What was your first ancient coin?

I started collecting ancient coins 2 years ago. Before that, I primarily collected US coins. Due to my inexperience with ancients at that time, I got my feet wet by purchasing this inexpensive antoninianus of emperor Aurelian as my first ancient coin. I believe Aurelian’s antoninianii are an excellent first coin for novice collectors due to their affordability and the historical importance of Aurelian’s reign. The Restitutor Orbis is one of my favorite emperors due to his role in saving the Roman Empire during the 3rd Century Crisis, which is why I picked his antoninianus as my first ancient coin.

Aurelian was also an important figure in numismatics. An official of the Rome mint, Felicissimus, was charged by Aurelian with corrupt act of adulterating the antoninianus coinage. This led Felicissimus to incite the Roman mint workers to revolt against Aurelian in 271 AD. After putting down the revolt, Aurelian enacted important reforms regarding the antoninianus. First of all, the Rome mint was temporarily shut down in which the various provincial mints played a greater role in antoninianus production. Aurelian’s reforms slightly increased the antoninianus’s silver purity to 5% while also increasing the coin’s overall weight and diameter. Although the antoninianus never recovered its purchasing power, Aurelian’s reformed antoninianus was superior to his predecessors’s coinage and served to increase the morale of the Roman public. The reformed antoninianii are distinguished by a XXI mark on the reverse indicating the silver content. In a way Aurelian’s reformed antoninianii served as the prototype for the Late Roman follis of the Tetrachy.



Aurelian, 270 - 275 AD AE Antoninianus, Siscia Mint, 22mm, 3.98 grams Obverse: IMP C AVRELIANVS AVG, Radiate and cuirassed bust of Aurelian right. Reverse: CONCORDIA MILITVM, Aurelian standing on left clasping hands with Concordia who stands on right, S in field between, XXIT in exergue. RIC 244

Ex. Ken Dorney

I’m planning to get a higher grade specimen in the near future, preferably with full silvering intact.

Please share the first ancient coin that started your collection!

 

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My first Ancient is this Roman Imperial of the Emperor Probus (A.D. 276-282), minted in Siscia.

 

Not going to type a long reply since this topic is made every few months.

Purchased here on CT in the late 2000s.


Septimius Severus (193 - 211 A.D)
AR Denarius
O: SEVERVS AVG PART MAX, Laureate head right.
R:RESTITVTOR VRBIS (Restoration of the City), Severus in military attire, spear in left, sacrificing over a tripod altar with right.
Rome mint, 201 A.D.
3.3g
18mm
RIC 167a, RSC 599, BMCRE 202

 

Mine was my profile coin:

 

I jumped in feet first, full frontal, and have had a blast ever since.

It was easy as I had studied Ancient History since I was in 6th Grade (and I never liked that old-battle-ax of a Teacher who got me interested in Ancient Rome!!!)

My First Ancients


Makedon Alexander III 336-323 BC AR Drachm 2



Athens Attica Owl Tetradrachmae


My Roman Republic coin I got immediately after my Athens Tets and ATG Drachm. This really got me into my primary focus of the Roman Republic and the Entities they interacted with. I got it because the Janus was a symbol of Early Rome / Republic.


RR M Furius LF Philus AR Denarius 119 BCE Janus Trophy Carnyx Cr 281-1 Sear 156

 

First ancient was this camp gate of Constantine. Sent to me from @Jwt708 while I was on deployment in 2015. They intimidated me for several years before I really started learning. Now I'm a certified junkie.

 

Here's my first one...

 

My first ever was a AV Justinian I Solidus/ frontal bust from NFA Auction. It was MS/ but weak legends, so I upgraded it to a perfect one from Roma Auctions. My second ever coin was also from NFA/ but was a MS/ perfect strike. I paid $140 for it. Have better data label/ old fotos.

 

Wow. Beautiful.

 

Thanks
I am so thankfull that NFA sent me that first auction catalogue. It was what spurred me to only collect classic coins/ before I was only getting FM proof sets/ coins. Once I won material from them, I started getting catalogues from Stacks/ Paramount/ Tkalec/ rest is history. I do miss Tkalec great auction firm. Remind me of Lansky today, high quality stuff.

 

Go big or go home eh?

 

My first two coins were a junk box Macedonian shield AE and a mystery 1st century Roman As (Nero?).

 

Mine was a simple Licinius...Little did I know!
The Emperors name was misspelled.

 

This denarius of Plautilla, purchased from Forum. I thought the reverse inscription rather ironic, considering how she died.

 

Here is my RESTITVTOR VRBIS denarius of Severus, however mine depicts a seated Roma on the reverse:



Septimius Severus, 193-211 A.D. AR Denarius (19 mm, 3.3 g) SEVERVS PIVS AVG, laureate head right. RESTITVTOR VRBIS, Roma seated left holding palladium & spear, round shield below. RIC 288, RSC 606.

Ex. Arete Coins

 

This shabby LRB started my collection. It is in a condition I wouldn't collect today. Back then, I was simply amazed that you could touch and own a 1700-year old piece of human history without being a billionaire or going bankrupt:


Constantine I, Roman Empire, AE 3, 321 AD, Rome mint. Obv: CONSTANTINVS AVG, head of Constantine I, laureate, r. Rev: D N CONSTANTINI MAX AVG; VOT/XX within a laurel wreath; in exergue, RP. 20mm, 2.74g. Ref: RIC VII Rome 232.

 

My wife, oh coin, sorry she is the oldest thing I have. I do have a 1773 4 Reales coin but she is still older, gotta love her though!

 

Histamenon Nomisma are quite beautiful pieces and are a great choice as a collector’s first coins. I think Histamenon Nomisma are underrated in terms of artistry since Byzantine coinage are stereotyped as being “crude” and “cartoonish” compared to Greco-Roman coinage. The Byzantine Empire had a “Macedonian Renaissance” in art during the 10th-11th centuries, which was the time period that the Histamenon Nomisma were being minted.

 

Republican denarii are also my primary focus in regards to ancient numismatics. A denarius of M Furius LF Philus is on my wish list!

 

I like this idea for a thread! Gives me the nostalgia feels...

I think my very first ancient coin was an Alexander III Herakles / Bow & quiver AE that was stolen along with the rest of my collection in a burglary... when I was 8 years old... But I still have most of the coins from my "current collection" which I re-started 35 years ago. Unfortunately, I sold one of the coins I bought from that period (still wish I hadn't), but I have all the rest below.

After the burglary, my parents gave me $300 of insurance money (mostly for U.S. proof sets / mint sets I'd gotten as Christmas presents from my grandma) and I completely readjusted my collecting strategy, buying only ancient coins ever again, and (until about age 13) only one coin per year, usually while traveling with my parents in Europe (we lived in the US, except for one year in Nederland).

Here are the ones purchased c. 1986 or so to ~1991, roughly in order (the last one at a coin shop in Tucson, 2nd to last from a Colosseum Coin Exchange mail bid catalog):

Paris, 1986 (or so, maybe as late as 1988, possibly Claude Burgan/Maison Florange, maybe a neighboring shop on the same street, the guy was very charming). Athens Tetradrachm


Florence or Rome (?), c. 1988 (purchase by CSJ, my father). Hadrian Sestertius.


Colosseum Coin Exchange, ca. 1990-1992 (possibly MBS 53, 22 Jan 91 -- I need to add some CCE to my FPL collection so I can double check). Aegina Drachm (possibly described there as a Stater? maybe I just didn't know the difference).


Tucson, AZ, Glass Shoppe Coins, 1991 (but not from Halden Birt, owner; instead possibly from Tony Tumonis, future owner?).


The one that I foolishly sold.
Probably Paris 1987-1989, probably also Burgan/Florange.



Honestly, that burglar did me a huge favor 35 years ago. I wish that I had maintained by 8-13 year old discipline into adulthood. If nothing else, my collection would consist of much finer quality coins if I stuck to the save-every-penny-all-year-and-buy-one strategy!