12 Caesars in silver in late 2025?

Discussion in 'Ancient Coins' started by Mark_Canada, Nov 15, 2025 at 9:26 AM.

  1. Mark_Canada

    Mark_Canada New Member

    Just signed up, but have read these fora for a long time. Thanks for everyone's posts - this area is absolutely fascinating...!

    For background - I'm very novice, but very lucky to have collected some great coins along the way (all vetted through those who very much do know what they're doing). I've read as much as I can about how to tell if a coin is authentic, and am starting (I think) to get a general sense; however, would certainly not trust myself). I'm generally trying to obtain coins that are not slabbed since I think (?) that they tend to be a bit cheaper.

    And I'll also apologize for the topic as I know that this probably one of the most common topics a beginner like me asks.

    I'm trying to obtain one in silver now and trying to get a sense of how much one would cost in this day and age. I've seen past posts including from 2016 I think where the same question was asked, and the estimate was about ?$8k I believe. I have searched and tried to source, but hoping to avoid auctions altogether. Since this is my first post, I can't post it in the 'Want' thread yet, but will when I can.

    I have a healthy budget for it (I was looking at HJB's 12 Caesars that just sold, but missed the boat) - I'm more concerned that it's a decent deal than the price.

    For quality, I was hoping for VF or above.


    Thanks!
     
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  3. The Meat man

    The Meat man Supporter! Supporter

    There are a lot of other factors besides grade that go into pricing ancients. But for a solid, decent denarius set in VF with no glaring issues, purchased retail, I'd say, if you are patient enough to wait for good deals as they appear, you can expect to pay the following -

    Julius Caesar: $2,500
    Augustus: $500
    Tiberius: $500
    Caligula: $3,000
    Claudius: $2,000
    Nero: $600
    Galba: $700
    Otho: $1,000
    Vitellius: $500
    Vespasian: $250
    Titus: $300
    Domitian: $200

    Comes to about $12k.
     
    nerosmyfavorite68 likes this.
  4. johnmilton

    johnmilton Well-Known Member

    It's been my experience that the prices listed in the previous post are too low. Of course, I collect pieces that grade at least VF, so that might be why I think those numbers are low.

    I have a Julius Caesar portrait piece which was issued 11 months after his death. I have bid as much as $11,000 (plus a 20% buyers fee) on a life time portait piece and did not get it. The Julius Caesar elephant denarius is by far the most common piece that was issued during his life time. Nice examples of those seem to go for $2,000 to $2,500.

    Julius Caesar Ele All.jpg

    Caligula silver pieces are very tough. I have passed on them in $5,000 to $6,000 range because I didn't like the color. They had been cleaned, as most ancient coins are, but they just didn't look right to me. I have the typical AS with rough surfaces and have not gotten anything that was any better.

    Here is my set of the 12 caesars. Most of they are all denarii except for Caligula and Claudius which is a Cistophoric Tetradrahm.
    Twelve Caesars.jpg

    As to my expertise, I am a very experienced collector of U.S. coins and an "well advanced novice" in Roman imperial coins.
     
  5. Bing

    Bing Illegitimi non carborundum Supporter

    I paid much less, but, then again, I've been collecting for 45 years. Here is my set (not near as nice as thos posted from @johnmilton
    12 Caesars #3.jpg
     
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