Need Ancient Roman Advice

Hi all. Some of you may recognize me from CoinTalk. I've been a fairly consistent poster over the last 3 years or so. I've been a collector of US coins for years. Lately reading all the posting activity of you ancient coin collectors has seriously piqued my interest in that section of the hobby. So I've decided to come over to the dark side and enter the world of ancient collecting!:devil:

I've collected a handful of Roman coins over the years, mostly from the Imperial period. I've decided I want to focus on Roman Empire coins and try to complete some kind of Roman Emperor's Set. I know this can be an ambitious undertaking. Without counting usurpers and impostors I come up with roughly 111 Emperors. Some of these are great rarities and may only come available once in a great while. I'm looking for advice on making this a more manageable collection. How have some of you divided up these coins? What kind of ideas/advice can you offer on collecting Roman Imperial coins? What are some good reference books to help me on my journey?

You all seem to follow a certain convention when posting your coins: Coin obverse legend, Reverse legend, Date, weight/diameter in mm, attribution. Am I right and is this the standard?

I've bought two references thus far: ROMAN COINS and their values by David Sear and the Whitman Handbook of ancient Greek and Roman Coins. My meagher collection right now consists of some 15 Roman Coins total: 13 Emperors, A fallen Horseman and an Urbs Roma. But I think I've been bitten by the bug. I just added this Trajan to my collection today. I'm looking forward to hearing back from any who might take an interest in providing some advice in this area.

Thanks in advance!

 

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That's a nice Trajan. Very impressive portrait. What kind of advice are you looking for? Many here will tell you to come up with a collection strategy, i.e., coins of the First 12 Caesars, or Coins of the Republic, etc. While those are good to have and pursue, I would suggest buying coins that are of interest and studying each to a point where you feel comfortable in your abilities to attribute and/or identify. Knowing and understanding how the fabric of the coin should be is important as well. This comes with experience. Unless you know your way around the ole Ancient's precincts, I might suggest LRB coins just to wet your toes. There are a ton of references, both books and on line. I like using the on line resources, but many here wouldn't trade their books for anything (except perhaps a Solidus or so). If you want to know the on line references just ask. I or one of the others will be glad to point you in the right directions. Good luck and I'm looking forward to seeing your coins.

 

Welcome to the club Race! I just started collecting LRBs last month. If you want another resource there's a free, legal download of the Encyclopedia of Roman Coins here...

http://dirtyoldbooks.com/eric.html

I can't hope to collect all the emperors, and neither can I hope to collect all the types from a single famous emperor like Constantine I - there are just too dang many of them! So I'm happy collecting miscellaneous pieces with great eye-appeal. It's a hodge-podge type set.

 

There are lots of ways to collect and organize your collection. I have mine in a three ring binder with coin pages, Roman Imperial and then pages for other regions in the ancient world. I have them organized as best as I can. I also have them cataloged online so that I know what I have and what I need.

For example, I have an account over at Tantalus Coins. They give you a Roman Imperial with 205 rulers, including emperors, Caesars, wives, children, friends, etc. Makes it really easy for me to keep track of what I have and what I need. I'm at 58 right now.

http://www.tantaluscoins.com/coins/grid263.php

But then there is more than just collecting Roman Imperial rulers. There are so many denominations and reverse types for you to find. Just two examples are Gallienus animal series, Constantine I has so many reverse types, a good deal of them are really affordable in decent grade.

Then I also have my gallery at CCF (Coin Community Family) for Roman Imperial and other regions in the ancient world.

http://www.coincommunity.org/gallery/index.php?cat=10486

Everyone has different collection strategies, and some don't. They just purchase whatever coin speaks to them. I do the same but I have a plan too.

 

I am fairly new to "this" coin-site, but I'm no stranger to buying ancient coins and "asking for help" ...

=> without a doubt, the best advice that I can give you is to:

a) search around on e-bay, vcoins, numismall, etc, until you find a few ancient coins that are "in the running"

b) then post them in a thread, asking the "site experts" to comment upon their worth, authenticity, rarity, etc

c) find a friend, or a few knowledgeable friends that will help you out until you get your ancient sea-legs!!

=> NOTE => I think that "b" is definitely your best avenue, assuming that we all have an understanding "not" to snipe other people's posted coins ... right? .... hopefully that is a no-brainer, right? ... hopefully there is honour amongst all of us ancient coin brothers (I myself will swear that I will "never" snipe a coin from another ancient brother!!)

:high5:

 

Last year there was a thread inquiring whether or not the collectors on this site have "theme" for their collection:

http://www.cointalk.com/t209717/

It's not very long, and you might find the thoughts and comments helpful.

 

.... oh, unless they are animal-coins ... then get out of my way!!

=> just jokes

NOTE => luckily for all of us, there seems to be plenty o' ancient coins for the few interested collectors

=> So I wish you nuthin' but good luck collecting, my new ancient coin brother!!

Cheers

 

While Bing is right that many will tell you to find a strategy, I'm not one of the many and will tell you to buy coins that appeal to you - speak to you - rather than buying something just because it fits some hole in the collection you have imagined. After you do this for a while, you may discover a pattern in the process and be able to declare your major interest. Too many beginners feel pressured to do 12 Caesars or late Roman without really understanding why.

The Trajan is an excellent coin which I would be happy to have in my collection.

Many will tell you to buy the book before the coin. Not I. I suggest making full use of online resources certainly including the free ERIC John Anthony linked (although I'm not a particular fan of catalog style books). I might be prejudiced but still suggest you browse my site:
http://www.forumancientcoins.com/dougsmith/

I suggest beginners start with my overview series that shows a bit of the range of ancient coins available:
http://www.forumancientcoins.com/dougsmith/voc.html

I'm not suggesting you buy these exact coins but you could do worse than to find coins that would serve to illustrate each of the points made as well as the one I selected.

I found it interesting that you have 13 emperors and an Urbs Roma but I am a bit confused why you did not call that Falling Horseman by its emperor. If you find the type for some reason appealing I offer a page on that as well but I really, really don't think a beginner should start by gathering a set of these. That is something you might do when you have been collecting for decades and get bored.
http://www.forumancientcoins.com/dougsmith/fh.html

 

Hmmm, is it my imagination or are there TWO Johnny Quest characters in the same thread?

 

Thanks for the reference book, I've always liked many of the pieces some here have shown. This should be an interesting read and perhaps a new occasional purchase.

 

Hadji is in the house!!

:cheers:

 

I'd double like this comment if I could!

 

Thanks for the great advice Doug. The fallen horseman is, at least according to the legend on the 2 x 2, a Constantius II Centenionalis. Although I, as a beginner, have no way of attributing this. I tried looking at some online references and they seem to check out. So let me give this the ole ancient try:


OBV: Constantius II
REV: Fallen Horseman
Condition: VF/XF
Struck at: Heraclea Mint 351-54 AD
4.65 G/25 mm (total SWAG, Need to buy a scale)


Feel free to provide corrections. Thanks.

 

Once again, thanks to all you ancient collectors who've contributed. I'm already reading the links, looking at books and on my way.


I really appreciate the advice and guidance.

 

Lots of great advice from experienced collectors. I have been collection ancients for a little over eleven years now and have built a sizeable collection of inexpensive coins. When I first started I would buy lots of 1000 uncleaned coins and go through the process of cleaning them which I enjoyed very much, and found some interesting coins. The price of uncleaned lots are too expensive now and not worth what are in them. I have no real plan on what to buy, like Dougsmit I buy what appeals to me at the time. I have no ancient gold coins and probably never will. Most of the coins I buy come from e-bay. I buy from know and trusted sellers and stick to the coins I know Roman and Byzantine.

 

This coin is Constantius Gallus Caesar under Constantius II. His coins always have a bare head while Constantius is always shown with a diadem of some sort. Compare to this Constantius II:


Yours is a nice coin.

 

RB, you have a particularly nice example, especially in the detail on the reverse. The reverse legend reads FEL TEMP REAPARATIO, or the restoration of happy times. I like to think it had the same colloquial ring as our "happy times are here again."

 

I agree with Doug, buy what speaks to you. I have no bloody clue why i am mainly concentrating on central asia right now, they just speak to me. I have bought coins having absolutely nothing to do with what i was supposedly collecting, thou, at will. Our greatest freedom is its our hobby, and no one should dictate what you should buy.

Look around, see what speaks to you, then ask us about them.

Btw, the sear book is the best single book for you. Read the first 50 pages or so, and it will be very enlightening. Great choice.

Btw i disagree with dog about books though. There are good and bad online references, and even the good ones i find misattributions. I would rather read from the source why something is attributted the way it is.

 

There are bad books, too. I have some boxes in the attic of books I may never again see. There are authors that I doubt I would buy another book from just because of problems with their other ones. What is nice about online material is that it is free and will teach you enough that you can skip some mistakes in hardcover. Sear is worth owning all of them. The Whitman (Klawans, I assume) I'd skip. If you collect Septimius Severus, avoid a book by Philip Hill. In many cases it is just a matter of price. A book may be really good and worth every cent of it's original issue price but having been out of print for 20 years makes it a question of paying $250 for a $25 book. If you with to learn from 'the source', handle ten thousand coins, talk to every dealer that wants to sell you a coin and buy from the ones that strike you as willing to earn your business. Buy books but first learn which ones are worthy of your attention.

 

... and, I forgot, be prepared to learn several languages. Some/much of the better stuff is not in English.