GTG: Anacs AE Follis

If seeking the best coin available for the lowest price possible is being a cheapskate, then you and Bing are not alone

 

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I think we also demonstrate the other fact of ancients. There is nowhere near the consistency of pricing with ancients as there is with moderns. We don't have a Red Book. We have a thousand times more types including some that don't get offered for sale more than once a decade. We have almost no collectors who are trying to fill out a set beyond the level of a type set but we have some (like me) who will own a dozen examples of something all having the same catalog number but all seeing different to a specialist. We may be more like US large cent collectors than like the bulk of modern enthusiasts. Perhaps worst is we have disagreements on which factors mean most to us. The coin I showed above was $4.95. Given its faults and appearance, I'm happy to have it and the $45 change. It is very hard to pin down exactly what factors cause one coin to sell for more and what to sell for less. I posted that one because it was the same type down to the TF field letters but the two coins could hardly be more different in so many ways. Every die was an individual effort. Coins of the same mint can be very different looking. I'll post here a very different Constantine (same ruler) of different type (gate), different mint (Heraclea) and different bust type (consular). It also retains a lot of the original silvering (your coin was silver plated when it was new, too). I would say it is about a $50 item (I did not pay that much but I have had it a long time). Some sellers would ask twice that. It is hard to say when we get a bargain and when we overpay so we do both and figure it all evens out in the end.

 

F-12.

 

Thanks doug... I learned more off of your last post than all these combined! I had no clue my coin was plated and id love to own one still showing some or all the silver... ya know to be completely honest,the majority here came off as coin snobs(i am too)and i was just about to leave the forum never to return when you explained it the best .. Now i dont think i could get into ancients full time but i might dabble if i see something interesting.. thats what its about right? Collecting what appeals to US! Thanks everyone for their input and if/when i go to buy another ancient ill make sure to get some opines here on price... And 1 last thing: what do you all consider to be the cut off date for this stuff??Say if i have a coin dated 1300ad would that be too "modern" ???

 

If you could see my collection, you might reconsider naming me a snob. But if you think so, I am sorry I came across that way.
The cutoff date has been discussed here in the past. I think many here think the Byzantine era marks the cut off. Many believe it is much later, perhaps when coins began to be made by machines. Personally, I stop at the Byzantine era even though the Byzantines considered themselves Roman.

 

I think that OP coin would be VF- grade but of course once again grading is subjective especially for ancients. I think everyone has paid too much for a coin or two but in the end it averages out. I have about 160 attributed ancient coins now and based on what I paid, the average is about $15 a coin that I paid.

If you want to purchase a ancient coin again feel free to post here before you do. We like to help people get real coins and pay reasonable prices as well.

Just as an example, I have purchased a few late Romans at $5 each. You can get nice ones for $5-$15 if you're patient.










Just a few for $5.

 

Different mints, different dies, different celators. These were made in the gazillions, it is quite exciting to find two coins with the same set of dies.

 

I'm no snob, really, and I also didn't mean to come off as one - I'm a rank amateur compared to the people that have been collecting their entire lives. When it comes to ancient coins, you have to remember that each die was engraved by hand, hence you get a certain amount of variation, even from one mint. Yes, there was a "High Roman" style, but every engraver had to interpret that style for himself. Much of the fun of collecting ancients is comparing different engravers' renditions of the same theme.

 

I collect coins made before machines were used in the process. Not every place changed over to the modern way at the same time. Technically, I believe the term ancient should cut off at about 500 AD but when Coin Talk separated Ancient and World into two groups I believe you will find more of us here on ancients wanting to talk about 1300 than you will over on the World board where more people have later cut offs and consider only coins listed in the Krauss catalogs. Of course there are a few people who collect everything. I have a few US even but I don't understand the desire to have a set of a hundred coins distinguished only by their dates and mintmarks.

As far as places to buy coins, I really prefer to see the coins before buying. That makes coin clubs, local shops and coin shows preferable but 90% of us do not live near one of these. I will be attending a big show in Baltimore at the end of the month and suggest you find something like that within a couple hours drive if such exists. Another little point about us here on CT is that relatively few of us are into selling coins or caring whether this is a $10 coin or a $50 coin. Steve pays more for coins than I do but he lives 1000 miles from nowhere numismatically speaking so his options do not include joining me for a Baltimore show. He could take a long hike to the ANA in Portland but it might be cheaper for him to continue paying $20 for what I consider $10 coins. Members who live in London or New York also pay more just like they do when they go out for fast food. When you ask a question here, you are addressing a wide variety of personalities in a wide variety of places. JA and Bing are about as non-snob as we get. I think most of us hate to see beginners paying $50 for $10 coins because they listened to some expert but we do tend to believe it is better to tell the truth rather than sugar coat it. If that is being a snob.....

 

Here is a comparitor for you. My coin comes from the adjacent workshop to yours and is from the same issue.

This coin isn't slabbed and cost me $25.

As I was advised many years ago...buy the coin not the slab. Does the slab add any value in your eyes. I must admit that I have freed every slabbed ancient I have ever bought so far and that is because the slab added nothing to the value of the coin to me.

 

I'm not sure how you may have gotten the impression that "the majority here... [are] coins snobs" but this forum is about as far away from being snobbish as any online discussion group you'll ever visit.

In fact, the first response to your post ("I don't know Anacs' criteria for grading ancients.") is the least snobbish response you can hope for -- a fellow member admitting his lack of familiarity with the company who slabbed and graded your coin, yet trying to answer your question helpfully with his experienced opinion about the grade of that coin.

Don't ever mistake directness and candidness for being snobbish. The aforementioned two qualities are much to be desired when asking for information about a topic as intricate and difficult as evaluating ancient coins.

Yes, Doug is by far the most experienced collector here and routinely offers a level of help and knowledge that you probably can't find elsewhere even if you were willing to pay for it, but most others here are equally motivated to help novices in their learning curve about ancients.

Never hesitate to ask a question here about any coin in which you're interested, especially prior to purchasing, and be sure to recognize the value of objective and candid information (and opinions) about those coins. You'll never run into snobbishness about coins on this forum, at least in my experience.

 

I would also grade the coin as "Fine", but grading Ancient coins is just one of many facets of collecting coins 1500 or more years old. The slab means nothing to me, and as far as I am concerned it adds no value to the coin. Slabbing Ancient coins is a fools errand unless the coin is truly Mint State, which is seldom encountered.

I am far more interested in the history, Emperor, his friends, his enemies, the Celator, Mint, Strike, where the coin was found, local economy in which it was circulating, relative value to purchase goods and commerce of the day than I am in the grade of the coin. I also value provenance for coins that can be traced to important collections of the past.

As far as the value of your coin there are many available in the $5 - $10 range. But again value is relative, and if you love holding history in your hands, start a collection of Ancients. Very soon you will become "addicted" to Ancient coin collecting as quite a few of us are.

 

I don't have very many "ancient" coins, and most of what I do have I adopted from another CoinTalk member for about $6 each. When I look at ancients at E-bay, I am struck by the high prices in general. Many people here have talked about $5 to $10 ancient coins in resonable shape, but I really don't see many. Perhaps some of the posters who have LOTS of these might want to post some in the For Sale Forum to increase the number of members who have an interest in ancients.

 

$6.66



... this item is not yet slabbed