As a retailer, I add value to our coins sold by supplying an informational certificate for each coin we sell. Here is a sample of a Follis cert. Sterling
Our appeal is to fine jewelry customers, therefore the necessity for information. Would you suggest additional information for those who are ignorant of the ancients? That would be helpful.
Repost of .jpg of Certificate Here is one of our "certificates" in .jpg format. Thanks for the feedback. Think like a coin noobie,.. please. I understand this forum is populated by experts, but remember; it is the increase of demand from other sectors which contributes to increased value in any material commodity, and I am trying to expand the marketability of ancients by employing lower quality coin in one-of-a-kind custom design fine jewelry.
In this case it does server an important purpose of discerning a copy made specifically for jewelry and a genuine coin mounted as jewelry. It wouldn't matter to a collector, but for someone interested in jewelry it sure can help seal the deal.
As I learn from the write up, the AE1-AE4 series was introduced in the mid 4th century but your AE3 example dates to before 320. If I were going to issue a certificate of the type, I would emphasize things related to the coin (son of Constantine, meaning of the reverse type, mint information) and leave Diocletian out of it. Introducing the meaningless term follis and the AE scale system is too much for your audience to ingest all at once. These days with print on demand there is no need to make the certificate look like a generic made to accompany 100 different coins.
Thanks! Thanks very much for the feedback! I really appreciate you both taking time to comment. I'll make the changes to the specific document.
I find this sort of value-add interesting and I'd appreciate it, particularly if I were buying a gift for someone or if the piece is something entirely new to me. If it were something I'm very familiar with, I'd decline but definitely still appreciate the value-add. -L
Its great points Doug bring up. Actually, if someone spent a little time learning more, you could even print up certificates naming the mint on the coin, and/or other pertinent facts like a RIC number. Wildwinds is a site where you can look up coins once you get the hang of it. I would think if youa re using authentic coins, a little customization of the certificate could add a lot of value to a non-collector, and I think its a good idea. Hopefully, someone getting one of these may turn into an ancient collector.
Thanks very much, that is exactly what I'm trying to do for the uninformed Jewelry client, get them interested,.. and expose them to the fun of learning about the ancient coins. I've learned more history from this -hobby- than i did when i was in school... I also use images of ancient coins when teaching the Bible at our little church. One resource for learning is an image,... since there were no cameras prior to the 19th century, one way to gain some understanding is with the art of numismatics! I love the wildwinds site, and use it extensively, some of the certs do have those references. Thanks again!! REALLY APPRECIATE THE FEEDBACK! and HELP!
