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 Replies: 9 / Views: 1,533 |
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
8938 Posts |
I'm not usually an Ancients guy, not because I don't find them interesting, I do, but because I'm to preoccupied with my other set to dive into Ancients as I'd like. But, I saw this guy on ebay and fell in love with it. While this isn't a set I'll be super active in developing, my current goal is a set of mint state or CH AU romans. One bronze, one silver and one gold. With this pickup that leaves the gold and bronze. Thoughts from those who know more than me?   |
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Valued Member
404 Posts |
Lovely coin - the reign of Gordian III produced a wide range of Denarii, many of which are available in better grades. You could also slowly acquire different types of that denomination in CH AU. Just a thought.
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
8938 Posts |
Quote:
You could also slowly acquire different types of that denomination in CH AU. Just a thought. Not a bad idea. That might be something for the future though. My current collecting goals are probably set for the next decade or so, so I'll probably get some nice new Denarius along the way. I have my current US set I'm working on, then a second US set I want to do before I move towards Ancients as my main focus. While it may be a while, I'm pretty young so I've got all the time I need. |
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
5240 Posts |
The Gordian silver is a good choice.
As for the gold, it looks like you missed out on the gold "Eid Mar" piece auctioned a few weeks ago.
Oh well, you will have to spend your millions on something else...
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Bedrock of the Community
Australia
21786 Posts |
For someone who has numismatic interests in other areas than ancients, you ain't doin' too bad!  For a bronze (orichalcum) coin, I like the large module of the sestertius. Examples of the Severan Emperors can really get up there, in strike and surface. For a representative gold coin, it is possible the get a Byzantine solidus in really nice condition for a reasonable cost. |
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Moderator
 United States
23731 Posts |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
616 Posts |
 to the ancient addiction |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
8938 Posts |
Quote:
As for the gold, it looks like you missed out on the gold "Eid Mar" piece auctioned a few weeks ago.
Oh well, you will have to spend your millions on something else... Actually we had a whole discussion about it at work. Julian (my boss) thought it was going to go for around the estimate price, our manager alex said around a million. I was the only one who was close, I said $3.5m which they laughed at until I won the bet. Quote:
For a bronze (orichalcum) coin, I like the large module of the sestertius. Examples of the Severan Emperors can really get up there, in strike and surface.
For a representative gold coin, it is possible the get a Byzantine solidus in really nice condition for a reasonable cost. Thanks for your advice . I just put that as a note in my "To Buy" spreadsheet. Quote:to the ancient addiction Glad to be here Quote:
A beauty. Thanks! I really like this one. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
6130 Posts |
Very nice for a first ancient!
Bronze in "choice AU" will be tough - Coins from the Constantine era are usually better preserved since they were alloyed with about 3-5% silver, which helps protect against corrosion that typically ate the earlier bronze/orichalchum coins. Assuming that this is going to be a larger purchase for you, I would suggest a sestertius of Vespasian, Domitian, Trajan, Hadrian, Pius, or Marcus Aurelius - they aren't as cheap, but you can get a museum-quality specimen for under $1,000, which can't be said of many other emperors.
For gold, coins of Valentinian through Justinian are plentiful; Justinian in particular can be bought for darn close to melt, in fact. I bought an AU solidus of Justinian a couple years ago, and it was less than $400 (containing similar gold content to a $5). Still, I would recommend going for a nice Aureus if you can afford it - I believe Antoninus Pius generally has the best trade-off between beauty and price in the AU range.
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Pillar of the Community
Russian Federation
5173 Posts |
I'm actually considering a solidus or tremissis of the 5th or 6th century for my first gold; of course I'm not limited in terms of grade, and I suspect I would actually prefer if it was XF or even VF. It's nice to know that $400 is a realistic price. Would know what to look for. At the moment, it's still a ludicrous amount of money, and this is the closest I came to owning an ancient gold coin (so far), but at least it's a realistic amount of money for me to acquire eventually. |
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Replies: 9 / Views: 1,533 |
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Posted 11/18/2020 03:19 am
