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 Replies: 19 / Views: 2,596 |
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Valued Member
United States
53 Posts |
Have any of y'all been to coin conventions that have ancient ones? I am located in the Lehigh Valley area. It looks like there's a big convention in Baltimore two or three times a year.
I've been to plenty of comic cons. They're easy to find. But it seems like finding a coin con with ancients is tricky...?
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
5417 Posts |
Hmm.. you must be dealing with some very small dealers who only operate locally if you have trouble finding ancients. At Baltimore I definitely know that you can find ancients.I'm not sure how you're missing them. Most every dealer has at least a couple and there should atleast 1-2 dealers in Baltimore who specialize in ancients.
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Valued Member
 United States
53 Posts |
I'm sorry, zxcccxz. I explained myself wrong.
I have yet to go to a coin con. I guess I was asking how easy it is to find dealers with ancients at the regular cons. Or whether there's suppose to be specialized ancient coin cons.
With no experience, I didn't want to drive to a coin con, expecting to find ancients, and there's nothing.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4778 Posts |
You'll have to ask around and keep a sharp eye out for any ancient coins. It was at a coin show that I bought my first two ancient coins. Definitely a plus to see them in hand before you buy.
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Valued Member
United States
53 Posts |
If I purchase one at a con (or even a shop), should I be checking if they have a life-time guarantee that they're real? If they don't, do I walk away?
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1391 Posts |
I must be getting old, but I read your post title as some else completely.
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Valued Member
United States
87 Posts |
You can't have ancient coin pros without coin cons right? Couldn't resist  I used to go to the CICF in the Chicago area, and many of the dealers had ancients. |
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Valued Member
United States
53 Posts |
lol! Okay okay. I'm use to "cons" from going to comic cons... Transformer cons... Xena cons. lol. I guess it's Professional Numismatic Shows. :)
So it sounds like it'd be fairly easy to find a few dealers at a show with ancient coins. But should I be looking for dealers that lifetime guarantee their coins aren't fake?
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Moderator
 United States
23731 Posts |
Ancient coins are a specific area of collecting so unless a dealer at a coin show only sells ancients he probably is only going to know a little more about them than you do. Dealers in the US concentrate of US coins so they know them. They don't really spend a lot of time learning about ancients. So unless the coin is slabbed by a known TPG (PCGS or NGC) they most likely will not give you a life time guarantee. |
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Valued Member
United States
87 Posts |
One of the best ways to avoid fakes is to educate yourself by studying both real and counterfeit ancients. Having coins in hand is better than a photo, but I've made real use of the wealth of reference material online. This forum also has many great threads to learn from.
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
3098 Posts |
The Chicago International Coin Fair (CICF) is a great place to visit. Many of the dealers there handle ancient coins and some of the big boys (Harlan Berk, CNG, Freeman & Sear) attend. There are also a lot of dealers in world coins.
I'm fortunate to live two hours north of Chicago and have gone annually since 2000. It makes for a great day. Some dealers still have pick bins, although they're not nearly as many of them as in the past.
I believe the dates are April 10-13.
In 2008 I plucked an EF Hanniballianus AE-4 out of a $10 pick bin. It's still the best find of my life.
Paul Bulgerin
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Valued Member
United States
53 Posts |
Yeah that's exactly what I am afraid of. I feel like going to a show will be too above my head at this point, which stinks.
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Valued Member
United States
53 Posts |
April 10th huh? :) I hope to be out in Michigan to get my airplane in the beginning of April. Not sure I can be away that long though. Hmmmm!
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Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
3626 Posts |
You don't have to actually buy anything, you could go and just handle them and talk to the dealers, it would be an eduction. Nothing like that where I live :)
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3098 Posts |
My daughter, who is now 27, has come with me to CICF for years. Of all of our trips there the one incident that stands out most in my mind was a number of years ago when one of the dealers from Freeman & Sear told her to hold out her hand and in it he placed a huge Constantine I silver medallion from the establishment of Constantinople.
If I remember correctly the medallion, which Constantine would have most likely held in his own hand when he presented it back in 330 AD, was for sale for $250,000.
It was so kind of him to let a teenage girl get to hold such a numismatic treasure, a piece Constantine the Great himself would have handled. I remember telling her that what she was holding cost a whole lot more than our house!
Looking is half the fun at a show like this and you can see some amazing things.
Paul Bulgerin
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Valued Member
United States
53 Posts |
Thank you, y'all for the help & advice. It sounds worth going to a show to see the ancient coins. I think there's one in PA that's fairly large too. I may just go later on. Especially if somebody put a Constantine coin in my hand for a minute!! :) Talk about wicked cool.
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Replies: 19 / Views: 2,596 |
Posted 03/06/2014 08:56 am
