The Roman Empire

After decades on numismatic hiatus, I have re-kindled my childhood passion for collecting coins.  The resulting odyssey has been both unexpected and fascinating.  My newfound obsession is collecting ancient coinage.

I focused initially on ancient Greece, and examples can be found in my NGC Ancients Custom Set entitled "The Ancient World Collection." While I highly admire ancient Greek coinage for historical importance and artistic splendor, I found myself inexorably drawn to its successor. For the next two millennia, Rome and the autocracies she spawned (the Roman Empire, followed by the Byzantine Empire) dominated the Mediterranean-centric world, leaving behind a plethora of coinage for modern-day contemplation.  Thus, I began compiling a new NGC Ancient Custom Set, which I named "The Roman Empire."

Admittedly, some ancient coin collectors eschew the concept of slabbing their coins.  For myself, I appreciate the confirmation of attribution and condition, not to mention air-tight security.  I also enjoy the concept of a custom set, whose contents I control.  Above all, coin collecting should be fun and informative, and these aspects came together in a special way for me in this collection.  Rome's history seemingly demanded that I research each coin and provide a synopsis in its Owner's Comments section.  In more than a few instances, I used the opportunity to explore synergies with other personal interests, whether historical, geographical, scientific, etc.

Within its inaugural year (2014) the collection grew to over 100 specimens and was noted "Best Ancient Set," and within the last four years the set has grown to over 200 specimens.  In 2017, I was pleased to earn the honor of "Best Ancient Set" for a second time.  Given the effort I have invested into this set, and the recognition it has received, I decided to I launch this journal which, like my acquisition, research and Owner's Comments for each new coin, is subject to serendipity.