I just bought my first ancient coin, a denarius from the rule of Severus Alexander. It was pretty cheap for an ancient coin, I guess, but despite my extreme interest in ancient Mediterranean history I don't know much about the ancient coin trade. What types should I look out for if I can't afford to drop a lot on a single coin? I'd love to buy an Athenian owl or something like that, but heck if it wouldn't just clean me out. Thanks!
An Athenian owl in nice condition would cost you at least $500. You can get decent condition late empire bronzes at very low prices. Common types of Republican denarii are inexpensive, including the "Legionary" imperatorial issue of Mark Antony. Greek tend to be more expensive, although Alexander the Great's issues are not too hard to get at a reasonable price.
Tarentela, ancients are not all that expensive. I have seen bronze Athenian Owls go for as little as $10 (poor shape), good ones for maybe $35. Silver denari in decent shape as little as $17. Good latter empire coin bronzes for as little as $3. Have fun and learn your way around before laying out big bucks for a fancy purchase. :yes:
There are very few bronze coins of Athens that used the owl type and they tend to be small. I have one that is 12mm diameter. There are many, many bronze fakes that copy the famous silver tetradrachms. A few of them are ancient but most are tourist copies sold in gift shops and by locals in Greece who enjoy fleecing foreigners. I agree with the suggestions given by some above. If you do not mind well worn coins that circulated for a long time you can get large sestertii of Trajan and Hadrian (bigger names in history) for a few dollars but the same coins in perfect condition will be $10,000. Part of the appeal of ancients is that there are so many of them. It would be possible to have several collections of a thousand coins that did not overlap at all.
To everyone, thanks for your suggestions. I'm fascinated by ancient history (currently getting through Rubicon and the good bits of Herodotus' Histories right now) and I love having a coin that I know is connected to these periods. It would be great if I could get some in nice condition, and in fact I passed up a couple of Gordian III and Trebonianus denarii to get the Severus Alexander one. I guess if I want a Greek coin it will have to be a small bronze type unless I win the lottery or something.
Plenty of real silver greeks available for under $100. http://bargainbinancients.com/zen/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=9&page=1&sort=3d Almost every ancient collector wants the athens owl but the price keeps many of us from buying one, along with the ton of fakes, some hard to tell. I dont even have one & I am going on almost 4 years collecting ancients. But take a look at the link above if you dont mind non owl greek silvers.
Mat, thanks for the link. I definitely don't mind non-owl greek coins - I guess the Athenian owl is just so famous and popular that it's in high demand.
