Really Greek Silver Hemiobols are not very expensive if you look at just a quick search of ebay "silver hemiobol" in past sales. And large lots are very available from Roma in UK, NN in Austria, and all very real so buying and selling them on ebay is pretty common.
First look at the Roma link for their next auction to see the countless available then look at the ebay past sales of silver hemiobols past sales right below that. It is a fairly big trades these days and no worry at all about someone faking these tiny items when so many of the real ones are available in the market. And that is just Roma numismatics, there are like 5 other auction houses in UK and Europe moving these in bulk. Now that Brexit happened UK is the way for large lots, you get coins in a week or two. EU can take months and so much paperwork. You register with homeland security for large lots from EU so you do get the coins but you have to register as an importer of record etc. Nothing like that from UK.
They are great really. Simon and Alex at Roma are very responsive to e-mails when you buy from them and extremely friendly. Also, I was not advocating people buy big lots I was pointing out how many of these fractions are available these days, but the only way to do this collector thing and not go under if you really love coins is to buy big lots and sell off some in my humble opinion. The fractions are starting to trade correctly based on supply and demand which is what I always wanted to see. Kyzikos Boar/Lion is so static like silver bullion and you can instantly see this is a $10, this is $25, this is $50 in an open auction that starts at $1. Same with Miletos Lion/Star diobol. You learn so much going through the large lots but you have to collect knowledge more then coins and be wiling to part with items. Such a wonderful time to be into ancients with such a connected world!
Yes, I understand. My response was more tongue in cheek...i haven't done much selling of coins as my focus has been on the buying side of the equation.
"If you climb a good tree, you get a push." -----Ghanaian proverb
"The danger we all now face is distinguishing between what is authentic and what is performed." -----King Adz
Selling ancient coins would not only be extremely expensive to me (if a coin sells for $20-25 or less, I end up with a net loss regardless of however much I paid, because of shipping), but, as long as it's not within my country, also technically illegal (as in I'm liable to end up in jail if I sell them, unless I obtain a document saying that they are not cultural property - and I'm not even guaranteed to get that).
In other words, until I get really rich or win the lottery or something (or maybe move to a country with less crazy laws, which I suppose might happen earlier), I should probably stay away from large lots unless I'm willing to keep every single coin, and preferably should stay away from Greek silver entirely (aside from that one 5th century BC coin, and maybe that one 6th century BC coin, to round off my "at least one from each century" list).
I suspect that the reason why the tiny fractions are so pricey, is that they are comparatively rare due to their small size and low survival rate into modern times.
Seltman illustrates a range of fractions down to 1/4 obol, which is the equivalent of 1/196 of a tetradrachm. Such a coin should weigh about 0.09 of a gram.
You know I feel kind of guilty now as when I sell on ebay there are so few countries aside from old Western Europe I actually allow. Many years ago I allowed all and as the years went by I kept blocking countries after problems. And so many people block Russia from bidding, you have to ask the dealer to be allowed as an exception. Like I for a while was actually talked into selling to a man from Lebanon but the guy was only buying Beirut colony coins with the very strong COL BER and was really proud of his Pheonician heritage so it just felt wrong to block the man. It is just that when you sell to the USA or most of Western Europe you get tracking all the way to the door usually and ebay supports the buyer. But south america or so many other places for example you are preying the coin will actually get there and ebay always supports the buyer. If they say the coin did not arrive they just freeze your funds and pay the guy. Sure you could insure but not like USA for low cost $15 coins. Makes it crazy to insure money wise. So how do you in Russia get coins if you don't mind me asking. Local dealers? Or do many ship to Russia? I mean all of this well.
Quote: So how do you in Russia get coins if you don't mind me asking. Local dealers? Or do many ship to Russia? I mean all of this well.
Local dealers (in the assorted hobby malls, flea markets and coin club meetings).
That said, when I visited Lithuania in 2012 and Bulgaria (and briefly Serbia) in 2014, I did buy some coins over there and bring them home (though in Bulgaria I tried my best to avoid ancients, because I really didn't want to end up in jail, and during the Lithuanian visit I didn't see many ancients anyway).
I don't buy any coins online (I did in fact buy a coin online once, a few years ago, and didn't like the experience), but I do occasionally receive some as gifts (mostly from assorted other CCF members).
Just wanted to mention that I did finally get a 5th century BC hemiobol (a Kyzikos boar/lion issue, 9 mm, ~0.37 grams*).
It did cost me 1000 rubles ($17) - which is a lot of money considering my budget! Now if only I could persuade myself from going to the same place next week and buying a similarly sized Phoenician fraction for $20...
(If I manage to take a half-decent photo with my smartphone, I'll post it in this forum eventually.)
*) In the absence of a working scale, my coin weighing system is hilarious - I balance a ruler over an AA battery (or a similar nearby object, but an AA battery works very well), then carefully put the coin being weighed at one side of the ruler and known counterweight coins (usually, but not always, assorted Soviet kopeks) at the other side, move either or both until the result balances, and do some simple calculations involving the law of the lever.
This arrangement is usually only precise to 0.05 grams or so at best (usually even worse than that, depending on the counterweight choice), but in this particular case, after checking with several different counterweights, I'm confident enough to say that the true weight is probably between 0.33 and 0.40 grams (likely near the middle of this range), and 0.37 is what the catalog says, so let's go with that
Collecting coins is mostly a hobby pursued alone. For most of us, even our spouse does not care much. Friends are friends in spite of the fact we show them coins, not because we show them coins. They rarely have much interest.
So, I suggest you display them for yourself. A nice Abafil tray with small slots will hold 77 coins on gorgeous red velvet. That would be a good-sized collection. If it were simply open on your desk you could enjoy the display every day (Keep a magnifying glass handy). Then, if by some rare combination of circumstances, a guest might actually care, they can see the coins.
One problem with good descriptions on flip inserts is they draw attention to the insert and away from the coin itself. Slabs are even worse by a large factor. Let someone look at the coin and not the flip.
Disclaimer: While a tremendous amount of effort goes into ensuring the accuracy of the information contained in this site, Coin Community assumes no liability for errors. Copyright 2005 - 2026 Coin Community Family- all rights reserved worldwide. Use of any images or content on this website without prior written permission of Coin Community or the original lender is strictly prohibited. Contact Us | Advertise Here | Privacy Policy / Terms of Use
First Page
Posted 04/19/2017 07:58 am
