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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;dougsmit, post: 5340958, member: 19463&quot;]DonnaML has the best answer.&nbsp; Until any of us get to the point that we feel comfortable, and I mean really comfortable, with a series of coin, it is advisable to buy from someone who is both honest and knowledgeable with coins of that type.&nbsp; I am a bit more adventurous with coins in my areas of specialty but get nervous when I am buying something about which I am not familiar.&nbsp; This is triply true when that coin is ANY of the popular types that sell easily to people who do not collect ancient coins.&nbsp; That list is led by the types mentioned in the Bible.&nbsp; Thousands of Christians only want &#039;Tribute Pennies&#039; and &#039;30 Pieces of Silver&#039;.&nbsp; A few years ago I visited a small local coin shop in Ohio (we saw it when we got off the Interstate for lunch).&nbsp; They had about a hundred somewhat ordinary ancients (LRB, Widow&#039;s Mites in low grade and perhaps fifty Byzantine bronzes of which half were Christ type Anonymous issues in well worn condition.&nbsp; Also in the group were between 5 and 10 (memory fails) Tiberius/Livia Tribute Pennies and every one was, to my eyes, <u>obviously</u> fake.&nbsp; None were even a little deceptive.&nbsp; The shop owner had no idea what he had and seemed to appreciate my opinions on the matter of ID and prices.&nbsp; I bought a half a dozen assorted low end Byzantine coins at what I considered fair prices and he said something to the effect that he trusted me because I did not offer to buy any of those Tribute Pennies so I must have been truthful about them being fake.&nbsp; This A2 appealed to me for the style A used on the reverse which was new to me then.&nbsp; It was $5.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1226081[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>The entire group of coins was probably worth what he had paid the heirs but he had no idea what to ask for what was obviously the gatherings of a Christian grandpa (perhaps a Pastor?).&nbsp; I laid out and identified half a dozen of the better coins (in which I had no interest) and told him the rest were best offered as &#039;ancients&#039;.&nbsp; I suggested to him that he put the Christ folles in a dish and offer them to his walk in (all non-ancient) collectors for $10 or $15 each (probably twice their worth).&nbsp; He acted like that was a good idea but I never revisited that shop so I&#039;ll never know.&nbsp; This is my example of the blind leading the blind. </p><p>&quot;בשוק סמייא צווחין לעווירא סגי נהור&quot;, meaning &quot;In the street of the blind, the one-eyed man is called the Guiding Light&quot;,<i>B&#039;reshith Rabba</i>.</p><p>Had the heirs sent those coins to &#039;real&#039; dealers in ancients, the lot would have been rejected for any price.&nbsp; I hope he sold them and may even have lit a fire of interest in some kid who came to his shop to buy Lincoln cents.&nbsp; We can dream.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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