How Many Ancient Coins do you Buy in a Year?

I’ve noticed that the number of coins I buy per year is starting to settle into a pattern of about 20 or so coins per year. I’m curious what the typical number of coins bought by the group for your personal collection is (ie excluding coins meant for re-sale).

Do you prefer to get as many interesting coins as possible or a smaller number of higher value coins?

Please feel free to vote in the poll and comment below with your typical buying habits.

Here is the first coin I purchased in 2023 to get the ball rolling.

 

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I think you should consider the cost of the coins. I buy 11-20 or more small bronze Greek coins a year. Very inexpensive. If I were buying coins as yours, that number would drop to zero or one.

 

I only buy unclean lots, only what I need to keep me busy cleaning. That would be about 20 coins per year.

 

It used to be several dozen a year, but after covid, prices going up, and no longer buying overseas, due to the issues from Covid, I barely buy 10 a year. Maybe less.

 

I normally buy 20-30 per year. This is only my 2nd year of collecting ancients. I guess in another year or so that will drop to around 10 per year when I decide on an area to concentrate on.

 

I probably average around 10 to 20 coins per year. I also sell a small number each year as my collection grows and evolves. I have a few coins above $500 but most are probably in the $50 to $150 range, so I guess my collection is a decent mix of bargain coins and high quality pieces.

 

20-30 ancients is about right for me but if I get a good deal and the price is right, it will be more. Also depends on how many US coins I buy and what they cost as well.
So far this year in 8 months I about 15 ancients and over 100 US.

 

Being so fussy about the type I buy (architecture), I am automatically restricted on quantity and yearly spend which is not such a bad thing as keeps me focused and able to buy a more expensive coin if it comes along. Only coin purchased so far this year $45 RR worn but very expensive in better shape. P. Cornelius Marcellinus50 BC. AR Denarius, 3.61 grm, 20mm Rome. Obv. Bare head of M. Claudius Marcellus, Reverse. Consul P. Cornelius Marcellinus advancing to right, veiled holding trophy in front of temple of Jupiter Feretrius. Crawford
439/1.

 

I'm at about 20-30 coins a year as well, with the most recent being part of a small French hoard of 3d century antoninianii at about $40 each. I'm trying to focus on better quality, higher-end ($100-200/coin... okay, so not really high end) coins in my core collecting areas of Magna Grecian / Calabria mints and medieval to 19th century East Frisian coinage but like most others, if I see a misattributed deal outside of my core collecting range I will bite.

I'm still chipping at the "one of each emperor" series but as it's clear I won't ever really get there, I just pick up coins I like to integrate into that area. The French hoard is a case in point; it was an opportunity to restore a few antoninianii to their former glory and I got a pretty nice Volusian out of the lot to boot which I have been looking for, on and off, for several years.

 

That is a fantastic type AA. Congratulations on the budget score! One of these is also on my long term list.

 

I must say I’m somewhat surprised by the results so far. I was expecting my 20-30 coins a year to put me on the low end of the poll.

At some point I intend to concentrate on filling out my want list of LRBs. At that point I might start to get into the 50+ category. There is still a lot of good value in LRB so one’s budget can stretch farther and still land interesting coins… at least for now. If I concentrated solely on the Greek coins I like I’d probably be looking at just 10 or so a year on my budget. RR and Imperial maybe 30-40. I’m a generalist so spread out between about 30% Greek, 50% Roman and 20% whatever catches my eye I typically end up at around 20 coins.

 

Like @Curtisimo, I'm surprised that my 20 to 30 coins per year, is at the high end of the poll, so far. Perhaps it's because, I buy mostly relatively inexpensive coins. Also, like @Curtisimo, I'm a generalist, therefore it seems like, there are a lot of inexpensive coins available for me to buy.
I based my poll answer, on the number of coins that I've bought in 2023 so far. In 2023 so far, I've bought 20 coins. If that trend continues, then I'll have bought 29 coins by the end of the year. In 2022, I bought approximately 108 coins. However, approximately 50 of those coins were cheap US coins, such as proof Lincoln cents, and a bunch of Indian head cents. 2021 was probably my peak year, for the number of non-US coins, that I bought in 1 year. However, it would take me a long time to go back and add it up, because I didn't keep a nice simple list for 2021, or the years before that. I've been collecting US coins since childhood. I've been collecting ancients and medievals since 2018.
In 2023, I've been buying fewer coins, and I've been buying cheaper coins. Partly because, I have almost all of the coins I ever wanted. And partly because, I've been trying to spend less money on coins. In 2023, of the 20 coins I've bought so far, only 3 of them were more than $100. I haven't bought any US coins in 2023, so far. Probably because I haven't gone to any local coin shows, in 2023.

 

Well, those who know me know my answer. I answered 100+. Real answer, if only ancients and not stuff like world, random US, Chinese, etc is probably around 250. Some 4 figure coins, more 3 figure ones, but most maybe averaging $50 a coin. Haven't bought my fill this year, but fall auction season coming up. Actually have my eyes on a couple of auctions this weekend.

Not saying it's right, and admit I am a hoarder, but I am In a place in life I can indulge some, and will sort out what I own when I am retired.

 

I have no real game plan, I try to pick up eye pleasing coins that grab me of types I don't have yet. They are generally inexpensive, just coins nice enough to look at and learn a little about the history when they circulated.
I would have to say that Greek ancients fascinate me the most even though most of my collection is common Roman characters.
Once in awhile I splurge on a "better" coin, but haven't spent over $200 for any.

oooops Forgot to post I am in the 11-20 range.

 

Around 31-50 for me, but those were mainly cheaper Greek or Roman coins. It's nice that many of them are in good condition.

 

Oops. I just noticed that the poll is for ancient coins, not all coins. Of the 20 coins I've bought 2023, 12 were ancient, 5 were medieval including 2 Byzantine coins, and 3 were modern including 3 non-US coins and 0 US coins. If this trend continues, then I'll have bought 17 ancient coins in 2023. Therefore, I changed my poll answer to 11 to 20 ancient coins per year, based on my predicted ancient coin purchases for 2023. In 2022, I bought 35 ancients, 18 medievals including 2 Byzantine coins, and approximately 55 moderns including 3 non-US coins and approximately 52 US coins. Perhaps 2021 was my peak year, for buying ancient coins. But, I didn't keep a nice simple list for 2021, or the years before that, therefore it would take me a long time, to add it all up for 2021 and previous years.

 

Byzantine and medieval coins are fair game. I should have added those to the poll title. I add a medieval, eastern and Byzantine coin occasionally and count those as part of my core ancient coin collection. Anything machine made I consider part of my modern collection and separate.

 

In the last 12 months, I have bought around 50 ancients, but the vast majority are lower value 'learner' types to really get an understanding of the hobby and figure out how collecting numismatics works. I had been collecting other things for years and had been a really advanced collector, but changing countries and tastes lead me to this. I have always loved history and had collected coins since I was a kid, but never really seriously.

I'm getting as many views of what's out there as I can, ingesting knowledge and what right looks like, as well as figuring out what I like and want to focus on. Ultimately quality beats quantity, and I am moving that way, but having fun grabbing things which tickle my fancy right now.

 

The 3 modern coins, which I have purchased in 2023, are all east Asian cast coins. However, I decided to leave my poll answer as 11 to 20 ancient coins per year, because my definition of "ancient" is coins created before 500 AD.

 

Wow, oof! This has been a reality check for me! I thought I was cutting back this year, but now that I count, maybe not so much....

My ACSearch bookmarks show at least 30 or 40 single or group lots this year (some groups of 2 - 12, no really big groups of 50 or 200 low-grade coins this year), plus some from dealers, ebay, or auctions not on ACSearch (like Naville Numismatics).

Nor does that include coin books/old catalogs, which might exceed coins this year in number. (Well, counting old catalogs it definitely does! Sometimes I buy 100 or 300 at once, but for well under $1 each.)

I was satisfying myself at having "saved money," for example, by dropping out of the bidding on this Phoenician AE at CNG, then winning it at Naville for < 1/4 of the price, I believe (having, in a few months, already shed its provenance as a "cover coin" for The Celator Issue 2!):




Or because it was the last AR Obol I needed to complete my "BCD Set" (all 10 major catalogs + at least one coin from each), and I could stop after that:




I also had to get that one because it was also the "plate coin" in HGC, but it wasn't mentioned in the listing (not that surprising really, since that's where HGC plate coins come from!).... There were a bunch like that. In fact, pretty much every coin I buy.

I genuinely wonder sometimes if dealers/auctions leave out important provenance or publication history knowing that people like me are scanning for coins they recognize from Naville-Ars Classica catalogs or Dattari or just old issues of The Celator and can't resist bidding/buying once they've found something extra...