First Time Coin Buy

to the community.

Until you learn how to spot fake ancients it's probably best that you stay away from ebay. I would recommend that you buy your coin from V-coins. Here is a link to their ancient coin dealers. https://www.vcoins.com/en/stores/an...Default.aspx

I would also recommend that you go through the Sticky thread here Titled, Books, Downloads and Websites. There is ton o information their that will help you learn about ancient coins. We are always here to answer any question you may have so visit us often.

ebay is a good place to get a cheap start with some low hanging fruit. Nobody fakes coins that are worth less than $1, or if they do, said fakes are painfully obvious and look like they were made yesterday. You start to really encounter fakes when you get into the coins that are worth $100+, which you should probably avoid as a newbie anyway.

The most important question is, what do you want to collect?

I like vcoins and Forvm Ancient Coins. Both offer guarantees. I have never gone wrong buying from those sources.

I had been seriously collecting coins of my own country (which included most of the rare dates and a gold type set) before I became interested in ancient coins.

I read avidly on the subject of Roman coins for more than a year, before I bought my first denarius of Antionininus Pius, many decades ago.

I read avidy on
A.) ancient Greek culture
B.) the history of ancient Greek coins
C.) learning about ancient Greek coin values
in that order, for about a year
before acquiring my first ancient Greek coin (my avatar). That was 10 years less than many decades ago.

I continue to read avidly on the subject of ancient coin fakes. Because I am still far from being an expert on the subject of fakes, all of my high value ancient coins have come from public auctions that have an international reputation.

Impossible to not be on a steep learning curve.

My personal advice for a "nice" first coin is pick something that is common and which the market is not HOT for.
Antoninus Pius was the all time "Mr Niceguy" and he reigned for twenty years. His coins are easily found for relatively modest sums.
Marcus Aurelius also can be had for reasonable sums.
Both these emperors issued high quality silver and bronze coins which $50 is often enough to bag a decent F-VF.

The only question you should think about is ........

Silver or bronze ?

Each has its beauty ! You might even find well worn examples for less than $10

One more thing .......
Dutch left out one other Vcoins dealer on ebay. Namely "Lucernae" out of Spain.
As I have recently formed a Trans Atlantic alliance of sorts with Antonio I will try and keep this short of a completely shameless plug !

Antonio has a wide selection of "semi cleaned" ancients. The benefit is you pretty much can see what you are getting and you get the added pleasure of soaking the coin a bit in Distilled water and brushing away a few millennia of 'dirt'.

Personally
I think you should look for a decent Antonininus Pius or Marcus Aurelius sestertius. A bronze coin about the size of a silver dollar. Large enough to wow the relatives and affordable enough to keep lying on the desk to 'play' with.

When I am asked :
"What coin should I buy for my first Roman coin?"
I usually look for the best value for money.

I am usually drawn back to the idea of a nice antoninianus (double denarius) of Gordian 111.
The silver coins of this Emperor in reasonable condition are numerous, and so gives an intending buyer lots of coin to compare against each other, to acheve the aim of 'best value for money'.
The denarii of the Severan Emperors also provide a good choice to get best value for money.

Have a look in Vcoins, for coins in these two areas.

I'm a lot man and a bargain hunter myself. If you are willing to take some small risks, you can nab some nice coins at a stellar deal.

Here is one that I had debated pulling the trigger on, but decided against due to the fact that it just wouldn't add much to my collection:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Lot-of-9-Ge...121846045264

The well worn coin in the middle is a provincial AE of Elagabalus, from Marcianopolis, featuring a bunch of grapes on the reverse. It's a fairly uncommon coin and worth a good $15-20 by itself in that condition. Elagabalus was also quite a "character" and ranks just beneath Caligula and later-reign Commodus in terms of eccentricities and wasteful opulence.