What Do You Consider As Ancient, And What Are The Oldest...

About 7th-8th century is probably the border between "ancient" and "medieval" (Merovingian and early Carolingian silver pennies are medieval, Byzantine letter-denominated coins of Justinian etc[1] are ancient, and I don't know enough about how other coins of similar period look like; actually, I generally think dumping Justinian with the Middle Ages makes little sense historically).

As for the boundary between "medieval" and whatever goes after it... probably late 15th century. I think 1486 would work as a specific symbolic date (it's the introduction of the Guldengroschen).

That said, excluding coins of Anastasius and Justin I that I classify as "ancient", I currently only have two coins that I would count as "medieval"; one apparently from the 1390s, one probably from the 1460s or 1470s, and both nowhere near good enough for any definite identification (the dates I listed are attributions from the guy who sold them to me).


On "oldest coin I have": technically, probably the Olbian dolphin. However, I've seen and received greatly different opinions as to when it could be from (ranging from 7th to 1st century BC), and it doesn't look much like a coin anyway (it's one of the anepigraphic types - I've seen one of these with an inscription, but didn't have the money), so I consider my oldest coin to be the Pantikapaion piece I posted recently (it's from 220-210 BC).

Pantikapaion, by the way, is modern-day Kerch, in the Republic of Crimea; I was nowhere near that place the one time I visited Crimea (in 2002), and considering the recent political situation, I doubt I'll be going there anytime soon either.




[1] after a Wildwinds search, this seems to end in the 740s, between Leo III and Leo IV

I disagree. While he was born and raised an adherent to the old, Roman-Latinized societal order, Justinian knew the world that he lived in was very much different than the one of the time of Augustus, Hadrian, or even Constantine. His strong devotion to the pope and religion mirrors that of later medieval rulers. Legislature enacted by him became a basis for later medieval and modern law, and, while his empire was legally the Roman Empire, Justinian sought to restore his empire to the power and glory it once knew, with him becoming as great as the emperors of old. This idea of living up to Rome's name and reputation was an attractive one to many medieval European rulers. In these respects, Justinian was very much a medieval figure, and a very important one at that.

As for the OP question, with history I like to go by the book, and this extends to my numismatic pursuits. For me, even if the style screams ancient, any coins coming out of Western Europe and North Africa 476 AD (official start of the Middle Ages) and later I consider medieval, while anything struck in the territory of the Byzantine Empire after 491 AD I would classify as medieval (when Anastasius claims the throne, he is the first true Byzantine ruler numismatically and the first Roman emperor to begin his reign after the fall of Western Rome). All of this only applies to the regions mentioned above; I don't really collect or study much outside of those and so don't have good ideas of when the Middle Ages start in other locations. Although from what I've read, for Arabia it starts in the 7th century, with the rise of Islam? End of Middle Ages I'd say either 1453 (final fall of the Roman Empire at Constantinople), or 1492 (end of Reconquista and the discovery of the New World).