Does anyone know where to buy ancient coins at wholesale prices?

I'm looking for ancient coin wholesalers so that I can keep my costs down when buying, I've realized that most people are asking way too much for their coins

so does anyone have good websites where you can buy in bulk and the coins are about 25 bucks a bag something along those lines?

any help would be appreciated

 

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A $25 bulk bag will consist of dirt-covered, valueless slugs. If you want any sort of quality, you need time, patience, and money.

 

http://www.crustyromans.com/ is popular

 

A few years back I tried to establish a relationship with a group of metal detectorists in both GB and Eastern Europe (mostly Croatia, Slovenia and Serbia). Nothing really panned out where I could buy in bulk at wholesale prices. If you are looking for uncleaned lots, Mat's suggestion is probably the best I know. Good luck.

 

"Uncleaned ancients" mainly are slugs. If you enjoy cleaning coins, go ahead, but look at what people report. Most lose money, quite a bit of money, buying uncleaned coins.

OP, I would suggest looking at large lots and educating yourself. Buying coins individually is more expensive for the dealer as well, so usually you can better a better deal in a group. However, knowledge is key. You have to educate yourself if you wish to participate in such things. I know its very exciting getting into ancients, but I wish I could force every new ancient collector to not spend one cent for their first year. Just take your time seeing what the market is, deciding a focus for themselves, and research where and how to acquire coins.

 

Wholesale means buying a group as a large lot. If you sell your 1000 coin collection to a dealer for $25,000, that is wholesale at $25 a coin average. Very rarely we see a collection sold as a group by a dealer. More often groups are things that someone did not figure were worth the effort to sell individually. A bag that contains $25 worth of coins is not wholesale. It may not have over one coin. One of our members has had luck buying so called large lots at the end of major auctions but I still believe that beginners would be better served buying coins they selected for being of some appeal to them rather than random groups. The main reason to buy uncleaned 'bag' lots is to have the fun of cleaning and identifying them. It is not the way to form a collection.

A general question: How many would be willing to send a dealer (preferably someone you trust and have dealt with before) an amount of money (lets say $500) if he agreed to send you coins totaling $1000 that he had been unable to sell? How about $1000 total of coins randomly selected from his stock? I suspect those who would be interested in such a deal might have resale in mind but most of us (collectors) want to pick and choose (or do we?). If not half price, what discount would it take to interest you?

 

Just one of us have had luck with group lots Doug?

As to your question, I would say it depends. I would in certain circumstances do what you propose. If Matt, (LD), offered such a thing with ancient coins I probably would do it. There are a few other dealers I would also consider it, given I could have some loose guidelines. But, I am a hoarder, so I bet I am unusual in that regard.

But, it's an excellent point for the op. Knowledge and your desires are what is key. I understand the desire for quantity more than many I suspect, but the truth is that my 100 best quality coins are the ones I find myself looking at more than the other thousands. The quality has to be up to your standards for you to appreciate the coin long term.

There used to be a time where u cleaned lots did have chances to yield great coins, but those times are mainly gone now. Spend your money only on finished coins that are of acceptable quality to you.

 

I will never deny that you can get a great coin in a random lot but the question is what to do with the other 99%. If you buy a group that includes a great coin but are not interested in all the rest, that one coin needs to be very special. Being a hoarder makes buying lots a great deal more potentially rewarding.

I saw a group of Chinese Cash described as 600 'all different'. I would love to see the factory where they assemble such sets. (Real???) More, I would love to see the factory that could assemble sets of 600 'all different' Romans.

 

Yeah, 600 all different would be a stretch. One could do it if intentionally trying, but it would be a lot of effort. What is the size of just a northern Sung one cash set? About 120-150? I would say it's pretty equal to 600 all different US coins, very doable but would need to be intentionally planned.

Of course, what you getting with that post was the need for knowledge. I have some, and have been doing this for about 15 years. Most of the time group lots come unattributed, so that can always be a challenge.