Post pix of GOLD ancients you can get for less than $1,000

I was surprised to find out there are GOLD ancient coins you can buy for less than $1,000. I'd love it if you'd share pictures of any you might have meeting this criteria.

Steve

 

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It always depends on two things:

1) The Gold content
2) Supply/Demand

So, there are a lot of gold coins out there where it costs less than $1,000 where either of the two applies or both. There are tiny gold coins, and gold coins that are widely available...

 

I have old ducats (Venice) if you wish

 

Yes I’d love to see them. I’m not asking to buy anything. I’m just hoping that people will share pictures of their ANCIENT coins that fall in that price range. I’m curious to know what you can buy for that budget.

 

These use to be scare/rare depending on who you ask, but an extremely large hoard was found and thus are extremely cheap now:

Kakwayhid: Faramurz (433-443AH/1041-1051AD) AV Dinar, Isbahan, 435AH (Walker-1656; Album-1592)

Obv: لا اله الا الله وحده لا شريك له السلطان المعظم طغرل بك ⫯ ∩ (There is no deity except (the one) God alone. He has no equal; Sultan Tughril Beg)
Obv Inner Margin: بسم الله ضرب هذا الدينار أصفهان سنة خمس وثلثين واربع مائة‎ (In the name of God, this dinar was struck at Isbahan in year 35 and four hundred)
Obv Outer Margin: لله الأمر من قبل ومن بعد ويومئذ يفرح المؤمنون بنصر الله (To God belongs the order before and after; and in that day the believers shall rejoice in the help of God)

Rev: شمس محمد رسول الله القـائم بامـر الله الامـير فرامرز (shams, Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, al-Qa'im bi-amri 'llah, Prince Faramurz)
Rev Margin: محمد رسول الله ارسله بالهدى ودين الحق ليظهره على الدين كله ولو كره المشركون (Muhammad is the messenger of God. He sent him with guidance and the true religion to reveal it to all religions even if the polytheists abhor it)

 

@stevereecy Byzantine Solidi may be the answer for you. They are beautiful and they come with a fascinating history. If you collect sovereigns, they are roughly the same size but thinner. The following example of mine was a nice bargain as I got it retail for less than $500.



Some emperors come cheaper than others mainly due to availability. You can get really nice examples of Constans, Focas, and Heraclius solidi for way below your budget. Lately I see lots from Constantine V Copronymus. That nickname means 'shit-named' in Greek as he allegedly crapped in the baptismal font during his baptism.

Now if you mean really ancient, like before Christ, you will have to settle for much smaller coins.

Edit: Forgot to mention that Byzantine gold coins are pretty pure as gold content goes, at least the ones until the 10th-11th centuries.

 

There are many Byzantine gold solidi and tremissi ( if that's how one spells the plurals!) that can be bought for less than $1,000. Look on VCoins.

 

How about Celtic? From Mike Vosper.

Celtic. Northern Gaul, Ambiani. Circa 60-55 BC. AV Stater (17mm, 6.10g). Gallic War issue (Type III). Obv: Blank convex surface. Rev: Disjointed horse right; above and around, crescent and pellets, wavy line & pellets beneath exergual line. Ref: Depeyrot, NC VI 161; SCBC 11; VA54; ABC15.

 

If cheap is the important feature look for coins that admit to have being removed from jewelry. This worn Theodosius II solidus shows four prong marks and cost very little over melt when I got it years ago. Melt was lower then.


Do remember that the cup shaped coins are alloyed with silver (electrum) in varying degrees so what looks like gold is not always pure. This Michael VII is sort of gold but the alloys varied from time to time. They are under $1000 even in decent shape.


Finally, like the Theodosius, the most common Byzantines like this Focas with a little wear and some scratches are not popular and not expensive beyond their gold content. People who buy gold tend to want MS coins so a VF can be reasonable. At today's melt, this coin is a bit under $300. I paid $115 in 1992 but that was over melt then. I hope no one is melting these but I could not buy enough at melt to save many.

 

Keep them coming. Beautiful examples!

 

This was under $1000 about a year ago. It's tiny and only electrum, though.
Electrum Hekte Lesbos Mytilene 521-478 BC

 

Agree with others that Byzantine gold is the answer if you are looking for something less than $1,000. Here is my example.

Byzantine. Heraclius and Heraclius Constantine.
AD 613-641.
Obv: Two Emperors
Rev: Cross potent on steps

 

Base gold:


INDIA, Post-Kushan (Jammu and Kashmir). Kidarite Successors. Yasovarman. 5th century AD. Pale AV Dinar (23mm, 7.58 g, 12h)
Obv: Abstract Kushan style king standing left; (ka in Brahmi) to left, monogram of (Kidara in Brahmi) to right
Rev: Abstract Ardoxsho seated facing, holding filleted investiture garland and cornucopia; (rma in Brahmi) to left, ?? (śri yasova in Brahmi) down right.
CNG, e-auction 399, June 2017, lot 364. From the William F. Spengler (1923-2005) Collection.

 

I'm not a big fan of gold and have only 3 gold coins at all. This one is my only gold ancient. It's electrum, which I believe is a gold and silver alloy as opposed to being pure gold. I won this in an auction for usd$325.

Bodenstedt 74
EL Hekte 6th Stater
412-378 BC
Lesbos, Mytilene

 

Depends on condition as well. Many ancient Greek (small) Electrum coins (Hecte/Hekte) can be had for less than $1,000 but the same coin in a very high state of preservation can cost almost $2,000.

Also lots of Byzantine gold or medieval Islamic dinars for under $1,000. If you want something a bit more scarce then maybe a small ancient African gold coin perhaps

 

Sub-$1,000 Greek electrum hekte

Ionia, Phokaia, about $300


Lesbos, Mytilene, about $500


Late Roman and Byzantine Gold

Valentinian III Tremissis, about $250?


Zeno solidus, about $350?

Justinian solidus, about $300


Phocas solidus, about $350


Connstantine IV tremissis, about $200


There are also some lovely gold coins from ancient and medieval India that are very reasonably priced

Kushan Kipunadha debased gold stater, about $300


Even more debased stater of the Kidarites, Durlabhadeva(?), $60


Post-gupta kingdoms, Prasannamitra fractional dinar, about $250

 

(Very cool. I have an obol with the 'African' profile and a blank incuse. No pics; no great loss.)

 

Brilliant example. I love how the reverse renders "Axum" in Koine Greek.
I recently held my breath and won this one (...and held my breath again when I paid, ...and when it showed up, for different reasons.) But it was under $600.
It's considerably later; Kaleb, the one who invaded western Yemen in the early 6th century, and was in diplomatic contact with Justininian. The only coins issued in his name are gold, which was a selling point. By this time, the Koine Greek legends are beginning to deteriorate, with lots of retrograde letters (ironically, in light of Aksum /Axum's ongoing status in international trade and geopolitics), but there are also little flashes of Ge'ez, notably Kaleb's monogram, at the top of the obverse. From the 6th century, the AE starts to have all-Ge'ez legends, but this early in the transition (and in gold), it almost looks more like an assertion of national identity than a concession to prevailing economic realities. ...Yes, the weights were still more or less modeled on the late Roman tremisis.

 

CARTHAGE EMPIRE


Carthage - Zeugitana
AV 1/10th Stater-Shekel
350-320 BCE
0.94g 7.5mm
Palm-
Horse Head
SNG COP 132

 

Worn Darics were plentiful and cheap last year, maybe they still are - Darius I - Xerxes II - 8.3g and less than £320 inc. buyer's fee from Roma last year:



This Gallic War stater was £510 7 years ago from Chris Rudd:


In 2010, this Indian imitative aureus of Nero was less than $300 including fees from CNG:


This Byzantine solidus (Constans II) was £180 from Baldwin's in 2007:


This was less than £250 in 2014:


Actually, the last gold coin I got, from a recent Roma auction, was also under 1000 somethings - about £870 including buyer's fee for this miserable, holed-and-repaired Probus aureus:




I have quite a few small goldies, but here's my little pony - £248 from DNW in 2014 (I should have paid in guineas as it's a horse!):



ATB,
Aidan.