I know this may be very vague... where is a good place to start with ancients? At times they seem pretty overwhelming. I'd like to be able to identify ancients. At least what era or where they came from. Looking at an ancient coin and knowing how to find it on the internet seems pretty valuable. I also realize this may take years and years of learning. If you had to do it all over again, where would you start?
A great introduction to the field of ancient numismatics is Wayne Sayles' Ancient Coin Collecting. It's a six-book series. Start with volume I, of course, which is an overall introduction to the hobby.
Here's a good thread to start with: https://www.cointalk.com/threads/ancient-coins-beginners’-faq-thread.324858/
It's not as hard as it seems. Pick an area of focus you are interested in historically and go from there.
I started by just finding a period in history I was particularly interested in, and started reading more and more about it while looking at images of coins here and around the web. I'd say I am still utterly clueless when it comes to 90% of ancients due to the huge amount time and space covered in that bracket, but every time I read another thread here, browse auctions and sales, read some more history, I learn a little more. You'll soon be able to spot, for example, an Alexandrian Tet just by the style and fabric of the coin. So my advice is find something you're naturally interested in, read around the subject, and you'll pick it up in no time.
It is not so important where you start. If you like it, just start with what interests you. If you are buying, start with reputable dealers who already are very knowledgeable. I started when I was 11 back in the 1960s by purchasing a random "genuine ancient Greek bronze" and a "Roman Republic denarius" from a catalogue (Ben's Coins) just because I loved history and they sounded cool. I still have both of them and the book on ancient Greek coins I bought about that time. I still find ancients cool. And I still have far more to learn than I have either time or money to invest. I have found that the more I know the more it tends to cost me, because I want examples of that type, too!
I started by buying lots of 10 uncleaned ancient coins off eBay for around $10/lot. Most were junk, but over time I did learn to identify them. Of course, I was living in Bloomington, Indiana, at the time, home of Indiana University, and the university library had complete sets of Roman Imperial Coinage (RIC) and the British Museum Collection (BMC), so I had a huge advantage when trying to ID coins. It's been a fun journey. After collecting for 20 years or so, I'm still learning.
I only started collecting last October and the best thing I did was buy some of the recommended books, read, read and read and then just lurk here and absorb all of the knowledge and wisdom you come across. As to what to focus on, i initially went ancient Greek, some Roman, low cost, built up my confidence (Including gaining knowledge of fakes and what to avoid) and then I found Roman Provincials, best of both worlds in my opinion. Even that is a huge area of coinage so I am beginning to focus more on Mythology as a theme. It’s great. Enjoy.
Mythology. What a great theme! You have your work cut out for you It’s quite interesting to read different peoples angle towards collecting ancient coins. I think that most of us start up with the «anything that looks cool or a guy that I’ve heard of»-approach, and then the special interest develops from there. I collect Roman type coins (what a nightmare) and am a few (but quite expensive) emperors away from completing a set of all the Roman emperors from Augustus to mid 5th century. Preferably silver coins if possible. While not having the patience to save up for a Gordian I or Didius Julianus, I keep upgrading the others if there’s a good opportunity. Republican denarii from 63 bc to Caesar also have a special place in my heart, especially after having read «Roman republican moneyers and their coins 63 BC -49 BC» by Michael Harlan. Reading a bit of litterature sure can get you on track of a special interest. If I was to start from scratch again, I would still go with Roman silver coins. There’s a lot of history and personality in those coins. I would start with the emperors that are easiest/cheapest in good quality: Gordian III, Severus Alexander, Maximinus I, Caracalla, Septimus Severus, Phillip I, etc. Litterature would be Roman Coins and their values volume II and III by David Sear. I would probably buy most of the coins from serious online auction sites, and go for coins in good VF or better. I wouldn’t recommend anyone to start collecting late republican denarii, because I really don’t need more competition on that field. Others will come around to say that for a coin collector there’s nothing better to look at than a great Greek silver coin. And they are absolutely right. But it’s perhaps not the right place to start. Here’s Janus looking back at your modern coin collection, and looking forward to your ancient one.
I would suggest a person most interested in Mythology needs to collect Roman Provincial (Greek Imperial is another term for the same thing). In addition to gods just standing there quite a few show some action or links to a story. The first step would be to get comfortable with the Greek alphabet including the forms common in the Roman period that you don't see in the Classical era. This would include the 'lunate sigma' C and realizing that they sometimes used ligate combinations for pairs of letters. Also learn to count in Greek which is just the alphabet with a couple added letters from the Archaic period that were dropped from the language otherwise. In addition get comfortable with the fact that the Greeks and Romans used different names for the gods (except both used Apollo for a reason I do not understand) and there are a slew of lesser deities honored in some localities but not others. I have a very weak page from 1998 including tiny photos from the days when I got complaints from users of dial-up modems if I used big images. http://www.forumancientcoins.com/dougsmith/gi.html Of course, these include the Alexandrian series which we don't need more competition in either. Phlilip I Alexandria tetradrachm / Serapis with Cerberus (The same figure might be called Pluto at Rome and Hades in Mainland Greece - the dog will be found as Kerberos; for that matter you will find no great consistency on how we moderns transliterate Greek names so you just have to be aware.) Philip II and Serapis / Asklepios (god of medicine), Marcianopolis
Re: An easy way to identify ancients: This reminds me of an answer I once heard to the question of how to properly grade (US) coins. "Grading coins is easy. All you need is a good lighting source, a 5x magnifier, and 20 years of experience." If you want to get started and don't have a specific sub-area in mind, I would strongly recommend you first read the book "Ancient Coin Collecting, Volume 1" by Wayne G. Sayles. It is packed with information on a vast assortment of different ancient coinages, as well as good practical advice on buying coins, and suggestions for further reading. The other volumes in the series are more specialized in scope, and also worth reading if you decide to specialize: they cover Roman Imperial, Roman Provincial, Greek, Byzantine (for which Sayles idiosyncratically prefers the name "Romaion"), and "Non-Classical" (my favorite area, a vast grab-bag covering Persian, Indian, Islamic, and lots more).
I will continue to oppose beginners specializing and believe the first step has to be developing a feel for which subdivision of coins (Roman Imperial, Roman Provincial, Greek, Byzantine or "Non-Classical") any coin in hand falls. You do not have to know everything about each subject but knowing enough to classify will at least suggest which book should be consulted next. Sayles #1 is one way to start but being good in only 20 years might classify you as a quick study. Much of Sayles' work has stood up but almost everything he said about online material in 1998 is worthless today. That should surprise no one. I still believe you could do as well using free online material certainly including Coin Talk as suggested by TIF (the definition of a 'quick study').
If right now you cannot differentiate between a Celtic coin, a Greek coin, a Roman Republican coin, a Roman Imperial coin, a Roman Provincial coin, and a Byzantine coin, I would order a major sale catalog from a major firm, such as CNG (so ask for a copy of their last Triton catalog). With that catalog you'll have a representation that covers essentially the entire history of ancient coinage. Browse and read and enjoy. The themes and categories will become apparent.
I do believe that my favorite reference 'book' is my collection of about 500+ old sale catalogs. Of course taking up about 50 feet of shelf space and including many errors along the way could be looked on as faults. Still, there is more good information there than any other book set (RIC, BMC, Sayles, etc.) if you have the time and critical skills needed. A Triton would only be my choice for a place to start if I were planning to buy coins averaging $1000 each but it most certainly is a wonderful hunk of ink on paper. BTW: My collection of old catalogs is minuscule compared to CT's own Valentinian who also sells back issues of good ones. I do believe any time devoted to any of his pages to be time well spent. http://augustuscoins.com/ed/catalogs/
Many of us are near a good library, or two. Last week I made a trip to the Rice U library. I used them to read about ancient coins when I started collecting. They let me borrow a volume of RIC and Crawford's RRC. I spent a couple of years before concentrating on Roman Republican coins. This time I check-out a book that has a chapter on Byzantine Empress Steelyard Weights. I know next to nothing on the subject, but did a bit of Googling and found a book that was referenced a few times. The book was at Rice. It was a trip worth making!
