ancient celtic bronze rings

I want to start collecting ancient coins, but I know nothing about them. I've seen on Ebay celtic bronze rings, and I think they are pretty cool and would be worth collecting. Can somebody just tell me about them and what to look for?

Thanks,
Dalton

 

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These metal rings are most likely simply leftovers, (in the ground after the leather has rotted away), from bridles and the like. The Celts in one tiny instance were known to trade in such things for small denominations, but like most societies metal was of value, and they used what they had.

Most Celtic collectors do not consider those things as coins, especially Celtic coins.

Roman coins are probably the easiest ancient coins to start on for a westerner. Look at those on Ebay if you wish. Stay away from "uncleaned" coins, and buy a few cheap, nice coins. Then as people here about them, buy some books, and next thing you know you are hooked!

Ask Doug, he is a serious Roman addict! Many others too.

 

Ok, so they are just old junk? Can they be used as real rings that I can wear? I want to get into the Roman coins too, but I don't know about them very much. What's wrong with the uncleaned coins?

 

I assume he is talking about another Doug. My addiction is much beyond Roman. According to my records only 17 of my last 100 coins have been Roman.

 

I have a small Celtic collection but have to admit I woudnt go near them with a barge pole, the problem is one of authentication, how do you know for sure that a copper ring is Celtic? with the coins those you can check known details etc. If you want to buy Celtic coins check out Chriss Rudd's coins :thumb:

 

Well Doug I guess you are just a multi jurisdictional addict. I just was saying you would be an expert in Romans the OP could get help from.

The "rings" are just small bronze circles. I read a great story about them once, and they said take any bridle and there are like 20-30 small bronze rings used to connect the leather. These are what these rings on Ebay are. Many people get confused, or intentionally mislead buyers, since there was one report in literature that Celts used bronze rings for money. Like I said, anything made of metal in ancient times could be money. The Celts made traditional coinage and can be very beautiful. They had a very artistic style, frequently imitating contemparary coinage in their own style.

Yes, Chris Rudd is one of the premier Celtic dealers. A search for his name will bring up a couple of sites. Celtic is very interesting, but books are somewhat scarce and the coins are more expensive than Roman, which is why I suggested Roman as a starter culture to get into ancients.

 

Ok, thanks medoraman. That helps a lot. What are the "uncleaned" roman coins?

 

Sometimes they are what they say they are, though they are ALWAYS picked over in the fields at the very least. Most of the time on Ebay they are dregs that will never have any numismatic value. Luckily late roman coins are cheap, and you should be able to find there some decent coins for very little money. Go that route and avoid the uncleaned coins. If you really want to clean coins, join the Yahoo newsgroup and listen to their advice.

Let me know when you want book advice, my favorite subject.

 

Ok, thanks. I was going to look into the uncleaned ones because they seem pretty cheap.

 

A long time ago I bought a bag of uncleaned Roman. One coin was decent, a couple so-so and the rest were so far gone that they could be considered slugs. For the money I spent I could have had a really nice, well detailed, attributed Roman.

 

Yep, most are worthless. There are sources of decent uncleaned coins, but they are scarce and come and go. From a source once I got 4 Cleopatra 7th coins in one group. Another time I got a group of AE4's and found a Johannes. However, most on Ebay are drek, and unless you know what you are doing its best just to buy common cleaned Romans on Ebay.

 

Buy a small lot of uncleaned that are cheap and practise cleaning them, you might find a couple of nice ones. If you do go this route also invest in a few dental picks and a fiber pen for removing some of the tougher dirt (but watch out for the fiberglass particles) :thumb:

 

Yes, you can. However, I think most people find that the price you pay for the group, divided by the few keepers you get, is more expensive than simply buying cleaned ones. Its up to the person of course.

 

It really is three completely different hobbies.

1. Some find the most enjoyment in finding something no one has seen for 2000 years and are not bothered too much by it being less than the greatest condition. The hobby is searching and cleaning coins bought in lots or found with our own metal detectors. Every so often we get a special coin but we accumulate a bunch of ordinary, ugly and worthless ones along the way.

2. Others of us get our thrill of the hunt by searching through lots of coins that can be identified but have not been yet and finding something we consider worthwhile. We buy individual coins. This form also includes search listings of identified coins for examples we want and consider worth the price asked. We are especially hoping for things that do not appear for sale every day but that fit our ideas of what belongs in our collection.

3. The third group buys what a dealer suggests will be a good investment but never really takes the effort to learn about the coins except that someone told them it was a good move. Calling this form a hobby may be a stretch since many of those in this camp are more investors than they are collectors.

All three are forms of collecting ancient coins but those who participate in only one of the three ways have less to talk about with those who only collect according to the other plans. Certainly there are those who collect, for example, both uncleaned lots and individual selections but most of us specialize according to whether the hobby is the coin or the chase.

For the record: I'm in group 2. I understand group 1 and have no use whatsoever for group 3. Your hobby may differ.

 

Good recap. I started in uncleaned camp since I was cheap and thought it would be cheaper. I got lucky with some of my purchases and was able to buy from some of the "good" sellers while they were selling, (Aaccoins, I forget the rest). Without such luck, though, it is a more expensive hobby IMHO than being in group 2. Plus, I never had enough time to clean them all!

P.S. Well at least group 3 provides cash flow for the rest of us to pursue avenues 1 and 2.

 

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Ok, thanks that clears things up a lot. Just wandering, those "celtic" rings, cound I accutally wear them as rings?

 

They are rings of metal, not finger rings. Most have holes in the center of less than a quarter inch.

 

Hi,

I've worn one of those "celtic ring money" rings on my finger. Buy from someone that at least puts the diameter size in the listing, as opposed to giving you one at random.

It is very possible that they were used to barter with since there are bronze, silver and gold specimens available. Most of the celts were illiterate, the druids passed their knowledge through oral tradition. So there is no confirmation for sure whether or not these rings were used as money as well as for function.

We do know that later on some of the Celtic tribes began mimicking Greek coins but there was no Celtic nation so to speak, so it is possible that not all adopted coins right away.

 

Some ancient rings may be sold as "ring money" but most on Ebay and the like are small rings and are shaped so as not to be worn. The are small circles with perfectly round metal in the loop.

If they are shaped as a ring, then it is a ring. The one mention of "ring money" was what I described, being simple rings of metal like you would see at a Farmer supply store.