Share your rarest coin

Thanks.

 

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Only 4 known ..... I think.

 

Why does rarest have to be ancient only.

Why not both modern and/or ancients. Given that most modern or antique coins are a lot rarer and more valuable. Or does that require a new thread under World coins???

 

Haha.

Oh wait, you were serious?

It doesn't, but the OP post is on the Ancients board

 

Hahaha

Yes I was. Many modern specimen or off metal strikes only have one or two known examples.

I have one that has possibly only 2 known examples. One is with the Coin Museum of the Central Bank of that country.

Point taken about it being in ancients.

 

You did raise an interesting point about prices though. It seems incredible that modern coins routinely sell for more than most ancient coins.

Rarity ≠ Value

Wondering why ancient coins seem to be valued less than modern coins, when ancient coins are in many (most?) instances less common, often with more interesting or artistic designs, and have incredible history associated with them, I concluded that:

- Many coin collectors are unaware that ancient coins exist outside of museums and can be acquired for quite reasonable prices
- People are intimidated by them because they don't know where to look for information
- Becoming knowledgeable about modern coins requires far less time and effort.

Forums like CoinTalk are a mixed blessing. I love seeing everyone's coins and learning about types I hadn't seen. Watching newcomers being bitten by the ancient bug is fun. Creating more competition for my desired targets is the risk.

Overall, the rewards of this forum outweigh the risks .

 

Yes isn't it strange. One would naturally assume older=rarer=most valuable. Not so at all!!! Antique coins (100-300 years old) have sold for between 4-5 million US$ and even several sought after modern issues for many hundreds of thousands. But you don't hear of many ancient coin reaching those figures.

I think you hit the nail on the head when you said people are intimidated by them. Also I feel they recognise the more recent past and can relate to its history, events and rulers more readily than, I suppose, ancient Rome, Phoenicia, Greece or other ancient empire.

Can't think of any other logical explanation.....

 

I absolutely agree with both TIF and 'Wreath'.

I can still recall being so utterly surprised that ancient coins were even available for sale let alone in 'museum' quality at affordable prices---however strange and intimidating they seemed to me then.

It still tickles me to realize a US 'wheatie' (and I once had a 'substantial' modern collection) can be more retail valued, although no less scarce or rare than a particular ancient coin, yet struck only a century or so ago.

 

@TIF I'm one of those that caught the bug...but don't worry about me! I play in the shallow end of the pool!

Hey Steve did it...so can I post a rare non-ancient in the Ancient's section?

Truth is I just wanted to share a token I'm really excited about with the guys and gals in the Ancient's section.


brass, 28mm

It is likely one of the rarest tokens I own unless a hoard of them is discovered. This particular token was unknown to the author of the standard reference when it was published.

 

.

 

@Jwt708, Is that 'token' WWI or II or is it more recent? And where is 'Brooksfield'?

 

You're opening a can of worms there!

Brooks Field was established in Texas 8 December 1917 and was renamed Brooks Air Force Base on 24 June 1948 so it was made and used sometime between those dates. It's name comes from Sidney Johnson Brooks, who as a pilot in training, crashed and died on his final flight. It's believed he passed out after receiving a vaccine. Brooks was one of many pilot training bases and also the center for the Army Air Force and then the Air Force's flight medicine department. The style of the token makes me feel like it was pre-1930s.

 

There is also the question whether a specimen or test strike is really a coin and, for that matter, whether tokens are but we have ancient tokens as well so I think we are back to the matter that CT has sections for you to post about moderns and exonumia. Not all that long ago we waged a bit of a war here to get a separate ancient section partly because the world coin people were tired of the ancient coin people polluting their pool. Now we get posts from modern collectors who tell us how sinful it is to clean coins. I guess they would display their ancients in boxes of dirt in the yard?? A lot of this crossover, I suspect, is due to the box on the right side showing recent posts that do not have titles telling modern collectors that they would find ancients there. When we were combined with World, many of us started each of our threads with the word "Ancients:" but that seemed unnecessary when we got our own section on CT. While we welcome visitors who do not collect ancients, we would prefer those visitors remember that they are in the Ancient section and not expect us to know anything about 19th, 20th or 21st century things.

 

A very fun thread! This isn't my rarest coin by any means, but it's the rarest coin that arrived at my doorstep in the past 48 hours, a DIVO ROMVLO follis. Valerius Romulus was one of usurper Maxentius' two sons - we don't know the name of the other. Romulus died young and was memorialized by his father on these coins. You get your choice of two mints on these, Rome and Ostia - this one is Rome.

The surfaces are finely rough, but overall the coin has wonderful detail and character. (Besides, a smooth version of this type with this much detail would run you well over $600.)

 

Im sure I have others but this seems to be the rarest of mine.


Claudius (41 - 54 A.D.)
Attaleia, Pamphylia
Æ 19
O: Bare head left.
R: ΑΤΤΑΛΕΩΝ, helmeted head of Athena right.
Attalea mint
4.44g
Baydur 15, BMC 13 (plate 23, 8), Istanbul museum collection 7726

Ex. Heritage Auctions, Aug 9, 2012, #231232 Lot 62017, (part of)

 

Sorry Doug

I am excited I added that token to my collection and wanted to share it with collectors who might have missed when it was posted earlier.

 

Love the Claudius Mat.

 

OMG, I LOVE that coin!!!

 

I have small provincials that are apparently rare after talking to Dane back when I got them.


Commodus (177 - 192 A.D.)
Æ18 of Philippopolis, Thrace
O: AV KOMMODOC ANTONINOC laureate head right.
R: FILIPPOPOLEITWN crescent and 4 stars.
18mm
4.5g
Varbanov 1006


Elagabalus, (218 - 222 A.D.)
Æ20
Thrace: Philippopolis
O: AUT K M AUR ANTWNINOS, laureate head right .
R : FILIPPOPOLEITWN NEWKWRWN, Hermes standing ,holding Purcell and caduceus.
20mm
3.6g
Varbanov, Vol. III, 1781, p. 203


Julia Mamaea (222 - 235 A.D.)
Æ20
Thrace, Deultum
O: IVLIA MAMAEA AVG, diademed and draped bust right.
R: CFPD, forepart of bull left.
20mm
3.5g
Varbanov (E) 2380; Jurakova 202var.