Welcome to CONSERVATORI! See what’s new.

Updated: 26 Jun 2023.
Launched: 12 Jan 2021.
check recent updates

CONSERVATORI Ancient Coins is a new project from Curtis Jackson-Jacobs, including a classical numismatic blog; annotated indexes of numismatic literature and galleries of ancient coins; resources of interest to the ancient coin community; and, coming soon, a list of coins and literature for sale.

Please see what’s changed since your last visit below! New material is still being added regularly.

Archaic Gorgon Drachm (ca. 500 BCE). Long attributed to Parion, it has more recently been identified as a coin of Olbia. Many catalogers fail to distinguish this scarcer type, of finer artistic style, from the smaller, flatter ones.

What’s New (in order of most recent update):

“Top Shelf”: Provenance Glossary: (11 Jun – 25 Jul 2023) Major revisions & expansion to the pages dedicated to “object biography & “provenance coins” (plate coins & old collections). I’ve added an intro page, which includes a “Provenance Glossary” detailing the collections (private & institutional) represented in my collection. It’s still in progress: I’ve listed the names for about 200 collections along with life dates & some links; eventually there will be a brief bio & bibliography for each name. I’ve added the first 50 or so bios (Adams through Drewry, scattered others), and links to ~100 coins/pieces of literature on the website from those collections.
Provenance Page I (Greek West: Celts through Central Greece): (11 Jun – 25 Jul 2023) 31 Coins. Major revision of the prior “Top Shelf” page. Coins from the Greek West have been moved here along with images from their past publications & links to provenance resources.
Provenance Page II (Greek East): (11 Jun – 25 Jul 2023) 24 Coins. As above, mostly new coins added, and all new provenance materials to illustrate.
Provenance Page IV (Alexandria): (13 Jun – 25 Jul 2023) 14 Coins. All new coins, as above, including several from the Giovanni Dattari (1858-1923) Collection.
Two new blog posts:
Provenance Glossary: Dr. Jay M. Galst (1950-2020) (10 Feb 2023);
Provenance Glossary: Richard J Plant (1928-2020), “Reverend of Numismatics” (24 Sept 2022);
Menu & Page updates:
Many new additions to the auction catalog pages (Library & Favorites); more new examples on the “Barbarians, Captives, Enemies” page; and updates to the “BCD Collection” page (finally completed my one-coin-per-catalog collection!).

The “Top Shelf”: Plate Coins & Old Collections: (3 Sep 2022) A page consisting of my favorite “provenance coins” (not necessarily the “best” coins overall, just those with the most interesting “object biographies”). I’ve so far added the first 26 of 100 coins selected (incl. Celtic, Greek, Roman, Byzantine, Others). I’m moving sequentially, following the traditional ordering from Celtic through Byzantine, and have so far gotten to the first Carian coin;
Two new blog posts:
Cleopatra VII, Tripolis AEs: Three Types of Cast Forgeries? (29 Aug 2022), ten cast forgeries (from two or three casts) of Provincial bronze coins by Cleopatra, all of them sold at major auction houses (c. 2005-present), two published by RPC Online;
“Provenance Diagrams” for Ancient Coins: Chain-of-Custody, Publication, Sales and Other Important Events in Numismatic “Object Biography” (12 Aug 2022), method for graphic representation of “object biography”/provenance, including examples for 3 coins (Hidrieus Tetradrachm, published numerous times since late 19th cent.; Tarsos, Mazaios Stater ex Athena Fund & one of the first ancient coins encapsulated for Heritage 296 in 2002; Larissa Stater from BCD Thessaly II, “Thessaly Hoard, 1993,” published by Lorber);
Menu & Page updates:
See esp. the new additions to the auction catalog pages (Library & Favorites) from the Numismatik Lanz Library and other sales (under the “Lit, Biblio, Provenance” tab); the new examples on the “Barbarians, Captives, Enemies” page; and updates to the “BCD Collection” page.

Two new blog posts:
New Additions: Roman Bronze Coins with Distinguished Provenances Depicting “Barbarians, Captives, and Enemies.” Gordian III Sestertius (ex Adrian Lang & George His); Crispus AE3 from London (ex Cloke-Toone & DiMarzio); Vespasian AE As (ex Ken Bressett & Mark Salton) (15 Jul 2022);
The “Play Bow” on Bronze Dog Coins of Epidauros (12 Jul 2022);
Four new pages cataloging ancient coin literature in the Jackson-Jacobs library and online:
(1) Library of Ancient Coin Sale Catalogs summarizing and/or annotating approximately 400 print catalogs (auctions & fixed price lists) (10 Jul 2022);
(2) 20th Century Alexandrian Sale Catalogs Online with annotations and links to important pre-2000 auctions catalogs available online (7 Jul 2022);
(3) Catalog Collection Favorites, annotated list of auction & FPL catalogs with interesting backstories (6 Jul 2022);
(4) Numislit Coin “Exhibits” of coins alongside pieces of literature with interesting backstories (4 Jul 2022);
“BCE” Collection updated: examples shown from the “Barbarians, Captives, & Enemies” Collection have doubled from 35 to 71 , with many more to add. (2 Jul 2022);
Ex-BCD Collection. An introduction to the literature and coins from the BCD Collection (26 Jun 2022).
Note: My “BCE” collection has nothing to with the “BCD Collection” except as an allusion or homage to the famous collection of Greek coins, and that I collect both (ex-BCD coins and coins of Barbarians, Captives, and Enemies). So far I haven’t found any coins that would overlap, but I’m keeping my eyes open for anything that would qualify (I’ve seen some RIC and Asia Minor RPC in group lots of incerta and coins that were secondary to his primary collections).

Galleries (21 Feb 2021)
“BCE” Collection. (21 Feb 2021) Page updated with >12 new examples (>35 total) from the “Barbarians, Captives, & Enemies” Collection, with many more to add.
Online Cabinet. So far we’ve added 24 coins w/ images & descriptions. (Several coins from the BCE Collection Page, above, and Shop are next to be added.) (12 Jan 2021)
Archive of Past Sales. We’ve added the first 40 sold coins, including available information & pedigree details for most, where available. (12 Jan 2021)
An interesting note. Ordinarily one doesn’t identify buyers, but our pedigree research found a client later sold his named collection through CNG public auctions. In this case, CNG’s buyer may now find at least two additional, earlier links in the coin’s chain of documented provenance from our archive that were absent from CNG’s listing.

All Blog Posts here (12 Feb 2021) = This post + 6 in category “Historical Articles,” including 3 also in “Barbarian, Captives & Enemies.” All are visible on the home or landing page, or the menu bar on the right.
Including two “BCE”/Hist. posts added in February: (12 Feb 2021) The Irony of Valerian’s Captive: AR Antoninianus Celebrating “Victory over Parthia” AND (7 Feb 2021) Two Captives & Trophy: Prisoners of War on Roman Coins from Julius Caesar to Constantine “The Great”.
We’ve also added some background & Mission Statement to the About Us page. (12 Jan 2021)

The Annotated Resources & Community Links page (12 Feb 2021) outlines several dozen resources we believe are of value to the classical numismatic community.
A few new resources added. Highly recommended: Digital Library Numis under Libraries/Lit Online, Andreas Pangerl & Robert Kokotailo, listed under Edu/Ref sites.

The Bibliography page: (12 Feb 2021) We’re steadily chipping away at a proper list of numismatic references. It now includes many major refs. incl. entries relevant to the first 6 blog posts and most entries in the Cabinet & Archive.

Please take a moment to request a free copy of our inaugural catalog. CONSERVATORI Number One is in preparation for release in Spring 2021. (Or check back for the .pdf and online virtual catalogs).

We would be delighted to hear any thoughts you may have. Send a message on our “Contact Us” page.

Unless otherwise noted, our materials may be used “Attribution/Share-Alike” (images & writing may be reproduced & shared with attribution; CC BY-SA 4.0 License).