Yesterday on ebay I was watching a coin as a potential upgrade/addition to my collection. It went above my bid, and I wasn't interested in getting into a bidding war, so I let it go. The coin was a Licinius II follis with a curious obverse legend LICINIAN LICINIVS IVN - no indication of Caesar anywhere on the coin. It was listed as R5 by the seller, confirmed in my reference. It sold for under $50. That got me thinking... we all have a preferred area of focus, and many of us appreciate a true rarity within that field. How significant does a rarity have to be in order for us to be prepared to drop a "significant" amount of money (be it $50 or $5,000) to add that rarity to our collection? In somewhat declining order: - Rare ruler or issuing authority (e.g. Otho, Gordian II, Romulus Augustulus) - Rare type or denomination (Decius double-sestertius, Severus Laetitia Temporum "ship and animals" denarius) - Rare titulature or historical connection (Gordian III as Caesar, Diadumenian as Augustus) - Rare mint (Alexandria denarii of the Nerva-antonines) - Rare variety (legend, mint, or control mark variant) Curious to know what everyone's cutoff is where they'd say "Nah, not worth it - let's wait for another one." Also, feel free to show off your favorite rarities in any of these categories! Roman: Rare ruler - Didius Julianus (my most expensive coin by a decent margin) Rare denomination / type - Julia Maesa AE As (Sold a few months ago) Rare Title - Clodius Albinus as Augustus Rare variety - Claudius II Antoninianus, FIDES EXERCITI - not EXERCI or EXERCIT which are the only two published variants
Based on your poll and post, I'm guessing your context is within the Roman Imperial milieu. I like it when a coin I've bought is regarded as rare in the market but that is usually just icing on the cake-- a secondary reason for liking the coin. The big reasons I will pay more for a coin are: 1. Interesting reverse (obverses can be interesting too... but not usually not when it is "just a bust". There are exceptions of course ). I particularly like unusual, rarely depicted, or syncretic deities. 2. Fine style. 3. Desirable pedigree/provenance. 4. High grade/aesthetic appeal (but also with fine style and usually with some "interesting" reverse"). 5. Rare city/state (Provincials)-- not a major factor for me.
I only pay up for a rarity if the entire type is rare AND has an interesting story/fits into the story told by my other coins. For example, my most expensive coin. This type is quite rare, but it has an incredibly interesting and specific story behind it. Plus the fact that it was once owned by an ancient Chinese noble is in itself amazingly cool! As for the lunacy of collecting by die variety in US coins, I want no part of it unless I am cherrypicking. I don’t pay up for rare coins just because they are rare. There needs to be something that justifies the price on top of the rarity.
I wonder what criteria are used by CT members who collect outside the Roman and Greek sphere? @TypeCoin971793, @AnYangMan... what are your criteria? Edited: LOL! TypeCoin posted while I was asking this question .
Doesn't have to be strictly Roman; they just make the best examples because many of the categories don't apply to Greek or non-classical coins for the most part. In fact, Greek coins can be so fickle that I've learned not to sell anything valuable on ebay without a high starting bid. Case in point: Cilicia, uncertain satrap AR Hemiobol Head of Herakles / Head of Aphrodite (?) Unpublished, not in any auction archives Sold for $30 Still pains me to think of that fateful sale. There are some other rarities that I won't let go for a few dollars, and have been unable to sell at anything resembling a decent price: Chersonesos AR Diobol (not hemidrachm) Aeolis, Kyme AR Trihemiobol (not hemiobol) Cyprus Pyntos AR hemiobol Ionia AR hemiobol, Head of seal in very unusual style and facing the wrong way Kelenderis AR obol, unpublished type Cilicia unpublished type (head right, not left)
^^^ TypeCoin made an excellent point and one I should have included in my list: story coins. I love a coin that tells a story or that has a story, either through its iconography or because of what happened to that coin sometime later. I suspect collectors of countermarked coins will second this .
I would, naturally, pay more for coins with these attributes, like for this Fiorino. I could have gotten a lesser/later style for half as much, but they just didn’t quite fill the spot. I don’t usually pay up for provenance, but there are certainly cases where I would. Chinese coins with old/solid provenances are generally worth more since they are much more likely to be genuine. Such an example is this spade from the Q. David Bowers collection. The above Wang Mang knife also has a very old provenance (relative to the scope of Chinese coins).
Coin must have "eye appeal" number one, second high quality, with no defects, then the historical significance, provenance....in otherwords a coin that I will never sell.
An example of this is with this knife coin. It is one of the earliest “Ming” knives in existence, having many strong characteristics of the earlier “pointed” knives, which is extremely rare. I paid up for it partly because I did not want to miss out (and part because I was careless with the exchange rate). It was important because it filled a gap in the evolution of the Yan state knife coin over 400 years of being issued.
Interesting idea for a topic! And some equally interesting coins in this topic. Love that Didius Julianus, @Finn235! Since you asked: for my Chinese collection, I primarily focus on small square foot coinage. This particular shape is one of the last ones produced towards of the end of the Warring states period and was produced in roughly 100 cities spread across 4 (and a half) state, each with its own inscription. I mostly collect by inscription, where rarity is the defining thing for their value. Common spades will generally set you back 50-100 USD, but rare types go for a multitude of that. I sometimes collect by variety, particularly for common types; I am willing to pay significant premiums for big varieties, inversed characters or an additional character, but these do not pop up that frequently. Take for example the most common inscription: Anyang (安陽, also the origin for my forum-name). If my administration is correct, there are at least ten specimens of this inscription in my collection, most of which are tiny calligraphic varieties. Who can spot the odd one out, where it is actually a major variety? (Don’t worry , I won’t post all of them ) For my non-Chinese collection, I am much more similar to @TypeCoin971793; coins with a story, be it from the imagery, its issuer, the historic context it was issued in, the (archaeological) context in which it was found or its provenance. Oh, and decent eye-appeal . Take for example this one, not quite ancient, that is currently heading my way. A hoedjesschelling ('hat' shilling) Zeeland 1711, from the shipwreck of VOC-ship the Zuytdorp!
Some rare coins are used by historians and professors because they tell History amid a grave lack of historical documents. They might be the only source of knowledge in this respect. Other coins might be very common but present a very exceptional high condition, almost MS (Mint state) of modern coins . Thus they are considered as rare. Also don't forget mint errors like double strike or double head etc..
For me the coin must have an interesting mythological motive on its rev. In this sense I am a rev. collector. The coin should provide hours and hours of investigations, not only mythological but historico-cultural and art-historical too. Jochen
Poll: None of the above. My motivation is History. Some of my collection satisfy my needs for niche coinage representing some fascinating placemarkers in those histories. RI Civil War Revolt of Vindex CE 68-69 AR Denarius 17mm 3.02g RIC I 62-RARE NOT Roman or Greek... Israelite AR 2-Gerah Hacksilber ca 8-6 C BCE 8.8x10mm 1.12g ex David Hendin RARE NOT Roman or Greek... Carthage 201-175 BC Æ 15 Shekels 45 mm 7.5 mm thick. 102g Struck by Hannibal after the 2nd Punic War to finance Roman Indemnities. WreathTanit Horse uraeus above. MAA 104 SNG Cop 400 RARE NOT Roman or Greek... Carthage - Sicily AR Litra 4th C BCE 9.5mm 0.65g Palm Tree Horse Head SNG Cop 74 EE Clain-Safanelli RARE NOT Roman or Greek... Very Difficult to find Libyan War / Mercenary Uprising against Carthage (after 1st Punic War). Carthage Zeugitania Libyan Revolt AR Shekel 24mm 7.34g 241-238 BCE Wreathed Tanit Horse stndg control mark and Punic M SNG Cop 236 Rare NOT Roman or Greek... Oversrike - Carthage LIBYAN UPRISING Mercenary War 241-238 BCE AR DiShekel Herakles Head in Lion's Head- Lion walking R SNG Cop 240f RARE Struck last two weeks of Caesar’s life... Roman Imperiatorial Julius Caesar Lifetime P Sepullius Macer AR Denarius, 1st 2 weeks-Mar 44 BCE, 19 mm, 4.03g. Obv: CAESAR – DICT PERPETVO Veiled and wreathed head of Caesar R. Rev: P·SEPVLLIVS – MACER Venus standing l., holding Victory and sceptre resting on star. Ref: Syd 1074a Sear Imperators 107e Cr 480-14 Rare NOT Roman or Greek... Etruria Populonia AR 5 Asses 3rd C BCE 2.0g Young Hd L V behind HN 173 Vecchi Rasna III 52 Vecchi Etruscan 91.6 ex NAC 29 No 9 RARE
For me, rare rulers, historical appeal - either the coin closely matches ancient historical sources or in a sense, tells the historical story when the sources are noticeably silent or non-existent. I also like rare reverses and mythological/religious types. My biggest purchase to date has been a matched set of Balbinus and Pupienus. In this case, the coins add to the historical backdrop and are remarkable considering the pair only ruled for 90 days. These days, I'm looking for rare mythological types from Roman Egypt. There is an interesting drachm of Antinous for sale at $9,500 which I haven't pulled the trigger on yet.
India - Shakya Janapada AR 5-Shana 6th-5th Century BCE 25mm x 21mm, 7.05g Obv: Central Pentagonal punch plus several banker's marks Rev: Blank Ref: Hirano Type I.8.29 Coinage from the Ghaghara Gandak River region. One of less than 20 known At this time, any of the 16 "Janapada" was defined as a tribe, country, kingdom, or a republic in northern India. Shakya was a Republic (ah, I love the Republics!), in northern India near present day Nepal. The best-known man from Shakya was Prince Siddhartha Shakya. He later gained enlightenment and became know as Buddha Gautama or Buddha, the founder of Buddhism. This coin, being from the Janapada and the time, was quite likely produced during and under the authority of the father of the Man who became the Buddha.
This coin is a drachm of Septimius Severus minted at the city of Petra. It is unique. Not only that it is part of a series that is known from about 28 coins. One Severus Six of Julia Domna Three or Four of Geta and the rest are of Caracalla.
I think only people with an innate love of history collect ancient coins, which is why I omitted it as a specific option. Rare rulers are fascinating because of how short their reign was. Rare titles pose questions - Why was Gordian III only Caesar for a few months? Or, Why were deification issues struck for Commodus, when he had just been assassinated for being an intolerable a-hole? On the subject of non-classicals, I'd still consider my Indo-Sassanian collection to be my crowning achievement. No two are alike, but rarities still abound. Some favorites that I have had more than my share of luck getting: You've heard of Sri Ha, but how about... Sri Te Sri Va Sri Ma Sri Da Ma I don't even know what this is; it's unpublished and I can only make out "Sri" Didn't even try Sri ViGra Sri Vi There is no history behind these coins; they cannot be ascribed to any ruler or even issuing authority. But, neverthe less it is fun to ponder over the puzzle. All but the last two coins are rare; the last two are rare early iterations of common coins.
Not really/ I loved history from the time I entered Grade 1, always was fascinated by that subject. But....I collect coins from all eras, since the history behind a coin struck in Hungary in 1633 for Ferdinand II, is as unique as a coin minted at Ravenna under the emperor Honorius. The Hungarian AV Dukat came from a time when Europe was fighting a religious conflict named the, "Thirty Years War". The Western Roman Solidus at a time when Rome would be sacked in 410AD.