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For the love of copper
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Added another 1852 large cent to my collection.  N-11

I bought the coin for the strike.  It may have been cleaned, but, the strike is outstanding. A little brown coin envelope should fix up that nasty old cleaning.

Actually, Coin Cave, for a cleaned US Large Cent, your coin looks pretty good.  Based on my experience at the brick and mortar shop, cleaned US Large Cents are often this screaming, almost neon orangish color.  Yours has retoned some and I think there's definitely hope for it. And it does have a nice strike.....I'd say it has more going for it than going against it.  Not a bad purchase if you're into US Large Cent varieties which you appear to be.

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On 6/26/2019 at 9:53 PM, Coin Cave said:

My son added this coin to our collection.  I have to make sure to give him credit in case he peeks in here.  I thought he might have gotten me an early Christmas gift.  But, no.  This one may hang around for a while.  Enough red to keep it interesting.

 

 

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Coin Cave,

I like the color on that very much.....your son has a good eye for copper!  I wish I could find a Faustina the Younger As or Sestertius with that color......wait, no I don't!  I could never afford it and it'd just make me sad!  Thanks for sharing that!

~Tom

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I just broke my no auction rule....but for a very good reason:

image.thumb.png.9f86669edb1b078ffc18b6ffbfb916bc.png

image.thumb.png.bc081fb87967af51d11379f620c9f558.png

Gotta love a green Faustina........If you're reading this, Don, I really do have the copper bug!

Edited by Mohawk
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That's a tricky one, Coinbuf....I know that well from my days at the brick and mortar.  There are people who wouldn't believe that the 1911-S in that grade handily outclasses the 1909-SVDB in the same grade, but it does easily.  And the coloration is great!  Well done!

Edited by Mohawk
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6 hours ago, EmiCoins said:

Love Faustina coins! I think all ancients are fascinating.

Thank you Emi! 

Faustina coins are the main thing I collect now along with coins from her daughter Lucilla.  I'm trying to build as comprehensive of a collection of Faustina and Lucilla coinage as I can (excluding aureii of course, I don't have that kind of budget).  Do you actively collect ancients currently yourself?

~Tom

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On 6/29/2019 at 9:01 PM, Mohawk said:

I just broke my no auction rule....but for a very good reason:

image.thumb.png.9f86669edb1b078ffc18b6ffbfb916bc.png

image.thumb.png.bc081fb87967af51d11379f620c9f558.png

Gotta love a green Faustina........If you're reading this, Don, I really do have the copper bug!

Those are some nice looking additions Tom! I have been a bit MIA lately so I am just now trying to catch up. I really like the patina. It just exudes the character you would expect and want to see from a copper piece that old.

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18 minutes ago, coinsandmedals said:

Those are some nice looking additions Tom! I have been a bit MIA lately so I am just now trying to catch up. I really like the patina. It just exudes the character you would expect and want to see from a copper piece that old.

Thanks Don!  I really appreciate that feedback from someone who is as accomplished in collecting copper as you are, my friend.  As you can see, the copper bug is firmly entrenched now.....and I thank you for it!  Fausti coppers are a ton of fun!  I have to get a Lucilla in there at some point, but her coppers are far fewer in number.  The difference in having thirty years to strike coins in as opposed to four really shows in the copper issues.  It's a great challenge though!  

~Tom 

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3 hours ago, Mohawk said:

Thanks Don!  I really appreciate that feedback from someone who is as accomplished in collecting copper as you are, my friend.  As you can see, the copper bug is firmly entrenched now.....and I thank you for it!  Fausti coppers are a ton of fun!  I have to get a Lucilla in there at some point, but her coppers are far fewer in number.  The difference in having thirty years to strike coins in as opposed to four really shows in the copper issues.  It's a great challenge though!  

~Tom 

The copper bug can spread and entrench rather quickly. I suppose I should have warned you about that. I am proud to know I had even the slightest influence on your growing collection of coppers! Oh that is interesting, I had no idea that Lucilla coppers were only struck for four years. I learn something new every day. I bet that does make a big difference. Out of curiosity, did they did mainly focus on producing silver and gold coinage at the time? 

Edited by coinsandmedals
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On 7/9/2019 at 8:11 PM, coinsandmedals said:

The copper bug can spread and entrench rather quickly. I suppose I should have warned you about that. I am proud to know I had even the slightest influence on your growing collection of coppers! Oh that is interesting, I had no idea that Lucilla coppers were only struck for four years. I learn something new every day. I bet that does make a big difference. Out of curiosity, did they did mainly focus on producing silver and gold coinage at the time? 

Hey Don,

To answer your question about Lucilla's coppers, actually all of her coins were only struck for four years because she only had the rank of Augusta for four years.  Further compounding the issue is the fact that, during those four years, her father, mother and husband were also issuing coinage in their names as well.  Of course, Marcus Aurelius (Lucilla's father who was the reigning senior Augustus) and her mother Faustina issued the lion's share of all Roman coinage at the time with Lucilla and Lucius Verus (Lucilla's husband and the junior Augustus) getting what was left over, essentially.  Lucilla lost her Augusta rank in 169 CE, when Lucius Verus died, either from the Antonine Plague based on some sources or when Faustina decided he was a *spoon* husband and Augustus and poisoned him to death based on other, more recent sources.  I myself tend to favor the Fausti breaking out the hemlock theory as she definitely had a big streak of mama bear where her children, her husband, her soldiers and the Empire were concerned and poisoning Lucius Verus was something she would have done if she thought Verus was inadequate as either a husband to her daughter or as a potential senior Emperor.  Though I am enamored with Faustina, I do have to admit that such an act wouldn't be out of character for her.  As I said before, Faustina the Younger was the ultimate yin and yang, light and dark in one person.  She could be remarkably compassionate and caring, as is shown by how she was with her husband, children, soldiers and the women and girls of the Roman Empire but she could also be extremely brutal and cutthroat when she felt she had to be.

Edited by Mohawk
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Though now that I think about it.....it could have been both the Antonine Plague and Faustina poisoning him.  Maybe Verus got sick and Faustina saw her chance to........help him on his way onto Charon's Raft, shall we say.  Once again, such a thing would have been something she would have done if she felt that he needed to be......removed.

Edited by Mohawk
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13 hours ago, Mohawk said:

Thank you Emi! 

Faustina coins are the main thing I collect now along with coins from her daughter Lucilla.  I'm trying to build as comprehensive of a collection of Faustina and Lucilla coinage as I can (excluding aureii of course, I don't have that kind of budget).  Do you actively collect ancients currently yourself?

~Tom

I do collect ancients! I am currently putting together a set of denarius of the Five Good Emperors (Nerva,Trajan, Hadrian, Antoninus Pius, and Marcus Aurelius). I have some large copper coins also. 

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I still have those ancient Chinese coins given to me by our translator in the 90’s & he labeled the dynasties for me. The my all the way back & are in good condition if interested. I also have shekels from around the Roman Empire, the ones considered to be the 30 pieces sold for Jesus. I recently got my hands on a Caligula coin which are rare do to his short reign. I have contacts in Israel that can get you any kind of Roman coin you want.

Thanks for all you do!

Travis

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6 hours ago, Travis Hale said:

I still have those ancient Chinese coins given to me by our translator in the 90’s & he labeled the dynasties for me. The my all the way back & are in good condition if interested. I also have shekels from around the Roman Empire, the ones considered to be the 30 pieces sold for Jesus. I recently got my hands on a Caligula coin which are rare do to his short reign. I have contacts in Israel that can get you any kind of Roman coin you want.

Thanks for all you do!

Travis

You have a Caligula?  That's pretty awesome, Travis....he is a tough one as you pointed out!  I also dig the Chinese coins but biblical coins don't do anything for me as I'm not religious and I prefer not to have things strongly associated with Abrahamic religions in my collection.  Just my preference and no disrespect meant to anyone who does adhere to an Abrahamic religion.  So no shekels or the like for me ;).  Thanks for the offer with your contacts, but with my lack of knowledge of Israeli laws concerning antiquities and coins I prefer not to pursue coins from Israeli sellers.  But thanks for the offer :)

Edited by Mohawk
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12 hours ago, EmiCoins said:

I do collect ancients! I am currently putting together a set of denarius of the Five Good Emperors (Nerva,Trajan, Hadrian, Antoninus Pius, and Marcus Aurelius). I have some large copper coins also. 

That's a sweet pursuit, Emi, and much easier to complete with nice coins than the famous 12 Caesars set so many people pursue!  And our collecting interests intersect......Faustina the Younger is who I mainly collect from along with Lucilla, so your collection includes Faustina's father and husband along with Lucilla's father.  These are an interesting group of people for sure, and at least in the case of Faustina, very difficult to research.....lots of contradictory stuff out there as she made some powerful enemies, which is basically undisputed.  Which, I guess would be somewhat expected of an outspoken 2nd Century CE empress who was more comfortable in military camps than in palaces and the Senate House.  But, since it's been recently determined that the Augustan History is almost entirely unreliable, it's gotten easier.  My goal is as comprehensive a collection of Faustina and Lucilla's coins as I can get aside from aureii. 

Edited by Mohawk
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