When I initially decided to pursue this project, I did so for a few reasons.  The first was the need.  There are very few high quality publications dedicated to Ancient Numismatics and as far as I could tell, there were no quality newsletters or journals being produced “online”. 

The second reason was to exercise my writing skills.  It has been almost 15 years since I had to write something besides a brief letter, post, email or a technical paper or press release for my telecommunications business. 

It has been a lot of fun, but it has also been a lot more work than I was expecting.  I was discussing it with a friend earlier today.  He could not understand how each issue was taking me between 50 and 100 hours to complete.  So I ran off the list of things that had to be done (the following does not include the changes made to the website design and HTML programming):

1. Approach potential authors and authors that agreed to submit articles. Go over proposed submissions. (2 Hours)

2. Proof read all submissions, edit and in the case of one submission by an author whose primary language was not English, I had agreed to “heavily” edit the article on his behalf, data entry for articles submitted “hard copy’, etc. (A good 10 hours here)

3. Edit/clean-up all illustrations in photoshop, find illustrations where required, interact with author on which illustrations they prefer and create/add captions to all photographs, get permission to use photography. (A good 17+ hours)

4. Layout the articles in Dreamweaver, incorporate illustrations, send draft to authors and go back and forth correcting minor errors, layout issues, etc. (A good 17 hours)

5. Find news for “Ancients in the news”, summarize and incorporate into an article. (2 Hours)

6. Create Index for issue, create thumbnail images for each article, write summary of each article, etc. (4 Hours)

7. Write my articles. In this case, the reviews, which was relatively quick- layout, etc. (3 hours)

8. Proof read all articles, check all links, view in two different browsers. (2 Hours)

9. Modify HTML layout for email of journal, test and send to mailing list. (3 Hours)

10. Post various announcements, follow-up with authors, etc. (2 Hours)

Total time: 62+ hours

Granted, it will take me less time the more familiar I become with Dreamweaver and Photoshop, or whenever the Content Management System I am having programmed for me is completed.  But I now have a new found respect for those that have to produce a publication monthly.  The next time I hear someone complain about spending $36 for an annual subscription ($45 Canada and $75 to the rest of the world) to the Celator they will get a lecture from me!

Speaking of which, I strongly encourage anyone that has not done so already to subscribe to the Celator.  It is well worth the $36 per year for a monthly publication.  You can subscribe here.

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In this issue:

A Greek Coin Refresher Course
By: David L. Vagi
This “refresher course” is one of the best general introductions to Greek coins
that can be found. An excellent article that discusses “a dozen basic concepts
in general terms”.

Lucullus, A Second Best Hero of the Roman Republic
By: Marvin Tameanko
Soldiers Marius, Sulla, Pompey, and Julius Caesar, as well as politicians such
as Cato and Cicero, were labeled by historians as the `Founders of Rome’. The
history books written today many great Romans, who placed as close seconds to
these famous men, get little attention and receive only puny honors in the
footnotes of the texts. One exceptional Roman, sadly overlooked, was Lucius
Licinius Lucullus, a consul of Rome in the 1st century BC and an accomplished
soldier and statesman.

Dating Some Republican Mini-Issues
By: Mark Passehl
Where hoard evidence is slight, uneven or absent for individual emissions, the
broad framework it provides for a whole series remains essential. Here we will
combine this with some neglected evidence to tackle the problematic dating of
two rare denarius types from the late 2nd century and then proceed to a still
rarer 1st century gold issue, dragging it out of Syria and the 50s BC into a
novel context as the first gold struck in Rome since the Second Punic War.

What Makes a Collection Important?
By: Wayne G. Sayles
What makes a collection important? Some might subscribe to the philosophy
“collect whatever you enjoy, because the joy of collecting is what is
important”. In fact, an important collection is not one that can be measured
solely in the mind of the collector. Importance requires more than
self-satisfaction. Usually, importance implies the earning of respect for having
accomplished something of purpose and value. So, how does one build an important
collection that earns respect and is of value to the numismatic fraternity?

A Double-Portrait Elagabalus and Julia Paula From Perinthus
By: Curtis L. Clay
A discussion of a rare coin type which was only known based on a description by
Mionnet. A fascinating glimpse into numismatic scholarship and research.

The Amphora Was Used For Temple Wine Libation
By: David Hendin
Why did the Jews during the Jewish War against Rome (A.D. 66-70) use the image
of the amphora on their bronze coins and why is the amphora is used on at least
two bronze procurator coins of Valerius Gratus. What were these vessels used for
and what was their significance?

Numismatic Collaboration is Some Former Soviet Bloc Nations
By: Georges Depeyrot
This article provides an update on the work being done to bring unity to
numismatic scholarship global and in particular, discusses the efforts to
inventory and publish the collections in several former Soviet Bloc nations.
Some interesting information and includes a brief summary of a hoard of Koson
gold staters found in Central Romania.

MEDIA REVIEW – Three Excellent Ancient Numismatic Websites
By: Alfredo De La Fe
A review of three EXCELLENT numismatic websites:
-The Facing Head Coins of Larissa – A website
-The Handbook of Biblical Numismatics
-Parthia.com – A website Dedicated to Parthian History and Numismatics

Ancients in the news – Articles of interest to Ancient Numismatists
By: Alfredo De La Fe (Editor)
-Ancient Coin Collectors Guild to Have Another Benefit Auction in August
-Dave Surber of Wildwinds Passed Away
-Sylvia Hurter Passed Away
-Large Hoard of Byzantine Gold Coins Found in Israel
-Important Roman Coin Hoard Found in UK – Reported via PAS
- Admiral Balchin’s HMS Victory Discovered by Odyssey Marine Exploration

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The FAQ project is exciting and I hope to have something to share within the month.  In the meantime, you benefit from the occasional blog entry which is a FAQ subject “draft”. 

Because of the FAQ project I ask everyone to please take the opportunity to send me any corrections to any of my “cultural heritage/property” or numismatic topics/theme entries or to send me potential posts of interest that deal with cultural heritage/property and ancient numismatics. 

As for the  admin site… Hopefully it will save me a few hours per article in laying out the text, illustrations, captions and citations/footnotes.  I am NOT the most artistically inclined person and all of the nice layouts and illustrations that you have seen have taken me ten times the time it would take someone with with an ounce more of skill to finish.  Not to mention that I am still a bit clumsy when it comes to working with my HTML editor (DreamWeaver)

Of course, life likes to throw you a curve-ball every now and then to keep us on our toes.  The past two weeks has been one visit after another to hospitals and doctors.  Between my wife being eight months pregnant and some recent health issues of hers and my own, we have come to know our doctors rather well.  All is well, but today certainly was a bit on the scary side- Erica (my wife) was having contractions and was hospitalized until late this evening.  Turns out she has gallstones.

Why am I sharing all of this? Well, I beg the indulgence of my friends, customers and everyone else if I am a little slow at responding to email or returning a call.  I also may not have the opportunity to write a blog entry daily as I have been shooting for.   Finally, I usually follow several dozen news sources and blogs a day, but may not have the time to do so.  If you run across anything that is particularly interesting please keep me in mind and shoot me an email at: delafe@imperialcoins.com.

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New logo for The Journal of Ancient Numismatics

 The Journal of Ancient Numismatics (JAN) is a free online journal dedicated to the study of Ancient and Medieval numismatics and history.  The next issue is due to be released on March 20th and we are always looking for good articles for publication.

If you have any article ideas or articles which you may have started or written please consider submitting it for consideration.

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Also, I will try to post updates when new inventory is added to my Ancient Coins  store (Imperial Coins & Artifacts, Inc.).

I am in the process of installing WordPress and TRYING to tie it in to Facebook and other “social networking” sites which I use.

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