Today was the last Torex coin show of the year. (There are three annually.) For once, I went to the show with money ... and came home loaded. Most of what I picked up was quite reasonably priced. A worn sestertius of Hadrian, a obscure bronze coin by the Palmyrene ursurper Vabalanthus, a silver stater from 4th. century BC Corinth with some damage to the surface, and a nearly mint condition dirhem by the fabulous caliph Haroun Al-Rashid -- he of the Arabian Tales. The dealer who sold it to me said it was cheap because few people are serious about collecting Islamic coins. I replied that it was because nobody could read them -- you have to take the dealers word for what it is, since you cant verify it for yourself. He agreed to the extent that even modern Arabic speakers have trouble with 8th. century Arabic inscriptions. I only bought two coins that could be called expensive. One was a large bronze coin with the bust of Augustus right-hand man, and Caligulas grandfather -- Marcus Agrippa, who might have become Augustus heir if he hadnt predeceased him. The other was a gold solidus of the Byzantine emperor Phocas. It had been bent then straightened, and thus damaged, making a $600 to $800 coin worth a mere $275. The gold in it is almost worth that much, even though its a 1400-year-old coin. I think that with the purchases made at the coin show, but celebratory spending is over. Time to revert to my accustomed miserliness.
Posted on: Sun, 27 Oct 2013 06:46:04 +0000
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