What's a good Ancient silver coin to start with?

I want to get an ancient coin but I haven't really looked into ancients since I've been busying myself with "modern" World coins. I was thinking Ancient Greek, Rome, Persia, or Mesopotamia as a good starting point. Preferably "high" grade that's a nice design, but not too expensive as I don't know what's good for me yet lol. Any silver ancients you all suggest to start with?

Thanks in advance!

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

Define too expensive? For less than $200 you can get a nice big chunky silver in decent condition.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Ptolemy-X-C...094026?hash=item3abaeb6c4a:g:eQkAAOSwX~dWkNnC

 

Yes, give us a price range so we can be of more help.

 

Not knowing your budget for a single coin, it's hard to say. What are your interests? Greek, Roman or other histories?

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Ptolemy-X-C...094026?hash=item3abaeb6c4a:g:eQkAAOSwX~dWkNnC[/QUOTE]
Dumpy slabs...

Slabs take the fun out of ancients.

Gordian III & Septimius Severus are excellent emperors to buy cheap and in great grades.

 

For starters, stay away from ebay. If you are new to ancients, you won't necessarily spot a fake before it is too late. Search Vcoins, enter advanced criteria such as "greek silver" and you can put in the amount you want to spend. It will give you an idea of what is out there for your money. Vcoins are dependable stores.

 

Do you think reputable coin dealers that still use eBay such as Numismatik Lanz, Gitbud-Naumann, Solidus Numismatik, Savoca-Coins, etc. are OK? Although I have heard some do tooling such as flattening the flan to make it appear more preserved than it was when found.

 

Yes without reservation. Many of the Vcoins dealers sell on Ebay including FAC. I think you can buy with confidence.

 

There are reputable dealers that use eBay. Due diligence is required no matter who you shop from and where.

 

search "denarius" on ebay and do some window shopping....

 

The real problem here is the number of people who want 'an ancient' but prefer something they have heard of rather than just any ruler. Until you give a price, we can not help a lot. The cheapest ancients include Constantine I who was the first Christian emperor and whose coins can be nice and cheap if a coin from the fourth century is OK.


Next choice would be a silver denarius of a common but significant emperor like Trajan (below), Hadrian or Septimius Severus.


Fans of slightly larger silver will be OK with a slightly lesser ruler like Philip I who issued double denarii or antoniniani.


For Greek, I'd suggest a bronze of Alexander the Great unless your budget is good for silver.


That brings us back to the matter of budget. Pick a price and several people will have suggestions you should like.

 

Sorry, I should have qualified my broad statement. If you know enough to be able to identify Vcoins stores on ebay, fine, but there are an awful lot of fakes out there, some very "good" ones. If I were about to part with some serious money, an anonymous ebay seller would not be my first choice.

 

+1

 

ahaha ... you guys have a lot of good ideas (man, our tight ancient-squad always jumps to the fricken pump every time, eh?) ... we're awesome!! (good job)

=> hats-off to us => the ancient dudes really do seem to care about each other (it really is a very cool place to collect coins, eh?)

... but sadly, iPen didn't give you guys nearly enough info to answer his/her question

*edit*

Dude => how much cash are you talking about?

Ummm ... do you like animal coins? (if so, you've come to the right place)

 

Certainly not Siliquae, everyone should avoid that denomination at any cost.

 

I think you should look into those pesky Siliquae. Give MM some competition.

 

A Siliquae a day keeps the gepids away

 

Might even help with the Goths

 

Sorry, I was away for a while. Thanks everyone for your responses and recommendations.

As for my budget... well, whatever a tenured ancient collector would consider reasonable for a minimum AU-50 grade, maybe high XF grade if it isn't too bad. But, if I have to throw a number out there, how about in the "up to" $100 range - what would be good in that price range? Less is probably better because my tastes evolve quickly the more I get into it. I learned that through trial and error with moderns and "classics" (modern-classic, relative to ancients?).

I'm thinking Ancient Greek or Roman to start out - too cliche for someone starting out in ancients? I did look into a nice, high grade Ancient Greek stater coin not too long ago (below)... but that one was... $$$$.

 

beat it!! ... $100

ahaha => I knew you were merely a lurker

last night, you were asking me about Canadian specimen coins (you should look around for a while and then start asking questions) ... otherwise, you'll look like me when I was trying to figure stuff out (it's not pretty)



... just jokes (kinda)

Are you really interested in ancient coins?



... you've definitely come to the right place, if you want to start-out on your ancient trek