire and stimulate my interest. The wonderful
Crawford 511/4d that I purchased from Joe here at
Forum, with it’s amazing representation of
Skylla on the
reverse, led to an interest in representations of
Skylla. That has so far played itself out in the purchase of a book, obtaining a few journal articles, acquiring coins of
Sextus Pompey, and a coin from Tarentum,
Calabria. So...many...more representations of
Skylla to explore.
Quaintness, beauty, art. Some coins captivate me with these qualities. Many such coins I will never be able to afford, but others are within my reach. A few of the many examples that I am lucky to own: my AI
signed Facing
Head drachm of
Larissa; my
litra from
Akragas with a badass crab on the
reverse; my tritartemorion from Lampsako,
Mysia; my Athenian
tetradrachm and
obol; my most recent Larissian acquisition which I was lucky enough to obtain,
BCD Thessaly I 1111 (that very coin). Hmmm, that’s the second mention of
Larissa.
Finally, I collect because as something that can give a tangible inroad into
history I enjoy the fact that I can touch coins, examine them closely, hold them, show them to others, have others hold them, etc. Sometimes I will pick-up one of my joint Aurelian/Vabalathus coins from
Antioch and wonder to myself if that coin
had been used to pay one of
Zenobia’s mercenaries in her war with
Aurelian.
Obviously my reasons for collecting can overlap and be mutually reinforcing.
If I were ever to specialize, then it would be in the fractional silver coinage of
Larissa, but not of the facing
head types. Perhaps I already do this, as I own more Larissian fractionals than any other
type of coin and lately I’ve been on a tear trying to acquire them. I don’t think, however, that I’ll ever be a specialist as a result of my specialization: I don’t see myself as having the skill, patience, and opportunity to acquire that level of knowledge, experience, and expert eye.
All the best.
Tracy