I found a fairly cheap coin on ebay but i want to know if its worth it or not the total cost for me is like 5 euros
And i have another question. Is it worth buying uncleaned roman coins? it seems more interesting and fun to do for me
I recommend bulk lots of cleaned coins. Uncleaned coins are mostly junk in my opinion. But there are great cleaned lots that are good for beginners learning the basics of identification.
You're not going to get a definitive answer to your question, since there are so many factors that enter into providing such advice to someone who isn't known on this site. Here are some of the reasons why it's difficult to answer your question: 1. What is your purpose in purchasing this coin? Is it just a curiosity because it's ancient, or are you interested in the period it represents? 2. Do you plan to collect more ancient coins, or just this one that you can look at and possibly show to others as an example of a surviving ancient coin? 3. Do you like the depiction of the emperor on the obverse? Is there something on the reverse (which you didn't show) that appeals to you? 4. Are you concerned about its authenticity? If so, you're much better off purchasing ancient coins from a dealer at www.vcoins.com than from EBay. 5. Are you interested in this coin just because it's cheap? If so, that's OK but if you have a bigger budget and longer term interest in ancient coins, there may be better starter coins for you to acquire than a random one from EBay. Just a few things to think about.
It's risky buying "uncleaned" Romans as many of the lots are partially cleaned and cherrypicked, leaving only common coins that the seller's partial cleaning revealed to be in a poor state of preservation. That said, there are some European dealers I've come to trust for providing high-quality uncleaned coins, but you will want at least some basic coin-cleaning tools on-hand before jumping into them.
I just want to make a little collection, of roman coins for my self and mabye others, i dont care how rare or common they are.
I do not regret buying coins like that one when I was starting in the hobby but no longer have many of them. In the last few months I have given away about 30 coins and sold two or three with the idea that my collection needed to be better rather than bigger. Finding someone who was willing to pay in 2018 dollars what I paid in 1988 dollars has not been easy so giving them away has been as rewarding but in a different way. In those 30 years, I learned a lot from the coins I have owned and there is education to be had from coins like yours and that education is worth what I 'lost' in cash. If you are interested in making a financial killing trading coins, buying this coin was a waste of money. If you want to build a life as a collector/student of ancient coins, you did as well as most people. Cleaning uncleaned coins is not a good way to get a collection of ancient coins. It is a way to have fun seeing if you can will the lottery and find worth under the soil. It is a different hobby from coin collecting. If you want coins you will continue to want, buy coins you can see. Listen to Nicholas Molinari and buy CLEANED coins in groups or singly but buy coins that speak to you.
Juris, looks like you might benefit from this beginners’ FAQ thread. https://www.cointalk.com/threads/ancient-coins-beginners’-faq-thread.324858/#post-3206438
I would buy it, but only because I like Gallienus, it's got a nice portrait, and I don't already have a PIETAS AVG reverse type.
Good advice, everybody. I'd like to take a moment to address the actual coin in question. It is an antoninianus of Gallienus (most of you already knew that). When I first started collecting, intermittently, many years ago, I shunned this kind of coin in favor of actual silver (Roman Republic mostly). But my appreciation has grown for this sort of base metal late-empire material, and this OP coin in particular is, in my opinion, a winner. I say this primarily because the portrait is exceptionally well-done for Gallienus. Many of his coins can be quite crude, even cartoonish - these also have their charms - but this one is quite well-executed - again, I love that portrait. The reverse is rather unfortunate, but that is often the case with Gallienus & family. Starting out with Gallienus has another benefit - he has so many reverse types. Hippocamps and stags and centaurs the whole Roman pantheon, pretty much - you name it, it probably wound up on one of his coins. The OP features Pietas, which is not the most exciting type, but you gotta start somewhere. Also, Gallienus (and his father) was one of the first emperors to really start decentralizing the mints - so there are a lot of regional varieties and types. Another interesting thing about Gallienus is that the fineness of his antoniniani varied so much you can get some nice silver ones and interesting AE-type patinas. I'll shut up now, but here is one I got a while back that really appealed to me because of the sandy desert patina and Apollo reverse type. The portrait is not as nice as the OP. I paid $6.25 for it. As Doug notes, 30 years from now, it probably won't be worth much more than that, if that. So yeah, don't collect this kind of material for the "investment": P.S. Don't forget the wife - 2 from Mrs. Gallienus (Salonina) - Venus from behind and a doe (note "silvery" and old bronze green surfaces): P. P. S. Don't forget the kids - here are 2 I just got. Valerian II was the son and heir of Gallienus, but he didn't make it that far. Antioch mint, with a rather startled look. Just posted this elsewhere, but again:
