Advice on finding an ideal Julian II coin
Hello,
I'm completely new to the world of ancient coins. I have some experience as a hobbyist collector of 19th and early 20th century modern coins but noticed almost immediately that my knowledge of modern coins is of little value when evaluating ancients.
I'm hoping to find a coin featuring Julian II - one featuring a bearded profile from his time as Augustus - that I might have set into a ring. I will have the setting designed in a way that protects the coin (in case there is a worry that I planned to destroy the coin in the making of the ring). I don't have the hands to manage one of the larger 25mm+ coins, so I have been looking around at the smaller options. Any advice on how to best go about finding something that fits my general needs would be greatly appreciated.
I've seen a few for sale on eBay that might work, but I generally live in fear of purchasing eBay coins despite having successfully purchased several modern coins that I went on to have graded and slabbed. I don't feel confident in my ability to identify counterfeit ancient coins. I've checked a few other places, and there are some workable options on vcoins that I could snag, and I might just grab one sometime in the next week or so if nothing else presents itself.
I am amazed at the sheer number of different obverse images that seem to exist depicting Julian II despite his short reign - every time I think I have seen them all I stumble across a version I haven't seen before.
So any advice about any of the above would be greatly appreciated. If you have a favored bearded portrait of the emperor, or know of one that you think might be ideally suited to be worn as a ring, I'd be grateful for the suggestion.
Thank you.