My First Roman Coin

Smart. Ancient coin collecting is much different from modern coin collecting. One of the biggest problems are fakes, and believe me when I tell you there are a lot out there and they can fool even a seasoned collector. So researching prior to buying is just being smart. I would also suggest you post potential purchases here to ask for opinions and validation. Of course you can't do that when you are at a show. But buying from reputable dealers is a good way to better your chances of not buying a fake.

Take a look on Vcoins. The prices are somewhat higher than ebay, but you are also buying the guarantee and peace of mind along with the coin. And many of the dealers will accept reasonable offers. But if you decide to go to ebay, post here before you buy. Also check out Forum's fake coin reports and forgery network. If you need the web pages, just ask.

Thanks for the compliment on my coin. I've had it for many years. I forget exactly how many Legionary Denarii there are, but I think it is around 23 legions plus the Cohort Speculatores and Cohort Praetorian. And on top of that there are the naval denarii Mark Anthony issued. One could make an entire collection just attempting to put all of these together. That was a fascinating and a transitional period of history.

basebal21......... to the dark side...i stared collecting Ancients Jan. of this year, I have nearly 300 coins, like you I still collect modern coins and have to keep my sets up to date every year..
Fun to learn something new, good luck and watch out for stevex6...

Welcome to Ancient Coin Collecting. I just picked up my first of the "12 Caesars", Claudius and am excited about it.

=> robfromshasta


=> congrats on your first 12-Caesars' coin!!

... but just sayin' that you bought the coin doesn't cut-it over here on the shady-side ...

It is perfectly normal for beginners in the hobby to be attracted to the rulers they have heard of and the 12 Caesars are high on that list. Unfortunately the same factors make the scarcer of the 12 even harder to find and make them more attractive to forgers who figure that most of these beginners will be easy to fool with low grade fakes. Some of us (certainly I) will point out that it might better to get some experience handling equally interesting but not so popular or expensive coins before you go shopping for Caligula and Otho. I consider coins of big names like Trajan, Diocletian and Constantine (all of whom had great effect on the history of Rome rather than being a footnote like Otho and Vitellius)a better place to start. The legionaries of Antony are not rare but there are enough people trying to get the set that some of them can get pricey. Try to buy a Legion IIX, PRI XVIIII or IIII and see what I mean.

Bing pretty much mentioning a set of great coins usually sells me on it The Cohors Speculatorum Denarius sure is a beauty.

Im sure at some point I will attempt the full set, but would at least like a legion praetorian and naval to start. I dont mind working on a bunch of sets at once since I'm already doing that. In fact its probably preferable since the market may be good for somethings but not others at any given time, the multiple sets allows me to scratch the itch with whatever is good at the time. To me thats a lot better than sacrificing quality or grossly overpaying due to the market at any given time.

I also updated the photos at the top of the thread and will post them here. This is easily the coin I've had the most problems getting good photos but they are better than before.

Again thanks to everyone.

My finger covered it a little bit, but you can see the left half of the A in Roma on the coin

Thanks for all the advice and information

Awesome Coin...