New To Ancients - A Few Hundred Tons Of Questions...

1) There are many big sellers on ebay, but you can also look at vCoins. It isn't auctions, but they have a ton of coins from different sellers there.

2) Collect however makes you happy, but it is good to at least research a coin a bit to make sure you're not paying way too much. You don't need to settle on one era or area though; a lot of people have eclectic collections of things they think look cool, including me.

3) Not all ancient bronze coins are like that, although quite a few are. The picture in the auction should represent what the coin looks like when you receive it. If it doesn't then you should ask for a refund from the seller and possibly not buy from them again.

4) I don't know what that guy's deal is. I guess he just lists a ton at high prices (13k active listings right now!) and enough people that don't know better bite and buy them for him to keep going.

Regarding the coins you posted, if the first one turned out to be dark then the seller is intentionally misrepresenting his coins. If you've bought from him and the picture looked like that but the coin was dark in hand you definitely should not buy from them. 2, 3 and 4 and pretty expensive for those types, but are in great condition so the price may make sense. I don't know enough about those types to say for sure. Also check the size on 4, if it's the type I think it is then the coin is very tiny.

6 is a little expensive but has great detail on the reverse. I'd want to either know that it's from a reputable dealer or see closer pictures though because something about the coin seems a little off to me.

The Athenian coin you can do better than at that price range. Keep an eye on Vcoins and some other sellers (forvmancientcoins, civitas galleries) and you'll be able to pick one up at that price that doesn't have a big hole in the reverse. Civitas has one right now that I'd grade higher at $235 (can't figure out how to link.) Don't be scared off by all the 4 figure price tags you'll see when looking at these coins either; they're popular so a lot have a bit of fantasy pricing going on, but keep your eyes peeled and you'll find something decent.

Strange those sellers Buckeye listed don't show up in my search results. I have to go in and manually hit "search other countries" every time just to see their items.

Thanks Athalbert. He does have interesting coins. I followed him.

1. I've said it before and I'll say it again: I'd advise anyone new to ancients to stay well away from ebay. Far too many sellers on ebay are selling fakes, or mis-identified items, or simply making you pay a high price for small change.

2. I don't see a problem with that; that's pretty much a good summary of my collecting "strategy". Of course, it does help to have some experience with ancients and/or to buy only from sellers that know what they're doing, so you aren't led down the garden path by a seller that is either deceitful or ignorant. You won't find them here in the ancients section (because we move their threads elsewhere) but we get quite a lot of people coming here with threads like "I found/bought this ancient coin, can you ID it for me" and it turns out to be a British penny or a Canadian token or an old military button or something else non-ancient-coin-like.

3. No. Ancient coins aren't supposed to look bright and shiny.

4. He is an example of why what I said in Question 1 holds true. He's not on the FORVM fake sellers list so his coins are probably all genuine. But they are not necessarily identified correctly, and they certainly are not "low price". As Dilbert's Boss once said, "There's no law against optimism".

3 is a really nice coin. Any idea what would cause the flan to have those things sticking out? A remenent of when the flan was cast?

Perhaps "before running, you must learn to walk"...
I think that they are beautiful coins but, very expensive ones to start a collection.

Scottk - I know you said you want to buy silver coins but if you wanted to get a small start I would recommend buying some ancients from here. I got 10 when they where on sale so I paid $4 a piece which I though was a good deal. They came in a variety of sizes and designs. I don't know anything about ancients so I can't tell you much more about them. All I can say is I am happy with the purchase.

Yes it is Harmonica.