What countries do you dislike/not collect?

As for me, I don't like a coins of Indian principalities (with Arabian legend).

 

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Yeah, but I have 2000 years worth of coins to make up for it I'm simply not a modern coin guy ("modern" meaning last 500 years). I've been there, done that with modern coins (mainly US) and eventually lost interest.

 

Yeah, I haven't lost interest yet with US or world moderns. I think the problem with ancients is that it's a higher learning curve. With world coins, especially 1900s issues, you can jump in very easily, read up in Krause, etc. I don't know where to begin with ancients, but I've read a little online.

 

I buy nothing from Israel....I collect modern bullion and if you gave me a coin from Israel it would be traded within 24 hours.

 

I love these Costa Rica pieces

 

With Costa Rica and most world coins I collect, I stay in the 1900s. Yeah, those are cool, but they are older

 

You know, learning about coins is a lot cheaper than buying them. I find all kinds of great pleasure just reading about certain coins, even if I do not really ever purchasing them. Heck, sometimes I will just grab a KM book or a book on ancients at random and start reading.

 

I got the hang of ancients in about a month. Wasnt hard at all. But like any coins, its constant learning.

 

Going to agree with Mat, doesn't take long to familiarize yourself with Ancients, at least enough to get started.

 

A few weeks to start, and in a lifetime you will never see all of the types let alone varieties. Ancients are a world unto themselves, larger than even the last 5 centuries of modern coins. So, very easy to start, but impossible to finish. Its just like I like it, easy enough to get going with a continuously raising learning curve so it never becomes boring.

Ancient coins are kind of laid out like a well designed video game. Easy to pick up, but infinite difficulty to keep advanced players busy.

 

=> wow, that's such a cool statement and it is soooo true ... just when you think you know your end-game, some coin-type will distract you and you'll be scampering-off in some completely different direction (it is 100% fun ... but "warning" => it can be 110% addictive!!)

... and lovin' it!!

 

I see what you guys are saying. It probably is easier thank I thought, but I guess it's maybe harder to find the right info. With us and world coins, there's the red book, Krause catalogs, and even other major price guides. The top grading companies didn't really go into them either, but ngc is. This makes it a little harder. What's the major go-to book for ancients? I gotta get something like that

 

There is no reference or book that covers every single area of ancients collecting, just way too many types and issues and their information to be compiled into one source. There are of course books and other sources for whatever area(s) of ancients collecting you choose. Definitely utilize free, online sources as well. And read up on identifying fakes/replicas also. Ancients collecting isn't riddled with fakes in general (but certain coin types can be), but its definitely good to familiarize yourself with real and fake coins and their characteristics. If unsure, you can always post them on the forum for our feedback.

What I suggest is thinking about what interests you (certain time periods/cultures, themes such as military or animals, big bronzes, etc.) and focusing your collecting around those. I was (and still am) really fascinated with Roman history in general, and as a collector, got to the point where I wanted an ancient coin for my collection. Started off with two inexpensive (but nice) Roman coins. Since then I have specialized in certain areas and diversified into others, but my passion for ancients and medieval coins continues unchanged.

 

It used to be the symbol of the Carlberg Brewery in Copenhagen, and there are still swastikas on the elephants at the entry to the brewery. I have a commemorative plaque in silver that was made in France in 1896 for the 25th anniversary of the brewery and there were swastikas on the bottom of the plaque.

 

... and not just there. See this page, and the attached file. (Not my image; I saved it a while ago because I used it as a "discussion piece".



Christian

 

Decent beer, still find it locally at the Russian market

 

Although I own a few, I tend to shy away from coins using non-western alphabets and dating systems. I just don't enjoy the hassle of translating, and there always seems to be a hint of a doubt as to whether I got it right.

Also, the plethora of NCLT stuff worldwide is a turn-off. I own some, mostly 20th century European silver (the values are sometimes hard to resist) but I prefer coins that were intended to be spent, not just collected.

As for countries whose coins I dislike, I can't think of any. They're all interesting when you begin to delve into the history behind them.

 

Thanks for sharing all that. Very helpful advice. Currently, I'm interested in all bronze pieces 1,000 plus years old. It would be also nice to own one or two silver roman coins, and eventually a decent looking Ancient Greek coin. These things are a little more expensive so I'm just looking now. Thanks for info!

 

I hear what you say about dates on some non-western coins. I've found it confusing sometimes as well, like hit or miss, but some countries are easier and some aren't (eg Thailand). It's kinda fun cracking the code but there's so much out there in the Western world so I'm sure you're content. And you make a good point about not disliking and countries.