Roman Republic Gift Idea

your options would be either a silver denarius around 17-20mm and 3.8ish grams

Heres my denarius from from the Roman Republic, minted from 109-108 BC.. I got it for under $100.



L. Flaminius Chilo. 109-108 BC. AR Denarius (17mm, 3.80 g, 6h). Rome mint. Helmeted head of Roma right; X (mark of value) below chin / Victory driving galloping biga right, holding reins and wreath. Crawford 302/1; Sydenham 540; Flaminia 1.


your other option would be a larger bronze coin like one of these ( I don't have one yet)

this one is 33 mm and 31 grams..

VAL series, Rome, c. 169-158 BC. Æ As. Laureate head of Janus. R/ Prow of galley r.; VAL monogram above. Crawford 191/1.



Here are some for sale on Vcoins..
https://www.vcoins.com/en/Search.as...By=price_asc


https://www.vcoins.com/en/Search.as...By=price_asc

The silver denarius is not a "large" coin - the usual reaction when I show one to non-collectors is "Oh, I expected something larger". Denarii from the Republic period are a bit larger than a dime. The Romans did not make a larger silver coin during the Republic.

The Republic-period bronze as, like the ones pictured and linked to above, is in your price range but you'll be wanting to pay towards the upper end of your range if you want a coin that actually looks nice and presentable. You'll also pay extra if you want one of the varieties that say "ROMA" nice and clearly.

Finally, ancients collectors don't usually like the whole concept of slabbing. The TPGs had a reputation early on of not being very accurate with their identifications and the stigma that "TPGs don't know what they're doing with ancients" has been hard for them to shake. This, plus there are many factors in ancient coins that mean you really should be able to get the coin out and examine it closely (particularly, weighing it) which you can't do when a coin is in a tomb. As for the preservation aspect, well, the coin survived for 2200 years perfectly fine without a slab so it clearly doesn't need much help in that regard. So slabbed ancient coins are very, very much in the minority.