Romans for less than $10

I'm curious about some of the cheaper deals some of you are proud of, and show others what $1 - $10 can get them.

constantine
constantine
constans
constantine II

 

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tho far from pretty heres some witha lil more history. and for only a few dollars each

hadrian
augustus
hadrian
caligula

 

why are Romans so cheap?

 

basically 1 or all of theses reasons

quality, quantity, and good dealers.

 

thers a website that talked about it but i cant find it :/

 

If you look at the galleries in my sig. most of the Byzantines cost me nothing. I have a dealer that gives about 25-30 coins at a time to clean for them. they take sometimes one or two other times the take none and I get to keep the rest.

Th romans for the most part cost me between .50 and 1.00 from a dealer that doesnt deal in ancients but sometimes gets them when he buys collections from people.

Sometimes its just who you know!

Richard

 

My answer is a web page

In 2001, I posted to my website a tale of three friends that attended a coin show in Baltimore and had a contest to see who could make best use of $100 to be spent on ancient coins at the show. The page turned out to be one of the favorites I posted judging from email feedback and one third of it applies to this topic. Of course the prices listed were paid in 2001 so things might be a little higher now. Also, I'll point out that the coins shown costing $6-$15 required digging through many bags of coins. At least 10,000 coins less desirable than these were left behind so these are not exactly average for what was being offered at the prices listed. The same coins would have cost more if purchased from full service dealers who offer hand holding and advice through the selection process. However, the 10 coins shown as selected by 'Paul' did cost $99 total. If anyone finds the picture below interesting, the rest of the article including ID's of these coins and the competing selections of the other friends can be seen on my page:
http://dougsmith.ancients.info/acmshow.html



Let me mention also that some (not all) of the coins shown were 'uncleaned' when purchased and 'Paul' had to put some work into washing away centuries of dirt. The dealer provided wet wipes to customers when they were finished and that was not unappreciated. The bottom coin in the $10 section was found as it is shown and obviously cleaned way more than I would have preferred which explains why it was thrown in with the $10 stuff. I would not call it ruined but I would have prefered a lighter hand. It may look better in 50 years. I won't.

It was asked why are ancients so cheap? ....because there are 1000 times as many people out there who would rather spend their $100 on a US coin or two. No one cares how old, rare or interesting something is. All that matters is how many people are offering how much money for that particular item.

 

... the most common artifact of any civilization ...

Allen G. Berman still makes a special offer to readers of the The Celator whereby he sells identified medieval silvers for $9 each. Buy 12 and get the Walker book free.

Francis Rath used to sell ancients for $5 each, if you bought 100 of them. He used to get them in crates back before the days of UNESCO and the Bulgarians. The London Coin Galleries of Mission Viejo and the Educational Coin Company also used to have similar deals. Such opportunities come and go.

The thing is that coins are the most common artifact of any civilization -- and unlike the rest, they do not rot, mould, wither or decay.

Also, be aware that it does not take much practice to look at coins through the dirt. An experienced dealer -- and it does not take that much experience -- can sort through a thousand coins in an hour or so, pick out the ones worth cleaning up and sell the junk to hopeful collectors.

Finally, anyone who buys these bargain lots online needs to be aware of fakes. Yes, people will salt in moden replicas to bulk up a mixed lot of "uncleaned" (ahem) coins.

 

My one and only as of right now.


stainless

 

i dont know if i can count this since i paid $10 +5 for S&H

 

I like that one

 

I just bought an ancient for 8 bucks. some of the more advanced collectors did not like it...
see what you think.


http://rover.ebay.com/rover/1/711-5...em&item=230360964215&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT

 

Zeno
AE10
Constantinople or Cyzicus, 474-475 AD
Pearl diademed, draped, cuirassed bust r.
DN ZENO PERP AVG
monogram 4a
ex. off flan
RIC X 961, 963, or 965

One of the last "Roman" emperors before the West was lost. Worth over $100!

 

I read this post a while ago. Well conceived, well written, and very enjoyable.
Can I share your web site with our Roman History forum?

Kudos. :thumb:

guy

P.S.: One of the authors listed on your book site is David Vagi. He is now director of NGC (Ancients). In the brief moment I met him, he seems like a very knowledgeable and enthusiastic expert in the field on Roman coinage.

 

I think you did okay..it isn't the nicest, but it IS an Arcadius, and $9 is a fair price for it.

stainless

 

I don't know much about Ancients, stainless has been helping me recently , but I like this coin. The flared out edges are unusual to me. They almost seem like flower petals even though it may be something related to production or quality of metal, aging. I like it :thumb:

 

It just how it was struck. The Withers on around by the edges (I assume thats what you mean by flower petals?) Are the legend.


stainless

 

yeah the legend and the outer edge/rim area, as the shape doesn't look just round/rounded but irregular and bumpy, almost like a flower petal edge with little archs all around.

 

with all the different tastes in coin collecting, thats all that really matters.

 

you get alot of great deals