How Many Collectors Of Ancient Coins Are There?

Some will take this the wrong way but I believe it is the truth. Fact: Neither Warren nor I invented the Internet. What we did, along with a very few others, was post free discussion on collecting ancient coins online. Mine went up in February 1997 as a reaction to not being able to find much on coins on the Internet. Some subjects at the time would ask you subscribe (read: pay) to get access to information. We wanted to share the joy we got from our hobby and used the relatively new medium for the purpose.

At the time there were not even that many dealers with online presence and it was possible to look at every coin offered on eBay because the number was reasonable. There are other hobbies with information online but I am proud that my hobby was ahead of its time in this regard. For several years I added a page to my site every Friday at 0000 Zulu time (making some people accuse me of being British). I stopped when I retired from working and buying a lot of coins. Buying coins to provide subjects for the weekly pages was getting expensive. Toward the end, I switched to fewer, larger pages with more content updated less often. Those are the pages I still value. Lately, I am lucky to add a couple pages a year. That may be because the time I used to spend on the project is now used here.

About this same time someone else invented what we now call the blog. I did not know about them until after my 'retirement'. Looking back, the concept of the weekly updated webpage was a lot like what they were calling the blog. I wish I had invented the name.

Today, nothing makes me happier than to hear from someone that my pages encouraged them to take up the hobby back in the late 1990's. Of the other pages I knew from those days, Warren's is still with us. I remain proud to have known him all these years.

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

*edit*

 

When I started collecting ancients this past April I was extraordinarily lucky. I met 3 dealers of ancient coins at a local show. It was my first coin show and I had not yet bought an ancient coin, but that was about to change. I had read many web pages about ancient coins before going to the show and had an idea what I might like. As I was looking around I stumbled across a denarius of Otho. I really liked the look of this coin, but I needed some advice. I spent some time talking to a couple of experts who were very generous with their time and advice. I was cognizant of the fact that I was taking their precious time, but they insisted upon explaining the ins and outs of ancient coins. They were very enthusiastic about the field and loved talking about the coins. I asked the dealer with the Otho if I could show it to another dealer. He agreed happily and I took it the experts I met earlier. They agreed that it was a very nice coin and we talked about an offer I might make. I made the offer and bought the coin from the first dealer.

One of the dealers who helped me with the Otho I have now seen at several shows and he is always glad to see me and willingly provides advice. This is one of the reasons why his coins are always the first I examine at a show in the hopes that I can buy from him. A few months ago I showed him a picture of a Claudius denarius I was considering. How response was "If you do not buy that I will" I bought it and do not regret that purchase.


In short, relationships matter when dealing with ancient coins. Online relationships count too, but there is nothing like discussing a coin in person with someone who knows more than you ever will. There are plenty of generous souls in this small community of ours. For me this is an important part of the hobby.