Here's a question i've been pondering - is a complete (or nearly complete) coin series worth more money than the individual coins? I now have ~150 rulers in my one-per-Roman ruler collection. I don't intend to sell, but I'm curious whether the value increases disproportionately higher with each ruler i add. While we're here - what sets do you collect, and how complete is your "set"?
I think this is very subjective. There are few collectors who would want to buy a bulk lot of various emperors. Most Ancient collectors specialize in something, be it silver, provincials, or what have you. You might even get less this way.
I am in the same situation. My one Sestertius per Emperor collection is complete now so there is not much to add, but the added value it might have due to it’s completeness is more of a personal or historical, but not financial kind. If I were to sell the whole collection as one lot, I would most probably loose a lot of money because a specialist would only want the top rarities and someone new to the hobby would not buy the whole series as his first purchase. Resellers would not pay any premium for the inclusion of the common
Out of interest, how many rulers issued sestertii? I suppose a one-sestertius per ruler is achievable, while a one-coin per emperor probably isn’t (I’m never going to acquire Glycerius or Saturninus). I will reach a point (probably around 165 rulers) where there’s no more rulers I can hope to acquire so I will instead improve my existing collection with better coins. I find value in the personal satisfaction of acquiring a series that tells a story from rise to fall. Because the remaining rulers are hard to find and pricy, I’ve found myself starting on the Sassanian, British and Byzantine portrait series, where I still have a lot of affordable options.
When is the last time anyone bought a "complete series?" Someone is bound to have issues with at least one piece of the collection. Z
Portrait Sestertii were issued for a total of 82 individuals by all Augusti from Augustus (including coins for Divus Julius Caesar) until Gallienus with the single exception of Otho (I had to use an SC bronze from Antioch as a replacement) for themselves and family members. Six early imperial relatives‘ portraits are only available on middle bronzes. The rulers from Claudius Gothicus until Valens issued Sestertius-sized bronzes only as Medallions (with the exception of Aurelian).
There probably isn't a buyer that would specifically pay more for that size of a complete set but there is merit to selling a set in one sale as it ensures everyone interested in coins of that era attend and appreciate the cohesiveness. NAC's Flavian coins, Kunker's recent Zodiac collection, Gasvoda's Twelve Caesars, and a number of others fit in this model and all did exceptionally well. That said, there could be a risk in flooding the market or selling too many coins sought after by one specific set of collector, so, there's a balance (and this is why collections are sometimes split up over multiple years, just to ensure everyone can afford to bid on more).
If you hype up your collection and then eventually consign it all at once, some auction houses may give you a special "Greg H. Collection" category, which from my experience can help boost the final sale price of the more average pieces. I remember a while ago Aureo & Calico auctioned someone's entire collection - mostly gold aureii/solidii. Absolutely jaw-dropping collection. On one hand, I feel like some of the more average denarii (while nice) hammered for about 2-3x what I felt like they should have. On the other, some of the rarities brought a lot less; some of the rare late issues I felt I maybe could have seriously bid for if I had more time to prepare. My guess is that the people with the big bucks all got sidetracked with the major rarities, letting for example a Galla Placidia solidus go for "only" €4,000 or a Basiliscus solidus for €1400. E: auction link; it's a treat to just browse through it! https://www.biddr.com/auctions/aureocalico/browse?a=206&c=3312 Personally, I started as a "one each" collector, then "one of each title" and now I'm letting myself branch out on the emperors I find more interesting. It just felt wrong to have 3 coins of Numerian (Caesar, Augustus, Divus) while only one of Trajan. I also started dabbling in non-imperial portraits of provincial governors. I have no idea how close I am to "complete" - I do hope to fill in Gordian I and II, then I have one of every Senate-ratified emperor from Augustus through Arcadius/Honorius. I eventually hope to also fill out the imperatorial era (how do I not have a Brutus?!) and then maybe I'll make some progress on the terminal empire. Then again, if I'm spending that kind of money, maybe it would be better to branch out and get some Classical Greek tetradrachms... I do gotta know - who do you have in your 150? It's been a long time since I've added up everyone I have but I assume you have the post-Theodosius era covered much more well than I do.
A collection of coins being offered at auction can create a buzz among potential buyers as collectors may see multiple opportunities to purchase coins that they would like to own. This buzz can create higher prices for the coins as more collectors congregate, creating more competition for the items offered. However there are caveats. The aforementioned Viggo collection had within it many scarce coins, with many of those in high grade and even some with very good pedigree's. I ended up trying to bid on four (hoping for one or two) and got outbid. So a number of factors have to be in play. Overall quality, scarcity, pedigree, historical significance, artistic merit, and of course the elephant in the room... desirability all play a part. I bought this from the Hess Divo Auction "The Galba Collection" another collection back in 2017 that created a nice though expensive "buzz" Galba Ar Denarius Rome 68-69 BC Obv Bust right laureate Galba looks like he wants to kiss somebody Rv Roma standing right holding Victory RIC199 3.43 grms 19 mm Photo by W. Hansen Glendinings Auction January 14 1953 Lot 505 As memory serves, I found this auction to be tough with a lot of competition. This coin was my fourth time at bat having been outbid on three other coins. I like this coin as it had a portrait with some artistic merit. To me it had a more veristic portrait than some of the others. I was less happy with the reverse. Still I bid this coin up and I believe I actually went up two increments beyond what I had decided would be my maximum. I remember saying to my self something like " I'm finished" and then the bidding stopped.
@Finn235 I have almost all of the top 150 rulers on Rasiel Suarez’s rarity table - including Gordians I & II, Basiliscus, Didius Julianus. In addition, I have Paulina, Constantine III, Annia Faustina (provincial), Libius Severus, Didia Clara, Manlia Scantilla, Uranius Antoninus (provincial). I lack a few of the post-Theodosius emperors - 410-420AD is a tricky period with people like Priscus Attalus, Constans II, Sebastianus etc. I expect I’ll be able to find a nice Jovinus eventually. And then the final western emperors are difficult (455-476AD). Of course I prefer imperials, but for some rulers it’s only possible to find (and afford) a provincial.[/QUOTE]
You are perfectly free to deny the term 'emperor' to anyone you wish but there are no sestertii or other AE from Rome for Pescennius Niger. It is also a question for opinion whether you consider the last AE of Aurelian to be sestertii wvwn though they are smaller than an as of a decade earlier. Most 'collectors' like to build their collection rather than having it presented in a neat package. Most people who want a set already have 5% to 95% of them already. Those only having 5% rarely have the ready cash to buy the whole set while those with 95% don't want to deal with all those sub-standard duplicates. In the distant past I saw a few sales of 'sets' like the 12 Caesars offered individually and then again as a single lot. If the set brought a higher bid than the total of the individuals, those first sales were set aside. If you wanted one coin bad enough and had lost it you could always hope the first winner did not have the money to buy them all.
I'm sure there's a market for sub-sets. When i started collecting, I'd buy bulk lots of coins of the common emperors. It's the scarcer emperors that i would buy individually (eg Vetranio whom you'd never find among a 4th century bulk lot). I'm in the market for a bulk lot of common Roman Republic coins to get me started in that area.
Which Roman Republic coins do you consider to be “common”? In my limited experience almost all Roman Republic coinage tends to be pretty pricey. Silver coinage that is I don’t know about the prices for base metal coinage from that time. I just picked up this Quadrigatus as my first Roman Republic coin and even in like VF/XF grade they still aren’t cheap. :/ I’m just curious what type of coins you mean when you talk about buying common Roman Republic coins in bulk?
I'd say it depends on what you have and how you are selling it. If the coins are readily-available "stuff" then probably there's not going to be a premium over the individual values to a collector, and dealers won't pay a premium for it either. If what you have is exceptional, or at least really nice, and there's enough total value (and value per coin) to be worth their while then an auction house or dealer can get marketing value for it and the collection may sell for more.
To be clear, I'm by no means an RR specialist - so i don't know what i don't know. Other than a Janus / prow of Galley AE As, and a Julius Caesar denarius - I have no RR coins. I don't know how to answer your question other than "I want to buy a bulk lot of different RR coins so I can learn more about them and start a new collecting theme". I often see group lots of RR available in the auctions, including currently Artemide Aste, Soler y Llach and Naville. Presumably these are the more common types, or perhaps scarce types with problems.
There are actually lots of "common" issues in the Roman Republican silver issues (with hundreds of know dies) and they won't necessarily correspond to being cheaper. For example, one of the largest issues is Julius Caesar elephant denarii as well as several Julius Caesar lifetime portrait issues which were both minted in the millions. The problem, however, is that it's Julius Caesar and the man still commands top billing after 2000 years and counting. Love your quadrigatus BTW. Congrats!
Yep, demand is the most important determinant of price. A Cleopatra/Marc Antony denarius or tetradrachm is top of my "want" list, and judging by the prices, demand is through the roof!
Thanks! My quadrigatus finally arrived today and I’ve been picking it up and looking at it often xD Oh when I thought he said “common” and “in bulk” he was talking about a bunch of cheap ones. I was just saying in my experience if you try to buy a handful of silver Roman Republic coins for like $100 you wouldn’t get anywhere since even the more common coins like the victoriatus are pretty expensive even in VF-XF condition.
