Post Your Ancient Coins!!!

I'm not a huge ancient collector, but when I came across this one, I just had to buy it. Very cool IMO. The fallen horsemen coins say something about the Roman psyche.

 

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Thats one of my favorite things about coins, how they can tell the story of a different time.

 

What did you pay for it

 

Fallen Horseman are some of the most common ancients to buy and the prices are everywhere. For a OK/common one shouldnt be more then $15-$20. Ugly ones are cheaper and rare ones ive seen for over $100.

 

Mat is right. There are about 2200 varieties of falling horseman coins issued by five different rulers ranging from crude 15mm coins with few legends, no eye appeal and not certainly identifiable to mint to bold 24mm beauties from scarce mints and with variations that make them in demand by specialists. To be worth over $100, a coin needs to be special in several ways including very high grade. To be available for $1 it is mostly scrap metal with just enough detail to show that it was a horseman. Most collectors don't care about the minor variations but most will pay extra for a really nice coin. While I have seen several advertised for higher prices, it is rare to see one well struck on both sides unworn and really worth $50.

 

If memory serves me correctly it was around $30.

 

Here is one from Carthage circa 305 BC. Goddess Tanit/Horse.

 

Here are two more which I really like, although not in the best of conditions. The denarius of Orbiana has a nice, charming portrait (although a very weak reverse), and the Nero semis with reverse Roma is a denomination which is not that common.

 

Nice Ban Liangs. Those appear to be the later, smaller issues. Is that correct? I have a wide range of these, ranging from the earlier issues, (up to 45cm) down to the last issues.

Actually looking at these again they are the issues with rims, so they are the last issues.

This coin is very important in human history. It was the issue that determined the final size and configuration of the chinese cash for the next two millenium. Many might not like collecting chinese cash, but there is little doubt that its one of the most important coins to be struck, since it was the backbone of one of the world's greatest civilizations and a world "superpower" for 20 centuries.

Chris

 

Rather, most important coin to be cast. Unfortunately, there are few, if any, types that can be attributed to a particular ruler, limiting their collecting potential for Westerners. Traditional east Asian collectors, however, are often content to collect and catalog minor calligraphic variates without regard to

 

Nice orbiana portrait. Some reason I like the nero more.

 

Regarding Ban Liangs and Chinese cash in general: It is hard for Western collectors to warm up to any significance of calligraphic varieties in a language they don't read. I would be more likely to see collecting them if there were some attachment to the varieties and date, place, ruler or anything but the catalogs list most with no reason for their existence. Even after we get to a point of recognizing some major characters and reading period names with some ability, it seems artificial to care about 'round bao' or 'square bao' which is a lot like asking me to care whether the Rome mint closed the top of their A's or not. I believe that is part of the reason that many of us get a few hundred cash and fail to see why to go further.

 

I agree. I don't collect the minor variations much either, but there IS so much going on like off metal casts, (of course you are right Bill, I misspoke), minor kingdom coinages, etc that I do find it a fascinating field. I go in and out of them, collecting them for spurts of a few months and then coming back a couple of years later. I probably would collect them more, especially earlier Chinese, if it weren't for all of the fakes nowadays.

 

yes, you are correct. i'm trying to get an earlier issue, but i just haven't found the "right" one yet.

 

Hi Mat,
I know you posted a beautiful Orbiana not long ago. I originally wanted to post mine alongside yours so people could see the difference in style (and state of preservation!).
I like the Nero semis, too. Particularly the reverse with Roma Seated I find appealing. This reverse was of course also used in some of Nero's sestertii.

 

My very first roman coins from froggycoins member of FRANCE.

 

The fascinating thing about calligraphic varieties on early Chinese coins is that, unlike with modern die varieties, these little quirks actually had significance. For Qing coins we know that particular variants of the 'tong' character indicate which branch of the mint they were cast at. The same system existed at least as early as the Northern Song dynasty and, presumably, began to take shape during the Han issues of wu zhu.

 

Hello CBJesse,

Here are two ancient coins from my collection for your consideration. I purchased them because they were high enough grade that I could actually read the legends and attempt to make sense of them. They proved to be a great learning experience and the cost was only about $25 or $30 each as I remember. The cool folks at CT gave me only enough guidance to get me started. Researching the pieces was great fun. I couldn't have gotten past step #1 if the legends weren't so clear.

 

Wow great coins, Collect89, thats how I was thinking of starting my ancient collection; cheap, higher grade coins so I can get used to the identification process and the get the ball rolling. Thank you for sharing.

 

I got some like those from him to! Yay Froggycoins!