New Questions...

It may surprise you, but I agree 100%. Buying cleaned 3d and 4th century coins to begin with is my suggestion. While I may disagree on the "Fallen Horseman" as the coin to begin a collection, it is one of the more common types. Most of these I find to be poor artistry. I personally prefer IOVI CONSERVATORI, Jupiter standing with Victory on globe, but I guess that accounts for personal taste.

If you decide to buy uncleaned coins I would suggest you buy coins identified as "premium" grade. The chances of finding something other than a slug is much better and in most cases the cleaning process is easier as well. I've almost given up on uncleaned lots entirely as I find I can buy good quality cleaned coins for not much more. Many are unattributed or mis-attributed so one can still have the "fun" of identifying.

Again, I agree with Doug about the books. There are some out there that you will want to obtain eventually. Most of the good ones are expensive. I also find the hard copies to be somewhat cumbersome as compared to the ability to use search engines on a computer.

Good luck with whatever direction you decide to take. Its a great hobby. And stick around on this discussion board. There is a ton to learn here and great participants as well.

I'll check out the webpage for sure. The books at a library.

I so wanted to clean a coin from a matrix. It seems it would be like cleaning fossils.

Does anyone have a picture of IOVI CONSERVATORI that is "nicely/properly cleaned"? What an "ideal" specimen would look like? How much data should come with the coin? Roughly it's value?

I see some very interesting coins. Ancients seem a little more complex though as the history is long.

I have attached images of a couple of my IOVI CONSERVATORI coins. I have purchased some as low as approx. $5 and as high as approx. $35, depending on condition:









This last coin is the best specimen on this post. It is a Constantine II AE Follis, RIC VII 55 minted at Heraclea:

OBV: D N FL CL CONSTANTINVS NOB C, laureate cuirassed bust right
REV: IOVI CONSERVATORI, Jupiter standing left with Victory on globe & eagle-tipped sceptre, eagle & captive at feet, X over II Μ right, SMHA in ex.

This particular coin cost me $30. I have many more, but these should show what you wanted to know. Ancients are the most interesting to me because of the history. I think you have to have some interest in history to love these coins.

I really like Wayne Sayle's books and recommend them to anyone who wants to learn about the hobby. However most beginners seem to be obsessed with catalog numbers and Wayne does not go there at all. He shows pictures of many neat coins and tells about what makes them interesting but he does not give you stuff to write on your catalog cards. His volume one is an overview with 2 through 6 expanding one particular area (Greek, Roman, Provincial, Byzantine and 'Non-Classical' (neither Greek nor Roman but still ancient). Wayne shows many coins you will never have any hope of owning (like the Noah's Ark commemorative in volume four) but enough common coins to give the idea. After spending the time to digest his series, you will be a much more capable collector but you will know little or nothing about the minor variations that separate two adjacent RIC numbers, for example. Those of us that buy mostly $5-50 coins may complain that he has too many $500-$50,000 items but his book gives a good overview about the entire spectrum of the hobby. If I were to write a book on coins, it would probably be a lot like Wayne's or Harlan Berk's 100 greatest coins but aimed directly at presenting only budget saving options (no gold, no rarities and lots of coins you see posted here). I love non-catalog coin books.