What Your Budget Buys - $75 Edition

This thread was prompted by posts I've seen come up with some frequency. We often have those new to the hobby wonder what sort of coins they can buy given a certain budget. Beyond that, they probably have a personal inclination towards either spending all their budget on one coin or to spread it amongst a few (ie., whether to spend $500 on one really nice coin or on ten 'lesser' ones). Not everyone here likes to talk about how much they paid for their coins, which I completely understand, but for me the question of value and cost has always been an intrinsic and interesting part of the hobby.

So, given the diversity of our collecting interests and varying budgets, I thought it would be fun and educational (especially to those newer to our hobby) to have a thread where we show some coins we've bought in a specific price range. For this thread, I've chosen $75, which I hope will allow for participation from as many members as possible.

If there's continued interest, I'll start a thread with other budget figures, both less and more than this one every week or so. At the end of the exercise, we ought to have a collection of threads providing a decent illustrative gallery of what can be bought at various budget ranges.

So with that, please pile on with your coins that cost you around $75, and to be flexible, let's say anything between $65 - $85 shipped.

No need to mention exactly how much you paid, but if the coin was purchased more than a few years ago, it would be helpful to say roughly when you bought it. Also, if the coin was part of a bulk/group lot, it would also be helpful to mention that.

To kick things off, here's one I bought a couple of months ago. I buy the majority of my coins through auctions, and this one cost me almost exactly $75 including auction fees and shipping.


PHOENICIA, Sidon. Pseudo-autonomous issue
AE Triassarion. 12.42g, 24.2mm. PHOENICIA, Sidon, CY 227 = AD 116/7. SNG Cop 247. O: Turreted, veiled and draped bust of city-goddess to right; behind, [aplustre]; before, star. R: ΙΕΡΑΣ / ΣΙΔΩΝΟΣ, Cart of Astarte : covered two-wheeled vehicle facing slightly right, spherical baetyl set on a base within; ZKΣ (date) below.

 

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These two Hadrian denarii are common, but I liked their character, and was happy to pick them up in this price range.




On the other hand, I'm very much a generalist collector, and certainly not a Claudius II specialist, so I never expected to pay as much as this ($66 shipped to be exact) for an antoninianus of ol' Gothicus. What can you say, sometimes a coin just speaks to you.

 

Great idea for a thread zumbly, lets everybody to show of their bargains, that Sidon coin for 75 bucks is about as good as you can get, love the cart. I have one that I thought was a bargain compared to auction sales in similar condition and same price as yours but from a dealer. Alexandria Drachm, Domitian Triumphal Arch very worn but reasonable details of the arch, not everyone's cup of tea. But for $65 shipped.

 

Incredible value, those two Hadrian Denarius soooo cheap....hard to believe close to 2000 years old and silver, congrats.

 

"Not everyone's cup of tea" gets equal play on this thread . Drachms of Alexandria that aren't very worn or very rough (or both, with some bronze disease thrown in) are the exception rather than the norm, and they can run you up some serious big bucks. Considering yours has a cool architectural type, I think you scored a bargain, too.

 

This is what $60 can buy. Close to $70 with shipping. Not bad for one of the 'Twelve Caesars'.


Vespasian
AR Denarius, 3.34g
Rome mint, 76 AD
RIC 848 (C), BMC 184, RSC 120
Obv: IMP CAESAR VESPASIANVS AVG; Head of Vespasian, laureate, l.
Rev: COS VII across field; Eagle head l. standing on thunderbolt, on Altar. Very uncommon with thunderbolt showing.
Ex Solidus Numismatik Online-Auction 15, 22 May 2017, lot 172.

Probably one of my better recent bargains.

 

One of the reasons I don't usually participate in these "how much it cost" threads is that my record-keeping has been extremely lax in the last couple of years. Apparently it was lax before then too, with my only financial record sometimes being a bookmark to the auction page. In the case of old eBay auctions and with the pre Naumann and Gitbud split, those bookmarks are dead. Several of those older purchases probably fit in this bracket.

I've done a little better recently, record-wise. Plus, I've scored some bargains

$82.70 (hammer + buyer's premium, shipping, PayPal fee, and exchange rate) was a bargain for my first ex-Dattari Collection plate coin and perhaps the best deal of that auction.

EGYPT, Alexandria. Tiberius
Year 5, CE 18/9
AE obol, 20 mm, 4.45 gm
Obv: bare head right
Rev: hippopotamus right; TIBEPIoY above; [L] E in exergue
Ref: Emmett 62.5, R1; Geissen 47; Dattari-Savio 102 (this coin); RPC 5082
ex Dattari collection (Giovanni Dattari, 1858-1923)

$64.83 (hammer + buyer's premium, shipping, PayPal fee, and exchange rate). This is not the best strike but the type is usually problematic in that regard. It was a tasty numismatic snack and goes well with another coin. Zumbly is to blame for this purchase . https://www.cointalk.com/threads/the-nymphaeum-the-nymphaeum-the-nymphaeum-is-on-fire.272860/

ILLYRIA, Apollonia
c. 81-60 BCE
Aibatios and Chairenos, magistrates.
AR drachm, 18 mm, 3.2 gm
Obv: AIBATIOΣ; cow standing left, suckling calf standing right below; in exergue, grain ear left
Rev: AΠOΛ / XAIPHNOΣ; fire of the Nymphaeum and lagobolon within linear frame
Ref: Maier 120; SNG Copenhagen 398; HGC 3.1, 5 (I do not own any of these references; seller's attribution)

$75.50 (hammer + buyer's premium, shipping, PayPal fee, and exchange rate). An okay price but not a bargain for this common coin. I didn't really consider the steep fees when I bought this coin at auction.

Elagabalus
AR denarius, Rome mint. Struck CE 221-222. 3.55 gm
Obv: IMP ANTONINVS PIVS AVG; laureate and draped bust right, with “horn” on forehead
Rev: SACERD DEI SOLIS ELAGAB; Elagabalus standing right, holding club and sacrificing from patera over lighted altar; star to right; faint star in left field (likely engraved and then mostly removed by grinding the field).
Ref: RIC IV 131; Thirion 302; RSC 246

$70.46 (hammer + buyer's premium, shipping, PayPal fee, and exchange rate). Another plate coin, ex-Dattari

EGYPT, Alexandria. Hadrian
billon tetradrachm, 22.5 mm, 12.9 gm
regnal year 5 (CE 120/1)
Obv: laureate head right, crescent in right field
Rev: Agathodaemon serpent standing erect right; L-E
Ref: Dattari-Savio plate 71, 1532 (this coin); RPC 5270; Emmett 803.5
Ex Dattari Collection (Giovanni Dattari, 1853-1923)

$78.28 (hammer + buyer's premium, shipping, PayPal fee, and exchange rate). Aaaand another plate coin, ex-Dattari

EGYPT, Alexandria. Maximian
potin tetradrachm, regnal year 1 (CE 285/6)
Obv: laureate bust right
Rev: Alexandria standing left, holding the head of Serapis and a sceptre; L-A
Ref: Dattari-Savio Pl. 285, 10657 (this coin); Emmett 4093.1
Ex Dattari Collection (Giovanni Dattari, 1853-1923)

I've got a few more ex-Dattari coins in this price range. That makes me happy

 

Geta

 

And thanks to better record-keeping, we're better able to appreciate what awesome scores these indisputably awesome coins are. In a word - wow!

 

This is a great idea for a thread but I hope we will see not only bargains but examples where we paid $75 for a $25 coin. I decided to limit my offerings to coins from 2017 and only have two in the $65-75 range. I hope we will do this for other spreads after this has run its course.

Both of my coins were from a Baltimore coin show but two different dealers. Barely squeaking in at the bottom $65 is an as of Augustus from the mint at Lugdunum showing the great altar there ROM ET AVG. I would not have paid that much for the coin except that it has a great strike of a Tiberius countermark TIB CA F. The same coin was made under Tiberius with his legends but this struck me as a way to kill two birds with one stone. To me, a bonus was the weird way the I was done in the countermark which required the box around it to have a bumped out space at the top.

I got the above coin after another member of our CT group had finished going through the box it was in so he passed on it. I did not hesitate. While he was looking at that table, I was next door looking through the wares of another seller first so I do not know if he or anyone else would have paid $78 for the Geta denarius with Minerva reverse below.
This is a Rome mint coin and the less common of the Geta Minerva offerings since it names the goddess rather than having a dated reverse legend. This coin was in a reasonable size group from an old collection with toned coins that had not been on the market for a long time. To me, the toning and legend offset the ragged edge but I would have bought this coin anyway since I like Severan period Minerva coins.

That day, I bought four coins from each of those two dealers but the others were either above or below our target price. Since this was a show, there was no shipping but my share of the carpool costs for gas and parking came to a few dollars a coin which I split up between the nine coins bought that day. I guess that is like postage???

 

Record keeping: In the 1980's I started making 3x5 file cards for all my purchases including data such as where and how much. When I got a computer with data base capability I entered that information. While the computers have come and gone, the original entry of data still grows (I have six back-ups). Advice: Do not wait until you have 3000 coins to start a computer spreadsheet or database. 300 would be hard on me; 30 might be OK. Start now.

 

Definitely! Most of us would have scored bargains on some coins and overpaid on others... I hope the two extremes and everything in between will be represented in this series of threads.

I'm a little embarrassed about having paid $70 for this common Gordian III antoninianus, but perhaps that's just my subconscious bias against 3rd century silver cockroaches showing?


GORDIAN III
AR Antoninianus. 4.87g, 22mm. Rome mint, AD 240-243. RIC 95. O: IMP GORDIANVS PIVS FEL AVG, radiate, draped and cuirassed bust right. R: VIRTVTI AVGVSTI, the "Farnese" Hercules standing right, resting hand upon hip and holding club set upon rock.

 

I would have bought it solely because Hercules looks like Antoninus Pius! The entire coin is lovely. Poor GIII... no respect

 

It's sometimes hard to shake our prejudices . It was definitely bought for the atypical Hercules.

 

All within the $65-85 range:

 

I decided a long time ago that the cost shipping was part of the expense of a coin. So, in my catalog, the prices reflected include what I paid for shipping. Here are two that landed exactly at $75.


CARION ISLANDS: RHODES
Hemidrachm
OBVERSE: Radiate head of Helios 3/4 facing
REVERSE: Rose with magistrates name above, caduceous left all within uncuse square
Struck at Rhodes 167-88 BC
1.6g; 12mm
Sear 5065v
Paid: $75

AUGUSTUS
AR Quinarius
OBVERSE: IMP VII CAESAR - Bare head right
REVERSE: ASIA RECEPTA - Victory standing left on cippus, holding wreath and palm, snake on either side
Uncertain Italian Mint 29-27 BC
1.7g, 13mm
RIC 276, S 1568
Paid $75

 

Most of my good looking medieval coins in this price range I nabbed back around 2000, so it probably wouldn't be fair to post them as examples. These two I nabbed last year for around $75 total (each)


French Feudal, Aquitaine
Henry II, r. 1152-1168;
Bordeaux Mint, BL Denier, 16.57mm x 0.8 grams
Obv.: +hENRICVS REX, cross pattée
Rev.: º+º / AQVI / TANI / ºEº, in four lines; Ref.: AGC 2 (1/a), Duplessy 1030, Roberts 3881, SCBC 8001
Ex. R.D. Frederick Collection. Ex. A.H. Baldwin


French Feudal, Champagne
Henry II, r. 1180-97
Troyes Mint, AR Denier, 20.52 mm x 0.9 grams
Obv.: +HENRI COMES, Cross Pattee with annulet in 2nd and 3rd quarters
Rev.: +TRECAS CIVITAS, TEBO Monogram
Ref.: Roberts 4145

I've got a few ancients that fit this bill too, but I suspect you guys will have that covered

 

What a cool thread!! And so many attractive coins at 'budget-friendly' prices!

The vast majority of my coins cost at least $100-$300+ shipped, except a few late Roman types and the following examples I purchased at FAC from independent sellers. All cost less than $85.00 shipped .....hopefully they're worth that much to others and not only to myself


Ptolemy III , Alexandria Cornucopia Series. 246-222 BC. Obv. Diademed head of Zeus-Ammon right. Rev. PTOLEMAIOU BASILEWS, Eagle standing left on thunderbolt cornucopiae tied with fillet before, monogram between legs. Ref. Svoronos 965-----------------------$84.00




Islands of Thrace, Thasos. 411-350BC, Trihemiobol. Obv. Kneeling Satyr with cup, Rev.THAS / ION Amphora Seaby 1755 , BMC. 3. 53-56
$29.00



Nerva (96-98 AD), AE As minted in Rome, 97 AD. Obv. IMP(erator) NERVA CAES(ar) AVG(ustus) P(ontifex) M(aximus) TR(ibunicia) P(otestate) II CO(n)S(ul) III P(ater) P(atiae), laureate head right. Rev. FORTVNA AVGVST / S(enatus) - C(onsulto), Fortuna standing left, holding cornucopiae and rudde. Weigh: 11.48 g, 30 mm - RIC II 98, BMCRE II 143. $81.00

 

Between $65 and $85? Too many! Here are but a few.



I have plenty of ancient budget bronzes and silvers in the $45 to $65 range too....far too many to count. I guess that makes me a bottom feeder. But hey, that's the beauty of this hobby. You don't have to go broke to get interesting coins.

 

This rather nice example of Crawford 44/5 cost exactly $75 from HJB, long before I was associated with the firm professionally. Granted, this transaction wasn't exactly last week or the week before, but it felt very reasonable even at the time.