LET US NOW PRAISE FAMOUS DEALERS

Seems like most of the list is from Vcoins.

Outside of Vcoins I have to give a big mention to our very own @Brian Bucklan of Bargain Bin Ancients. I've been going to him since I started collecting ancients and about a quarter of my collection, maybe more, has been bought off him. He's always been friendly & the coins are priced fairly.

Our @Valentinian of http://augustuscoins.com/ also has a wonderful assortment of ancients that is also priced fairly. I've also picked up many coins of various time periods from him.

 

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Here is a list of the dealers on VCoins and MA-Shops from whom I've bought coins in the last year and a half or so. I've also bought from a number of them at the last couple of NYINCs in 2020 and 2022, such as Herakles and Zuzim. Both highly recommended. As are most of the rest. The only problem with Shick in Israel is that it took about two months for the dealer to obtain the export license. So I haven't bought from them again.

Marc Breitsprecher would appear more, but I try to buy directly from his website. One gets about a $10.00 discount that way. The same with Aeternitas in Spain; I've made enough purchases from there that I get a slight discount from the owner if I buy from her directly. Also, the coins I've bought from her haven't required an export license.

As you can see, my MA-Shops purchases have been more likely to be from France and Germany than from the U.S. and UK. I've also bought directly from cgb.fr's website, which has a much larger inventory than their MA-Shops store.

VCoins

3/8/2022 Romae Aeternae Numismatics
2/27/2022 London Ancient Coins
2/23/2022 Dr. Martina Dieterle
2/19/2022 Ken Dorney
2/14/2022 Numiscorner
2/8/2022 Numiscorner
1/28/2022 Lodge Antiquities
12/25/2021 Zuzim
12/16/2021 Kirk Davis
12/16/2021 Arete Coins
12/8/2021 Incitatus Coins (Steve McBride)
12/5/2021 Germania Inferior Numismatics (GIN)
10/29/2021 Aegean Numismatics
10/26/2021 Ken Dorney
10/24/2021 Marc Breitsprecher, Classical Numismatist
10/24/2021 Dr. Busso Peus Nachf.
8/23/2021 C J Martin Coins
7/27/2021 Agora Numismatiek
7/5/2021 Sphinx Numismatics
5/15/2021 Tom Vossen
5/5/2021 London Ancient Coins
5/4/2021 Den of Antiquity
4/25/2021 N&N Collection
4/16/2021 Incitatus Coins
4/11/2021 Aeternitas Numismatics
4/7/2021 London Ancient Coins
4/1/2021 Dr. Busso Peus Nachf.
3/28/2021 Numismatique Louis Brousseau
3/26/2021 Germania Inferior Numismatics (GIN)
3/23/2021 London Ancient Coins
3/23/2021 Sphinx Numismatics
3/20/2021 Victors Imperial Coins
3/18/2021 Marti Classical Numismatics
3/4/2021 Forum Ancient Coins
2/22/2021 Kirk Davis
2/7/2021 Aeternitas Numismatics
1/31/2021 London Ancient Coins
1/27/2021 Ken Dorney
1/20/2021 Herakles Numismatics
1/10/2021 Aeternitas Numismatics
1/7/2021 Kirk Davis
1/7/2021 Shick Coins
1/5/2021 Zuzim
1/5/2021 Zuzim
1/2/2021 London Ancient Coins
12/31/2020 London Ancient Coins
12/27/2020 Aegean Numismatics
12/23/2020 Marti Classical Numismatics
12/20/2020 London Ancient Coins
12/19/2020 Aeternitas Numismatics
12/17/2020 London Ancient Coins
12/13/2020 Incitatus Coins
12/7/2020 Herakles Numismatics
12/5/2020 Sphinx Numismatics
11/12/2020 Zuzim
11/5/2020 London Ancient Coins
11/1/2020 C J Martin Coins
10/31/2020 London Ancient Coins
10/28/2020 Victors Imperial Coins
10/25/2020 Steven Battelle
10/25/2020 Ken Dorney
10/20/2020 Incitatus Coins
10/15/2020 Aegean Numismatics
10/13/2020 London Ancient Coins
10/2/2020 London Ancient Coins
9/16/2020 Herakles Numismatics
8/24/2020 Musa Numismatic Art
7/31/2020 Herakles Numismatics
7/28/2020 Sphinx Numismatics
7/25/2020 London Ancient Coins
7/21/2020 Herakles Numismatics
7/20/2020 Victors Imperial Coins
7/19/2020 London Ancient Coins
7/12/2020 Musa Numismatic Art

MA-Shops:


03/11/2022 10:54pm View order: 1 items
Jacquier

02/15/2022 12:52pm View order: 1 items
Stadler

02/03/2022 4:02pm View order: 1 items
Koelnermuenzkabinett

01/28/2022 3:11pm View order: 1 items
Wessex

01/19/2022 1:09pm View order: 1 items
Koelnermuenzkabinett

01/15/2022 7:10pm View order: 1 items
Wallinmynt [Sweden]

11/14/2021 5:52pm View order: 1 items
Poinsignon

09/06/2021 1:40pm View order: 1 items
Henzen

07/17/2021 5:26pm View order: 1 items
Cgb

04/11/2021 6:59pm View order: 1 items
Koelnermuenzkabinett

04/11/2021 2:04pm View order: 2 items
Koelnermuenzkabinett

03/13/2021 3:09pm View order: 1 items
Cgb

02/26/2021 4:25pm View order: 1 items
Cgb

02/16/2021 7:10am View order: 1 items
Cgb

02/08/2021 11:10am View order: 1 items
Koelnermuenzkabinett

12/15/2020 3:14pm View order: 1 items
Odysseus

06/14/2020 1:48am View order: 1 items
Cgb

03/07/2020 8:29pm View order: 1 items
Cgb

01/13/2020 12:34pm View order: 1 items
Goduto

 

A good number of my purchases have been through eBay, with dealers I know and trust. Otherwise, my acquisitions are through auction, auction "remainder" sales, and a small number of individual dealers.

Harlan Berk has been a source for me going back to the early 1980s. The coins are nice, but there is a premium generally speaking.

I know this may not be a good fit for the ancients forum, but I must give a shout out for Karl Stephens, who specializes almost entirely on world coins, with a smattering of ancients. He is another mainstay of mine going back nearly four decades, although my purchases did drop off as I moved back into ancients. Anyone interested in world coins should check out his price lists.

At the San Jose coin show I had a very pleasant visit with Glen Lindwall of Musa Numismatic Art. I did buy a follis from him at that show, the only coin so far. I was impressed by the coins he displayed, and the prices seemed quite reasonable. He also sells world coins.

In an earlier thread I mentioned Falcone Coins, a brick and mortar shop in the Willow Glen section of San Jose, CA. Sal has been a dealer in a wide range of coins and currencies, from US, to world to ancients. I have known him since 1980, acquiring primarily both world and ancient coins. He has always had a good inventory of coins in the collectable range, in addition to some that rank in the premium category. He sells coins through his shop. His son, Vince does sell online, but mostly US coins and bullion coins through eBay. Sal is semi-retired now, but he does go to the shop, with his wife Barbara, especially towards the weekend. So if you are in the area, call in advance to see when he will be in. Sal, with his vast knowledge of world and ancient coinage is the go-to guy. The shop's phone number is 408-292-2221.

 

I'd like to give a shoutout to @John Anthony - I've bought a number of coins from him at various price ranges from economical pieces to those costing around $650 a pop. Leu has been fine, Numismatica Prado, Incitatius, CNG, Marc Breitsprecher, and numerous other outlets.

 

I second the recommendation of our own @John Anthony -- I've bought several of my favorite coins from him at his JAZ auctions. Also highly recommended: our own @PeteB at akropoliscoins.com, and our own @Victor_Clark on VCoins.

I also wanted to single out Dr. Martina Dieterle for a special mention: I recently bought a coin from her for the first time, and she was a pleasure to deal with. Coincidentally, she lives not so very far from the village in Baden where a substantial part of my family came from.

 

Quite a few coins there! What has inspired your collecting these last years? Coin talk, Covid, or what?
I’ve also been more into coins these 2-3 last years than the 5 prior. I think that’s related to both reasons above.

 

I joined Coin Talk at the end of January 2020, right before the pandemic started. So I'd say that Coin Talk and Covid have both been major factors, along with my retirement in December 2019 -- I would never have had the time to devote to all this when I had a full-time job as an attorney. Not to mention when my son was growing up. So it's partly an empty nest thing, too. (I don't tell him how much of his future inheritance I spend on coins! He'll find out when I'm not around anymore.)

 

Neat. There's a few more I haven't ordered from on Donna's list. If it has the Donna stamp of approval, it's good enough for me. I'll check those others out.

I noticed something. Maybe I'm wrong, but the European firms seem to be better about having nicely patinated Roman AE at relatively modest prices.

I'm tempted by a couple of Shick Byzantines. If it takes a couple of months, I guess that's the price of doing business. That's better than Italy.


Coffee time .

 

Perhaps your son, hopefully many years from now, will find out that the coins you bought were a much better investment than if his inheritance was left in a bank account. After I was diagnosed with heart disease, I have re-designed my collection to be as auction-friendly as possible, so that my daughter won’t have to deal with a complex collection when I go. I think we’re both good in that respect, considering the quality that you buy. But I hope we’ll be custodians of our coins, and continue chatting about them for many many years more.

 

I hope so! And hey, it's certainly better for him than if I were spending a lot of money on expensive vacations. Or fine china. Or furniture. Or clothing. Few things depreciate faster than those last three!

 

Always good to know dealers who understand and appreciate the folks who purchase from him.

 

Speaking of Aegean (again), has anyone emailed/been in contact with Andrew recently? I’ve sent the same email twice in the last few days through his Vcoins store’s contact page but I haven’t gotten a reply back. He’s been listing new coins lately, and in the past he has been pretty quick to respond to emails, so I’m left wondering. I also sent an email to him back in February but that never got a reply either.

 

A shout out to Civitas Galleries and Marc Breitsprecher who both have internet presence outside of vcoins (and thus a bit cheaper than using the vcoins platform). The other dealer I have used in the past is David L. Tranbarger (no longer on vcoins), who had some rare Islamic coins for sale. He is a member of cointalk, but I'll keep his identity a secret

 

Just recently broke down and purchased some coins from Marc Breitsprecher, including my first ever sestertius! I've purchased from him in the past and echo the comments here.

Other stores I've purchased from.
Brian Buckler (bargainbinancientcoins)
Aegean
London Ancient Coins (super fast shipping across the pond)
CoinIndia
Numisocorner
Dr. Busso Peus
N&N Collection
Ken Dorney
Holyland Ancient Coins
Kolner Munzkabinett
CGB
Harlan J Berk
Akropolis Coins
Henzen
Sann
Vosper
Fenzl

All are great shops. To be honest, I haven't really had a bad experience yet.

There are, of course, a few shops on vcoins I stay clear away from because I don't have confidence in their wares. They're either well-known for applying fake patinas or they often list questionable non-numismatic antiques, some of which I've researched to determine are fakes.

 

Back when I bought from the US there were three sources I specially enjoyed buying from: Victor Clark, Brian Bucklan and Warren Esty.

As for 'local' shops, CGB and Savoca are by far my favorite spots.

 

He's been active on Facebook recently - he's going into the coin business full time, so I'm surprised he hasn't responded.

ATB,
Aidan.

 

I really like that coin, @Terence Cheesman !

CARTHAGE OCCUPYING BRUTTIUM


Bruttium Carthage occup 2nd Punic War AR Half-Shekel (approx Drachm / Denarius) 216-211 Tanit Horse SOLAR-O HN Italy 2016 SNG Cop 361-3



Bruttium Carthage occup 2nd Punic War AR Half-Shekel (approx Drachm / Denarius) 216-211 Tanit Horse SOLARdisc HN Italy 2016

 

Dunno about emails. I just know I had a recent purchase that was processed, shipped, and arrived in under a week. Hence the OP.

 

Other CoinTalkers, and I, have noticed, that the Vcoins message system (using the Vcoins web site) doesn't seem to work very well. On one occasion, in July 2021, I tried to contact a Vcoins seller, via the Vcoins message system. I sent 2 messages, and there was no response. Other CoinTalkers have had the same problem.
I've been able to get a response, from a Vcoins seller, by replying directly to a direct email, which I received from the Vcoins seller. Whenever I order a coin from Vcoins, I always receive an email directly from the Vcoins seller, which thanks me for the order, with my shipping address. And, usually, I receive a direct email from the Vcoins seller, when the Vcoins seller ships the coin, with the tracking number. These direct emails are always from an email address of the form "dealername@vcoins.com". On one occasion, in February 2022, I directly replied to one of those direct emails, to write about a topic unrelated to that specific purchase. I received a relatively quick, direct email response, from the Vcoins seller.