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Zenoctilles
New Member
United States
2 Posts
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Hi,
I've never collected coins before, but I suddenly developed an interest in Roman coins after seeing a friend's personal collection of Roman coins (it was mostly cheap bronze coins, but I still impressed nonetheless).
I'm mostly interested in Imperial coins, bronze or silver. Say any coin featuring an Emperor from any time period during the Empire's existence.
What should I look for when off eBay or elsewhere? I'm completely new.
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Pillar Of The Community
United States
3623 Posts |
 You've picked an awesome area of coin collecting! I would suggest buying from reputable dealers with 100% positive feedback and a clear return policy when buying off eBay. There is so much to Roman Imperial coins that I can understand it being a little overwhelming at first, so picking and going after a partIcular series of coins may be helpful, but you don't have to do this. And one of the best parts of collecting ancients: you don't need a huge budget to make a large and impressive collection; many nice ones can be bought for cheap. Good luck in collecting Roman coins 
"A poor Roman plays the Goth, a rich Goth the Roman." - Theodoric, King of the Ostrogoths Attributed coins in my collection so far - Roman: 179, Byzantine: 9, Post-Roman Germanic: 8My coin gallery, My items for saleEdited by ValiantKnight
07/03/2012 11:16 pm
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Moderator
United States
9924 Posts |
to the community You have come to the right place to learn about Roman coinage, there is a lot of knowledge and experience on this forum to help you get started on the right track. Before you start spend money on coins, study them. There is tons of info on the web that will help you. One excellent site by one of or members and long time collector Doug Smith is http://www.forumancientcoins.com/dougsmith
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Formerly jwharper
4253 Posts |
Welcome, not only to Ancient coin collecting but to this discussion forum as well. The advice already provided is good advice. I would add that you shouldn't feel overwhelmed by the prospects. I might suggest if you plan to buy off eBay, find a coin you like within your budget and post it here for others to comment. We all have opinions (like certain body parts), but we will give you honest straight forward opinions. Ask if the coin is authentic, good value, rarity, etc. Just ask questions. You'll soon find you can select coins and have a ton of fun while you're at it. There are those on this forum who will tell you to buy books and study up, and you should get some good reverence materials. But, for the fun of the game, find a coin you like first. That's how I got started, as did many others on this forum. I, we, will be watching for your posts. Good luck.
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Moderator
Australia
9452 Posts |
If you're brand new to collecting coins in general and ancient coins in particular, my advice would be to stay far, far away from eBay altogether. Sure, there are plenty of good deals to be had on eBay, but there are plenty of scammers and fakes as well and you need to keep your wits about you to be able to discern the fair dinkum from the bogus.
EBay is like a shark-infested ocean: it's fine if you're a skilled shark-dodger, but it's not a place where you want to learn to swim.
Find a good, knowledgeable dealer - the members here can no doubt recommend several - and start from there.
Don't say "infinitely" when you mean "very"; otherwise, you'll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite. - C. S. Lewis
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Pillar Of The Community
7697 Posts |
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Pillar Of The Community
United States
3623 Posts |
Oh and tell about CCF to your friend as well  "A poor Roman plays the Goth, a rich Goth the Roman." - Theodoric, King of the Ostrogoths Attributed coins in my collection so far - Roman: 179, Byzantine: 9, Post-Roman Germanic: 8My coin gallery, My items for sale |
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Pillar Of The Community
Australia
6481 Posts |
Zenoctilles: Welcome to the CCF! There are quite a few friendly guys here in the CCF who are ready to help you when it comes to ancient coins.
My first ancient coin was a denarius bought from a reputable dealer in Sydney.
My first Greek coin ia a gold stater of Philip 11 of Macedon which came from Spinks in London.
For my early purchases I never trusted my own judgement regarding authenticity. With the experience I now have, I can buy ancient silver and bronze coins with confidence, but I still do not trust myself when it comes to ancient gold coins.
When it comes to eBay, Sap is 100% correct, both positive and negative. Know your seller by his established reputation first.
So how do you find out about ancient coins?
Read as much as you can on the subject first. I borrowed all of the library books I could find and I read them all. With the first two coins, I had some hardware to relate to, while I read. That makes the reading very interesting, rather than a dry academic subject. Borrowed library books won't cost you anything. If you want a particular book and the library hasn't got it, get it on an inter library loan.
I then started buying cheap late Roman bronzes, and my collection has grown from that. One of the highlights of my collecting experience was to spend a day in the safe room of the Coins and Medals Department of the British Museum. A written application for an appointment had to be made for that, but I was living in England on an extended two year holiday at the time.
My ancients collection numbers about 200 pieces, most of them of relatively low value, studded with a few 'stars'. It has taken be over 30 years to build it to this point, thus far, I have about a dozen or so good quality reference books on ancient coins.
There quite a few good websites on ancient coins: VCOINS, WILDWINDS, and FORVM ANCIENT COINS. There is also some very good information to be had on the forgery of ancient coins, CALGARY COINS and TESORILLO being two of them.
If you wish to start your collection off with a nice coin for not too much money, an antoninianus (double denarius) of Gordian 111 would be a good way to start. A quite attractive example of one of these could be had for around $30 t0 $40. As Sap has implied buy it from a dealer. He would be able to explain much more about it for you than an eBay listing could, and you could examine it in hand before deciding to buy. You can't do that on eBay!
Edited by sel_69l
07/04/2012 01:30 am
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Pillar Of The Community
Canada
1381 Posts |
Zenoctilles: to CCF! I am also looking into purchasing some ancient Roman coins soon. Sel: Calgary Coins is my closest coin shop that I'm looking to buy the Roman coins from. I'm pretty sure they aren't counterfeit due to their article on forgeries. Also; What books on ancient coins would people recommend? Young Numismatist with an ancestor on the Mayflower!
Attributed Roman Coins: 2
Attributed Greek Coins: 1
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Pillar Of The Community
7697 Posts |
Quote:
One of the highlights of my collecting experience was to spend a day in the safe room of the Coins and Medals Department of the British Museum.  Wow--I cannot begin to imagine what that was like! No doubt, an unforgettable experience.
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Pillar Of The Community
Australia
6481 Posts |
Windchild: With your luck, you have certainly fallen on your feet! I have read all of their very good web notes in relation to fake ancient coins. It seems to me that these guys know their stuff.
Take the time to have a good read of ALL of their website.
If you build an interest in ancients that is likely to extend over decades as I have, it would be in your interest to build a numismatic relationship with them and get to know the ancients guys within their business.
That sort of numismatic relationship has helped me a great deal over the years in Sydney.
The first specialist book I bought on ancient coins was 'Roman Coins and their Values, way back in 1974. My copy has been referred to so much as a quick reference, that it has just about fallen to pieces!. I have since bought the latest one volume edition reprint, which first appeared in about 1984.
Actually, I now have about a dozen specialist books on ancient and medieval coins of all cultures up to about 1,000 AD.
Edited by sel_69l
07/04/2012 07:27 am
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Pillar Of The Community
United States
1033 Posts |
Zenoctilles ......... Here is a link to a hub where you will find links to many, if not most of the best sites about ancients coins on the web. http://www.cariboucoins.com/linkhub.php |
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New Member
United States
2 Posts |
I just looked up a list of local coin dealers in my area and none of them deal with ancient coins of any kind - mostly US, unfortunately.
What good dealers do you guys recommend?
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Formerly jwharper
4253 Posts |
Vcoins is probably the best list of dealers around the world. If you do decide to go to eBay anyhow, there are a few good, trustworthy, honest dealers there as well.. I would recommend Den of Antiquity, Mastermust, Lucernae, Forum coins, Palma Collections, Ancient Treasures, romae_aeternae_numismatics, Frank Robinson, and HJB Coins to name a few. I have never been disappointed from any of the above, nor have I ever had any doubts about authenticity. Everyone of the above guarantee the coins they sell to be genuine. Good luck.
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Pillar Of The Community
United States
1616 Posts |
I suggest v coins.
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Pillar Of The Community
United States
1394 Posts |
as everone has said, you've come to the right place. I don't think I would have really got into ancient coins if I hadn't come by this forum.
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Posted 07/03/2012 10:53 pm
Stick around, and you'll get plenty of helpful advice from collectors here! 
