How few in existence to be considered rare

I chose 10 or less because it was the closest option to what I would consider rare. I personally consider 25 or less to be rare.

 

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I have this drachm of Alexandria which is considered to be rare. (Marcus Aurelius as Caesar with as few as ten known examples.)



My other "rare" coin is an antoninianus of Macrianus sold as "rare" but they seem to come up every so often so perhaps they are not so rare after all.

 

I can assume adding up all those R# could add up to a large population. I personally wouldn't put a hard number what is rare but if 100 coins are known for a ruler, I would consider him or her rare and probably not seen in the market often.

 

I disagree with the above quoted statement. A coin can be rare even if no one has a desire to collect it at all .

 

I disagree also. Rarity refers strictly to number in existence.

 

"I disagree also. Rarity refers strictly to number in existence."

But - for the sake of argument - we can all agree that Da Vinci paintings are really, really rare. There's only a few. Most people would say Lamborghinis are rare also. "Only" about 25,000 have been made.

Rarity is an abstract concept.

 

Rarity only has to do with the number of surviving examples. When you take into account collector demand, you're now talking about scarcity. These terms are not interchangeable.

 

The Lamborghini example is not within the context of ancient coins, though.

 

Oh come on, we're discussing the concept of rarity at large. The analogy is good imo. I used earlier the example of a 1909 S-VDB cent which has a mintage of (if I remember correctly from way back when) 409,000. This is what comes to mind when you say "rare" to a collector of U.S. coins.

 

In 1961 when Margaret Thompson published NSSCA(The New Style silver coinage of Athens-ANS) there existed only 1 known example of Thompson #5 Two Palms. The following year another was discovered in a pot hoard. Cathy Lorber found one in the Demetrius l hoard in the 90's...and then one suddenly appeared from a UK collection into Roma E-auction E55. I bought that. So that is 4 known examples , 3 in museums...but how many more in private hands sitting uselessly in private collections?
What is the point of useless private unpublished collections...worse than museums! Think of how many people buy from the auction houses and the coins don't appear ever again unless someone dies! If it is not published and studied what is the point. I railed against this in one of my notorious academia.edu papers called "The British Museum,UNESCO 1970, coin collectors and me"-give it a read under my real name John Arnold Nisbet

 

Allow me to give my personal opinion regarding the term, "rare". Many believe the low mintage or population remaining creates a Rare label but, lately, NGC, PCGS and many coin newsletters or so-called experts believe "rarity" is now demand for that specimen regardless of mintage. For some coins I agree yet, low population should be taken into consideration by NGC or PCGS yet, they refuse because the hype is worth more.

This is clearly shown by NGC and PCGS in their values of coins due to recent sales on auction sites such as Amazon or Ebay. Pardon me but, no one go to purchase from these sites at full retail, on the contrary, they seek bargains. So, using these sales figures for values otherwise isn't prudent and doesn't reflect a coin's actual value or rarity due to low population.

Here is a great guide to use for determining rarity: Take the total mintage of a coin (known or approximate) and multiply by .0001. If the answer is below 500 and the amount of collectors in that area (i.e., US, Australia, Europe) is over 25 million, the rarity is extreme...regardless what others or NGC believe. Good luck.

 

this coin is a R3 coin/ ps not mine coin
Not all the coins are the same types/ differnce RIC/
it is a wanted coin/ great rare history to
/ coin has a story when it came out/ the two rulers

i can easy find 65 types and web site and in private collections are fast more
Stil listed as R3 coin

Life[edit]
Antoninius and Armenia King
Sohaemus was a prominent person in the Roman Empire in the 2nd century from the Orontid dynasty of Commagene and the Emesene dynasty from Syria.[3][4] The novelist of the 2nd century, his contemporary Iamblichus[4] claims Sohaemus as his fellow-countryman.[2] Iamblichus calls Sohaemus as an Arsacid and Achaemenid, in his lineage. He was a descendant of the Median Princess Iotapa, who was once betrothed to the Ptolemaic Prince Alexander Helios.[5] Little is known about Sohaemus’ family and early life prior to becoming King of Armenia.[6] Before becoming King, Sohaemus had been a Roman Senator and served as a Consul in Rome at an unknown date.[5]

In 144, Sohaemus received the Armenian throne from the Roman emperor Antoninus Pius after the overthrow of Vologases I. In honor of his first ascent to the throne of Armenia, a copper medal with images of Sohaemus and Antoninus Pius was issued in Rome with the inscription "King of Armenians granted by decision of the Senate". Sohaemus was a contemporary to the rule of the Roman emperors: Antoninus Pius, Marcus Aurelius, Lucius Verus and Commodus of the Nerva–Antonine dynasty. In the first reign, he ruled from the year 144 until 161. Not much is known about his first reign. The novelist Iamblichus living in Armenia at the time of his rule describes his reign as ‘in succession to his ancestors’.[4] This statement can also refer to his former ancestor Sohaemus of Emesa who lived in the 1st century.[4]

In 161 Vologases IV of Parthia, son of the legitimate King Mithridates IV of Parthia, dispatched his troops to seize Armenia and eradicated the Roman legions stationed in the country under the legatus Marcus Sedatius Severianus. Encouraged by the Spahbod Osroes, Parthian troops marched further West into Roman Syria.[7] After Armenia was seized by the Parthians, Sohaemus went into political exile, living in Rome where he became a senator.[8] Sohaemus was well known in Rome and there were rumors in some quarters that he was not the right man in the right place.[1]

These events provoked a new Roman-Parthian war and peace was made on Roman terms, with Sohaemus installed as King of Armenia by Lucius Verus in either 163 or 164.[1] The ceremony for Sohaemus in becoming Armenian King for the second time, may have taken place in Antioch or Ephesus.[9] This war cost Rome dearly, because the victorious army brought with it from the east a plague that spread very quickly throughout the empire. Emperor Marcus Aurelius tried to declare Armenia as a province of Rome, but the uprising of Armenians led by Prince Tiridates forced the Romans to abandon their plans. In 164, Latin coinage were struck in Armenia with the inscription L. Verus. Aug. Armeniacus and on the reverse Rex Armen(ii)s datus.[1]

The time of his second reign is unknown.[10] Sohaemus reigned from 163 perhaps up to 186. Under Sohaemus, construction work continued in the capital Vagharshapat. A citadel, defensive fortifications, a palace complex, and several pagan temples were built in the city. Sometime during his reign, Sohaemus was expelled by elements favorable to Parthia.[11] Sohaemus was expelled because a man called Tiridates stirred up trouble in Armenia who had murdered the King of the Osroenes and had thrust his sword in the face of Publius Martius Verus, the governor of Cappadocia when rebuked for it.[11] Tiridates only punishment for his crimes was to be exiled to Roman Britain, by Marcus Aurelius.[11]

As a result of Sohaemus’ second expulsion from Armenia; Roman forces went to war with Parthian soldiers. Parthia retook most of their lost territory in 166, as Sohaemus from his expulsion retreated to Syria.[12] After Marcus Aurelius, Lucius Verus and the Parthian rulers intervened in the conflict, the son of Vologases IV of Parthia, Vologases II assumed the Armenian throne in 186.

https://www.acsearch.info/search.ht...s=1&thesaurus=1&order=0&currency=usd&company=

how the Condition is from a coin is sometimes rare to/ i means with it, there can be from a common coin be a lot / but in very good condition rare

 

Is this a formula for modern coins? The inverse of .0001 on 500 would mean anything less than 5 million coins in existence is extremely rare. Practically every ancient will have a lower mintage than that. Just trying to understand how this works.

 

Yes, condition is a factor too. Some coins go for bullion value in Fine/ very fine.....but are 5 figures in MS.

 

I don't consider any coins "rare" based on RIC references. The count was done on a few collections and museums. Since then gazillions have been dug up, hail the metal detector.

When considering a coin, do I like it, can I afford it? That's it.

Pet hate: Ebay sellers descriptions that start with "Rare Unresearched....."