I am dipping my toe into the world of ancient coins and would greatly appreciate some guidance. I have an interest in biblically referenced coins, as well as the oldest of the old. Any advice for a total newbie?
Hi OldSchool. I recommend buying and reading Wayne G. Sayles book Ancient Coin Collecting. It will give you a good overview of what's out there and it's a relatively inexpensive book. After that, try to go to some shows or dealers and just look at what's out there. See what appeals to you and what catches your eye. Read some more, maybe buy a couple of cheap coins to look at while you're reading...Most importantly, have fun!
thanks, I have read that book- It was very helpful. I have been to one show(before I read Sayles book,) and spoke to a couple of dealers, but was a bit fearful of buying when I new so little. Still don't know what I'm doing, but I do know I am facinated by protomoney(ring and bell money and the like) and biblical (herodian and such) I guess sometimes in life you just have to dive in!
'Proto' money is great, and very often looked over in terms of ancient coinage. Since you've already done a little bit of reading, I would suggest just taking the plunge and buying a few things. Many great silver Roman denari can be had for $40 - $50, and there are plenty of bronzes which can be had for anywhere from $5 - $20. Byzantine coinage might interest you as well, and again, there are plenty of coins that can be had for $10 - $60. If you're having a hard time finding dealers at shows who carry ancients (only about every 4th show I go to do I ever see a dealer who sells only ancients), I would recommend checking out ancientcoins.ca or vcoins.com. Both places are very reputable, and some great deals can be found on these two sites (in addition, ancientcoins.ca carries tons of Celtic ring money).
Yep, VCoins (some dealers like ancientcoins.ca, Forvm, Ancient Imports, etc. also have separate store sites from their VCoins stores) is a good bet. The thing with VCoins vs. someplace like eBay is the dealer code of ethics which helps guarantee what you're buying is authentic. Even if you're not buying yet you can learn a lot by "window shopping" the various VCoins stores & reading descriptions and stuff. Ancients.info & Forvm Ancient Coins are good forums that specialize in ancients.
