Featured Your coins and other people

I still have a number of Alex Malloy catalogs which most people threw out years ago. He had interesting coins but his lists were printed on cheap paper compared to many dealers.

I once gave a talk at a convention which was attended by half a dozen people half of whom were dealers and one was Victor Failmezger author of the book on Late Roman Bronze Coins. Talk about preaching to the choir! That will be my last talk at a show. As the Internet has made coin shows a less important part of the ancient coin market, so has it reduced the need for such programs. Today, if someone wants to find out about coins and how to start in the hobby all they need do is Google search and find Coin Talk.

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

(I had more to say, but I will do that as a PM. Anyway, thanks for sharing.)

 

I have bought just one ancient coin, a Herod Agrippa coin, and would like to buy more biblical era coins, but find the descriptions given to such coins hard to decipher. I went to vcoins and found some coins that were affordable to me, but like I said, found the descriptions didn't tell me much. I know it's just a matter of learning, which is why I visit this site.

 

Nonsense.

The talks I give are not available online. And even so I present other material in person and in other contexts. Even as I cross-post talks to forums like this, the content and presentation are different because the media are different.

I once spoke to an audience of three at an ANA convention. Try Friday morning at 9:00 AM. Newton lectured to an empty room. But as far as public speaking goes, it is just another way to participate in this hobby or any other society.

For that matter, look at the posts in this forum. Very few people write essays. But they could. They think that they cannot write, though they do. So, they publish here (which is fine) while hobby print publications beg for new writers all the time while settling for the same people over and over.

And then, there is the local club. I recommend them. I am not renewing this year and I stopped attended 18 months ago. But I have been an officer here and elsewhere off and on over the last 25 years. Just going to meetings as a member is important for yourself, or can be. It may not be for everyone. And we can share horror stories about local clubs. But it is an avenue.

 

Very nice post. I was very lucky to be a high school history teacher for 43 years. It gave me an opportunity to be the sponsor for the school's Stamp and Coin Club (very well attended way back when). But most of all I could incorporate my collection into my teaching, from ancients to post Civil War US (currency in that area, too). Whether my students were potential numismatists was immaterial. They were going to learn a great deal about different kinds of money and how and why this was important in history. I got a kick about teaching them this material and many of the kids seemed to like it (maybe just to please teacher) and a few would bring in their own to pass around and they were pleased as punch to be able to show off their modest collections. Handling coins of Alexander the Great, Augustus, Charlemagne, Elizabeth I, George III, Jefferson, the currency of Andrew Jackson , Lincoln and Jeff Davis, was the tangible link from them to us. As Thucydides put it we gave the past the honor of remembrance. Never once in those years of teaching did a student pocket any of these coins from the pages of coins or currency as they went around my classes.

I very much miss that audience but I have found this website to be a pretty good substitute and its members, in addition to sharing their erudition, are kind enough to be gentle in their estimations of value, appeal, and collectability of others who post here. However, I must tell you that I am keeping track of those postings, they are being graded and at the end of the semester you will be tested on these postings and they WILL count toward your final grade.

 

My most embarrassing time as a speaker was about 12 years ago. I had volunteered to do a talk at the Classical Association of the Canadian West. The theme was anniversaries. I had organized a talk on the coinage of Roman Amasia in Pontus. The sources I had collected suggested that many coins were anniversary issues linked to two events in their history. I was feeling pretty good about myself, but about a month before I had discovered that the civic dating of this city was changed. Needless to say all my work went straight to the garbage and in very quick order I was forced to produce a completely new presentation on a completely different topic though following the same theme. I did and it was horrible. This coin featured in the replacement lecture
Koinon of Macedon Ae 26 Time of Gordian III Obv Head of Alexander III with flowing hair. Rv. Athena enthroned left holding patera 11.65 grms. Photo by W. Hansen

 

That is every speakers nightmare. The other one is when the slides do not match the presentation.
Beautiful coin.

 

I'm fortunate enough to have a fair number of friends, colleagues, and family with pronounced interests in ancient and medieval history, art, and culture. It's a blessing to be able to discuss about such topics with other enthusiasts on a regular basis. Yet, although some appreciate, none of them specifically does numismatics.

In order to still exchange thoughts about ancient coins, I'd naturally look for local numismatic clubs or coin shows. This has worked well for me in the past, but since I have moved multiple times in the last couple of years, including internationally, the people I met this way reside in geographically distant places, making it very difficult to casually meet and talk coins.

Where I currently live (SF Bay Area), pretty much everything seems to revolve around the latest trends in digital technology. The hegemonic Silicon Valley tech culture is characterized by an aggressive lack of appreciation for all things old, aesthetically challenging, or intellectually complex beyond the realms of app development and grievance politics. This unfortunately also seems to transpire into hobbies like ours. The few more or less local coin clubs seem to mostly revolve around prestigious US coins, bullion hoarding, or cryptocurrency trading – to each their own, but those aren't things I'm interested in.

Hence, the CT ancients forum is a great way for me to discuss my nerdy coin hobby with a friendly bunch of like-minded aficionados while having preciously few chances to do so face-to-face.

Certainly, CT has substantially shaped my collecting over the last two years. First of all, I've been exposed to coin types and collecting fields I had never heard of before. Secondly, I feel my numismatic horizon has been broadened greatly by reading the many quality write-ups and discussions on this board. Sometimes, they made me branch out in my own collecting. Finally, since I can't show you my coins in person, I took up coin photography. There still is an awful lot to learn, but taking pictures of my collection has been surprisingly intriguing and rewarding so far.

I don't know whether anyone here really wants to see my coins, but I can say that I definitely want to see yours! It's simply nice to get an impression of what other collectors focus on and why. Getting exposed to a great variety of coins and collecting styles is a reason why I like this forum.

That said, I generally prefer threads and posts that include some numismatic background information or research over mere pile-on threads. The latter are a fun pastime and often visually appealing, but what really sparks my fascination is the forum content I can directly learn from. Many CT members are true experts in some numismatic field and incredibly generous in sharing their knowledge. I greatly appreciate that.

 

I didn’t even know there were ancient coin books! I think most ancient coins are too expensive for people to collect. Metal detector enthusiasts would probably be interested in them though. I don’t have any ancient coins but I am fascinated by them.

 

I’d say my good friends of the board are @Bing and @Deacon Ray but I consider everyone my friend.

As a side note I generally like online places such as these. I’m very nerdy and a history buff and my parents share that. I’m not very socially adept due to having autism and not many irl friends but I’m glad I have this forum and other good internet pals to help me with a very fun and rewarding hobby!

 

You are mistaken . Modern coins are generally more expensive and look at how many people collect them! Bonus: with ancient coins you don't have to waste money chasing grades and slabbing everything.

You can buy ancient coins-- small bronzes from the later Roman imperial years-- for just a few dollars. A small late Roman bronze in almost any condition is far more interesting than almost any modern coin. Of course there is a range of prices but there is also an astounding variety of coins and conditions.

Check out this thread:

https://www.cointalk.com/threads/what-your-budget-buys-index-thread.303991/


As for books, a tremendous number of books about ancient coins exist but if you're looking for something like a red book for ancient coins, no, that does not exist. How can it when there are so many coins from so many cultures from so many years?

If you don't know where to start, don't worry. Just keep reading this board and in particular, check out this thread:

https://www.cointalk.com/threads/ancient-coins-beginners’-faq-thread.324858/

 

This is a lie told by coin dealers too lazy or stupid to handle coins that are different from their usual material. Why bother with ancients if you can make a living buying wholesale cents and selling them for a big markup. Recently the big group of Athenian owl tetradrachms has made possible buying large lots of similar coins but usually dealing in ancients is more work and study than can be expected from professional merchants. It helps a lot if you love the subject first and become a dealer second. Find a dealer who fits this description and you will find coins in your price bracket.

 

I missed this thought provoking thread because I’m admittedly a dreadful CT citizen. By now there are lots of offshoots of this topic that are worth responding to but I will stick with the main theme that @Valentinian started.

A few decades ago, I was visiting family in Bozeman, Montana and wandered into the local coin shop where I found a small selection of ancient coins. The dealer did not pretend to know much about them but instead gave me the phone# of the consignor, who was a professor at MSU. That was my first encounter of a long relationship with @Valentinian. On the phone, Warren invited me to his home the next day to look at coins. Over the many years since then I have visited Warren and he has been a guest at my house.

I have sometimes regretted after the fact, the realization that I have been more interested in showing my collection than looking at the coins of a collecting friend, but I must strongly suggest that as many times, I have been inspired by the collections I viewed to the point that it altered my perception of whole themes and issues, and influenced my research and collecting goals. I’ll never forget the tray of late roman AE of Decentius and Magnentius with large Chi-Rho on the reverse that Warren placed in front of me on one of my visits so many years ago. Coins of the same type but each with its own small details of distinction. It was a true thematic sub-collection that I had never appreciated before.

Its true that Ancient Numismatics is largely a solitary activity, but it is in our occasional interactions that we grow in ways we wouldn’t otherwise. Sharing our collections is one of those ways. Twenty years ago, it would be rare in the Western US where I live, to encounter an ancient numismatist who lives nearby. Through this CT forum I was able to link up with @red_spork who not only lives 40 minutes away, but also has a collecting specialization very similar to mine. I have seen CT posts about coins outside of my focus area and collection philosophies that have significantly changed my mind about what my collecting goals should be about.

Through forums like this, I think we are less solitary than we ever were.

 

If there were many ancients collectors active in every small part of the world, the supply would not allow poor people like me to participate. Where I live, I know fewer than five collectors of ancients of whom one has more than I do. I live in a larger city than many here. CT enables me to know a hundred people as crazy as I am.

 

You are bang on, again. The less ancient collectors the better. However, there seem to be more then enough people on this planet that crave ancients/ all classical periods of coinage. Just watch what happens in upcoming NY auctions/ Heritage/ Stacks/ CNG events. Most classic coins will go way over estimates. Here in Canada, we even have to absorb the huge currency exchange rates+20 percent comm. fees+ the escalating prices of our beloved coins.
John

 

I collect medieval coins. Before that I collected U.S. coins. Whenever
I would show a non-collector a coin or two they had only two questions,
how old is it and how much is it worth? Many of them are well educated with
college degrees. I could have been showing them pics of my neighbors
lawn furniture. Now I show them coins with dates. Truly expensive coins
I refer them to the internet. Thank God I have a few forums where I can
annoy and irritate the reader with my treasures!!

 

I hope and pray for thousands of collectors getting into all branches
of numismatics. If they don't start collecting, our collections will turn into
little blobs of metal and the repeated refrains from our loved ones
of I TOLD YOU SO!! will ring in our ears.

 

But that is what is happening. In the last hundred years, from a hobby of the rich and famous, its now a hobby which anyone can enjoy. Since 1918, the middle class grew from from 5 percent too 60 percent. In the Third World, middle classes are now growing in leaps and bounds. There will soon be a shortage of supply for the ever increasing demand. Hence prices are on fire, which is bad for average collectors like me and you.

 

Yep. I like how you can get nice coins without even spending money like coin roll hunting and coinstar machines.

 

I've run into other coin collectors here in my area and some of my friends collect coins, thought none of them are into ancient coins like I am. Its not to say they do not appreciate the coins I try and restore, because they do or say they do. I am glad forums like these exist even if I do not talk too much lol