Well, I finally did it. I've been feeling like my Parthian collection is at an impasse- almost every coin that I don't have is rare, and correspondingly expensive when it does show up in the market. Adding new coins is starting to feel more like a chore than a joy. That, combined with some upcoming financial imperatives, led me to make a decision a few weeks ago to consign my Parthians to auction. The vast majority (97%) of my Parthian collection is now in the custody of a well-known ancient coin firm in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. I kept just a few pieces that are duplicates or have sentimental value; everything else (including all but one of the Parthian coins whose photos I've shared here) is heading back out into the market. And I... feel pretty okay with that, honestly. I was expecting to be feeling a lot more "seller's remorse" at this point, but if anything I feel kind of relieved to be selling the collection. I had a lot of fun assembling it over the last 20 years, but now it's time to let others enjoy my coins. Selling it by auction consignment may mean settling for less total money for me, after seller's fees, but the exposure of a major auction house may compensate for that, plus it means there will be a public record of several coins in my collection that are unpublished varieties (notably several later tetradrachms with unpublished year/ month combinations). I am not planning on giving up ancient coins, or coin collecting in general. I'm not even committed to giving up Parthian coins, though I will definitely be reducing my intake rate. Any further Parthian coins I buy will be nice examples of specific types that appeal to me, not an attempt to collect every possible variety as in my previous collection. (I had 50 different drachms of Orodes II. Nobody really needs 50 different drachms of Orodes II.) The Baltimore coin show is in two weeks, and I may pick up a couple of Sasanians, or Romans, or even a nice Parthian if a truly appealing coin speaks to me, but I won't be trying to "fill in the hole". Have any of the experienced collectors here done something similar (i.e. sell off the bulk of a collection without abandoning the hobby)? Any advice, suggestions, etc. is appreciated.
buy what you love/like. sell off ones that do not mean that much to you. know the values of the coins you want to sell. there might be members here that would give you a good price for your coins. ?
It sounds like you have considered all your options and have approached this from the most logical avenue you could once your decision was made. My 'sale' was due to absolute necessity and not choice so I had sellers remorse for years after LOL Of course, I did return several years after selling my collection and basically began all over again within my ancient/'generalist' interests. So my only suggestion is to continue to collect what you love most and have fun.
I went through something similar myself. A while back I gave up on collecting due to the expense of filling in the gaps, and the fact that I had to hide my best coins away in a bank, made me decide that if I couldn't afford to complete my sets or even look at the best ones that I already owned,( at my leisure, ) It wasn't worth the hassle, and expense, so I stopped collecting and sold off most of my coins. Now, fast forward about 10 years to 1999, BAM the state quarter program started. This was right up my alley, each coin had a different design, they were inexpensive, and easily obtained. I told myself that this time I wouldn't worry about getting every date and mint mark just pick up the coins that appeals to me and not worry about completing sets. So I picked up the proof sets for each year, and am now working on a U. S. type set, would like to own just one of each type ( not the gold, too expensive) and am okay with that. My problem now is that there are just too many new beautiful coins medals, and rounds from around the world to keep up with. I guess what I'm saying is that you can take a break from collecting, but the love for collecting will always be there for you to come back if and when you're ready. Best of luck. John..
actually, in a weird way, the state quarter program nudged me into coin collecting. my dad was never a coin collector, but he did get into the state quarters, so i started saving them for him. i was looking at coins on ebay with my dad in mind when stumbled across my first ancient coins. i purchased dad and myself one for dad. dad wasn't impressed much, but i was! @Parthicus, i wish you best in your new collecting endeavors!
Parthicus, It sounds like you were hit with a "bolt of wisdom." I'm hoping that such a common sense decision will come to me one day. My collections are (mostly) US coins including Type Coins (not the gold), IHCs, Liberty, Buffalo, and Jefferson nickels, Merc and Roosevelt dimes, etc., etc. My problem is that I collected so aggressively in the beginning, I've finished all of my modern sets. I've gone back and am re-doing a couple of series from circulation but I'm feeling kind of detached. I miss the excitement of the hunt! I need only 4 dates to complete my IHC series (you can probably guess the dates) But, because of rarity and cost I'll probably never complete it. The most logical thing to do would be to start another series but my economic situation won't allow me to finish sets like Morgan Dollars, '32 - '63 Washington quarters, or Mercury Dimes, etc. Consequently, my most current activity is Silver Crown-sized world coins. Such a collection is pretty random so I still miss the excitement that the hobby once held for me. Best regards, Jack
Thanks for the encouragement and perspectives, everyone. And Deacon Ray: Well, okay. I still have the knowledge and experience of my Parthian collection, even if I don't have the coins themselves. Plus I still have the reference books
That's why I decided to be a generalist collector, devoting oneself to one specialty gets super expensive and repetitive after a while. Being a generalist, I can afford to add an expensive coin here or there, and still have tons of fun (and less financial burden) collecting more common coins (cheaper) and adding more variety to the collection. I don't have the devotion and patience it takes to have a niche specialty collection. Even if money wasn't an issue at all, I think I'd still get very bored after a while.
Just kidding with the Parthian advisor comment! I know what it's like to be typecast in an area that your trying to put behind you. You've made up your mind about moving away from the Parthians so it would be unfair for us to continue to label you as "the Parthian guy". Of course your screen name might be a problem if your trying to shake the Parthian label. I'm enjoying collecting a variety of Biblical kingdom coins even though my primary focus is Judaean. I'm grateful for the Parthian advice that you have given me! My plan is to collect 3 consecutive reign or sequential coins from each of the kingdoms surrounding Judaea including coins of the various occupying powers. I have Seleucid, Ptolemaic, Roman, Nabataean, Bactrian/Indo-Scythian, and Parthian. Do you have any suggestions which I should pursue next?
Decisions, decisions ! Is it OK to ask you where and when they will be auctionned ? A fellow collector and goodfriend of mine is a parthaddict too and I'm sure he will gladly welcome the information Q
Deacon Ray: I really don't mind continuing as one of the "Parthian guys" on the group. I still find them interesting, and will still probably acquire a few more in the future. Plus, I love sharing whatever bits of knowledge I've picked up over the years, and why shouldn't that include a sub-specialty that I spent years focusing on? As for other contemporary kingdoms to collect, it sounds like you've been pretty thorough. About all I would add are the Sabaeans and Himyarites of southern Arabia, though for those kingdoms the sequence of rulers isn't so well understood and you may not be able to do the "three consecutive rulers" theme. You could also do Elymais, Persis, and Characene- even though all were vassals of the Parthians, they did issue their own coinage. Moving further afield, there were various kingdoms in India issuing coins at this time, and of course China, though these places had little interaction with Judaea so they may seem like stretching too much. Though China in this period does include the reign of Wang Mang (7- 22 AD), who not only made several currency reforms (leading to numerous coinage types being abundant today), the story of his reign is fascinating, and I leave it for you to look him up. My Parthian coins are going to be sold by Classical Numismatic Group (CNG). I don't know the exact date, but it's probably some months away as it takes time for them to properly catalogue and photograph the coins, decide starting bids and which coins to group vs. which to sell individually, etc., not to mention the many coins in the queue ahead of mine. Assuming it's not against group policy on advertising, I will announce the sale date(s) here when I know more.
