Poll: What is Your Main Ancient Collecting Focus Area?

Well, Medieval wasn’t an option... so for strictly Ancient Coins, I would say Roman imperial. I have been digging into Provincials more lately, and love picking up pieces from out east to show the history of the Silk Road, but I have been trying to keep my focus on issues of Caracalla.

Imperial Rome
Caracalla, r. 198-217 (215 A.D.)
Rome Mint, AR Denarius, 19.52 mm x 3.43 grams
Obv.: ANTONINVS PIVS AVG GERM, Laureate Head right
Rev.: P M TR P XVIII COS IIII P P, Pax standing left, branch in right hand, long scepter vertical behind in left
Ref.: RIC IV-1 Caracalla 268 p. 251

 

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I voted Roman Provincial as I've been focusing on early Roman Antioch (Syria) coinage, mostly bronze with SC and wreath. Though I've been exploring more into other parts of ancient Syrian provincial. And I can't not buy good 'ol Roman Empire too.

Here's my first Roman Antioch coin... An Elagabalus which I bet might have been many others first Antioch coin cuz of how many there are out there. This one is interesting because of the radiate bust of the young emperor along with the cute eagle in the lower reverse.

 

I have a lot of those S C bronze coins- from my early days of collecting.. They are pretty cheap( and as I said im a cheapskate LOL)

 

Coins of the Bible over here.

Erin

 

Roman empire, INCLUDING provincials, primarily of the Principate.

That doesn't mean I ignore the Republic, Tetrarchy or the Dominate, though. I even have some Greek, Judean, and Byzantine coins.

 

Greek mainly, with a small percentage of Byzantine.

 

For Western Coins: Mainly Roman Republic, Makedon Kings, Etruria, Italia, Carthage, Diadochi - most of mine are BCE, but I do have 151 different Rulers of the Roman Empire.

Eastern Coins: I also foray into Ancient China, Ancient India, Persia, and other fun niches.

I joke a bit that if the coins are dated CE / AD, it seems "modern" to me. However, since I collect Historically, no area of Human History will be ignored.

Since Ancient Egypt arguably did not have coinage prior to the Ptolemies, I collect Scarabs, mainly Royals, due to their use in everyday life as talismans, good luck charms, etc. being worn as jewelry.

Here is a link to some of my foci.
https://www.cointalk.com/threads/10-000.321651/

 

The OP poll requires we choose one area of focus. I can't choose and therefore didn't vote. I could select at least four areas of serious interest, and a couple more in which I dabble.

I like to say "All ancient coins are interesting. Some are more interesting than others."

 

I totally agree I am perpetually flabbergasted that 1700 year old coins cost less than a mint 50 years old US coin- It really makes no sense to me. I mean it totally defies logic. Rare or Common. old is old!

 

How many of you can show your collection to collectors and non-collectors alike and elicit the reaction: “Woah! Those are coins?!? AND they are over 2000 years old?!?”

 

This is a great poll @Theodosius ! I voted Coins of the Bible but that is a simplification. My collection branches out from Biblical in several directions—Judaean—Judaean/Roman Wars—Roman Empire—Coins of Antioch—Seleucid Kingdom—Nabataean Kingdom and Indo-Scythian Kingdom. I came to the hobby not so much a numismatist but more so as a Holy relic hunter.

 

Biblical coins are a gold mine to offline coin sellers. or so I hear from my friend who is one. ( the novice buyers prefer to buy things from the bible more than anything else it seems Augustus, Herod, maybe Tiberius.. if they are mentioned in the bible that is)

 

I really regret not including medieval. The software just stopped accepting more alternatives and won't let me change the choices once I posted it.

If medieval is your focus then post that and I will keep a count.

John

 

I can understand Medieval being excluded - they aren’t technically Ancient Coins. It’s the whole periodization debate again...

 

I shop for coins with Hendin numbers and I only purchase from a handful of VCoins dealers and dealers who have been recommended by Ancient Forum members.

 

Hard to break it down according to the poll choices. I like:
River gods (they come in greek, imp, prov)
Serpientes emplumadas (rep, pov)
Homonoia (prov)
Countermarks
Etc

I went with provincial, I could be happy collecting only provincial. Heck, I could restrict myself just to asia minir if i had to

 

I had every intention of including medieval and I am bummed out that I ran out of alternatives.

John

 

I too can’t select a single choice. My three main interests at the moment are:

- Roman Republic
- Roman Empire up to the Severans
- Roman Egypt

Of course, I have a lot of other types in my collection and am interested in a lot of other things, but those are the big ones these days.

 

I am still defining my collecting focus - I have only been collecting for a year.
Going from Roman uncleaned LRBs to earlier Roman Imperial, to Provincials.. to a few Greek to Roman Republic.. my scatter gun approach has been difficult to understand - even by myself! However I recently laid out all of my coins and tried to figure out my overall motivation (funny I know)..
I think for now I will define myself as a Historical Collector (not an option on your poll - unless someone has a better descriptor?). I collect ancient coins from rulers that I have a particular interest (the most famous Emperors, etc) and other historical figures in ancient times (Alexander, Mithridates, etc) or from eras in history that I find interesting - like the Roman Republic, civilizations like Carthage, Egyptian, certain Greek areas, etc... any cool coins are targets.
I have not yet had the time to look at later events in history but it would not surprise me if there is space in my collection later on for Medieval.. or even later... Napoleonic era, Irish revolutionary coins (my parents are from Dublin).. when I obtain a coin I use it as platform to research the history of events in question. They are a learning tool and a wonderful connection to the past.

What I do not see myself doing is chasing mints or minor variances. Respect to all who do - but not my focus at the moment.. but one thing I know is that this will be a lifetime obsession and my focus may evolve.

Cheers!