Very good Journal.

Interesting hobby! I used to be a small-time coin collector (just 19-20th cent US coins), but had to sell most of it off over lean times.
"400 bc"-fascinating, and depressing...almost 2500 years, and it's all about the Apollonias

My earliest coin collection was gutted that way. Little in it was of much value, but I regret that pristine $20 bills from the 1954 series! I plain can't afford to replace it...

And will probably hold its value much better than modern Greek currency!

what greek currency. XD

True enow! They should of stuck with silver.

They should have stuck with the drachm, anyway. At least they never would have had overvalued buying power that got them into this mess -- in effect they were using German Deutschemarks that they were earning with Greek wages. Not really their fault, since had they been spending their own currency, they would have bought fewer imports, and Greek made goods would have been inherently cheaper. Adopting the Euro created an enormous amount of virtual credit across Europe that nobody seemed aware of.

Of course, it took Standard & Poors overrated junk debt instruments being peddled by those Godless Sacks to tip the Europeans into insolvency. No "accidental shootings" without somebody pulls a trigger, and that was it.

too true, though they'd never admit it. their government leaning topwards corruption and gaining power through gifts to the plebs didn't help, either. long before the euro they wasted precious money, like early nineties where they tried to renew the people's vehicle stock, so they gave everybody half the money for a new car. so people threw away their old crates, and many bought cars they couldn't afford. the state got into hefty depts over it, and people had to use public transport while their shiny new Mercedes and BMW and whatnot, rusted away in their backyards...

one of the new generation of greek politicians, who grew up in germany, demands 70 Billions in reparations from WW2 damages done to greece. meanwhile Brussels tries to tell them that they won't receive a rusty penny until they finally start to save money like they're supposed to.
to me it sounds like someone gets greedy down there... again. I start to pity the greeks, no matter whom they vote they always get the worst of it.

It could well be that the Greeks do bear a good deal of responsibility for their troubles, but I was reluctant to join the finger-pointing because so many tight-fisted fiscal conservatives were using Greece to show how unemployment insurance, pensions, paid vacations and sparing the whip invariably led to bankruptcy. It's the same story whether they want to end subsidized pharmaceuticals to the poor or free trips to Disney World for everyone. I suspect that in their mind it is the same. "You work for your money or you inherit it -- there's no other way, and incidentally, inheriting it is much the better because you'll never earn as much by working as my ol' man will leave me when he dies..." The same bastards are trying to force austerity measures on Canada, despite having been less touched by the global recession than anywhere I can think. It doesn't matter to these people. It's principle -- the least worthy have to suffer, to show how worthy those who don't suffer are.

So maybe the Greeks have been corrupt and lazy. It's hasn't exactly been the pinnacle of anyone's civilization since 400 BC. It was passable up to maybe 400 AD. After that it's been mostly downhill.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/There_.....s_a_free_lunch

If Heinlein warned of a bus bearing down on me at 90 mph, I'd know it was safe to bend over and tie my shoe.

Your privilege, cobber. But don't be surprised if you wind up wearing tire tracks.

He'd probably get in his car and run me over himself, just to prove he was right. 8 P

fiscal/economical conservatives will always argument like this. on one hand, what is given out within a social state to the poor and unlucky, can't line their pockets. on the other hand, once they have reached their position they are so far away from real life that only to them, it makes sense to let the poor die.
that without anybody to consume what their precious automatized production sites create because everybody beign poor their own wealth will cease to have any value.

but that's a mere mind construction; or wishful thinking if you will. in reality there are too many people who still have enough money to buy. and even if they don't, it's cheaper to close shop and restart than actually trying to come up with something more people could afford.

I have a number of ancient coins as well. I'm reluctant to purchase anything that looks as nice as what you have here because of all the convincing counterfeits comming out of China. They're pretty much destroying all the collector's markets.

Like many "capitalist" nations, all they really mean is piracy. The Chinese have all the moral scruple in business as 19th. century America... which is to say almost none. This is why you need to know a reputable dealer -- it's in his interest to ensure you get genuine goods. Aside from knowing your dealer -- and I can recommend one whose prices are good and has an excellent reputation in both Canada and the US -- you should have some idea of what items are most likely to be counterfeited. Usually, they're high value items like scarce 18th. century American pieces -- but you probably couldn't afford that sort of thing anyway.

Then too, you can learn how to spot fakes yourself. The most up-to-date counterfeiting techniques would probably fool you, but you can learn how to spot the most common kind. I developed a good enough knack for it that the local coin shop got into the habit of showing me stuff for my opinion. It's surprisingly easy, once you learn a bit and have had enough experience seeing and handling coins.

For instance, I once spotted some replicas I was shown of Alexandrine tetradrachms -- these are thickish, silver coins that were produced in Roman patterns from Julio-Claudian times up to Diocletian. Only the older one shad silver content, though. And by Nero's time even the silver was just a thin coating. The collection I was shown spanned about 150 years, as I recall. There was signs of mechanical wear, but the silver coating had worn through nowhere. Also, the quality of the metal was too bright, and uniform across the entire collection. No way that coins struck over 150 years would have been found all in one place, exposed to a single sold chemistry, would have exactly the same surface finish! Some should have been pitted, others, bright, some dull, but no two should have had metal surfaces that looked the same. They were obviously replicas.

I've used similar context related examination to disclose beautifully made gold Solidii. They were absolutely perfect! But two coins struck on the same dies on the same die should still have had slight differences. These two were exactly the same -- centered perfectly, each letter identically well struck, no differences where the scrapes and worn spots were. No question about it -- they weren't real, however well made they were. I can direct you to some on-line articles, if interested.

Please do! I find that info quite interesting. I also collect in a wide range of areas including militaria and Native American Indian Artifacts. Both feilds have huge amounts of counterfeiting going on but I'm well versed in spotting fakes in these fields.

I do most of my buying from Calgary Coin & Antique. They do mail-order business, and also attend the Torex coin show in Toronto three times a year.

Their catalog is at: http://www.vcoins.com/ancient/calga.....namicIndex.asp

The site map is: http://www.calgarycoin.com/site_map.htm

An article on counterfeits is at: http://www.calgarycoin.com/referenc.....akes/fakes.htm

An article on grading: http://www.calgarycoin.com/referenc.....ng/grading.htm

Other articles of interest: http://www.calgarycoin.com/referenc.....s/articles.htm

Glad to see you adding to your collection again!

First time in ages. I may attend the next show, though, and see what I can buy on time. My next check should be larger, since I've qualified for a special diet allowance. Not that I intend to spend all my food money on coins!

Question: you know anything about Russian coins? Specifically Nikolai the Second stuff?

What I don't know, I may be able to find out. That's what reference books are for. I presume you mean Nicholas II, 1868 to 1918. I have a number of coins from that period. What is it you hope I can help you with?

Proper pricing, possibly anyone who'd be interested in gettin' such things?

I can give you a rough idea of the values of late Czarist coins. I need to know their denominations, date, and condition. It would be helpful if you could place the coins on your scanner so that I can see them for myself as well. Then it should be just a matter of looking each coin up in a book and matching it to the appropriate condition. I can tell you this without looking -- unless the coin is in mint shape, it will probably be worth only a few dollars, even silver. A one ruble coin in slightly worn condition might be worth $40 or something like that. However, there are probably a few very rare years that might be worth more. And mint condition always improves the value.

*nodders* I see. Thanks! ^^ Well, maybe I'll get a photo of them or some such. ^^

That would be helpful. You can send them to:

Taral[at]teksavvy.com