Do you think you have what it takes to be the next NUMISMATIC GLADIATOR?

Welcome to Numismatic Gladiator!

Basically, you challenge someone to a cheap coin challenge. Each of you buys one coin from the agreed-upon venue (usually eBay or VCoins), within the agreed price limit. Then we have a poll, and the winner becomes the champion of that round. You and your competitor keep your coins. The winner of each round gets bragging rights and a little trophy for his or her signature line. Every tenth round is a championship round, where all nine of the previous winners compete for the "eagle" trophy.

These little "Cheap Coin Challenges" arose from a friendly wager @Aethelred and I had back in what became the first "Numismatic Gladiator" competition, over on Collectors Universe.

He said he still found as much joy in buying a $20 coin for his collection as he would a a more expensive one. I agreed. So he challenged me to a "duel" with $20 coins, winner to be decided by a forum poll.

The idea caught on, and has hopefully demonstrated that there's still plenty of fun to be had in numismatics without spending a fortune. It's really just all about fun, with a little friendly competition thrown in. We hope the subsequent contestants have had fun, too. Win or lose, it seems like they have.

This thread will be an index of past competitions and a place for announcements about future ones.

You may also feel free to volunteer yourself as a contestant and/or suggest any themes that interest you. Since these are cheap coin challenges, usually the price limit has been $20 US, or $25 if US coins were involved. But that is not necessarily set in stone.

Have a look at some of the previous contests to get a feel for how they played out. If you think you'd like to participate, pick a category, pick a price point, and pick an opponent to challenge, or we can pick one for you. Then post your willingness to enter the arena and we'll schedule your contest cointest!

 

*** CYCLE I ***
(Was played on Collectors Universe between May and September, 2016.)

~ Numismatic Gladiator I ~
Aethelred vs. lordmarcovan
(Roman Imperial coins under $20.00 ~ Aethelred won)

~ Numismatic Gladiator II ~
Stork vs. Swampboy
(Pre-1800 dated world coins under $20.00 ~ Swampboy won)

~ Numismatic Gladiator III ~
Andres vs. dadams
(Pre-1964 United States coins under $25.00 ~ dadams won)

~ Numismatic Gladiator IV ~
lordmarcovan vs. savoyspecial
(World exonumia under $20.00 ~ lordmarcovan won)

~ Numismatic Gladiator V ~
ajaan vs. Jackthecat1
(Canadian coins under $20.00 ~ Jackthecat1 won)

~ Numismatic Gladiator VI ~
Musky1011 vs. PatAR
(Spanish/Spanish Colonial coins under $20.00 ~ PatAR won)

~ Numismatic Gladiator VII ~
jtlee321 vs. TavernTreasures
(Post-1965 US or World coins under $25.00- TavernTreasures won)

~ Numismatic Gladiator VIII ~
LochNESS vs. WorldCoinsDmitry
(German States coins under $20.00 ~ LochNESS won)

~ Numismatic Gladiator IX ~
CoinCast vs. seanq
(World or US Error coins under $25.00 ~ CoinCast won)

~ Numismatic Gladiator X ~
CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND: all NINE champions from Cycle I face off!
(ANY coin, token, or medal under $10.00 ~ dadams won)

 

*** CYCLE 2 ***
(This is the first cycle to be played on CoinTalk.)

~ Numismatic Gladiator XI ~
Aethelred vs. lordmarcovan
(Ancient Greek or Greek Imperial coins under $25.00)
***PENDING*** ~ contestants are shopping

~ Numismatic Gladiator XII ~
Stork vs. (?)
(Asian coins - price limit and second gladiator to be announced)

~ Numismatic Gladiator XIII ~
(To be announced)

~ Numismatic Gladiator XIV ~
(To be announced)

~ Numismatic Gladiator XV ~
(To be announced)

~ Numismatic Gladiator XVI ~
(To be announced)

~ Numismatic Gladiator XVII ~
(To be announced)

~ Numismatic Gladiator XVIII ~
(To be announced)

~ Numismatic Gladiator XIX ~
(To be announced)

~ Numismatic Gladiator XX ~
CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND:all NINE champions from Cycle II face off!
(To be announced)

 

So as you can see, @Aethelred and I, the original Numismatic Gladiators, will have a rematch in NG11, but this time with Greek coins rather than Roman. He narrowly won NG1, so I'm hoping for redemption in NG11!

Watching our rematch should give you an idea of how these play out live.

Then we'll need to find @Stork an opponent in Asian coins for NG12, and on we'll go from there.

Aethelred and I are shopping for our contest coins, and when we've made our purchases, the NG11 poll will go up. Typically the polls run about a week and are tallied at a predetermined time to see who won.

So stay tuned. Will Aethelred reign supreme in ancients again, or will I have my shot at redemption? Regardless of who wins, a good time should be had by all.

 

Cathy ( @Stork ) is into Japanese coins, so I think Far Eastern would be more the intention with NG12. We didn't want to just do Japanese, but I would tend to agree with you on the Middle East, Russian, (Afghan, etc, etc) exclusion. Far East. (China, Japan, Korea, etc.)

Of course as Master of Ceremonies and polls, yours truly knows next to nothing of Far Eastern coins, so it will be dependent upon y'all to provide a good description. I will merely repost the information provided.

As to the price point, we might stick to the standard $20 but we will see.

Shipping has never been included in NG pricing and is not counted as part of the total, so if for example you have a $20 limit you may spend the full $20, and even if it costs you $8 to ship the coin, that doesn't count against you. This was cofounder @Aethelred 's provision. (Myself, I would've made shipping included, but I nod to my fellow director there.)

 

I was asked this question.

My reply was:

 

This is correct.

Coins aren't bought until the directors say "go", and must be from the approved venue (usually but not necessarily always eBay or VCoins) and within the assigned category.

 

Sorry, but we do not allow such games to be played here. The only games, contests, or competitions that we allow on CT are those where the contestants DO NOT have to spend money - not 1 cent.