Choosing One Ancient Coin?

Here is some Roman silver. I cheated a bit. There are 2 bronze coins included. The most expensive coin was a Caligula denarius at 1250.00. Most of the rest can be had for far less than 500.00 each.

In the stickies section there is a link to reliable dealers. I have used many of those listed. The best defence against a fake is not a slab it is a good dealer who offers a lifetime guarantee of authenticity.

I don't have many ancients, but the first one I got was a Roman denarius. I have a few now, and my favorite would be a Roman Republic denarius with a quadriga reverse.

I prefer slabbed ancients. Even though NGC won't guarantee their authenticity, they supposedly make an honest attempt to weed out fakes.

If you want one coin and only one coin and in silver .......
I think you should consider a superb Alexander III tetradrachm
They are plentiful and common types can be had in XF condition for $500 or less
This might satisfy your appetite for someone with name recognition
Caesar or Brutus can break the bank in XF !
The Great Alex won't
But be forewarned !!!
You are asking for trouble ........
I'll bet you a silver denarius that within a year you will finding yourself
selling off your graded proof sets and your "stinking" silver dollars to buy more ancients
As of yet there is no known cure

A paragon of restraint! I wish I were more disciplined.

As an afterthought, reading back over your post, I think you might get more enjoyment out of building a relatively simple set. A popular and super-easy set would be to complete the entire dynasty of Constantine, which can easily be done in top grade for well under $500:

Constantine the Great
- His wife Fausta
- His mother Helena

His father Constantius I Chlorus
- His wife Theodora

Constantine's boys:
- Crispus
- Constantine II
- Constantius II
- Constans

Cousins of Constantine's boys:
- Dalmatius
- Hanniballianus (somewhat scarce; many skip him)
- Nepotian (Excessively rare, $1,000+ in any grade)
- Constantius Gallus
- Julian II "The Apostate"
- Procopius (Scarce, related to Julian, but not the rest)

Constantine's city commemoratives:
- VRBS ROMA
- CONSTANTINOPOLIS

For comparison, this is my Crispus that I bought on ebay from a reputable dealer for $30


Barring Nepotian, Procopius and Hanniballianus, you can get all of the above rulers and their ladies in comparable condition for $50 or less each, provided you are patient enough. For added challenge, you can also collect by mints, reverse types, or by the titles that they held; e.g. as junior Caesar, senior Augustus, and posthumous, as applicable. It's a fun challenge and they will all fit on a single binder page when you're done.

Additionally, you can also get denarii of the Nerva-Antonine dynasty in high grade for $100 or less, and the whole project shouldn't cost much above $500 for just the emperors:
- Nerva
- Trajan
- Hadrian
- Antoninus Pius
- Lucius Verus
- Marcus Aurelius
- Commodus

A.H. : You are in a good numismatic 'place' now.
You have exactly the right attitude to be able to give yourself an excellent introduction to the subject of Roman coins.
Why?
Because you have said the that you need to do a bunch (I like the American incorrectness of that word ! ) first.

When I bought my first Roman coin, (a denarius of Antoninus Pius, with Annona & corn Ears reverse), I had no idea of what it was, and so decided to do some reading to find out. I went to a public library, and found a copy of
Mattingly's Roman Coins, which proved to be an excellent introduction to the subject. On and off, I continued to reading for the the next two years on the subject of Roman coins, using the denarius as my inspiration.

50 years later, I have a general collection of about 300 ancient coins that would be over 1,000 years old.
Parallel to that, my collection of American coins, also numbers around 300, includes some nice commemoratives, some early silver, and three gold coins - a sort of incomplete American type set.

I guess that makes me a 'generalist', not a specialist.
That is why I will always find the CCF such an important source of information. You NEVER stop learning.

That's a beauty.

Yes they are varied
A tetradrachm of Alexander the Great (lifetime issue) dates from the 320's BC while a coin of Constantine the Great dates to (approx) AD 320's
That's 650 years !
Or the same time frame as the "Black Death" bubonic plague of the 1350's to the present time
A lotta stuff happens in between !