Owls And Wrestlers - What Fun!

I must admit they are nice coins. There is no doubt they are all highly sought after pieces. But I too am cheap. I would pass based on price. I think if you took like a third off the price of each you would still be doing well. I am and many are not wealthy and some of these coins are unobtainable but I would consider about half the listed price would be the value. Based only on my experience and my daily search of ancient coins. I, like many other people would wait maybe for months or years for a comparable coin to save between $250-$2000 on any one piece. I hope I didnt offend you. Remember I am cheap and and would rather have 10 $200 ancient tetradrachms vs. 1 $2000 tetradrachm thats a wee "nicer".

Higher end coins, in today's market, command high (very high sometimes) premiums. I see some in your store, but not most of them. The first thing that struck me is the Antoninus Pius sestertius. Might be a scarcer type but 800$, in that condition... I would take away the lower grade/common roman coins you have in there to give credibility/cohesion to the rest (the ones that really are valuable).

My opinion

You'll have to forgive me, but I saw that set on there and started a thread in the Classic US coinage section of the CCF. :)

This can be a difficult decision.

99% of ancient collectors are not interested, indeed many hate slabs and grades assigned by anyone other than themselves, there is not a single pricing book that is considered anything more than 'interesting'. Pictures are freely available today (yours are very well taken) unlike the past when grades were often relied upon. Today its only really the 'ancient' Ancient collectors that use grades as 40 or 50 years ago it was an important factor

Ancients that I have seen slabbed by the 'big three' often have woefully inadequate descriptions stating little more than the Emperors name and a reign date. I have even seen a number of ancients mis-attributed in slabs, unforgivable in my opinion. Even beginner collectors could add detail to this info and its led to many seeing the practice as a bit of a joke.

I have nothing against buying coins in slabs but all to often I see $30 coins being offered at $60 as the seller needs to reclaim the slabbing fee. I'm not prepared to pay this extra amount just so I can smash the slab when the coin arrives.

However, many of your coins are 'high end' and certainly to some collectors a form of authentication will give them a warm feeling before they bid or buy, a slab could provide this, certainly to collectors crossing over from US collecting. Another option is David R Sear:

http://www.davidrsear.com/certification.html

Well respected in the area and a name the vast majority of collectors know and trust. A $50 authentication fee for a coin worth $2000 is, in my opinion a sound investment.

I suspect the prices your asking would only be met by newcomers to Ancient collecting and you would need something like a Sear certificate to help justify the price. Its unlikely experienced people would pay the extra, they can spot the fakes themselves and navigate what can be a minefield to the newcomers. You need to sell the coin plus peace of mind, not just the coin to get the prices you want.




It is - take everything you know about collecting US coins and pretty much forget it or reverse it, sorry.

I often feel the US market is driven by the The Red Book (and other guides) rather than the book written about the market.

I want a particular coin, find the coin for sale, check the book, bid accordingly.

Everybody else bids accordingly and the coin sells for around the stated price.

The ancient market is so huge and the collectors so varied that this does not happen, the only way to get an idea of value is to see what coins have sold for in the past, even then it can fluctuate for seemingly unknown reasons. In an auction environment a coin could sell for $10 one day and $100 the next.

This is not to imply the Ancients market is wild, its not, just that with maybe 1,000,000 coin types not everyone is looking for yours at that time and everyone acepts that they can never own 'one of everything'.

Wow - never intended to end up with such a long response, hope some of it helps!

Went to Mullencoin's and saw all you Proof coins very nice, I've been a Modern collecter most of life, held a 1892
pr63 and 1895 PR64 Morgan dollar..Very impressive coins..