My only ancient coin? What is this lovely little darling...

Hello everyone!

Found this little beauty in a bag of tokens I picked up this summer. Any ideas on what it may be?

Diameter: .6"
Weight: 5.04g
Metal: copper

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

Byzantine Empire. Justinian I bronze 12 Nummi. Alexandria mint

 

Thanks for the info - any ideas of grade and value?

 

$15-$20 in that shape.

 

I would say more $10 but I am cheap.

Its one of the more common Byzantines you will find, and smallish. If it were well centered and maybe VF it would be more of a $40 coin.

Still, its cool right? Actually owning a coin minted in historic Alexandria, founded by Alexander the Great, bearing the portrait of the builder of the Hagia Sophia. Who would not love that history?

This is why that while I know "what's it worth" is always on people's minds, I hate stopping there since to me $10 is nothing, (not even lunch), but a coin such is this is great. If I didn't already own about 15 of these, I would believe it was a terrific bargain considering its history.

 

medoraman hit it on the head. For a reason that I failed to understand 50 years ago you can buy one of the million existing examples of this coin for little money while people pay more for one of the 10 million of some modern coin. The reason is that there are 100 collectors of US modern coin for every ancient collector and more of some of the common ones than there are people who care. If you get more specialized, it is quite possible to own a variety that survives only as one example (yours) but you still have trouble finding someone else who wants to admire your coin because they know that no one can own all of the million varieties that were made in the thousand years ancient coins were made.

After all this time, things have not changed. Perhaps the $1 coin from a few years back is $10 now but that is more a feature of a raise in the nuisance value coin dealers charge for any coin in their stock (the coin's share of their overhead) than a true increase in value. Fifty years later it is harder to find a kid who takes Latin in high school and collects coins who might be who we expect to replace me as the next generation of ancient coin collector.

How many of these do we each need? I have one. Would I outbid medoraman at $10? No way. Would I buy another like this for $1? No, I'd rather go to Wendy's and get a Crispy Chicken Caesar Wrap. I can get lunch for a dollar (probably explaining why medoraman and I don't dine together as much as the thousand miles that separates us).

 

Lol, I would have lunch with you Doug, (I would even spring for it), if we were ever in the same geography.

I don't think lack of Latin will limit new ancient collectors. In fact, I see more ancient collectors in the future due to the internet. Its the reason I am here. Being raised in Iowa I simply was unaware of the fact it was even possible to collect ancient coins. Now I am hip deep in coins and cultures even most ancient collectors look at me like I am speaking a different language when I talk about Scythians, Hepthalites, Sogdians, Yue Chi, etc.

If this Iowa kid can get into ancients nowadays, its proof any idiot can get into this hobby.

Chris

 

Same. I was always interested in history and so forth but never messed with Latin. Mainly spanish/mexican history in college. But the internet is what exposed me to collecting ancients. And it was specifically you posters here on CT. Otherwise I would still be in the overcrowded world of U.S. coins. ;P

 

I was lucky to have a shop just a few minutes away to get me addicted to ancients.:hail:

 

You are soooo lucky. As I remember I have a couple coins from trades with you that came from that shop so it might be my favorite storefront even though I will never see it. On this site we have posts from an Indianapolis dealer stating that he might be selling a few ancients. In the 1960's I visited at least three Indianapolis dealers whose shops and treating a kid will make all the difference in my getting started. Those dealers are all gone now (or well over 100 as I recall them) but I'd love to think that an Indiana kid could start down the path that has defined who I am as much as any school or job ever did.