Awe/cost challenge

Hopefully this will be fun. It's fun for me. Here's a coin that for me
has about the highest awe/cost ratio of any coin. Emphasis on "for me"
because all this of course is largely subjective.

http://rg.cointalk.org/misc/Constantius_II.html

The coin is a Roman bronze, specifically a late Roman bronze, very
specifically a late Roman bronze of Constantius II minted c. 350 AD
(I'm not sure of the mint -- can't quite make out the letters in the
exergue, and I'm not particularly good at this anyway). The coin
measures 21.5mm x 20mm (slightly larger than a current U.S. cent) and
weighs 6.4g (nearly three times as heavy).

Constantius II was one of the sons of Constantine the Great, the first
Roman emperor to embrace Christianity. Constantius II ruled Thrace,
Macedonia, Greece, Egypt, and Asia from 337-353 AD, then all the Roman
Empire from 353-361 AD. During his reign he spent much of his energies
battling the Persians/Sassians.

This coin is one of the popular "Fallen Horseman" types. It depicts on
the reverse a Roman soldier spearing a fallen Persian (or possibly
barbarian) horseman. Very dramatic. The obverse depicts a generic
portrait of Constantius II, and the obverse legend identifies him. The
reverse legend reads "Fel temp reparatio," an abbreviation of "Feliz
tiempo reparatio," which translates into "Good times returned" or
"Happy times are here again," This coin, like many late Roman coins
(and ancient coins in general), had a propaganda purpose, in this case
to reassure the Roman citizenry that Rome would hold off the
barbarians. Fat chance. g More on these Fallen Horseman types at
Doug Smith's site:

http://dougsmith.ancients.info/ftr.html

This coin has the most attractive type of patina on an ancient bronze
coin, an earthen or "desert sand" patina. The duotone effect brings
out the details of the coin's devices and legends. I'm grading it VF.
This coin pic will be appearing as an illustration to an article I've
written for an upcoming issue of Coin World's Coin Values.

The coin cost me $5, which is typical for these coins if a bit on the
low end for coins of this quality (good deal). I'm currently keeping
it in my wallet and will give it away at some point, as I have similar
late Roman bronzes, to someone I talk coins with who appears
interested and who's impressed with the coin.

The coin is awesome -- the history, the iconography. Truly, history in
your hand. Yet it cost just $5! Amazing awe/cost ratio.

I challenge anybody to top this, to come up with a coin that has a
higher awe/cost ratio. Could be fun. There are any number of other
possibilities, coins I personally would say could give this coin a ...
run for its money.

But please note: This is not an invitation to gutter fight, to
personally attack me or anyone else. I'm not attacking U.S. or other
modern coins, not attacking people who collect them. On the other
hand, I understand completely if you can't come up with a coin that
can match this one. g

On Tue, 11 May 2004 14:34:25 -0400, Reid Goldsborough
wrote:

snip

You forgot: "THIS POST WILL SELF-DESTRUCT IN TEN SECONDS"

BLReed

To email me click he http://tinyurl.com/nd66
For collector coins and supplies at fair prices: http://tinyurl.com/pt9r
Cool things: http://www.byronreed.com/byrons_collections/default.htm
Talk bust coins: http://www.byronreed.com/phpBB2/index.php

In article ,
Byron L. Reed wrote:


You forgot: "THIS POST WILL SELF-DESTRUCT IN TEN SECONDS"

Cheap shot, Reed.

Scot Kamins
--
"Speak your truth, even as your voice quakes."

http://rg.cointalk.org/misc/Constantius_II.html

That link is not working for me. Redirects to some search page.

Brad

Scot Kamins wrote:

Byron L. Reed wrote:


You forgot: "THIS POST WILL SELF-DESTRUCT IN TEN SECONDS"

Cheap shot, Reed.

Not really.

Many here will find Byron's response humorous....those who know that this post
by Reid and one or two others he made today are little more than a feeble
attempt at damage control. We've seen it before.


++++++++++
Phil DeMayo - always here for my fellow Stooge
When bidding online always sit on your helmet
Just say NO to counterfeits

Brad wrote:

http://rg.cointalk.org/misc/Constantius_II.html


That link is not working for me. Redirects to some search page.

Brad

It's working fine for me Brad.....(?)

Ian

Phil DeMayo wrote:

Scot Kamins wrote:

Byron L. Reed wrote:


You forgot: "THIS POST WILL SELF-DESTRUCT IN TEN SECONDS"

Cheap shot, Reed.

Not really.

Many here will find Byron's response humorous....those who know that this post
by Reid and one or two others he made today are little more than a feeble
attempt at damage control. We've seen it before.

Feeble Attempt? lol! Scot and Larry and other newcomers (as in less
than a year in the esteemed halls of RCC) have figured out the
repetitive nature of the resident troll long since, I'd hope. ;-)

This is not 'damage control'. Over here, we refer to it with the Big
Letters as "The New Truth According To Reid".

Alan
'still not in love with Big Brother'

In article ,
Alan Williams wrote:


This is not 'damage control'. Over here, we refer to it with the Big
Letters as "The New Truth According To Reid".

Jeez. You guys!!!

Major premise: Reid is a Bad Guy.
minor Premise: Bad guys can post nothing worth considering.
Conclusion: No post by Reid is worth considering.

The conclusion, though valid, is wrong because the minor premise is
wrong. (Notice that I'm ignoring the truth/untruth ofthe major permise
because I'm A Stranger Here Myself, as Alan correctly points out.) Bad
guys can post useful info & fun topics.

This looks to me to be a fun topic. Of course, few people will post to
it now because they realize that you and DeMayo etc. will trash the
thread to death and take away what possible fun could be found in it.

In other words, in your and DeMayo's exuberance to trash Reid you also
poison the well.

Newcomers like me can see what is crap and what is not. We have been
duly warned by you and DeMayo and others about Reid's stealing people's
ideas, about his questionable courage, and other issues. We are not
stupid. Must you destroy the village to save it?

Scot Kamins
--
"Speak your truth, even as your voice quakes."

Scot Kamins wrote in part:

This looks to me to be a fun topic. Of course, few people will post to
it now because they realize that you and DeMayo etc. will trash the
thread to death and take away what possible fun could be found in it.

First of all, DeMayo has a first name....you are allowed to use it.

Secondly, DeMayo would not have posted to this thread at all had you not been
so offended by Byron's comment.



++++++++++
Phil DeMayo - always here for my fellow Stooge
When bidding online always sit on your helmet
Just say NO to counterfeits

In article ,
ulsion (Phil DeMayo) wrote:

First of all, DeMayo has a first name....you are allowed to use it.

Thank you, DeMayo. I'll keep that in mind for future reference.

Secondly, DeMayo would not have posted to this thread at all had you not been
so offended by Byron's comment.

AH - but you did. But that's not the point, is it?

The point is that there is a Gang of Reid Bashers (hereinafter GRBs,
with whom you may or may not identify) who insist on destroying every
thread that Reid posts. I assume that the intent of this is to make him
go away. Such is the emotionally blinding intensity of the GRBs that
they see nothing but evil in the man and in his produce.

But it appears to me that Reid will NOT go away. He will stay. He will
continue to post. And the GRBs will continue to poison his threads.

I for one will continue to read each thread until it disintegrates into
back-and-forth snipping between Reid and the GRBs (because Reid, ins
spite of his protestations, always falls into the trap), with no new
real useful comments coming from anyone, at which point I'll kill-file
the thread.

And I'll continue to enjoy the real info, as I do the (almost always)
helpful and knowledgable comments posted by you and Alan and other GRBs.

Scot Kamins
--
"Speak your truth, even as your voice quakes."