Posted 10/13/2015 09:53 am
Most of what I was seeing in the lot are not "lepta" per se, but are mainly Hasmonean prutot. By the 1st century AD the prutah was a denomination most associated with the Jerusalem Temple, and has some specific types that make a prutah distinct from a lepton. Why does this matter?
I noticed in the kinds of alternate lots being offered on the page that this lot was grouped with coin lots being sold as historical artifacts more than for their numismatic value. One seller was offering coins of Constantine without showing the reverses of anything he offered. This is for a buyer who wants something having to do with Constantine, whatever it is. It is a curious thing, but the condition demand for historical artifacts is almost the opposite of what is numismatically important. Something ancient THAT SHOWS ITS AGE is more important to the history buff. An FDC coin that looks like it was minted yesterday is not at all what the casual afficinado desires.
If any of that makes sense, then you can understand that at about $1 per coin you could turn it around rather easily if you hype the coins to the right audience. Those beat up prutot, if marketed to a mass audience looking for icons of ancient Jewish struggles, will sell very quickly, particularly if it appears that getting them into the hands of an appreciative audience, for less than those advertising in the history mags, is what moves you.
Outside the box. Get it?
I noticed in the kinds of alternate lots being offered on the page that this lot was grouped with coin lots being sold as historical artifacts more than for their numismatic value. One seller was offering coins of Constantine without showing the reverses of anything he offered. This is for a buyer who wants something having to do with Constantine, whatever it is. It is a curious thing, but the condition demand for historical artifacts is almost the opposite of what is numismatically important. Something ancient THAT SHOWS ITS AGE is more important to the history buff. An FDC coin that looks like it was minted yesterday is not at all what the casual afficinado desires.
If any of that makes sense, then you can understand that at about $1 per coin you could turn it around rather easily if you hype the coins to the right audience. Those beat up prutot, if marketed to a mass audience looking for icons of ancient Jewish struggles, will sell very quickly, particularly if it appears that getting them into the hands of an appreciative audience, for less than those advertising in the history mags, is what moves you.
Outside the box. Get it?
