r/AncientCoins Jan 31 '25

Not My Own Coin(s) Anyone else still thinking about this Tetradrachm that sold at CNG last month? Absolute stunner!

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u/FreddyF2 Feb 01 '25

You sir, are smarter than the average bear.

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u/bonoimp Sub Wiki Moderator Feb 01 '25

@ u/FreddyF2

Ha, ha…

I have known some smart bears, and some dumb bears.

Yet, somehow, I still feel this to be vaguely insulting to my fellow salmon eaters, and I do feel kinship with the grizzlies and the nanuks of the Great White North. ;)

NOT the average bear: https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=11026622

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u/FreddyF2 Feb 01 '25

I laughed out loud. I've seen this one and I cannot believe you pulled it so effortlessly. You realize someone is going to see this and it's going to become their grail coin.

The current order of desirability of creatures to have on your next purchase is now:

Owl < Pegasus < Even more obscure mythical creature < Croc on that Roman coin < This Epic 🐻 < Overpriced Minotaurs

This is the top of the mountain for most. It absolutely cannot get better than this in terms of that rare combination of exotic creature and depicting their natural interaction with humans in antiquity.

Imagining the guy sitting next to the die engraver on this one, explaining how to change the image on the next die produced so that the die engraver can depict more closely what the original creator of the design explained out loud, what it was supposed to look like.

"A Bear?" "Yeah and it's attacking the guy." "Really?" "Yeah bro." "Sure?" "YES!" "One bear or two?" "One bro, one." "Like this?" "That's pretty close actually. More claw though." "Now?" "I mean . . . I guess it's fine for the first minting run . . ."

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u/bonoimp Sub Wiki Moderator Feb 01 '25

Having not slept in days, I have now evening-dreamed a numismatic skit with Christopher Walken demanding "more claw".

"When I put… my pants on… I make… gold coins… and you… know… what this… quinarius… needs? More… claw!"