I am about to buy my first ancient.. and I'm a bit dubious being a newcomer as to wether I can trust an Ebayer, even when he says it has been authenticated. Ok... by who? The one in question is this one... http://www.ebay.com/itm/CONSTANTIUS...ltDomain_0&hash=item588dc52b94#ht_1273wt_1398 Or one like it. I was going to make an offer... but it says it has been authenticated by "sergey nechayev phd numismatic expert". How does one go about checking credentials? Or is it just a crap shoot with anything on Ebay that isn't graded? I thought I was just going to collect U.S. coins since that would keep me busy enough with out dabbling in other countries metals.... but then I realized I wanted to have a really old coin. I swear if I could afford a Lydian stater coin i would buy one... but then, wouldn't we all?
First, welcome to the world of Ancients. I, too, worry about the surprisingly large number of modern forgeries in the Ancient market. That said, there are millions and millions and millions of nice authentic Roman coins out there. Fortunately, the are also many reputable dealers, too. I feel secure about the dealers on this list: http://www.vcoins.com/ancient/ Of those on the list, forvmancientcoins frequently have relatively inexpensive, well-attributed Ancients on Ebay. I recommend them highly. As a beginner, you should stay with only well-known reputable dealers (such as the list above). Enjoy! BTW, the price ($80) for the common and unremarkable Constantius II on auction seems a little steep. I cannot speak to the quality of this dealer. I have no reason to believe that he is not reputable, however. guy
Read some of Ancient Doug's and others' many articles available: http://dougsmith.ancients.info/index.html Start out buying inexpensive coins whose inscription is intact so that you can familiarize yourself with Ancients and learn to decifer them. Just as importantly, I recommend reading about the period of time that you enjoy (and would like to research). guy
http://www.ancient-coins.com/ JHE another great dealer, nice guy. They are trying to start their own auctions on their site and restarting coins at no reserve low prices. I think auction 3 just closed
Yes, $80 for that coin is extremely expensive. As for dealers, there are many. www.cngcoins.com is my favorite, and the largest. Its all about knowledge and the dealers you buy from. If you ever want any other specific recommendations you can always ask.
