In Memoriam: stevex6

[TIF]

Steve Peterson, friend to many of us, left this plane of existence on July 10th, 2024. 

He was a colorful character on coin forums, often an agent of chaos, and can be credited with bringing excitement and new collectors to this fantastic hobby.

Steve sold his collection six or so years ago, around the time he was diagnosed with cancer for the second time.  He beat lymphoma thirty ago and in late 2017 he received more bad news.  A different type of cancer had arisen but once again he endured chemo and prevailed.  After that, his lung capacity was shot-- a difficult thing for someone who thrived on outdoor activities-- but with great effort he pushed on and was able to get back to most activities that he loved.

A few months ago he received more devastating news:  he had an aggressive cancer in his jaw, likely a late effect of radiation treatment from the first cancer treatment thirty years ago.  Head and neck cancers can be particularly difficult to treat, often with the treatment being worse than the cure, and in his case there was no realistic chance of cure.  He opted to forgo treatment and instead focused on living the remainder of his life on his terms. 

Here's to you, SteveO.  You will be missed.  💙

_____________

A collection of Steve's ever-changing avatars from CoinTalk.

Steve and his doggo (Hector), 7/2/24:

EGYPT, Alexandria. Antoninus Pius
Regnal year 8, CE 144/5
AE drachm, 33 mm, 23.2 gm
Obv: [legend]; laureate draped bust right
Rev: Serapis, wearing modius, standing facing; flanked by the Dioscuri who are also standing facing, heads turned towards Serapis, and each holding a flagellum ; [L] H in exergue
Ref: Dattari 2864 (RY2); Dattari-Savio plate 148 coins 2864 and 8724; Emmett 1670.8; Not listed in Milne.
ex Stevex6 Collection

Steve pointed out that the reverse totally looks like these models on a runway:




MYSIA, Kisthene
Orontes, satrap of Mysia, c. 357-352 BCE
AR Half Siglos or Tetrobol; 13 mm, 2.75 gm
Obv: Nude hoplite crouching left behind shield, spear at ready
Rev: Forepart of winged boar right
Ref: Troxell, Orontes 4; SNG France 1164A (Lampsakos); SNG von Aulock
Very rare.
ex SteveX6 Collection

Steve and I bid against each other for this flying pig.  I was on a mission to acquire an example of every existing type of winged boar at the time, and this coin was the most unusual and most desired of the genre (for me).. Unfortunately I was a very timid bidder at the time and he topped my bid easily. I grumbled at him for long time about the loss, mostly in jest. 😁

 

 

💙💙💙💙💙 Steve Peterson, August 9. 1963 - July 10, 2024 💙💙💙💙💙

 

 

 

[CPK]

Very sad to hear. I did not know him beyond seeing his occasional post over the last couple years, but it was evident that he was a loved and appreciated figure here on the Forums. Condolences to his friends and family!

[Limes]

Thats terrible news, very sad. My condolences to his family, friends and community members that were close to him. And a lovely post Tiff, well done showing who he was, like that. 

[Kali]

Wow, I am shocked. He was a fixture over on CT and sometimes Forvm.

He left a little lasting mark in all of us.

 

[Nerosmyfavorite68]

That is indeed sad news.  TIF posted a wonderful in memoriam, one which he would have enjoyed.  My condolences to the family.

[expat]

Thanks for passing on this news @TIF I will miss his colorful contributions, an amazing character. Steve will be missed. RIP

[Ocatarinetabellatchitchix]

Thanks for posting the [very sad] news @TIF  I remember him from my beginning years on CT, and indeed he was quite a character ! Here are some pictures he posted there. 
 

With his 92 years old father in 2016

 

REST IN PEACE DAWG !

[maridvnvm]

This is very sad new indeed. Someone with a lighthearetd but passionate approach to collecting.

L Papius Denarius Serratus

Obv:– Head of Juno Sospita right, wearing goat skin tied under chin. Behind head, coiled serpent.
Rev:– Gryphon running right; in ex., L. PAPI.; in field, dog
Minted in Rome from . B.C. 79.
Reference(s) – RSC Papia 1. RRC 384/1. RCTV 311.
Symbol variety – RRC 122 Babelon 9. BMCRR unknown. CNR unknown

ex SteveX6 collection

3.42g. 18.68 mm. 180 degrees

 

[Qcumbor]

Thanks @TIF fotr this great obituary. Steve's ever changing avatars at CT never ceased to crack me up when we were hosted there, and they are the real images illustrating the different facets of his character : never where you would expect him to be. 

During the famous "CIT tournaments" organized by @Curtisimo a few years ago over there, I had to face up to Steve in what remains (for me at least) one of the funniest thread I've ever participated in : https://www.cointalk.com/threads/poll-1-stevex6-vs-8-cucumbor-round-2-cit-2017.294553/

I am now privileged to be, after him, the next custodian of the following coin :

Tranquillina, Drachm - Caesarea - Eusebia, AD 241-244
Tranquillina, Augusta, AR Drachm - Dated Regnal year 4 of Gordian III (AD 240/1)
ϹΑΒΙΝΙΑ ΤΡΑΝΚΥΛΛΙΝΑ ΑΥ Draped bust right, wearing stephane
ΜΗΤΡΟ ΚΑΙϹΑ Β ΝƐ, Mount Argaeus ЄT Δ (date) in exergue
2.72 grams - 18 mm - 5h
Ref : RPC vol VII.2 # 3326/10, Bland, Last # 58, Sydenham, Caesarea Supp # 617a
Ex CNG e-auction 354, #352
Ex Steve P. collection

RIP Steve, we miss you !
Q

[Roman Collector]

Such sad news. I remember him fondly. R.I.P., Steve. 

[David Atherton]

Thanks for letting us know and writing the sweet obituary @TIF. Steve reminded me of a fondly remembered friend of the family I grew up with in the 80s and 90s - a colourful character who made life a little bit more fun.

May he rest in peace. 

[TIF]

I was going through my old emails with Steve and realized he survived serious cancer not twice but three times before the fatal fourth round.  Wow.  That is so hard.

He didn't like to focus on those issues though and instead kept messages humorous, always with a lot of photos.    He retired several years back moving back from a very far north city in Manitoba, Canada (latitude 55 north, BRRRRR!) to a less frigid area of British Columbia.  And gorgeous:



That's his back yard.  Steep!  He did all the terracing himself (literally, as in wheelbarrows and such)-- tons of dirt, retaining walls, landscaping.  Wow!
 

[Furryfrog02]

That is such sad news.

I was really glad he came here after he had been gone from CT for quite some time. He was very knowledgeable, quick to help, friendly, and had a great sense of humor. He will be missed.

[Carausius]

How sad!!  He was a great character with a wonderful eye for coins.  I'm proud to have one or two of his formers in my stewardship.   Rest in peace, Steve.  

[Roman Collector]

1 hour ago, Furryfrog02 said:

I was really glad he came here after he had been gone from CT for quite some time.

He was one of many who were banned from CT. 

[Alegandron]

 

Always a wonderful inspiration... like me, he love animals!  I enjoyed his humor, great guy to chat with.

Roman Provincial
Trajan
Egypt
AE Dichalkon
Laureate hd L
Rhinoceros walking L LI-Z yr 17
CE 113-114
12.9mm 1.25g
Emmet 719 var. rhino right
Ex: SteveX6 collection

 

[Alegandron]

We always had IO Saturnalia.  I drew his name to send a gift for that year...  He got a PONY for Xmas.  This is what I sent in his package:

Bruttium

Carthage occup

AR Half-Shekel 216-211

Tanit

Horse punic-O

HN Italy 2016 SNG Cop 361-3

TO SteveX6

CT Xmas 2016

Edited July 15 by Alegandron

[AncientJoe]

RIP Steve 😞 His passion and inclusive encouragement to the community will be greatly missed.

[Alegandron]

My SteveX6's:


RR M Volteius Mf AR Denarius 78 BCE 18mm 3.96g Hd Hercules R lion skin headdress - Erymanthian boar Cr 385-2 ex SteveX6


RPrv Trajan AE Dichalkon Laureate hd L Rhinoceros walking L LI-Z yr 17 CE 113-114 12.9mm 1.25g Emmet 719 var. rhino right


RR Hd Juno Sospita R goat skin hddrss She-wolf R placing stick on fire eagle stndng fanning flames 45 BCE 19.0mm 4.07g Cr 472-1


Troas Kebren AR Obol Archaic hd Apollo L - Hd Ram in Incuse sq 5th C BCE 7.65mm 0.64g SNG Ash 1086


Makedon Philip II AE 18 Apollo - Youth Horseback spear hd below 359-356 BCE RIGHT-RIGHT 18mm 6.2g SNG ANS 850-1
 

[thejewk]

I got into the coin game too late to really interact with him, but his was a name that came up constantly when I spent any time researching a subject on the forums and I kind of felt like I got to know him regardless.  RIP brother.

[DonnaML]

@TIF, thank you for giving us this sad news about Steve. I always enjoyed his posts at Coin Talk (before he was ridiculously banned), and was extremely pleased two years ago when this place was founded and he immediately began posting frequently again, bringing his enthusiasm to all, even though he had already sold all or most of his collection by then. I was concerned when he went silent again, and am so sorry that the reason turned out to be what you've told us.  RIP.

I hope all is well with you; I've missed your posts. Not that I've been here much lately either.

As far as I know, this is the only "ex Steve Peterson" coin I have. It's one of my favorites:

Roman Republic, P. Nerva, AR Denarius, Rome Mint, 113-112 BCE. Obv: Bust of Roma left wearing crested helmet with feather or aigrette (instead of wing) and single-drop earring, holding shield (ornamented with image of horseman galloping) against left shoulder with left hand, and spear over right shoulder with right hand, crescent moon above, star (*) [= monogrammed XVI; mark of value] before; behind, ROMA upwards / Rev. Voting scene inside Comitium in Forum: one togate voter to left of pons [bridge/walkway to place for depositing ballot tablet] receives ballot from attendant below; another togate voter to right of pons drops ballot in cista (voting basket); two lines behind voting scene and bar near top of reverse (described as “screen” by Sear) mark off voting area (denoting the barrier dividing a given tribe’s enclosure [saepta] from those allotted to different tribes), with bar or screen surmounted by marker/tabella inscribed with the initial “P” (possibly representing a particular voting tribe); P • NERVA [NE ligate] across field beneath bar (or beneath top of screen per Sear). Crawford 292/1; BMCRR II Italy 526 (at p. 274); RSC I [Babelon] Licinia 7 (ill.); Sear RCV I 169 (ill.); Sydenham 548; Yarrow 4.40 at p. 195 (ill.) [Liv Mariah Yarrow, The Roman Republic to 49 BCE: Using Coins as Sources (2021)]. 17.21 mm., 3.87 g., 7 h. David R. Sear Certificate of Authenticity,  May 2, 2013, No. 811CY/RR/A/CR (issued to Steve Peterson, noting “flan flaw on edge of reverse not affecting the type”).*  Purchased at JAZ Numismatics Auction # 186, Lot 4, June 2021; ex J.B. DePew Collection; ex Steve Peterson Collection; ex CNG Auction 295, Jan. 30, 2013, Lot 361; ex Bruce R. Brace Collection.**

 

*David Sear describes this issue as “[o]ne of the most celebrated types of the entire Republican coinage,” depicting “the actual voting process in the political assembly of the Roman People in the Comitium, where citizens voted on business presented to them by magistrates. The area occupied by the Comitium was consecrated ground, like a temple, and was located in front of the Senate House [Curia] in the forum.” Sear RCV I at p. 105; see also Sear Certificate; Jones, John Melville, A Dictionary of Ancient Roman Coins (Seaby, London, 1990), entry for “Comitium” at p. 64: “From coire, ‘go together,’ the name of the area on the edge of the Forum at Rome which was used as a place of public assembly and where elections took place (the plural, comitia, was used as the name of the assemblies which were held there). A denarius of 113-[11]2 BC [this issue] shows a voting scened in the Comitium, with a voter crossing a narrow walkway, the pons, to cast his vote without being observed.” See also the Sear Certificate, explaining that “[t]he pons was a bridge in the Comitium which voters had to cross in order to cast their ballots and it kept them from any potential interference”; Crawford p. 307 (“it is not clear what the purpose of the pons was if not to isolate the voters”).

 The standard view of the “P” on the marker or tablet surmounting the barrier or screen is that it represents the initial of a particular voting tribe. See Crawford Vol. I p. 307. For a different opinion, see E.E. Clain-Stefanelli, Life in Republican Rome on its Coinage (1999) at p. 16: “above to the right is a tablet inscribed with a P (provoco -- I appeal),” referring to the right of appeal in criminal proceedings; accord BMCRR II Italy p. 275 n. 2. Prof. Yarrow has yet a still different opinion: see Sec. 4.41 of her book at pp. 193-194, stating that electoral ballots as depicted on the Republican coinage (as opposed to ballots in criminal proceedings) “seem[] to be hinged-like representations of wax-writing tablets; one side of the tablet is inscribed with a P and the other has the initials (or space for the initials) of the candidate [citing, inter alia, the illustration of this coin at Fig. 4.40]. The P may resolve as pro, in the sense of a vote ‘for’ or ‘in support of’ the named candidate.” (This explanation may account for the fact that on less worn examples, the open “P” on the rectangular tablet or marker seems to be to the far left, with the remainder blank.)

The moneyer is “presumably” Publius Licinius Nerva, Praetor in Sicily (i.e., its governor] in 104/103 BCE at the time of the Second Servile War. See Crawford I. p. 306; Sear Certificate; BMCRR II Italy p. 274 n. 2. The Sear Certificate states that “[t]he reason for Nerva’s selection of this type is not easy to establish, though it may refer back to a measure concerning enfranchisement carried by an ancestor of the moneyer’s as well as being a more contemporary reference to the Marian law of 119 BC by which the width of the pons was narrowed.” Crawford prefers the Marian explanation; see Vol I p. 307.

** Bruce R. Brace "was a scholar and by many considered to be a dean of Roman Numismatics in Canada. Coins from his extensive collection were sold by CNG in 2012 and 2013." https://www.vcoins.com/en/stores/an..._ex_bruce_r_brace_library/630746/Default.aspx . According to Google, he was the former General Chairman of the Canadian Numismatic Association, the recipient of their J.D. Ferguson Award in 1984, and the former honorary curator of the McMaster University Museum of Art coin collection, at least a portion of which is now known as the Bruce R. Brace Coin Collection.

 

Edited July 15 by DonnaML

[Ryro]

I never thought that I'd get to interact with the man, as he was off the old site before I stumbled upon it. I used to love going back and reading all of his comments. He was hilarious and had wonderful taste in coins. I was lucky to get to interact with him for a while on here. He will be missed.

[robinjojo]

He certainly conveyed an enthusiasm and dedication to the collecting of ancient coins, based on what I have read, and although I did not have the pleasure of knowing him, his passing has clearly left a gap in this forum.  My condolences to his family.  RIP 

[Furryfrog02]

21 hours ago, Roman Collector said:

He was one of many who were banned from CT. 

Yeah, I didn't want to say that haha. Definitely a loss on their end. And now, a loss on ours.

[ominus1]

this is sad news....he was a great motivator for me....i got several coins similar to Steve's...not nice as his but along the same lines....and Steve is responsible for my handle ...ominus1....if ay9ne can remember back in the day i was originally Gregarous on cointalk...until they kick Stwve off and i lost my shit and told'em to stick up the a$$ and they didn't have me off i quit...in Steve's honor,,,(well, i missed all the other peeps and the gang so i came back as ominus1 ^^).....my Dad passed away on the 24th of June after a long battle with Parkinson ...i'm having trouble grasping that in its full content...but its a journey we all must take sooner of later....thanks for the heads up @TIF and rest easy Stevex6... below is one of the coins i bought because Steve had dandy one!