[Amphitheatre, Pozzuoli, Naples.]

Excellent shots of the ampitheatres Neil. This is a beautiful little known example.

 

Thanks!

[spamtest 2]

spam carving-how very disturbing. Is it problem in the Bavarian community?

 

I'm not sure the ancient Alpen traditions of Spam carvings... maybe our Austrian friend Viggen can provide some insight.

[spamtest 2]

At the Bavarian summer fest in Gaylord Michigan, I was once present as my brother entered a spam carving contest. A few contestants carved some rather elaborate things out of that brick of canned 'meat'. Of my brother's effort, I can only recall a lackluster result that vaguely resembled a misshappen hunk of coal.

[World's first coin]

Hmm, the earliest Roman coinage the Aes Rude was essentially a lump of bronze. I suppose it has been argued that this 'coin' was simply used as a replacement for goods in a transaction and that it was not an officially minted, sanctioned or form of tender with a set value.

 

The first stamped Roman coin was the Aes Signatum which was established roughly in the early part of the 3rd century BC, but clearly the Rude had been used as a viable option for at least a century before, if not longer. For all practical purposes the Rude was, if not a coin, a form of 'money'.

 

With this in mind, did Rome's eastern forebears use similar lumps of metal and/or ingots prior to the introduction of this Lydian coin shown as your sample? It would seem impossible to me that the clearly stamped form of coinage was being used without an eastern 'Aes Rude' equivelant having set some form of trading precedant?

[Caesar Venus & Aeneas Denarius]

I really enjoy the relationship it implies between not only Caesar and Venus, but Rome and Troy. See my blog entry for a bit more detail.

 

Will do! & I found a fine eaxmple of this one.

 

Yes indeed, thats a beauty... and the corresponding price assuredly knocks it out of my collectible price range.

[Caesar Venus & Aeneas Denarius]

I'd love to see an uncirculated example of this one!

 

I usualy find the Roman coins to be of rather mundae design but I really dig this one.

 

I really enjoy the relationship it implies between not only Caesar and Venus, but Rome and Troy. See my blog entry for a bit more detail.

[Narnia]

Hmm, so that's where all my Michigan snow went this winter!?! I believe we may have had the lightest snow fall winter in recorded history this year. Actually now that I think about it you folks can keep it

[Tiberius 'Tribute Penny' Silver Denarius]

"Oh, you're not so bad yourself, Conkface... Where are you two from? Nose City?

 

 

poor Tiberius... No offense to the coin P-P!

 

Indeed, beware the nasal drip.

[L. Manlius Torquatus Denarius 82 BC - Sulla]

where would one aquire these little beauties?

 

Well, if you live in a big enough metro area there is bound to be a coin shop nearby, but of course your selection is limited. Ebay is an option, and you can get very good deals, but one must always be wary of scammers. I don't personally recommend it especially for someone just starting out. However, Vcoins is a huge collection of online dealers (mostly with brick and mortar shops as well) and highly reputable. You can find coins of any quality, price and type.

[Blasphemy! He said it again!]

It actually took me a second viewing to understand what a kanigit (phonetic knight) was. Does that make me daft? lol

 

 

What also floats in water?

Bread!

Apples!

Very small rocks!

[L. Manlius Torquatus Denarius 82 BC - Sulla]

I'd like to get my own collection some day...

 

This appears to have been made by making a puddle of silver and then once it was slightly solidified, "stamping" it something like sealing wax. Do you know if this is how they were made? It doesn't appear to be cast as it is not uniform enough for that.

 

Indeed, the Romans typically 'struck' their coins. This process used stamps called dies that may have actually been casted (to allow uniformity of coin production rather than individually created stamps each time), but the coins themselves were 'stamped' and there is little real evidence of how the stamps were made.

 

PS. A bit of advice for anyone who starts a collection. First pick an era, an emperor, a type of coin, etc. that really interests you. Its very difficult to focus on what to look for, if your collection style is random. I started by thinking I would like one denarius of every emperor, (understanding of course that I would probably never acquire such valuable coins as those of Claudius), but I quickly came to realize that obtaining a coin of Severus Alexander did not excite me nearly as much as holding a coin of Augustus. So I've fine tuned my habits and now strictly focus on the Republican (mostly imperatorial) period and the Julio-Claudian emperors. Within that group, I still prefer mainly to collect denarii, but for some characters (Germanicus, the afore mentioned Claudius, Brutus etc.) the coins are just too rich for my blood.

[Blasphemy! He said it again!]

'Stop! Stop, will you?! Stop that! Stop it! Now, look! No one is to stone anyone until I blow this whistle!'

 

One of the little things I always respected about this rather silly film was the fact that they made the extra effort to film it on location in Tunisia.

[L. Manlius Torquatus Denarius 82 BC - Sulla]

Interesting Roman take on a typical Sicilian motif!

 

And this is yours personally P-P?

 

Yes sir. My collection is rather sparse, but I figured I'd use this gallery and blog combination to share it with the world. I'm hoping that it will inspire me to add to it a bit more often than I presently do.

[parking_garage.jpg]

So how exactly did the car get up there?

[Cohort]

This is fantastic... is it completely original?