Some of you may know that I have recently been getting into ancient coins. I'm currently focusing on Greek coins and I have a co-worker that is Greek who is a huge history buff. We have been talking about Greek coins and the history of them, I have also shown him a few of the ones I picked up. Today he mentioned he wouldn't mind getting getting an ancient Greek coin for himself. He will be looking for a copper or bronze coin with Alexander the Great on it. He may or may not end up a collector but its nice to see a non-collector deciding to spend money on collectible coins.
Also, I would point him in the right direction to buy one. There are plenty of sites online that sell ancients at highly inflated prices.
True, but its always gets tricky since you ALSO don't want them buying fakes or corroded garbage. Without adequate knowledge, I would default to suggesting sites like Vcoins, CNG, Berk, and other reputable sites. You may overpay, but will get a decent coin.
What's your opinion of BargainBinAncients? I've been checking their inventory regularly and was planning on going there for my first "big" purchase.
A quarter of my collection is from that site. I am always the first to recommend that site when looking for a first ancient.
Since he is new I will be the one looking for him, if I find anything I think he may like I will be sending him the pictures and links.
It's always great to get more collectors, except when the compete for coins at the local shop Still, it's nice to have more people to talk to about ancients.
A bronze issued by Alexander won't be too hard but he did not put his portrait on them. Some people claim that the heads of Herakles on his coins were modeled after his features but those are mostly posthumous issues and silver. A good choice might be something like this with Herakles and his equipment inscribed "of Alexander".