New To Ancients

You DON'T to have a big budget to build a large and interesting collection of ancient coins. I have purchased lots of uncleaned ancient bronze coins for as little as a dollar each!

Even currently it is possible to acquire fully attributable ancient coins already cleaned, for $10 or so.

If you are going with the cheaper route for now, I would suggest (if you are going to collect Roman coins), Constantinian era and late Roman bronzes. Many nice ones can be had for good prices.

My reading references for Greek coins is in three layers:

1.) 'Ancient Greece', which is a Greek classical history that covers the same period as Greek coinage. I picked up this excellent history book on the subject for $2, at a Church jumble sale.

2.) 'Greek Coins' which a history of Greek coinage, and is a very scholarly account of the sublect, written by Charles Seltman. (There is an equivalent book on Roman coinage, written by Harold Mattingly, and mentioned in the first of my posts on this thread.)

3.) Two books by David Sear: 'Greek Coins and their Values', parts 1 & 2, which is strictly on the coins themselves with descriptions and values.

Together, they make a very complimentry group on the subject of Greek coinage.

If you're a beginner, I'd start with Roman Imperial coins. Because they are easier to read than other coin, and generally more available and affordable at first.

There are a few places you can get coins.

ebay
VCoins
Dirty Old Coins
Forum Ancient Coins

To name a few.

Just to show you that you can find affordable coins for $25 and under.



Theodosius I - $5




Victorinus - $10




Constantius I Chlorus - $17.50




Gordian III - $20

Not saying these are the best deals. Just posting them to give you an idea about what you can get for under $25.

oooops, wow!

=> yah, sorry Canadian-Banknotes, but as you know it is the Canada Day Long weekend, so I've pretty much been plastered, drunk as a skunk, BBQ-ing, drinking, humping, playing croquet ... yup, drunk croquet, just like Prince Charles would play!!

... anyway ... wow, I didn't know if you'd actually pull the trigger, or not? (so appraently, you're stupid "and" gutsy => you sound perfect!!) ...

=> sadly, eventhough you know me a bit from other threads, as far as ancients are concerned, we're both babies!!

I'll try to speed-up your learning curve (print his out and pin it to your filing cabinet => it'll be an always go-to) ...

=> there are a couple of dudes that seem to always know what's up:

a) dougsmit => yah, just agree with everything he says (every now and then he seems like a bit of a know-it-all ... but just smile and agree, because apparently he does know pretty much all of it!) ... doug always says that he's not an expert in some areas ... but then he'll always come back and correct our other so-called experts "in every category" ..... so, ummm, if there is a God in the ancient-world, then I'd probablt pick dougsmit (I'm just sayin') ...

b) DVC-Collector => this dude seems like a pretty good head where the old B.C. Greek coins are concerned (he is awesome at spotting fakes ... so if in doubt, post a query and he'll usually track 'er down like an ol' loyal bloodhound)

=> the dude is an absolute Prince!!

Umm, he's probably tied for my favorite ancient guy ... the dude is my go-to if I have a shadow of a doubt (he is absloutely solid and a loyal friend => he's "the guy" to ask about old Greek coins) ...

c) jwharper => what a complete ... ha-ha, just kidding ... jwharper is definitely one of the main lynch-pins in the ol' ancient coin neighbourhood (but he is cheap as hell!! ... it's all about the "deal" with this cat) ... "Bing" is probably my best friend on the ancient-side of coin-world (he is probably the fastest at responding and probably the most reliable where coin-ID is concernded!!) => the dude is definitely like "Coin-Gandolf"! ... he's top-notch ...

d) SAP => unfortunately, I know very little about this coin-dude ... ummm, but always respect his skills as much as dougsmit's (he creeps me out a bit, because he obviously commands a lot of respect, but I don't have a good handle on him ... yet) ...

e) oxos, echizento => these dudes are absolute Gods-n-Grinders ... they have been awesome info and amazing comrades during my learning process ... both are totally excellent heads!

f) ValianKnight, sel, doucet, jessvc1, Gil-galad => "absolute money" ...

=> umm, but I am cuurently beating ValiantKnight in GTP (guess that price), so I think that I am currently "more-awesome" than Valiant Knight

... yah sure, but it is still early ...

=> anyway Canadian-Banknotes



... *burp* ... wow, that drunk Canada Day post took me about 20 Minutes!

=> HAPPY BIRTHDAY CANADA!

-cough- season 21 champion here -cough-cough-

Happy Canada Day to you Too Steve.