Probably like some of you, I started off surfing through Ebay and saw an auction offering “Uncleaned Ancient Roman Coins”. Truth be known, I was dating a woman who sold collectible salt and pepper shakers on Ebay, and was seeing what she was selling. How I got from salt and pepper shakers to ancient coins, I’ve never quite figured out.
It all looked interesting, but I had no idea of what I was going to with a handful of dirty coins. A little research gave me the idea it couldn't be too hard to do (Rookie mistake #1), so I purchased a cleaning kit, complete with a free coin and set off with my new hobby. I did manage to get that coin cleaned without destroying it only to discover I now owned a very old coin and I had no idea of how to identify it or where to start (Rookie mistake #2). The coin had no lettering on it I could read (not that I would have understood it anyway), a portrait on the front, and a completely obliterated reverse that looked like it had gone through an ancient battle itself and lost. I thought I would never know just what I had uncovered. Luckily, a dealer that I had purchased a few dirt encrusted pieces of metal from took the time to tell me who the figure was, pointed me towards Wildwinds.com and, in the process, I learned how to attribute coins by a number of different means. In the time since then, that lonely coin has been joined by too many big and little brothers and sisters.
Thank you Eddie for your help getting me started in this hobby. I never would have made it this far without you.
For the record, that first coin wasn't exactly an ancient coin. It was a bronze Byzantine Class E Anonymous Follis , minted during the reign of Constantine X (1059-1067), Sears BCV 1855. What I couldn’t recognize on the obverse was a portrait of Jesus Christ.
It still has a special place in my collection, even though I don't collect the Byzantine Period. In fact, it remains the only Byzantine in my collection.
Carpe Diem.
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