Just one ancient

Thanks Ripley is that your coin, I love them to. Just to look at them and know how old they are and to think about all the history behind them, who my have held it once so long ago. If it could just talk, Wow! what stories it could tell.
Have a great Day
Bob

 

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They do talk. If you listen..... Traci

 

There is no possible way I could own just one. Not possible at all! I have three with one more on the way, and their numbers will grow in the near future!!

 

Four! How very restrained. When you reach 4 thousand (I'm not there yet) you will realize that the journey to completeness has hardly begun. It is possible for a collector to have a complete collection of US coins (money being no object) except perhaps for a couple items that could be questioned as to their status as real coins. There is no one who has seen a photograph, touched, or knows where to find every variety of ancient coin (shall we throw in medievals, too?). The possibilities for addiction are really endless.

The end will never be reached but the trip is still fun.

 

Hehe, give me time! I only got my first last winter, but if I had more $$ to spend on hobbies, I would have a lot more already.

I can't imagine 4000 ancients, that would be incredible. That is more then three times the total of my complete collection, from BC times to 2009.

I wonder if, at any time in history, someone had truly assembled a complete collection, my guess is, it if ever happened, it took place when the ancients were current issues. I doubt it did happen, but it's fun to think about...

 

Perhaps one of the Emperors. Maybe Marcus Aurelius. Traci

 

There are different views on such things but I doubt there have been many times in history when any one person was aware of all of the civilizations on earth up to that time. Today we have excellent communications and are discovering new information and new coins every year.

"Ancients" were never "current" issues. They spanned a period of a thousand years. First Greek to last Byzantine is 2000 years. It is said that Caesar Augustus collected some ancient (to him) Greek coins almost 500 years old in his day. That is like us collecting Ferdinand and Isabella. The Renaissance saw a wave of coin collecting amog the nobel class but their collections of a few thousand types were hardly complete. If we could figure out for sure who issued the very first coins, I suppose we could say they had a complete collection but after that, things get harder. Like you say: fun.

 

This seller has some interesting ancients at a reasonable price.I just bought one myself because I wanted at least one.
http://myworld.ebay.com/coastaledge/

Here is the one I bought...
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=230360964215&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT
Let me know what you folks think.did I get a fair deal?

 

fair

Fair in both senses of the word. The coin is identifiable to ruler and type but lacking detail in the area of the mintmark (reverse exergue). Most ancient collectors would rather have one with the city name clear. Free shipping makes this a fair deal but not an exceptional bargain. The coin is not in great condition but it is what it claims to be and does not require imagination to attribute.

 

Very true.But honestly,I would have to drop a small fortune to obtain a pristine coin.I am happy with this one. I mainly collect us coins and the occasional foreign coin.I saw a coin that peaked my interest and the price was affordable.Finding something new IMO, is what keeps this hobby interesting.

 

Pete its an nice coin. I would grade it Fine for an ancient. Its all there for you to see. Enjoy your coin. Traci

 

Nice buy I like it.
Bob

 

Thanks to everyone for the assistance and ideas. I really appreciate it.

 

The British museum has more than 500,000 ancient coins in their collection, and far from complete, I believe.
The more you get, the farest is the goal...

Q

 

I have to say no. The mintmark isn't visible on the reverse of the coin, which limits how precisely it can be IDed. $8 for something that can't be IDed is $7 too much.

But of course, with such small numbers, it really makes no difference. And if this is your first ancient, then its perfectly understandable to make that mistake. Every time I venture off into a new area, I buy a coin (before the book! GASP!) and try to ID it. Sometimes I don't do so well, and I can't read all the important details on the coin. That's just how it goes. But stick with it! You can find coins nicer than this for the same or even cheaper, if you're patient.

 

perhaps I spent too much,but really we are only talking about a couple bucks.
not a big deal to me.
Thanks for your opinions

 

I would think of this coin as great learning tool. Personally, I like to see the inscriptions on the front (example, DNARCADIVSPFAUG) and a clearer image of the deities or personifications on the back.

Now, you have the incentive to study the history behind the man portrayed on the coin.

Arcadius:

*His father was the great Theodosius I, the man who stabilized the Roman Empire and later formalized permanently the division between the Western and Eastern Empire.
*After his father Theodosius died in AD 395, his younger brother Honorius ruled the Western Empire and Arcadius ruled the Eastern Empire.
*His dimwitted brother Honorius allowed Rome to be sacked by the Goths in AD 410.
*Arcadius was a weak emperor who relied on his court, his wife, and his praetorian prefect to run the Empire for him.

Roman coinage offers great opportunities to learn about the history and culture of people who lived so long ago.

guy

 

Honestly, if it's under $10, then I would say that your sole concern should really be whether you like the coin. You seem to be quite happy with it, so I would say it's a good purchase, even if it's not one that I would have made.

 

I kinda agree with everyone, i think over priced but overall not that much money and if you are happy with it. but I'd recomend wondow shopping on the online sites before you buy from ebay.

 

grading ancients

The Arcadius here has several problems that I would never accept from some rulers but bother me less here. As it is, the portrait is nicer than many $9 Arcadius coins. The exact same types used by Arcadius were also used for co-emperor Honorius and many coins are found that are weak enough in legend that you have to guess which one issued it. This coin is clearly Arcadius. I mentioned above that I would have prefered a coin with a readable mintmark but those of us who spent the cash for a copy of the reference book on these (Roman Imperial Coins, in 10 volumes) like to be able to assign a catalog number and that requires a mintmark). Christian collectors might have prefered a coin not having a pit in the reverse field that wiped out the Christian symbol that was there. Others would take the coin to task for being cracked.

On the other hand, the same seller listed several other ancient coins under $10. Some were better looking. Some weren't. His Constantine I death commemorative lacked most of the legends and was not all that good looking; his Constans was decent looking and easily readable but very common; Constantius II had a slightly more unusual palm device in the field but otherwize was a less pretty coin and not easily identifiable by beginners. To me, the Valens was best of the bunch but I'm not sure Valens is the level of emperor I'd want for my only coin. He became emperor because his brother appointed him and died fighting barbarians (that was easy to do in those days). Perhaps some would prefer the coin of his brother Valentinian who died from getting very mad during an audience with barbarian envoys. The point is that all of these coins are more or less average, late Roman, lower grade examples of what should bring under $10. Each of us will value different things and might select a different coin. Ancient collecting is a rather analog thing. Given a grade of 'Fine' you have no idea what the coin will look like. The choice you made was fine. I hope it will lead you into a desire for more, and more, and more....