I'm looking to start a collection of Ancient coins. I'm more interested in the history of the coin and not as much about the rarity or price. I understand that there are a lot of counterfeits out there so where do I go to make sure that I'm getting an authentic piece? I'm thinking about buying one of those big lots of uncleaned coins on EBay that you see all the time. I talked to a dealer here and he said that he's never used EBay but a lot of times if you see one of those lots it is usually a good buy. Also, if anybody knows of a good guide to cleaning these could you please link me? Thanks, Jim
For guarenteed authentic coins, you should check out Forvm or one of the many dealers at VCoins. Both places offer lifetime guarantees of authenticity. As for uncleaned coins, the ones on Ebay are usually rather low grade. I would suggest getting them at somewhere like Forvm, Common Bronze (if they ever go back up), or Noble Roman Coins. You can find a very good guide to cleaning here. Just a warning: even from a good dealer, a large portion of the coins won't be identifiable, and unless your getting a lot that is specified otherwise, the vast, vast majority of what you find will be from the 4th century AD, mostly from the reigns of Constantine and his sons, though the Valentinian and Theodosian dynasties are pretty common as well. You might get an occasional Byzantine coin or third century bronze, and it's even possible to get first century quadrantes (I've gotten a few dozen uncleaned coins, and I've only ever gotten one of these, and it had just enough detail to tell that it was a quadrans of some sort and no more). You will not get gold, and silver is extremely unlikely. As long as you know what you're getting into, I think uncleaned coins can be a lot of fun. You will find this site invaluable for helping you identify what you get.
Uncleaned coins can certainly be fun. But be sure that you enjoy the cleaning PROCESS not the coins themselves, or else you'll be disappointed. The stuff in those lots is always pretty crappy. I would look around a lot, look at my gallery, look at the stuff on Forvm and vcoins, and see what you like. Personally, I'd advise that you start off with something readily available and easy to identify, with available references. Late Roman bronze coins from the Tetrarchy to the Valentinian dynasty fit this perfectly.
I'd also recomend getting a smaller lot (10) of uncleaned coins your first time. The Forvm also has unatributed coins too for sale (that are attributable) if you want to attribute them and skip the cleaning.
Good info....thanks To start I think I'll pick up some of the cheaper stuff. I've never been one to jump right into something not knowing what I'm doing. You don't think I'll get anything worth looking at with the uncleaned lots? That's really what I'm looking for instead of the rarer stuff. noted.....thanks
You can, but calculate the cost. http://www.forumancientcoins.com/board/index.php?topic=59776.msg372376#new That's the average quality. In fact, I'd say that's a good deal above what you'd get on ebay. There's maybe two keepers in that, depending on your standards. The lot is $23, plus shipping. The two keepers would be worth $2-3 each. OR For $15, you can get a coin that is actually nice. http://bargainbinancients.com/zen/i...d=1414&zenid=fa7cc9a7eb38428821bdea163bfcfa26
Will you recommend another for Jim and the rest? That coin is sold. (to me) I also have wanted to see if owning an ancient DID anything for me. Thanks for the advice all!
I really suggest beginners start with cleaned and identifiable coins because it is easier to learn the craft of IDing if you have all the details to see. Spent $100 on ten $10 coins rather than hoping to get 10 keepers out of a lot of 100 $1 lottery tickets. After you get good at confirming the ID's provided by others, buy clean but unidentified coins out of dealers' junk boxes at shows if they are held in your area. Later you can move into uncleaned if that still interest you abd show off that you can ID a coin from almost no clues because of all the experience gained handling the easy ones in the beginning.
I've been looking though VCoins and have seen several in that price range that I'm interested in. I think that I'm going to go that route.
http://www.vcoins.com/ has a search perameter for the price range http://www.forumancientcoins.com/ has an under $40 section "junk box" which starts from high to low. I guess it all depends on what your looking for as for a recomendation. This was under $40 ( sorry for the small pic) Gordian III So was this Marc Antony legionary denarius heres and old topic with ancients for under $10 http://www.cointalk.com/t67781/
Just ordered 8 Roman coins and an additional lot of 10 just to see what I'd get. GL me!!!!! All cheap stuff really ranging from $8 to $25. At very least they will be something to show off to my non collector friends.
