Anyone collect the Roman gold Aureus?

It really depends on your priorities and collecting goals. I'm sure that there are many collectors of ancient coins here with annual incomes/net worth far, far less than $200K/$1M, who spend at least $4-5,000 per year buying coins. Like yours truly, as one example! In other words, less than what many people with modest incomes and net worth spend on vacations and automobiles and house renovations and who knows what else. And are perfectly capable of doing so without putting themselves at risk financially. If they'd rather buy one aureus per year instead of 50 coins per year at about $100 apiece, what difference does it make? In ten years, they could have a nice little collection of Roman aurei. I certainly could have bought a number of aurei in the last few years for the exact same total expenditure I've spent on "lesser" coins. And I suspect that my collection, although much smaller, would be more valuable. But I've chosen not to. (I do sometimes reminisce fondly about the days back in the mid-1980s when I was in my late 20s and single and had no children and was paying a comparatively modest rent for my Upper East Side NYC apartment -- in other words, a Yuppie! -- and could, and did, buy 17th-18th century British gold guineas for a few hundred dollars each, at a time when I was probably making about $50K annually. Others I knew spent their disposable income on cocaine; I spent it on nerdy things like old books and coins and antiquities!)

 

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Here are some links to the Roman aurei I've previously posted:

12 Caesars:

https://www.cointalk.com/threads/12-caesars-aureus-virtual-tray.303950/

Hadrian:

https://www.cointalk.com/threads/she-wolf-image.370220/#post-5137948

https://www.cointalk.com/threads/the-bar-kokhba-revolt-132-136-ad.362091/page-2#post-4593095

https://www.cointalk.com/threads/hadrian-benefactor-of-africa.347308/#post-3726199

https://www.cointalk.com/threads/finally-got-a-coin-with-a-hippo.324104/#post-3196923

https://www.cointalk.com/threads/lets-see-your-lions.322902/page-2#post-3181260

https://www.cointalk.com/threads/geographic-personifications.365508/page-3#post-4787567

Marc Antony and Octavian:

https://www.cointalk.com/threads/ro...-many-can-we-cover.300235/page-6#post-2811652

You might also want to search for posts by Cicero12, who has an exquisite collection of Roman aurei, starting with this post:

https://www.cointalk.com/threads/2020-21-the-year-of-the-four-emperors.376499/

 

I always wonder what someone like ancient joe does for a living. He can buy $50k coins; meanwhile I can’t even afford to FINANCE a 50k car.

 

The last line of your reply has made my day, ha!

But fundamentally I agree with you. All about priorities and my own priorities definitely bias my thoughts on what amount of $$ to have saved before entering the expensive gold RIC category.

Like for me personally, I love to travel so I budget a hefty amount for that. If I didn’t, I could probably snag a few aureus per year.

As a guy in the finance world I just caution someone dropping multiple 4 figures on an item that may not appreciate in value when making <$50k. Especially since the OP seems pretty young. Probably better to invest the money so it grows and you can buy more aureus in the future Plus the coin market right now is exceptionally hot, it may be worth seeing if prices cool down in the next year or more. But again just my 2¢ and if it makes someone happy to buy now that’s what counts at the end of the day!

 

We all have different budgets in life. Some people could resent me being able to afford my avatar, while some can afford owning an Eide Mar. Back when I could only buy junk Morgans I never resented those who could afford early US gold. I tried to emulate them. Everyone has a different pile of cash to work with. Some inherit it, others achieve it on their own. Trick is, (to me), not resent those who might have been fortunate and inherited money, (I didn't), but rather work harder to achieve it for yourself and maybe be able to help your children like you weren't.

I do not have two bachelors, two Masters, a doctorate, and a slew of alphabet soup letters after my name for my joy of college. I do it to be able to earn more so I can take care of my family and have a little play money for coins. Heck, I am so stupid I just signed up for another one, the ACI program.

I say this only because I am capable of doing those things. Others are capable of doing other things. Do what you are capable of, to the extent you are capable of, and money follows usually. I am not directing this at you at all @hotwheelsearl , just generically because some do resent people who earn more. A trust fund baby I understand, but not a person who worked above and beyond their whole life to do better.

 

Oh for sure, no resentment here, just pure curiosity on my part re what people involved in fine art collecting do, and how they got there in life.

 

If I were 35 years younger, maybe I'd be looking to marry someone rich who was an art collector! Then again, I was never the trophy wife type.

 

My neighbor across the street when I was younger was a lady who married some 90 year old RICH man who died in just a few years. Left her millions upon millions.

Three years ago lady decided to move to a retirement community, and DONATED a meteorite valued at $300k to UCLA.

where can I find myself a sugar momma

 

Many can and will contest this assertion. Nevertheless, Roman gold is popular and has been and probably will be. Some of my favorite Roman coin designs are struck in silver and gold, some only in silver and some in bronze and not in precious metals. However, to me beauty is not dependent on metal. To put it even better, when it comes to 'beauty', or true art, I think of Greek coinage. The true fascinating aspect of Roman coinage is that each coins tells a story and the mastery of the Romans to have been able to design coins which send out such strong messages.

Well, me and my wife do. However, we 'merely' have fulfilling jobs in public service (health care, child care) and although I will never complain about our lives and the good care we can give our kids, the chances of every owning a XF aureus, or that rare and XF denarius of Augustus, are zero. I don't care, and I'm happy for the people that can and those who are willing to share their treasure with us. (Some day in the future, when the kids are independent, I hope to be able to score an aVF aureus though )

 

Those aureii are absolutely eye popping @jdmKY, they are perfect - I wish I had just one! Wishful thinking Thanks for sharing

 

I earn as much as the OP albeit in British pounds. Nothing spectacular, pretty much the London average. However I suspect that many here presumed that I earn a lot more judging from some comments I got occasionally. But I can understand that, as in the short time I collect I bought quite a few coins of respectable quality. That was possible because I am the type of collector that will go after something I really desire and eat lentils for the rest of the month. And of course being forced to stay in the house for the last year and not going out eating or traveling has helped. I guess I know that as soon as things get back to normal and have the opportunity to do the things I like, will have no choice than to reduce the time/budget I will have for coins significantly. So I am not wealthy, just slightly irresponsible.

As for the OP, I will remind him of one of the first threads he started asking if it was possible to buy ancient gold for about $1000 if I remember correctly. I will repeat what I said about Byzantine gold. For that amount he could still get a decent example of nice art and condition. As he suggested, a histamenon could be a nice option, as I have seen some competitive prices for those lately even in the current climate.

This one cost me around £600.

 

I run a software startup and have been fortunate in prior companies that I've joined early and subsequently sold (I come from a lower-middle-class family; if they knew what I've spent on coins, my parents would have heart attacks and/or kill me). That said, it's been several years since I've had a week where I didn't work 80+ hours... I should have just bought Bitcoin!

 

This is good advice. There will always be coins to buy - it's best to ensure you enjoy life experiences and start to build a diversified asset base while young. Outside of short-term price aberrations (i.e. pandemics), it's unlikely that common aurei will become vastly more expensive in a few years so either dip your toes into more accessible Byzantine gold or just wait to save up when a purchase comprises a lower percentage of your annual income.

 

I should have listened to mother and studied computer science instead of archaeology... “mother knows best” as they say

 

That's just one gardening accident away from finishing your collection!

 

I would advise against purchasing an aureus or something else of that expense. Maybe a solidus might work for you? At half the price, you could get a very nice Roman solidus of Constantius II, Valens, any of the Valentinians, Honorius, Arcadius...etc. Or maybe you would settle for a lower grade aureus? My first was a VG aureus of Nero, which was approximately $2000 at the time (13-14 years ago or so). Personally, I would rather have a high grade solidus than a low grade aureus if I had to choose.

Ultimately, you have to decide what works best for you. As of late, purchasing aurei has become very difficult. I only purchase aurei with the money I earn from selling other coins and I generally impose a limit of $10,000 (or whatever is in the "aurei fund" at the moment). For me, this meant being the underbidder on fantastic aureus at the latest Roma auction. I doubt that I will have the opportunity to purchase the exact same type for the same price again. Should I have gone the extra increment? Not quite sure! On the one hand, I'm happy that I stuck to my limit, but on the other hand, I have a suspicion that I would have won it with the extra increment. In any case, I think it is helpful to know what your limit is and to have clear objectives with what you want to purchase. I recall that you wanted a persian daric or something else? Would the aureus be additional, or are you still contemplating a single coin?

 

Here are some of mine....

 

Back in the day, I don't think I ever ordered a coin sight unseen by mail order that cost more than about $30 -- only things like farthings and halfpence and threepence for particular years, during the brief period when I was trying to collect date sets of minor English coins. I don't even remember: if you had bought that Nero aureus and were disappointed, was it subject to your approval so you could get your money back if you didn't like it?