Any Road Can Lead You Home

Some years ago I was at a sci-fi convention in Boston when I stumbled across a coin dealer who had a couple of bowls of very, very old coins with the most gorgeous wear and patina on his table. I promptly started rummaging for the ones with the most interesting colors and shapes, and he immediately started trying to dissuade me from buying them. “No, no, those are worthless! You don’t want them! They’re too damaged!”

I eventually managed to persuade him that no, really, I DID want the “worthless” coins, and bought rather a lot of them... and came back the next day and bought even more, somewhat to his chagrin. 

...but really, could YOU resist bowls full of ancient mostly Roman and Greek coins with fascinating wear patterns like this one?

(I don’t know if this one is Greek or Roman or something else, or how old it is; he was entirely right that they’re too worn to be identifiable, although a friend had a great deal of fun trying in a hotel room late that night.)