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July 10, 2025My Athenian Tetradrachm with a Large Test Cut: A Collector’s Tale
July 10, 2025
I recently carved out three minutes between coffee and emails to play with an AI image generator. What happened next? A delightfully absurd adventure collided with my ancient coin obsession. As someone who’s collected for decades, I love finding fresh ways to enjoy this hobby – and let me tell you, this experiment delivered surprises worth sharing.
My First Foray into AI Art
First, I asked the AI for a “male ancient coin collector.” What popped out stunned me: a scene straight from a 17th-century Dutch painting, complete with period clothes and a money-changer’s table. The details felt so real I nearly missed the digital fingerprints. Suddenly, my imagination went wild with captions:
- Maybe “Great Uncle Mortimer’s last photo before vanishing with his priceless collection” – you know how those rare finds whisper mysteries!
- Or a grumbling collector muttering about die varieties while his partner serves “ancient bronze surprise” stew – we’ve all tested household patience with our obsessions, right?
Experimenting with AI Prompts for Better Results
Curiosity struck: would tiny wording changes alter the images? Swapping “male ancient coin collector” to “male collector of ancient coins” sent the AI completely off track. Suddenly I got cavemen! Picture Fred Flintstone running a coin shop while Wilma waves a bone club. Adding emotions like an “angry” partner holding a pie roller backfired too – the tool gave me something closer to a printing press roller. Reminded me instantly how precise wording matters, whether describing coins or AI prompts.
Connecting AI Fun to Real Numismatic Insights
Speaking of rollers, that pie roller mishap made me think of an actual coin in my tray – an ancient bronze so thin it feels like someone rolled it out. Just 14.5 mm across and weighing only 0.42 grams, I picked it up back in 2012 from a VCoins dealer for $25. These fragile flans often show cracks or bends, but mine’s miraculously intact – an absolute steal. Handling such delicate pieces taught me a few things:
- Always use gloves and padded holders; their grade lives or dies by surface preservation
- Don’t overlook thin coins! Well-preserved examples can still be affordable gems
Reflections on Hobbies and Relationships
Seeing those AI-generated grumpy spouses made me smile. My own wife has tolerated my coin madness since our student days – whether I was haggling over Nero’s bronze as in Tunis or grinning at birthday sestertii. Truth is, coin collecting rarely ruffles feathers compared to, say, vintage motorcycle restoration. It’s just… peaceful.
Why This Matters for Collectors
Beyond laughs, this experiment showed me AI’s potential for our hobby. Imagine visualizing historical contexts for your coins or spotting fakes through digital comparisons! I’m itching to try more – maybe generate images of unaffordable rarities or recreate long-lost mints. Who knows what connections might surface between silicon chips and silver denarii?
