Best coins of the year costing $20 or less

If you pay more, you can buy better coins. That's obvious. Some of the "Top 10" threads include very expensive coins. That's great and we love to see them. Keep them coming.

Many of us sometimes buy inexpensive coins and this thread is about them. The arbitrary limit of $20 includes shipping (because shipping costs are a real part of the cost).

My best coin under $20 came yesterday:


This example is remarkably large at 31-29 mm (many are as small as 25 mm). 5.32 grams.

Byzantine emperor Romanus IV, 1068-1071. He is most famous for losing the Battle of Manzikert in 1071, the greatest Roman military disaster since the Battle of Adrianopole in 378.

Facing bust of Christ: IC XC/NI KA in small letters in the field
Cross with X in the middle and C R / P Δ in the quadrants,
which from seals with similar words spelled out we think abbreviates [DOC 3.2 page 788]
Oh Cross, Protect me, Romanus Diogenes

Sear 1866. DOC 3.2 Romanus IV 8, page 796-7 and plate LXV.
From a European auction with shipping prorated over the value of four coins.

One positive thing about collecting Byzantine copper is it is possible to get coins comparable to plate coins (presumably among the best) for remarkably little money.

Show us some coins you bought for $20 or less.

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

I wish I stayed to that kind of budget... My cc balance wouldn't be the mess it is today. Here is my only coin under £20:

 

I haven't posted the full write-up yet, but this Abbasid dirham dated 148 AH (765 AD) and from a scarce mint (al-Rayy), cost me just $12 bid and $5 shipping:

 

I bought a lot of coins for under 20$ this year. The best buy was just over 20$ though; 17£:



Syria, Seleukeia. AE21c. 2nd Century BC

Obverse: Laureate head of Zeus to right

Reverse: ΣΕΛΕΥΚΕΩΝ / ΤΩΝ ΕΝ ΠΙΕΡΙΑΙ Thunderbolt; below, monogram above; all within wreath

Reference: BMC 10-13"

Weight: 7g Diameter: 21 mm Condition: Extremely Fine, Artistic dies.

 

The only ancient I bought this year under $20.

World coins would be a big post.


Numerian (283 - 284 A.D.)
Egypt, Alexandria
Billon Tetradrachm
O: A K M A NOVMEPIANOC CEB, laureate, draped, and cuirassed bust right.
R: Eagle standing left, head right, wings open, wreath in beak, between Vexilla; LB (date)/* above.Dated RY 2 (283/4 AD).
7.25g
18mm
Köln 3191; Dattari 5617; Milne 4729; Emmett 4018.

 

I did a list of my favorite 2020 bargain purchases recently, so in order to not repeat myself, I'll post two coins that almost made said list:

An unusually nice Cripus with an even more unusual mintmark. €13.50 shipped:

Crispus, Roman Empire, AE 3, 321–324 AD, Siscia mint. Obv: IVL CRISPVS NOB C; head of Crispus, laureate, r. Rev: CAESARVM NOSTRORVM; VOT X in wreath; in exergue ΔSISC (sunrise). 20mm, 3.24g. Ref: RIC VII Siscia 181.

A very attractive Indian medieval "Gadhaiya paisa." $5 shipped:

Chalukyas of Gujarat, AR “Gadhaiya paisa” (copying earlier Sasanian drachms), c. 1030–1120 AD. Obv: stylized portrait of ruler r. Rev: stylized fire altar. 17mm, 4.01g. Ref: Series 1.4.3; Deyell 158; Mitchiner NI 427.

 

Well, this coin is hopefully good. Got it off EBay several years ago AlexanderIII, AE, 18.6 mm, 5.41 gm

 

My best deal ever concerning an ancient coin is this Nero denarius,
got for around 26 bucks if I the include postage!

And this Parthian drachm, for 17 bucks!

 

London Constantine VLPP. Not in hand yet. It’s on its way. $16.69.

 

See my third coin at https://www.cointalk.com/threads/an...favorites-under-25.371149/page-2#post-5304348 (just posted today).

- Broucheion

 

Wow, this is a solid grouping of coins for around $20 apiece! I think, so far, @Valentinian's contribution is my favorite.

Sadly, I don't think I even bought any ancients this year. COVID messed with my cash flow so hard that coins became a luxury I felt I couldn't afford to spend too much on for a while.

Side note: @Parthicus (or anybody else), is there any good guide to attributing these Islamic dihrams for someone who doesn't read Arabic? Preferably, one including a "just enough Arabic for Islamic coins" section, or the like. Likewise with Parthian and Sassnian coins... these intimidate me overly much because I can't read the language on them.

 

got all of these for $20 or under this last year.

 

Well done! You got some excellent pieces. I particular like the Gratian (first coin) and Constantine commemorative (last coin), but the others are worthy too.

 

looks great! which auction was this

 

This was LESS THAN TEN BUCKS!!!!!!!!

 

The book you're looking for is Richard Plant: Arabic Coins and How to Read Them (1975 and later). My non-numismatic knowledge of Arabic is unfortunately limited to "na'am," "laa," "shukran," and "ana min Almaniya" – but using Plant and and a bit of patience, I'm able to decipher most medieval Arabic legends and get their meaning.

Used copies are available for little money via Amazon and the other usual channels, and the book is also online here.

And to keep it thread-related, here is a late medieval Indian coin with Arabic legends I bought this year for a measly $6 shipped:

Bahmani Sultanate, under Firuz Shah, AE falus, 1397-1422, Ahsanabad (Gulbarga) mint. Obv: “firuz shah Bahamani.” Rev: “raji ridwan muhaimani” (‘He who seeks the approval of the confiding one’). 16.5mm, 5.41g. Ref: GG BH66.

 

I love Proto Monies... a leap of faith defining value and a trust to transact an abstract object for a good or service. These were some of the starting points and objects to perform this:

I have Celtic Rings, but this is a different piece that is attractive, especially for the value for a Human made object representing money from 2700 years ago.



CELTIC TRIBES.
700-500 BC.
Æ Ring, 3.0g, 23mm.
Three arches.
From the DePew Collection
Ex: @John Anthony

 

Thanks! It was Pars Coins Auction 10. This was basically just a little extra bid for me- I was mainly interested in some Persis and Sasanian coins- so I was happily surprised to win this. I guess nobody noticed (or cared about) the scarce mint and just ignored a less-than-perfect Abbasid dirham.

@Paul M. : I heartily second @Orielensis recommendation of Richard Plant's "Arabic Coins and How to Read Them". I am also not able to speak or read Arabic at a practical level, but this book gives exactly what you need to figure out coin inscriptions. I also recommend another book by the same author, "Greek, Semitic, and Asiatic Coins and How to Read Them", which covers a huge range of other scripts including Persian, Chinese (for cash coins), the many different scripts of India, and more.

For Sasanians, the book I use the most is Robert Gobl's "Sasanian Numismatics". Identification to a particular emperor is usually based on the king's distinctive crown (though the name is often also readable on obverse), mint and date are readable on reverse (for many issues, but the earlier coins don't have date or mint). Some useful websites:
https://www.beastcoins.com/Sasanian/Sasanian.htm
https://www.forumancientcoins.com/numiswiki/view.asp?key=Sasanian Dates
https://www.forumancientcoins.com/numiswiki/view.asp?key=Sasanian Mints
(Note that attribution of mintmarks to specific cities is disputed, and different sources list different cities for the same mintmark.)

For Parthians, I use Sellwood's "An Introduction to the Coinage of Parthia (Second Edition)" to determine type, and check with G.R.F. Assar's essay in the Sunrise Collection book to see the more recent attribution of types to particular kings. (Parthian history is poorly understood compared to Roman, and the Parthians mostly didn't put the king's name on the coins, so attributions will differ depending on which reference you use. Major auctions seem to have shifted to using Assar's IDs, though you do still see attributions based on Sellwood or Shore.) For online resources, parthia.com is still very useful, but hasn't had many updates in a long time. I'd start with this site and go from there:
https://www.forumancientcoins.com/numiswiki/view.asp?key=parthian coins

Or, you could just post an unknown coin here on CoinTalk and let us hash out the ID. But it's more fun to be able to do it yourself.

 

Most of my ancients cost under $20, and although my collection is by no means high grade, I am still amazed at what semi-decent stuff is available on the cheap.

In keeping with the OP, here are some 2020 Byzantines that were $20 or under:

Anastasius Follis with dots above stars on reverse (SB 21; MIB 28b). These were issued in the last months of Anastasius's reign and are a bit scarce. Soon after getting my first one ($16), a second one came along ($15):




Anastasius Follis, small module, two stars (SB 16). This one just came in - I've been collecting Byzantine only since 2013, so I am no authority, but these small module examples are hard to find, I think. This one was $9.95.


Here is an ugly Justin I 12 nummi from Antioch (SB 112). What made this worthwhile is the strange striking characteristics on the reverse - a double die? I don't know what is going on but I liked it. At $1.15, it was well worth it:



Justinian I follis (SB 163). These forward-facing Justinian I folles are expensive a lot of the time. At $20 this isn't lovely, but not bad for the price, I think:



Constans II follis, Constantinople (SB 1000). This was $0.99! These are always rather crude, but this one really appeals to me, especially for the price:



Sometimes Byzantine lots come along that have some pretty interesting stuff in it, at least for a duffer like me. For $21.24 total:



Back in January I got this lot for $30 total. I used an eBay gift card from my boss, so it was free, in a way:



This $30 lot came with what is certainly the scarcest Byzantine I own, the mysterious Justinian I follis from Salona/Ravenna (full attribution below):

Justinian I Æ Follis
(c. 540s-550s or 562-565 A.D.)
Salona / Ravenna Mint (?)
(Military Mint)
IVSTI[NI]ANVS PP, Helmeted facing bust, holding globus cruciger and shield; cross to right / Large M; cross above,
no mintmark or Officina.
DOC I 358; MIBE 248; SB 329.
(6.43 grams / 21 mm)
eBay Jan. 2020 Lot @ $6.00

"The correct attribution of this unsigned series of bronzes remains uncertain, but numerous examples have been found in the environs of Salona in Illyria... Grierson supports a date in the 540s-550s...while Hahn dates it to 562-565...the reduced size, simplified design, and scarcity of these bronzes speaks of a short-lived issue of limited circulation."
CNG Auctions (several)

I didn't include shipping in the prices noted above, but most of these were from the USA, so $3 to $5 or so for shipping generally. No auction fees because I always use eBay.

 

This little archaic Greek coin I won at an ebay auction in Germany, last April. It was only 17 dollars. I wanted it because the nose and mouth of Apollo exactly follow the form of the coin! Makes it a tiny Apollo sculpture.
Colophon, Ionia, 530-500 BC, 6 mm, 0.24 gr.



I made this pic myself with the incuse reverse, but naturally, it is not as sharp as the seller's: