Left-facing denarius of Julia Domna

[Rupert]

Some of you may know this coin since its previous owner posted it in the German forum already, yet I could not resist presenting it here, although once more it reflects my attitude which most people don't share, which is, mostly to collect rare rather than high-grade coins.
It's a denarius from Laodicea, after 196 AD, from what is, as far as I know, the only left-facing denarius die for Domna. Four or five specimens are known, this certainly isn't the best, but any of the others would have abruptly ended my coin-buying budget for the next 6 to 9 months.

Obv. IULIA - AU(GUSTA), draped bust left.
Rev. VENUS - (F)ELIX, Venus standing left, holding sceptre in left and apple or globe in right hand.
Grade: Fine, slightly porous surfaces, flan chip at 3 to 5 o'clock on the obv.
Pedigree: Bought by the previous owner from HJB about half a year ago.

The first coin of this type showed up at Gorny sale 33 in Munich, 1986; another one in CNG MBS 61, both in better condition. Here's my coin.

Rupert

[Jochen]

Rupert, you are a fox!

Congrats!

[Marius]

it reflects my attitude which most people don't share, which is, mostly to collect rare rather than high-grade coins.

I feel pleased to hear this said.

When I first started collecting, I was very proud to get a rare coin, no matter what the grade, but most of the experienced collectors I knew thought differently and I began to adopt their view.  I started to wait for a rare coin to become available in nice grade before buying it (or never getting one because in high grade they were too expensive) and I starting looking at my low grade coins as blemishes in my collection, but something changed all that:

I remember looking through the NAC sale catalog for the Friedrich Collection of sestertii.  Friedrich collected one of each sestertii by Cohen number.  I absolutely adored his  collection and I decided to style my own collecting on his (at the time I began to collect one of every sestertius for the emperors Decius until Gallienus).  I showed the Friedrich catalog to an experienced friend and told him of my plans, but he told me that Friedrich's collection was not especially highly regarded and it was considered more of an amateurish way to collect.  At first I accepted this, but then the thought came to me -I really like Friedrich’s collection!  Like Rupert, I just like rare varieties and interesting types no matter what the grade.  Rupert's left-facing Julia Domna is every bit as beautiful to me as a high grade one (if one could be found).  I have many low-grade, but rare coins.  My only gold coin, and Aureus of Trebonianus Gallus, is holed and repaired.  At one time I would have felt the coin was tainted, but no more - I love the coin (and couldn't afford a perfect one - but that is no matter).
Thanks for posting such a beautiful coin and sharing your thoughts.

Richard

[slokind]

Amen, Amen.  Each of us has only one life, and the only way to do anything is the way that gives us the greatest pleasure and intellectual satisfaction that our means will permit.  Once past one's salad years there are no more real second chances.  Beisdes, the best studies any one of us is capable of will be those in which we rejoice (needless to say, there is real labor involved in any worthwhile work, but it is the product, not the work, per se that has virtue, in my opinion).  And, different strokes for different folks.
Pat L.

[TRPOT]

I couldn't agree more. I don't care if people don't think my collection is "important" after I'm dead. I only care about how much I enjoy it while I'm here. I'm one of those collectors that can't seem to focus on any specific area, and have no desire to.  I'll buy any coin that strikes my fancy.

[Optimus]

One thing is for sure: do what pleases you most. I personally am not really fascinated by the rarity of a coin but by the artistic expression of the celator (well, of course, if the coin is rare so much the better :-)) This is why I keep a whole series of banal -but extremely beautiful -denarii of Trajan and A. Pius. I have never been interested in Byzantine coins -for me they are extremely boring pieces of metal (now don't get started, Byzantine fans;-)) But if you want to collect only rare coins in whatever quality -the choice is yours.
You have to keep one thing in mind though. Coins are also an investment, whether we like it or not. Many of us will swear "I will never part with any of my coins" but this is rarely the case. So, whatever you do, make sure that you pay the right price for a coin that will be also a financial asset.

[Rupert]

Hi Optimus and the other participants!

This is an interesting discussion. Of course, artistic value and rarity have to be in some balance. One coin of my dreams would be a decadrachm from Syracuse. They're not really rare but classical Greek art at its climax, and one day I'll have to have one.

What Optimus says about Byzantine coins is, of course, heretic, and he'll have to burn at the stake for it . But each time I try to really get involved with these, I can't help sharing this opinion. It's good to have a few coins (I was just lucky last week to get one of those nice 40mm folles of Justinian at a good price) but it will never be my main realm of collecting. It's too formalized (if I met Trajan in the street I'd know his face, but Justinian??), and I see no point in counting whether the loros has four or five dots.

Rarity, however, is a thing that has always fascinated me. To know that there are only a couple of coins of a special type, or to even have a possibly unique coin, is a real thrill to me. And this is where I have to choose between rarity and condition: If I decide not to buy an extremely rare coin and wait to get it in a better grade, either I could buy one or two coins a year, which would not satisfy me, or I might wait forever to get a nicer specimen (or I find one but can't afford it). Of course, I understand now more than when I was younger that rarity isn't all, and that I have to take care not to pay too much for rare coins in low grade, or I wouldn't see my money again when I might sell them some day. I'll enclose a picture of the same coin type and same obv. die as above from Coinarchives, much nicer than mine. This one fetched $1,900, so since I paid less than 10 percent of this for my specimen, I think it's definitely worth that much for the rarity (besides, mine isn't too bad, not a slug).

Rupert