I am somewhat new to collecting ancient greek coins. I would like to purchase some ancient greek tetradrachm, drachm, and hemidrachms. I know that tatradrachms cost a lot more so im not planning on buying one right away but eventually i would like to have some. Right now i have a Alexander iii from macedon silver drachm and a alexander i (Balas) from the Seleukid Kingdom silver drachm. Does anyone know a online store that sells tetradrachms, drachms, and hemidrachms for a good price and is reliable? thanks
Sorted by cheapest to most expensive. http://bargainbinancients.com/zen/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=9&page=1&sort=3a
I've heard good things about http://www.vcoins.com/, but have not personally bought from that site yet.
I get alot of coins from there but never bought a greek. Most are pretty expensive & if a deal surfaces it goes fast. www.forumancientcoins.com is good too but a bit expensive.
You could try the world's biggest ancient coin dealer, www.cngcoins.com. Other thoughts might be harlan berk, freeman and sear, or many of the dealers at vcoins or numismall. All of those places I am comfortable recommending. Another excellent choice is a large coin show, or a show specifically for world and ancient dealers. The biggest hurdle you will face will learning how to spot a good deal or a bad one. There is no easy answers for greek coins, only accumulating knowledge and experience. Greek silver is not for the faint of heart, (or wallet).
I have been to harlan berks 2 times. i live near his shop. Do you recommend that i just keep going there? or should i buy somewhere online?
I've never heard anything bad about em. Vcoins has quite a few shops,and its easy to compare and get a good idea about values.
I never say only use one dealer. Always price compare, if only because all dealers have different ideas of market desirability. While I do like certain dealers, I would NEVER think of ONLY buying from them. Btw, so you have been upstairs to the ancient offices, right? The street level is for US and world coins, the really great stuff is up in Harlan's offices.
thanks and yeah i have twice. its a really nice place its just that im 16 and sometime i feel a bit awkward going there alone...
Wow, takes me back a bit. I completely understand that situation. I grew up in Salt Lake. There are about 10-15 decent coin shop shops in the area. I started collecting at 5. SLC coin shop owners are notorious for being rude and giving you that feeling of "you're wasting my time." My advice; Continue going to the shop, study a coin you are interested in that you know they have in their inventory. Impress the dealers with the knowledge you have about the particular coin you are interested in. Once you have become familiarized with the dealers, they should welcome you. You would be surprised at how many dealers are scouting for young talent. They need sharp minds; especially with a a particular field like ancient coins which not many teenagers are interested in. In combination with time spent in their shop, a professional above expectation maturity for your age, and a decent knowledge level... you might find yourself being offered a summer job. Great foot in the door. I wish I grew up in Chicago for this very reason. On a coin buying note. That ariobarzanes drachm on page 3 for 32.00 is looking pretty good sitting their without an owner. You should pick it up. Before I do http://bargainbinancients.com/zen/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=9&sort=3a&page=3
Also, I know at 16 $100 is hard to come by. But, head on over to forumancientcoins.com. If you are wanting to get something like a decent silver tetradrachm for under $100.00 - there is an individual consigning his later ptolemaic kingdom tets for a very very reasonable price. I have picked up 2 myself. Looks like there is only 1 left. Just to save you searching time http://www.forumancientcoins.com/ca...&fld=http://www.forumancientcoins.com/Coins2/
