L. Manlius Torquatus Denarius 82 BC - Sulla

Interesting Roman take on a typical Sicilian motif!

 

And this is yours personally P-P?

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.

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.

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.

where would one aquire these little beauties?

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.

Thanks!!