Speaking of #SaturdayNightCoinShow from @CoinOfNote
the French firm Thomas Numismatics (https://thomasnumismatics.com/) has a nice new, beautifully illustrated magazine--2nd issue just out (https://thomasnumismatics.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/tnumis-n2_fr-2.pdf)
Rare items in the catalogue, too (though light years beyond my budget ). 2 stunning examples: from Carolingian France to the eve of #WWII
@CitizenWald Wonderful! And yes, my budget stretches to...
Downloading the magazine itself (but not anything in it )
@CoinOfNote the chasm between good taste and money is so frustrating
@CitizenWald @CoinOfNote
Luckily I chose an academic career so that gap shouldn’t be too huge *lolsob*
@tkinias @CitizenWald
Luckily I work for a charity. My not-for-profit sector salary will cover all my numismatic purchases in no time! #LolSob
@CoinOfNote
one of my undergrad profs once said that being a humanities scholar meant having “champagne tastes on a PBR salary”
(not sure if Pabst Blue Ribbon is familiar in Aus, but it’s the kind of beer that they used to run $1 specials on at dive bars when I was younger [and still frequenting dive bars])
@CitizenWald
@tkinias @CoinOfNote exactly, and as a native of Wisconsin, I am very familiar with PBR (our craft beer pubs here call it lawnmower beer: something with little flavor you drink ice-cold to refresh yourself on a hot day)
@tkinias @CoinOfNote
"Bildung und Besitz trennen sich immer schärfer":--roughly what I said about the widening chasm between culture and wealth, this time from German socialists at the beginning of the last century (https://www.google.com/books/edition/Socialistische_Monatshefte/8wLuGTn4gkoC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22bildung%20und%20besitz%20trennen%20sich%22&pg=PA153&printsec=frontcover)
In premodern society, at least the elites had good taste
Now:
'A poor person's idea of a rich person': Donald Trump's gaudy taste
And yes, dive bars still good:
@CitizenWald @tkinias I like to think I have much better taste than Donald Trump - and in fairness, I almost certainly do - but there's only one way to find out, and it's really very unfair if I don't get the opportunity TO find out...
@CitizenWald
> In premodern society, at least the elites had good taste
Well... I dunno, man. Have you *seen* the Baroque?
(though to be fair, that’s not entirely premodern)
@CoinOfNote
@CitizenWald
There’s something interesting I’ve been noticing while looking for a place to live in Austin, though: There’s a certain kind of house that was sold as ‘upmarket’ when built, where the architecture is full of really gaudy try-hard features trying to make it look posh. It always makes me think of a small version of Trump aesthetics.
@CoinOfNote
@tkinias @CitizenWald @CoinOfNote I have heard the baroque, and concluded that early modern elites had their taste located in the ears, not in the eyes.
@rasmusfleischer
Hmm, that’s fair!
Though I still tend to prefer classical or romantic...
@CitizenWald @CoinOfNote