Ancient Coin Collectors?

Maybe one copper, one silver, one gold...maybe one Greek, one Roman...maybe

 

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OK, so this triggers a follow-up question: Who among us has the earliest collection? (This should be addressed to all, but I expect some interesting answers in this forum.)

My recollection of actually collecting a coin for the purpose of a collection is 1958 (and of course it was an IH cent).

 

Ha, Ha, Ha, Ha,...........

 

Wow, that's a real interesting point, either way it seems like a collection. Thanks Ed!

 

Awesome (I keep forgetting about China)!

 

I afraid that's a fact!!!

 

Unfortunately, most of us in the West DO forget about this rich and long History. It is an amazing country and peoples. Been there many times.

Here is a couple of my Ant Nose coins...


China Shang Dynasty 1766-1154 BC Ant Nose Ge Liu Zhu 2.6g 19.5mm x 11mm very scarce H 1.10


China Shang Dynasty 1766-1154 BC Ant Nose Ge Liu Zhu 17.4mm x 10mm very scarce H 1-10

 

Thank you, I will check it out!

 

I tagged this as the Best Answer.

The reason why this was best in my view is that in the Renaissance, there were also books about ancient coins for the first time. I grant that hoards of old coins are known. But the hoarders had no scholarship in support of their collection. More to the point, it is true that if you own not a single coin, but have a library of books about them, then you are a true numismatist nonetheless. That was not possible before the Renaissance.

Also, the 18th Century saw an explosion in classical scholarship that included the invention of philology as a result of the extensive knowledge of Greek and Latin. Thus, Gibbons' Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire supplemented knowledge that re-emerged when Plutarch's Lives was brought into new editions in the 1500s. Shakespeare drew heavily from them. None of that can be associated with clay pots of old coins, interesting though they are in their own right.

 

https://www.coincommunity.com/pdf/Ant-Nose-essay.pdf

 

Thanks Kentuck. Knew a lot of that, but that is a great article.

 

how can one be certain coins dated to the shang were made then, or were actually made later?

 

https://www.amazon.com/Numismatics-...r=8-4-fkmr0&keywords=elvira+clain+steffenelli

Anyone interested in this topic needs to read this book. We have discussed it here many times before but there are new people who may not have had the opportunity and others who only recently realized that there is more to collecting than "...and their values".

 

Wow, Thomas Walker was very thorough & wrote a great piece. I may have to revise my thinking for my first ancient!

 

Thanks Doug, just bought it on Amazon!

 

Well, I expected some great replies, but I am really blown away by your responses.

They are the epitome of the value of this site, and I hope that many newbies may have seen this, & understand the wealth of knowledge available.

Thank you very much to everyone! I look forward to sharing with you my first ancient(s), hopefully soon.

Steve

 

Welcome to CTAF @PlanoSteve ! How about collecting an ancient coin from each of the great civilizations? That would be fun and it wouldn't cost too much—especially if you like "survivor" coins—ones that have been in service and handled by many ancient hands. Those are my favorite—I like to hold a coin in my hand and imagine all of the people from ancient history who used it and what they might have purchased with it.