Relatively new at all this...Do people really buy and sell those Roman brothel tokens ? Historically speaking - would you find these at a museum? would most collectors be willing to sell them? Are they worth anything compared to regular roman imperial and republic coins? I mean they are still 2000 years old Are there any fakes tokens floating around? would $50 US for a set of 6 be overpriced?
If every reader of this post must google to know what you are talking about when in future the link will be no more available this discussion will be useless.
I believe you are talking about spintriae. They are not brothel tokens at all (there are several points against it). They apear to be simply game tokens or for other uses. They are hard to find, not many survived and since they are so "pintoresque", many people want them. So they are very expensive when offered for sale. I believe BM has only 25 examples in their collection. So, if you see a seller offering a group, I don´t even have to tell you: Those are fakes. EDIT: That is what links are for, had you provided it before my comment, I would not have written about spintriae.
spintriae, yes I thought they were just called roman brothel tokens in this day and age. How much do genuine ones go for? Does anyone sell them?
Yes, as KIWITI said, they are very valuable. The most recent one I found for auction on CNG was VF and had been heavily cleaned yet sold for over $1,000. In better condition they can easily cross the $10,000 Mark. Don't bother posting a photo, the mods will remove it. 1950s morality and all that.
The places we all check when asked "what is this worth" are: CNG's archives (in this case, search term "spintria"). CNG is a major ancient coin auction house, in business for decades. Their archives are extensive and you don't have to pay to access them. This makes it an invaluable resource for everyone, including those who don't want to pay to have access to other databases. It's a good first stop whenever you want to know what a coin is worth. Caveat: you won't find low grade low value coins there. acsearch.info (but you have to have a paid account to see what the coin sold for at auction) coinarchives.com (although the free version mainly shows upcoming auction lots, with some which have closed recently) Also, to see what a given coin is currently being sold for (or what sellers are asking), same search on Vcoins.com. Likewise, use eBay's Advanced Search function and select "sold". In this case, don't bother with the eBay search. You will only find the extremely plentiful fake spintriae. You will not find any authentic spintriae on eBay. Genuine spintriae (and there's no hard evidence that they really were "brothel tokens") sell for many thousands of dollars even when in rather bad condition. A week or two ago there was a to-do here on the ancients forum when someone who rarely posts here posted a picture of one. A lengthy discussion ensued but the bottom line is: don't post pictures of these or links to them; they will be removed. Such sexually explicit material has been deemed inappropriate by the owners/moderators, and they make the rules so there's no point in arguing.
thanks i found that on wiki. and you can clearly see the coins and the images - clearly suggesting that they were brothel -like
You can also Google for scholarly articles written by numismatists if you'd like to read more theories on why they were struck.
Welcome @Gentlemaninpa Nice recap @TIF, thanks. I like to search and research as much as I can prior to posting a lot of questions. Rather, I try to use rifle shots when I need info. I also use the Coin Talk Search function for info about coins. It is AMAZING how many cool discussions, information, and folks offering links or further means to get information. You can search via a subject or even via a CoinTalk Member. I search via Members many times as they have real specialties and their contributions have revolved around their specialized knowledge. It seems a lot of the major coins and questions for information can be found there. That is what makes this Forum excellent. Additionally, I have found a LOT of information via forumancientcoins.com (among many other sites). Many of the posters and members here are members there too. It is a much more academic approach, but they have a coin shop, fake information, great and incisive discussions on their forums focused on coins, etc. You can trust the shop there for the Ancients offered. Personally, I only use eBay and/or Amazon for Ancients sellers that I really know and trust. I do not like using a shotgun approach of searching on these sites, then trying to DETERMINE if the items are fake and/or I can trust the "sellers". There have been too many shills or faked up sales and "feedbacks". HOWEVER, I DO save my TRUSTED SELLERS and shop them all the time. I find it a waste of time pursuing a lot of those Ancients items and concerning myself if it is fake, if I can trust a seller, etc. I focus on coins representing critical junctures in Human History. I am in no way a numismatist, but love the Hobby of Ancients. My general focus is on Roman Republic and those entities that interacted with them. Roman Republic Anonymous, circa 310-300 BCE AR Heavy Denarius - Didrachm 20mm, 7.28g uncertain mint (Neapolis?). Obv.Helmeted head of Mars to left; oak spray to right. Rev. Horse’s head right, wearing bridle, on base inscribed ROMANO; to left, stalk of grain. Sear 22; Crawford 13/1; HN III 266; Sydenham 1. From a Swiss collection, formed in the 1990s FIRST AR coin minted under Roman Authority
You can get nice replicas for $7.50 in tin or $31 in silver. This firm makes about 16 different varieties so you are likely to find most of your favorite brothel experiences! http://www.antiquanova.com/Erotic-coins
