Should I have purchased? If so, at what price?

Hey guys, non ancient collector here.

This coin was marked at $65 would it have been a decent purchase?

I know nothing about it other than what's on the label, but I wouldn't mind adding a few graded ancients to my collection. Seemed attractive and relatively in decent shape.

 

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If I saw this coin at a coin show I would look at it a couple of times, consider it, perhaps offer a lower price but ultimately would put it down because even at the dealer's better price I would believe that with patience I would be able to find an equivalent coin at a better price.

The 'Byzantium hoard' provenance is intriguing but all I can find on it is that there are a lot of coins in NGC holders with this tag. Someone more knowledgeable can probably enlighten us both.

Neat label though. I do laugh a little because it is the Byzantium hoard and Constantine's face on the label covers the location of Byzantium on the map!

 

Lol, you are right about the face whizb4ng.

Its a silver follis that the silvering is still attractive, and its a campgate which is fairly popular. Given those two things, $65 is not outrageous. If I already didn't own quite a few of that exact coin, and I wanted to have a slabbed ancient, it would be a decent deal. I would have offered him $50 and settled at $55 being a good buy for you, again clarifying you wanted a slabbed ancient.

Btw, the real grade would be aXF on a coin like that. We NEVER grade an ancient AU, that is a US grade.

 

For that price, I'd want a near perfect example, apparently. I would offer $30 which is what I think it's worth. The silver has been wearing off on the obverse and other spots of the coin.

 

$65 would be the full retail cost of the coin, in my estimation. It's well-struck, no flatness, and retains most of its silvering. However, it is a very common issue. I agree with medoraman's assessment of the value. I, however, would have offered $40 and not a penny more, just for the trouble of having to crack it out of that odious piece of plastic.

 

Sorry pictures are too small, I tried to cancel.

 

35-40 is a worthy bid

 

10 Bucks!! Just kidding, but it's not worth 65 bucks. Not to me. Perhaps $30-$40 to throw away the plastic.

 

I do not have a Cyzicus but my Heraclea is similar. It was $21 in 2003 so lets say it has gone up in a dozen years and is worth, perhaps, $40 now. That means you are paying $25 for the plastic box and opinion that goes with it. Bing says to throw away the plastic. Others would send in $40 plus postage and my coin and get something back that makes yours a bargain. We have a few people here who like slabbed coins but several of us are vehemently anti-slab. It is your hobby and your money.

 

Nice coin. If I bought it I would crack it out of that holder.

 

"Byzantium hoard" is total marketing BS. If you look closely, you'll see that the vast majority of slabbed ancients are fairly common coins that are available in good numbers. High grade Constantinian bronzes, silver obols of Massalia, early antoniniani. That's because the entire drive behind slabbing ancients is to draw customers in from the more naive US market, and those people want flashy, readily available coins. Over time we'll start to see more collectors sending their own coins for encapsulation, as some on this forum already have done.

 

If you go to the NGC site you will see several levels of surface starting with the lowest 'bulk' which we have here. Note there is no strike/surface code and nothing especially unique to the coin in the slab. It is hard to imagine for most of us the number of 'AU' Constantine campgates that exist and can be slabbed by the hundreds. I suspect a real rarity would be a slabbed Constantine in lower grade but showing a rare variety. The other interesting thing in the price list is the 1% charge for coins worth over $25000 meaning a decent EID MAR denarius worth $100000 would cost $1000. This is for an opinion not backed by any guarantee. Pay your money and take your choice.

 

I find it particularly unfortunate when you see these patently false and suggestive pedigrees on the slabs. Byzantium Hoard... Colosseum Hoard... Seven Hills Hoard. It's like... hey, now you buy this shiny clean ancient denarius, just recently dug up in the famous Colosseum of Rome!

 

Thanks for all the replies guys.

I've said this for a couple years now, but I want to pick up some ancients that are slabbed and in about a similar condition to this for say $100 or less. I always see ancients in slabs for well over that all the time but rarely any of this quality and slabbed.

Any suggestions on what I should be looking for? Directions to a safe dealer with material I am after? My most basic requirement is around XF condition and preferably silver with a cool design.

 

Well, if you insist on slabs, that would have been a good coin to get at a fair price. It's a lovely example of the type. Just realize you are paying a premium for the plastic, and ignore the grading and hype. As Doug says, it's your hobby and your money.

 

I can understand someone paying a $40 slab fee for a coin worth $3000 (over that it goes up in price) but not for a coin worth $400 or $40. 10% or 100% is a lot to tack on for an opinion.

 

Like collecting any coins I would recommend doing your research first. Check out acsearch and CNG to get a feel for prices on the raw coins. As others have said there is an NGC premium on the coins.

I don't know of any dealers that have a stock of NGC graded ancients but Heritage and GreatCollections tend to have the greatest amount up for auction. I don't check GreatCollections often because I tend to find their starting bids a bit too high. Heritage often has some fantastic coins. I believe TIF's Nero sestertius and Corinth stater are both from Heritage but then again her giant Carthage hockey puck is from GreatCollections. So you can find the diamond in the rough there.

In terms of coins you might enjoy based on your specifications I would recommend the Severan period. You can find some seriously beautiful coins from this period at an affordable price.

 

As stated above, spending 30 or 35 bucks for a plastic tomb on a 30 to 35 bucks coin seems weird
As a US coins collector would you pay 1000 $ to display a 1000 $ coin ?

Now you know my opinion about slabbing ancients
Q

 

Maybe you guys just shop better than I do. Being a campgate, perfectly centered, with attractive intact silvering, I simply do not see these on the market any more for $30. Unattractive silvering on a slightly lower grade coin yes, but as much as I hate slabs and the fake "hoard" garbage with this coin, to my it really is a superlative example of its type. Therefor, slabbed or unslabbed I would be surprised if the coin went for less than $50 nowadays.

 

I have some nice campgates, but most of them do not have silvering. However, I do have this silvered Licinius I I bought a couple of years ago for $19 shipped.

LICINIUS I
AE3 Follis
OBVERSE: IMP LICI-NIVS AVG, laureate bust right, wearing imperial mantle, holding globe, sceptre & mappa
REVERSE: PROVIDEN-TIAE AVGG, campgate with three turrets, no door, delta in right field SMHA in ex.
Struck at Heraclea 318-320 AD
3.0g, 18mm
RIC VII 48

I suppose my point is that there are nice coins for good prices. If this had been entombed in plastic, how much more would the price have been?