I got a chance to buy this coin?

I found a coin that looks just like this and it was almost 5g silver, not as great as pictured but about 75% as good. Just courious what you all would bid on it? I am at $27 now and thinking of going higher but wanted to get a second opinion? I will try to get a pic of exact coin tomorrow to post.

 

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If it's authentic and 3/4 of this one's quality, then it'd be in the hundreds on its way to 1K.

 

Depends on your preferance, if you want something to act as a placeholder for a caesar denarius and it's in good shape then $27 sounds pretty reasonable, decent electrotypes and forgeries can sell for hundreds sometimes.

If you're planning to bid because you want a real one then I'd stop bidding and walk away now, at 5g the weight is wrong, and a real one in similar condition to the one above would easily hammer for $1000.

 

Pretty token, that’s for sure. But not a coin and probably not a good investment

 

Thats why I was looking for a second opinion. The info said 4.7 grams. I was thinking it would be around 3. something.

 

This is a shot in the dark but the most common reproduction of this coin is the Westair at £2.15. The coin you are considering does not by chance have WRL stamped on the edge does it? Over the years I have been shown at least a dozen WRL coins and had to tell someone each time that they bought a fake.
http://www.westair-reproductions.com/Roman/Caesar+Coin+Pack+-+Denarius.html

 

I found the orignal pics..prob a modern copy then?

 

I cant see the edge good...you mean the side edge I take it?

 

The link I posted shows the WRL mark. Yours is a different one. These are popular among replica makers for gift shops and fakers to sell to tourists.

 

Definitely a modern forgery, not even a remotely well made fake. I'm not saying this to be mean or insulting, but you don't know enough to shop for ancients on eBay, especially commonly faked types like this. No new collector does. Stick with established dealers or well-known auction houses. Plenty of regular posters here mention where they buy coins in their posts and should be able to give you an idea of what those are. eBay is a minefield full of fake coins with some sellers who have been scamming people for years. There are plenty of good coins and good dealers too, but you have to be able to spot both and it takes a while collecting and handling coins to develop the necessary skills to spot either one

 

I concur with @red_spork . If one has to ask, then...

If one can't even tell an obvious fake(as is this one), then they ought to put more attention into studying and less focus on acquisition until they have a better grasp at 'knowing the coin'.

Yes, good deals may be had by those that are knowledgeable about rare types that may go under the radar.

Yet...

It's really as simple as the basic understanding that a $1000 coin of a type as desired and popular as a 'Military mint travelling with Caesar' isn't going to be found for less than what its avg. market value is.

Logic applies here.

 

Thats why I still stick with common, low value coins. I’m not going to chance it with a Caesar coin until I am 1000% confident in my abilities in LRB. Even then, it would take lots of study, lots of failure, and lots of practice to be able to confidently pursue cherry picks

 

I doubt if it's silver. Don't think it's worth 27 dollars too. It's not a well made reproduction.

Lots of people are on eBay looking for a good deal. Nothing wrong with that. But if you don't have the knowledge to identify even obvious fakes.. maybe better stay away until you can.

 

Or stick with late Roman bronzes under $15. eBay is a good source for these.

 

$27 is way too much to pay for that low quality fake that is probably not even silver. How about $3?

You should listen to the advice in this thread.

John

 

I've been collecting ancients on and off for a number of years, but have not progressed much beyond the low value pieces. As @gsimonel said, Late Roman bronzes are a great way to start. They are usually cheap and abundant. They also provide a great opportunity to work on your attribution skills. It took a lot longer than I thought to be able to use the Roman Imperial Coin volumes for LRBs, but at least I'm not intimidated anymore.

If you're just looking for a handful of historically significant coins, stick with well known and respected dealers, as others have already mentioned. That's what I did when I bought an Athenian Owl, Vespasian Judea Capta Denarius, and Alexander Tet.

 

..if its too good to be true, it most probably is....

 

Cheap coins are faked, too. It is just a matter of losing money in smaller pieces at a time. eBay sells nothing. It is a venue on which buyers meet with individual sellers and some of each category are crooks. There are large sellers that produce glossy catalogs that sell fakes, too. I would much prefer buying from a dealer I know who sells on eBay than a seller of another class that is unknown to me or that has a track record of selling altered or outright fake items.

Several of the people who post regularly here sell coins. Some use eBay. Help in finding a dealer has been offered here by more than one of us over the years but we regularly see new people who prefer to ignore us. In fact, most of the people I know who spend the most on coins do not do it on their own. They have a relationship with a dealer who advises them and represents them at auctions for a fee. The last time I used such a representative, I paid 5% but I do not know what the current rate is now since I rarely bid in auctions anymore with the exception a a few that I trust individually and I rarely buy popular and expensive coins. I am sure that has caused me to buy a few bad (in some sense of the word) coins that I might have avoided. I understand the appeal of doing it yourself and bargain hunting.

Above posts have summed it up well.

The bottom line here is you must either know the coin or know the seller. Both of these areas have degrees of danger. Some coins are obviously fake but some fakes require more expertise to discover. Some sellers are very honest and would not cheat you intentionally but they do not know enough about the subject to be guiding others. That includes may of us here on Coin Talk. To be relatively safe, we require a seller to be both knowledgeable and honest. Honesty includes asking a reasonable compensation for services. There are many coins of very low value being sold for very high prices by sellers who have no problem with selling a coin for ten times a reasonable number to buyers who know no better. We also require the buyer to know when to ask help (even if it is paid help) and realize what they are doing in terms of risk management especially avoiding thinking they can but a coin anywhere for a tenth of the normal price. All this is part of the hobby. Perhaps not all of us are well suited to this hobby.

 

Is there a directory of CT members who also sell coins? It would be helpful to have something like this, especially for newbies. It might also help to distinguish between professional dealers, causal sellers (like me) and/or traders--people who regularly trade coins but normally don't sell.

 

Ok, so at 4.9g and 20.5 mm. What would I be looking for to "automatically" tell its a fake just by looking at it.