Arcadius 395-408A.D good/bad??

A recent buy. I like the period surrounding the Roman empire. Constantine, even Alexander, Macedonian & Greek. I have a handful of ancients & wanting to add to it. Been collecting solily for 2-3 years. Over the past month or 2 I've learned much from you guys on CT.
On that. What are your thoughts on this?
Arcadius, Byzantine I believe. Has Mary on Obv. not sure what it is on Rev.
Thanks ahead of time.

 

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Well it's authentic!
Not bad for your first go around but this coin has seen better days. How much did you spend on it, if you don't mind me asking?

 

$45.00. It has a mahogany box displayed well. If I could've just got the coin I would've.

 

More than I intended.

 

Oh.
Well I'm afraid that you overpaid by about $40 then.
For the future I would stick to Vcoins or the "For Sale" page here.

 

Agreed, thats alot for a coin thats about $7 in that shape, I would say even less.

But don't let it discourage you from buying ancients.

If you have a coin you're eying, just ask us or PM one of us, we'll help.

 

Yeah, don't feel down over this. We have all made similar mistakes in the past.

 

Kinda figured. I mostly collect modern 1800'-early 1900's. LCS are very scarce here owners want to much & beef up merchandise with nice displays to try & justify their prices. True to both of you Mat & Magnus. I've dealt with a couple people in "For Sale" page 1 happy with what I recieved, another that coins yet received but messaged a bit before purchase so I think will like those buys.
I learn everyday collecting sure I'll continue that learning til the day I die.
Thanks for your input.

 

You are welcome.
Here is a link to coins of Arcadius on Vcoins. Happy shopping!
https://www.vcoins.com/en/Search.as...alse&Unassigned=False&searchOrderBy=price_asc

 

They covered the matter of price paid but no one covered the 'other' matter. This coin shows an early issue of one of the two young sons of Emperor Theodosius I. Theodosius was the last emperor of the entire Roman Empire and left it divided to his sons with Honorius getting the West and Arcadius getting the East. Within a century of this coin, the West 'fell' and the East became what we now call Byzantine. Some people consider Arcadius the first Byzantine emperor but others (myself anyway) think of him as Roman of the later period.

My coin is of a different mint (Constantinople) than yours (?). The reverse shows a wreath around VOTa V or "I hereby swear to be a good ruler for a period of 5 years starting now". The fact that the small portrait is enclosed in unbroken legend suggests the coin was from that early period just as does the V number which would rise in later years. My coin cost $10 and was not a particular bargain. Your next purchase will be better in terms of financial value but it is a perfectly genuine and educational coin.

I just sold (after much bloodletting?) my last batch of late Roman castoffs through our own John Anthony's list here on CT. The group of five finally went for $20 ($4 each) and included a similar coin of Theodosius I (Arcadius' father). Most of us accumulate over the years a few coins that are no longer what we still collect or even that we have replaced with nicer examples. You will do this also unless you are different from most of us.


The point is I learned a lot from these coins and a few hundred others I outgrew in the last 50 years. I do not regret buying them. I would have been happy if I could have sold them for a larger fraction of what I paid but that was not to be. I suspect that your coin will follow this example. You may want to keep it so you can show it off on CT when the thread 'My First Coin' comes up again in 30 years.

 

Your box may be worth more than the coin, but the cost in education is worth $ hundreds. We have all been there and done that. Buy the coin that appeals to you. You may find a better coin to display in your box.

 

If you want to learn about late Roman AE, which I think is a great area to collect, here is an educational site:

http://esty.ancients.info/ricix/

with lots of photos. Your coin is Type 29. The majority of coin types illustrated on that site are among the least expensive Roman types of all. Many can be found in very pleasing grade for $20 or less.

 

Not sure what I did with that last reply it's all there but in the quote bubble

 

You can fix that. Type the following at the end of the quote (or cut and paste it from where it is at the end of what you typed:

[/QUOTE]

 

I tried. Not tech savvy

 

It's fine Smojo. I read were you bought from HHC's, a good dealer who has sold me a number of coins.
Happy to have helped, if you ever need any assistance just Private message me.
Cheers

 

my first ancient was an arcadius as well smojo...




welcome aboard!

 

My 1st was a widows mite about 6 months ago. Im mostly 1800's mid 1900's for a couple/few years. Love history mostly ancient so my interests & collection are expanding.