My new ancient coins

[Adrift]

This is probably not the place to post this, but I just got into ancient coin collecting, so I thought it might be cool (maybe) to show my first acquisitions in this thread.

The first is a large-ish coin from the Ptolemaic reign in Alexandria of Ptolemy VIII with his brother Ptolemy VI who had run-ins with Antiochus Epiphanes. The obverse portrait is of Zeus, and the reverse is of two eagles standing on thunderbolts. (Dated 170-164 B.C.)

The second is two Widows Mites or lepton, they may be the sort that were mentioned by Jesus in Mark 12:41. (Dated 103-76 B.C.)

The third is of Claudius II Gothicus, who was Emperor after roundly defeating a couple Roman invaders. His reign was short lived as he died of plague two years in. (Dated 268-270 A.D.)

The fourth is of Constantine the Great. First Christian Emperor. (Dated 302-337 AD)

http://i.imgur.com/bk5OIl.jpg?1 http://i.imgur.com/r3L1Il.jpg?1

[Soyeong]

I used to collect coins. My oldest was one was around 1600 years old if I recall correctly.

[Adrift]

I used to collect coins. My oldest was one was around 1600 years old if I recall correctly.

Awesome! I was never into coin collecting except for briefly as a kid, and that was mostly mercury dimes and the like. But I've been wanting to hold something ancient in my hands for a long time, and ancient coins are surprisingly cheap. Those Widow Mites, for example, were under $20 bucks, and they probably weren't even worth what I paid for them. The coolest part about collecting these coins I'm finding is that you learn so much about history as you study them. That Gothicus has gorgeous detail, and that and its low price is why I bought it, but I didn't know anything about him until then. Anyways, its pretty cool, and when I get more I'll post those too. I welcome others to jump in with their ancient coins, I'd like to see what ya'll got.

[GioD]

These are really cool. The one of Claudius II is in really beautiful condition too. I collect American coins and private tokens, I've never looked into ancient coin collecting but you make it seem fascinating!

[Adrift]

These are really cool. The one of Claudius II is in really beautiful condition too. I collect American coins and private tokens, I've never looked into ancient coin collecting but you make it seem fascinating!

Yeah, the detail on the Claudius is so sharp that I compared it to a quarter I had in my pocket from 1965, and, obviously other than the broken and worn edges, the Claudius (though being 1700 years old) actually looks like its in better condition. That coin only cost me $25 dollars, and again, I probably paid premium for it (reputable seller, but it was a first time buy, and I didn't know what I was doing).

What kind of tokens do you collect? Are they from like fairs or something?

[GioD]

What kind of tokens do you collect? Are they from like fairs or something?

I collect Good Luck Tokens (http://www.sageventure.com/coins/tokens.html), Hard Times Tokens (but I only have a couple of those) and some modern private-made copper and silver pieces (some of them have very interesting designs ;)). I'm also interested in Hobo Nickels (http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_trksid=p3872.m570.l1313&_nkw=Hobo+Nickel&_sacat=0), but don't own any.

None from fairs, at least not yet. ;)

[Adrift]

I collect Good Luck Tokens (http://www.sageventure.com/coins/tokens.html), Hard Times Tokens (but I only have a couple of those) and some modern private-made copper and silver pieces (some of them have very interesting designs ;)). I'm also interested in Hobo Nickels (http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_trksid=p3872.m570.l1313&_nkw=Hobo+Nickel&_sacat=0), but don't own any.

None from fairs, at least not yet. ;)

Those tokens are really interesting. Were they mostly produced in America? And what were they for exactly? Just as a sort of promotional item? Sort of like getting something in the bottom of a cracker jack box?

Those hobo coins are pretty cool. I've seen a number of them on other websites. Now you got me curious about their lore and if they're really associated with hobos.

I'll keep my eye out on any neat looking fair tokens. :smile:

[GioD]

Those tokens are really interesting. Were they mostly produced in America? And what were they for exactly? Just as a sort of promotional item? Sort of like getting something in the bottom of a cracker jack box?

They were almost entirely American. I think they were given away to advertise - on the other end there's usually some company being described and sometimes a promise for $1 off!

[Sparko]

That's neat Adrift.

I used to have a nice coin collection but someone broke into my house and stole it. It didn't have anything nearly as old or cool as what you have. I mostly had silver dollars and old US money and some foreign currency.

Where do you get such old coins?

[Bill the Cat]

My son and I have a book full of foreign coins that he uses for his collector's pin/belt loop/merit badge for scouts. We have well over a hundred, and they cover all 6 continents that have official coins. We actually have one from East Germany!

[Adrift]

That's neat Adrift.

I used to have a nice coin collection but someone broke into my house and stole it. It didn't have anything nearly as old or cool as what you have. I mostly had silver dollars and old US money and some foreign currency.

Where do you get such old coins?

Wow! Broke into your house? That's horrible. I hope they didn't take anything irreplaceable. My boss collects US coins too. Its interesting to me how diverse coin collecting can be, from ancient, to modern, to foreign, and then you have folks like GioD who's interested in rare tokens and altered coins. I was surprised how much in common that ancient coins have with moderns. Many with distinct obverse and reverse designs, lettering that sometimes indicates where a coin was minted, the use of political figures and commemoratives for people and events, the types of metal used, even the process of minting to some extant.

You can get ancient coins from online places like ebay, and some coin shops have ancients, but you gotta be careful with sellers like those on ebay because there's a lot fakes on the market apparently. I got mine from this website http://www.forumancientcoins.com/ It looks like its one of the most reputable (if not the most reputable) places online for this sort of thing. They have a forum, an online store, and an auction house that includes the official site's auctions as well as private auctions. . I bought my coins directly from their store (they have an under $40 section!), but I was advised that to get even better deals on future coins to think about using the auctions or buying in lots. They also sell uncleaned unattributed coins. These coins usually go for pretty cheap, because no one knows exactly what's under the crud. Could be a slug (a blank coin that's nothing but a flat piece of metal) or one that's fairly rare and valuable. I think next time I make a purchase I'll try a small lot of uncleaned coins and do my best archaeologist impersonation. I'm also finding that, because the range of dates, places, and types of ancient coins is so vast, that I'm going to need to narrow in on exactly what I want to collect in the future.


My son and I have a book full of foreign coins that he uses for his collector's pin/belt loop/merit badge for scouts. We have well over a hundred, and they cover all 6 continents that have official coins. We actually have one from East Germany!

Oh, that's really cool! I should have kept my Deutsche Marks when I was in Germany because its all Euros now. What's the coolest looking foreign coin in the collection?

[Sparko]

When we lived in Germany (my Dad was in the army) I found an old Nazi 50 Pfennig piece in some gravel.

[Adrift]

When we lived in Germany (my Dad was in the army) I found an old Nazi 50 Pfennig piece in some gravel.

Wow. That's pretty crazy. I was reading about how in the Mediterranean, coin production was so great that people occasionally find ancient coins just laying on the ground. Would be awesome to go into some farmer's field or something after they tilled the ground. My brother used to collect arrowheads for hours right after a farmer would plow his fields (with permission of course). He's got a box full of them. Some quite rare.

[Bill the Cat]

Oh, that's really cool! I should have kept my Deutsche Marks when I was in Germany because its all Euros now. What's the coolest looking foreign coin in the collection?

It's a toss up between the Mexican coin we got for some anniversary of theirs, A friend of my mother in law lives in San Diego and she sent it to us, and the pre-WW2 Japanese 50 yen piece that was the last year minted for that particular emperor.

[BookerG]

I used to collect ancients; I mostly went the uncleaned route, because I loved the detective work of restoring the coin and then figuring out what it was. I eventually had about 60 different emperors (and some not so ancients, like one from the great grandfather of Vlad the Impaler). But the price of uncleaned started to soar at the same time that quality went way down; the guys with the metal detectors were learning to pick out every single coin of any value before selling the junk as "unsorted, uncleaned." Then they send it to middle men who pick out more of the good specimens, then they sell the rest to you. That, and the fact that after a while seeing almost half of all your uncleaneds turn out to be one of Constantine's three sons, Constantine Jr., Constans, and Constantinius (by far the most common), it loses its thrill. There are also a tremendous number of fakes out there; I wouldn't trust anything on Ebay. But Forum ancient coins was definitely trustworthy and a great resource.

[Adrift]

I used to collect ancients; I mostly went the uncleaned route, because I loved the detective work of restoring the coin and then figuring out what it was. I eventually had about 60 different emperors (and some not so ancients, like one from the great grandfather of Vlad the Impaler). But the price of uncleaned started to soar at the same time that quality went way down; the guys with the metal detectors were learning to pick out every single coin of any value before selling the junk as "unsorted, uncleaned." Then they send it to middle men who pick out more of the good specimens, then they sell the rest to you. That, and the fact that after a while seeing almost half of all your uncleaneds turn out to be one of Constantine's three sons, Constantine Jr., Constans, and Constantinius (by far the most common), it loses its thrill. There are also a tremendous number of fakes out there; I wouldn't trust anything on Ebay. But Forum ancient coins was definitely trustworthy and a great resource.

Thanks for the information.

Well that sucks about uncleaned coins. Looking over Forum Ancient Coins previous uncleaned lots it looks like they've sometimes offered lots they were pretty sure were Greek, Ptolemaic, Provincial, or Imperial, etc. Currently they're selling stuff you pointed out like late Romans, with some Byzantines and Greek stuff thrown in. Maybe I'll just have to wait till they offer one of those other type of lots again.

Any idea why Constantine's sons coins are so common?

[BookerG]

Actually, I wouldn't want to turn you off of uncleaned's completely. Get a batch from Forum. As I said, for a beginner, the detective work can be fascinating. I just wouldn't plan on either building up a large collection that way (as I did) or get my hopes up that your first batch is going to have rare and beautiful coins like the ones you bought. You can still get "premium" uncleaneds, but more expensive and, again, if you build up a collection that way, it will cost you as much as buying the coins directly cleaned and identified.
Toward the end of my collecting days, it seemed like 30 to 40 percent of all uncleaneds were Constantius because, 1) he reigned a long time, 2) Rome was collapsing, and their monetary system was being inflated out of existence, 3) coins were becoming smaller (they get to be absolutely tiny by the end of that century), so it took a lot of coins to buy a loaf of bread. 4) the political instabilities and raids of outlying nations meant more people were burying money for safe keeping, 5) a lot of uncleaneds come out of the Balkans these days, where their full integration into Roman currencies coincided with all those other factors.

Oh, and 6) The earlier coins are either the great big dupondii and sestertii that are very easy for the middle men to cherry pick, or else they were silver denarii or silver plated radiates; and if even a glint of silver might be visible under the dirt, that gets picked out too.