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 Replies: 12 / Views: 3,221 |
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Pillar of the Community
Poland
3201 Posts |
What cheap medieval coins are out there?
What does medieval mean for the purpose of this thread?
ca. AD500 to ca. AD1500. I'd specifically like to read about those from ca. AD1000 onwards but feel free to list earlier ones.
What does cheap mean for the purpose of this thread?
Let's say below $50 fully identifiable as to type and in decent condition (not bent, broken, or struck so weakly that half the degsign is invisible).
Images, price estimations, and further descriptions are all welcome.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
9545 Posts |
Good question. I recently purchased my first ancient and have been looking at medieval pieces too. Hope you get some answers!
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Pillar of the Community
Russian Federation
3319 Posts |
On the modern end of the "ca. 1500" range, there is a surprisingly large amount of Russian wire money (even the late 1400s coins are not that rare, and coins of Ivan IV's reign are downright common). Not sure if that will count as "medieval", though. (Also, for many types it's very uncommon to see more than half of the design on a single coin, because the dies are large and the flans tiny.)
Byzantine copper coins from the 6th-7th century are fairly common and fairly cheap. (Gold too, but you won't get a gold coin for $50, obviously.)
Byzantine anonymous types (IIRC 10th century) and scyphates (IIRC 12th century) are also fairly common and cheap, but really hard to attribute (and the more common scyphates are rarely found in anything resembling decent condition, because the quality was awful and there's a lot of design).
Islamic and Chinese coins (and to a lesser extent Indian) are all over the place... good luck identifying them though, even if you know Arabic! (And, again, a lot of the types - especially Indian - rarely appear with an entire half of the design showing.) Not sure which ones are more common specifically.
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Valued Member
Germany
95 Posts |
Hi! I think that there are lots of nice silver (or bullion) coins from central Europe fitting that description. Many either really small or really thin, but anyway :)
I remember to have seen nice ones from Poland, Hungary, Lithuania or the old German states for less than 50 usd.
Also trams from the crusader states in Armenia for around 35-40... but I am no expert.
Good luck!
Best
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Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
7945 Posts |
Edward I and Edward III English silver pennies are quite cheap, if you just want a common mint variety and aren't too worried about the condition. Huge numbers have been found in hoards and more and more are being turned up all the time by detectorists.
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Valued Member
United States
182 Posts |
Hammered Lithuanian coins from the late 1400's are on eBay all the time for under $10.00. Coins from Bohemia from the 1200's and 1300's are available in the $20.00-25.00 range also.
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Moderator
United States
18290 Posts |
As you can see in this thread: http://goccf.com/t/257744the answer is free if you are willing to extend the medieval date range to the late 17th Century. I still have some low grade solidas and would be happy to continue to give them away to folks who become sponsors of CCF. "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
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Valued Member
Canada
261 Posts |
Here are some Medival coins I got for under $50 There are a lot of good byzantine coins you can get for under $50... here are my Constantine VII copper coins, which I got for around $15-$40 ea  some Sassanian, early medieval period 500s + 600's coins are cheap, and are big coins too at around 32 mm here is my Hormizd IV which was $20  Many Islamic coins are pretty cheap.. heres one of mine of Muhammad II of Khwarezm, which was under $15  A Levon I Tram, from the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia which was $20 or $25  and from a bit later, a 1619 Denier struck in Kremnitz, $9  Edited by arnoldoe
09/15/2016 9:32 pm
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Pillar of the Community
United States
662 Posts |
Great question DL20K!  Love the pictures of your coins Arnoldoe! Fascinating.  ~ Mark |
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Valued Member
Lithuania
363 Posts |
Lithuanian half-groat of Alexander Jagiellon, undated, with gothic legend, minted in Vilnius aprox. 1495-1500, like on my avatar, costs less than 10 usd, if it's not the rare variety.   Edited by giedrius
09/16/2016 1:39 pm
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Valued Member
Lithuania
363 Posts |
Catalogue of Lithuanian half-groats 1495-1529 http://goccf.com/t/282866Edited by giedrius
09/16/2016 1:51 pm
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Pillar of the Community
United States
6030 Posts |
Song dynasty cash are dirt cheap; you can get very nice ones for less than $4 each, or $1-2 each for wholesale bulk lots of lower grades.
Hungarian medieval coins are pretty cheap, but the price of problem-free coins goes up pretty dramatically. I have a handful, but am not overly fond of the overall flimsy feel there.
Indian coins are IMO some of the best "bang for your buck" medieval coins. India at the time was a confusing patchwork of empires, kingdoms, and foreign invaders. Top examples I would recommend are the "bull and horseman" jitals ($3-20, depending on silver purity, strike quality, and variety), the broad spectrum of imitations of imitations of Sassanian coins collectively called Gadhaiya Paisa ($1-50+ depending on variety), and Gupta drachms, which rUn about $10-20. If you are willing to expand your time frame, eBay is currently flooded with Mughal rupees from the 1500s-1700s, and most go for under $30.
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Valued Member
United States
182 Posts |
I personally think that that Indian and Middle Eastern coins are going to start going up in value. I think that will be the next "big" area of ancient/medieval collecting. The coins are so interesting and there is such a variety.
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Replies: 12 / Views: 3,221 |
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Posted 09/15/2016 10:12 am
