Building a Collection?

I've started collecting earlier this year and I've purchased coins that stand out to me due to their historical significance, appearance, and popularity amongst collectors. I see some people focused on certain eras or regimes or empires but honestly, I enjoy it all. Carthage, Rome, Sicily, Persia...Rome, Ummayad, Baktria, Huns..owning a piece that belonged to any era in history makes me happy.

So my collection I believe is going to end up encompassing a mish mash of everything. There isn't really a rhyme of reason to it other than I like the coin and the history it holds.

Thoughts on building collections? Should I narrow my focus? Or maybe my focus will narrow naturally over time as I spend more time in the hobby?

 

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I think you're doing fine with this approach. You're a magpie collector -- you acquire whatever appeals to you. Lots of us are magpie collectors to one degree or another. Often, though, as you continue your ancient numismatic journey, you'll become interested in a particular area and you might decide to focus on that, even if you continue to acquire coins in other areas. I, for example, focus on the coins of the women of the Antonine Dynasty, but I continue to acquire ancient coins outside this area. My latest purchase, for example, was a denarius of the Roman Republic.

 

this is what will likely happen. Buy what you like, and a focus may or may not come

 

I do both. I collect in a very general way - if a coin stirs my imagination I pursue it, be it Greek, Roman, Eastern, Celtic, etc. I also love Hard Times and Civil War Tokens. But I have a couple of very specific collections as well: Nabataean, Imitative, and even an LRB mint set of two-soldiers/two-standards issues of Constans. (Still waiting for a Dansco album to come out for those.)

 

I am probably in the same boat.
When a coin draws my attention, these 2 conditions must be met
- the coin needs to be visually appealing, this would mean the condition to be good enough for me and also to depict something interesting
- it needs to be in my areas of interest.
On this, like in @Mrktstrtmyhm's case, my areas are large. It's easier to mention areas I am not interested in - such as Byzantine or Asian coins.

For now, my advice is to keep buying what you really like and then study the history of the region/period/ruler and see if something really draws your interest and you feel the need to develop.

For example when I started I wanted to develop my collection on Trajan. I managed to acquire 12 coins (2 provincial and 10 imperial) but I don't think I will go much deeper, except if I find some interesting reverses.

 

I do not understand asking a a question like this in a public forum.

It is your collection. Collect what you want and what makes you happy.

It should matter not one bit what anyone else thinks.

 

The question makes sense to me. When I was starting out, I read the conventional wisdom that a collector should specialize. So I thought, “Am I doing it wrong?“

I like the general advice given here. Collect what you like. If a specialization comes, so be it. If not, who cares? I started collecting a bit of everything, and then I became interested in the coins of Constantine. The focus developed out of a genuine interest in the period and man, as well as the reality that Constantine coins are quite affordable for my limited budget.

I suppose the benefits of specializing are that it can give you a sense of direction for your purchases. You can also develop a bit of an expertise in one area, which would help you spot rarities and forgeries. You might even get the reputation of being a bit of an expert, like many on this board. When you sell or bequeath your collection one day, the collection might have a bit more significance if you’re known as a specialist in one area.

But ultimately it’s your time and money. Do what pleases you, I would say. I still collect the coins of Constantine, but I still would like to pick up an Athenian owl, large bronzes of Nero, etc. There are no rules.

 

Ancients are a great era to collect because absolutely no one - not even the British Museum - could ever hope to build a "complete" collection.

Therefore, many of us choose to either be a generalist or a specialist in a particular sub-section.

I started in US coinage and was never interested in date sets - I much prefer typesets, and even above that, a "design typeset", where a design is represented by one example (i.e. any denomination from the Barber coinage; no need for a half dollar/quarter/dime which all look nearly identical).

The US major typeset is 137 coins: in ancients, it would be many, many thousands. The US "design typeset" is smaller but still many thousands for ancients.

All this to say, you can collect anything you like: you'll never be finished.

Personally, I'm taking a very minimalist approach, collecting coins which are artistic and historic and trying to tell the story of a millennium of history in as few coins as possible (< 200 in total). This makes for some careful strategizing for what should/shouldn't be included, which also acts as a helpful and semi-artificial constraint to avoid overspending.

So, while you may eventually specialize into the coinage of a particular city or emperor, it's also possible that you might specialize into being a generalist by further evolving/refining your tastes as you buy and see more and more coins.

It then moves from being arbitrary into deliberate: the reasons why you chose a particular coin end up being the specialization.

 

A mish-mash sounds just fine, @Mrktstrtmyhm!
Do as you please, it's your collection and yours alone.

But, as time goes on (and as Roman Collector said) chances are you'll probably become focused on one or several areas. And in turn, these areas may change over time. It's natural. That is what happened (and is still happening) to me, and probably to most of us.

Also, I found that a big part of the fun is not just the coin itself (even though it's great fun), but also the story coins tell between them. Having some semblance of coherence in your collection (and I'm still struggling there myself ) makes it easier and more pleasing to see and appreciate all the connections, convergences, influences, and contrasts between the differrent styles, types, kingdoms and cultures. By arranging (and rearranging) the coins you can change the focus of the story they tell between them. It's really great! Also, having several coins from one place or time may suddenly open your eyes to subtle differences you wouldn't have noticed if you had only one coin of the place or time. And often these small differences can tell a whole interesting story themselves.

Either way, you can't go wrong. It's a great hobby...

 

I agree with your 'plan' except for the part about popularity amongst collectors. I really suggest buying coins that you find appealing and not what anyone else tells you is the 'in' thing. Fads change. New finds make things available for a while and hard to find later. They also can cause prices to drop if there are more (especially low grade) examples than the market can absorb. While there are 'day traders' who make money buying and selling, you don't here as much from those who buy high and sell low. This makes no difference if you only buy coins you like.

I greatly admire Ancient Joe's magnificent collection but have no use for the artificial limiting of collection size. I also miss how buying only a few $10,000 coins protects you from overspending. Ancient Joe and I have one thing in common. We each have 200 coins for which it would be easy to find buyers in the market. The difference is that I have another 3000 that would not be as 'adoptable'. If we each continue collecting for the rest of our lives it will not matter to us whether our coins are popular or not. Don't spend money on entertainment that you need for life. Coins are entertainment.

I believe this is the correct answer. Collect generally. IF you are meant to specialize, ou will discover that a lot of your purchases have something in common. You do not have to seek out a specialty. Specialties have a way of finding you.

 

The "buy what you like" approach has been mine for the last five decades. And from time to time an area of specialization has popped up.

Litterally.

I didn't decide of any of them, they found me. From a certain perspective, two, or three, coins from your heteroclit collection, suddenly have a connection together, making you think "well, that's the start of something" !

I must be kind of stupid in that I realized I was building a 12 Caesars set after I had got the tenth one. Of course when I had this in mind I had to finish it, but until then it wasn't deliberate. Hence an heteroclit set, which could very well be improved in many ways, but what the heck, who cares, it's my set, not someone else's !




In the same vein, it's only when I had got three of them that the Trajan Dece's Imperial Divi told me they would like to be reunited.




My real area of specialization, where I try to built a comprehensive collection, is an obscure principality not far from where we settled, my wife and I, 35 years ago. I thought it would be nice to try and find some coins that were in use in the feudal times, mainly deniers and double tournois. There was no reference book back then, apart from an old study from the middle of the XIXth century, so I was very surpised to discover a gold pistole, remaining unsold at auction, and bought it for the starting price. I have actively and avidly chased them since, and am now a specialist in the field. It allows to spot rarities (people even contact me sometimes when they have one) or find unpublished specimens.




Through these three examples you can see how coherence grows, as you specialize.

Welcome to the hobby, and HAVE FUN

Q

PS : I see @dougsmit has given, while I was typing, some very good (as usual) advice that I share, but in far better words than I would

 

Outstanding thread topic. Exactly the type of discussion that one might expect on a public discussion board. All the best!

I have no other substantive comment, as of life…. I am of the same vein. Sip of every cup. Taste of every plate!

 

My self-imposed quantity is a deliberate choice and one which would apply regardless of budget (and isn't a hard-line rule like some take with a "Box of 20" but more a minimalist philosophy).

The 200 number is based on the types that I've outlined to best tell the "story" I'm trying to paint with my collection - this will definitely ebb and flow over time but is well within an order of magnitude of where it'll end up; I won't grow to thousands even over several more decades, it's just a personal choice of how I focus.

But, more specifically, an over-excited collector could hastily spend an entire year's coin budget in one sale (whether that is $1K or $1M). Instead, it's important to know that there are always more coins coming around the corner (especially the ones you never expected or knew existed).

Overspending has an opportunity cost as it takes funds away from future purchases. It takes some self control to avoid buying just to buy; it's often happenstance purchases that end up being my favorites.

 

Just ignore all the bad advice you've received this far.
You MUST start your collection cleaning dingy LRBs and identifying them. Then, after months of this when you're at the point that your finger prints have been rubbed off from countless hours of cleaning, you may attempt a 12 Caesar set.
Once you've acquired AT LEAST the minimum requisite of 8 of the twelve you may purchase no more than 2 Greek classical or Hellenistic coins (depending on the quality of your 12 Caesars collection you MAY be able to combine the two and own 1 archaic).
If at any point you differ from this path your Collection will immediately be deemed lame and you will have to start over, except with the tedium of Byzantine coins!
Everything in its order:


In all seriousness, I think purchasing whatever sings to your eyes when you look at it is the way to go. Then when you find a series of somethings that sing to your eyes, that's when you want to specialize. I've seen numerous folks specialize in something just to specialize and then they get burned out on the topic and sell their collections or have coins they're not passionate about taking up space.
I continue to find more and more dope areas that sing to me, but I don't forsee anything singing more loudly to me than:

 

@Ryro mmmmm. Pudding!

 

Hi, @Mrktstrtmyhm, and welcome to the Ancients board! You too, @Larry Squires

As others have said, collect what you want, how you want. Read, browse, learn, buy, enjoy. Like pretty coins? Plenty of options. Like coins of important historical figures? A gold mine! Like quantity? Gotcha covered . No rules, or make your own rules. Best of all-- be free from the tyranny of grades!!

Be a casual collector. Be a scholarly collector. Be a kook. Be a generalist. Be a sub-subspecialist. Be whatever type of collector you want to be.

Here's a set I made early in my ancient collecting days (which wasn't that long ago... was bitten in 2013). Pink Floyd "Animals" represented in ancient coins. Didn't know that was a possible set, did ya?



http://prezi.com/q7mw1k1zur65/pink-floyd-animals/

 

Welcome to the Ancients Forum, Mrktstrtmyhm !

 

Best. Album. Ever.

You may have just planted a seed. I haven’t delved into the realm of ancient coins…. yet.

 

Excuse me, Larry, but I think you've made a mistake. You meant to say Dark Side of the Moon is the best album ever, right? Right?!