Ancient Roman Coins Rarity

Unlike modern coins there is no real price guide for ancient coins. David Sear in his books on Roman, Greek and Byzantine coins does give a general idea what the coin is worth, but the books were written years ago. The best way to judge IMO is to check recent auction prices. You can also check here at Ancient Coin Search for resent sales. Here is the link: http://www.acsearch.info/search.htm...r=0&company=
Just enter in the search box the coin type you are looking for. Lastly Vcoins will also give you a general idea, but keep in mind they are dealer prices.

It's a little more complicated grading ancient coins than it is modern ones. Wayne Sayles has put out and excellent series of six books on all types of coins. In his book titled Ancient Coin Collecting he describes in detail how ancient coins are graded.

Raiade, when you get Hendin's book you'll be pleased to note that he provides "relative dollar values of the principal coin types covered in this guide. The prices are based on the last five years of auction and private sales." So, with each coin listed, there is a value range provided.

On high end coins (tribute pennies in VF fall in this category) it is difficult to determine value. We are discussing little "works of art" and the question becomes one of
"What is a Rembrandt worth ?"

Determining value becomes easier when discussing the lower end coinage.
What is an as of Claudius worth ?
Well there are only 3 types so the variables are easier to manage. The mints are again basically 3 (Rome Lyon and Spain) so again the types can be categorized.
Long and short ?
Twenty dollars for a low end variety and up to around 300 for a 'museum' quality piece.
The high end is always difficult as there will always be some 'Bill Gates' in the crowd willing to pay an obscene price in order to have the "finest known" example.

Expensive coins have always attracted charlatans on both sides of the table. My advice would be to seek coins that you find appealing which have good eye appeal. As long as you stay in the lower end of the market you will never make a huge mistake ! And we all make mistakes. No collector who has bought coins over a period of many years can honestly say he/she has never made a stupid purchase.

With the prevalence of quality fakes today you should worry more about whether the coin is exactly what it claims to be ! Fakes are found everywhere from museum collections to local coin shops.
Think twice !
Purchase once !

I think the 'ask' is obscene !
That is all it is really ....... an ask price. If it really floats your boat offer a cool $1000 !

Raide, that's a valuation in dollars. See Hendin's section "About the Valuations" on page xvii of the 5th edition. The two numbers represent, for bronze issues, the relative dollar value between Fine/Very Fine condition. For gold and silver issues it represents the relative dollar value between Very Fine/Extra Fine condition.

To price ancient coins I very strongly recommend you use:
acsearch.info for auction comparables
cngscoins.com for auction / fixed priced comparables
vcoins.com for currently on sale comparables.

If you are a search hound, acsearch.info is also an amazing tool to do attribution. I had a Greek bronze that I had no handle on and using "horse left" and then -stem1 -stem2 -stem3 (I had about 40 qualifiers after 40 searches) I was able to identify.

Paul