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<p>[QUOTE="Finn235, post: 3524096, member: 98035"]Except for the most common and/or generic of ancient coins, you will be hard-pressed to procure more than a couple of any specific ancient coin variety - yes certain varieties may be rare or even unique, but nobody cares because nobody has the time, interest, or money to collect *thousands* of reverse types of Gallienus or Constantine. It's the same issue that modern collectors are seeing with Canada et al. churning out a new "rare" NCLT every other week.</p><p><br /></p><p>From my experience, the biggest factors in rarity are, in some sort of order:</p><p><br /></p><p>1) The rarest of the rare emperors for a Roman Emperor set - Romulus Augustus is rare in an absolute sense, but immense demand as the "Last Emperor" routinely drives his coins up to high end sports car / small house prices.</p><p><br /></p><p>2) Greek coins of immense historical importance and exceptional artistic merit - Especially the coins of Syracuse can go well into the six figures.</p><p><br /></p><p>3) Very important reverses or types for famous individuals who are not rare as a "type emperor" - Examples like early Augustus/Octavian denarii, Nero sestertii, and Trajan/Hadrian sestertii commemorating special events or victories.</p><p><br /></p><p>Some fun examples from my collection:</p><p><br /></p><p>1) Athens "mass production" owl tet... upper end of average grade for the most common type - about $450</p><p>[ATTACH=full]935973[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>Alexander the Great lifetime Tetradrachm, with a popular control mark - plough for Tarsus - Again common as dirt, but a popular choice for those with the willpower to day "just one ancient for me" - this was about $600</p><p>[ATTACH=full]935975[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>My most expensive coin by a fair margin - Didius Julianus, a "key" emperor who held the shortest uncontested reign of the Principate - just a hair under $1,000</p><p>[ATTACH=full]935978[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>On the other side - here are coins that blow all of the above out of the water in terms of rarity, but don't even come close in terms of price because of lack of demand</p><p><br /></p><p>Unpublished mule of Constantine with a PROVIDENTIAE CAESS reverse, from Arles, third officina - an officina that did not strike for Constantine; only his sons. Paid $1 for it, and would consider myself lucky to get $50 for it from a specialized collector</p><p>[ATTACH=full]935982[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>The ephemeral Silk Road King Hyrcodes - an attractive and rare issue, but it only cost me $35 because so few people collect these</p><p>[ATTACH=full]935990[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>Archaic obol of Cyzicus, known from only a few (<10) examples - I have been unable to sell this even at an exceptional price</p><p>[ATTACH=full]935999[/ATTACH][/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>
[QUOTE="Finn235, post: 3524096, member: 98035"]Except for the most common and/or generic of ancient coins, you will be hard-pressed to procure more than a couple of any specific ancient coin variety - yes certain varieties may be rare or even unique, but nobody cares because nobody has the time, interest, or money to collect *thousands* of reverse types of Gallienus or Constantine. It's the same issue that modern collectors are seeing with Canada et al. churning out a new "rare" NCLT every other week. From my experience, the biggest factors in rarity are, in some sort of order: 1) The rarest of the rare emperors for a Roman Emperor set - Romulus Augustus is rare in an absolute sense, but immense demand as the "Last Emperor" routinely drives his coins up to high end sports car / small house prices. 2) Greek coins of immense historical importance and exceptional artistic merit - Especially the coins of Syracuse can go well into the six figures. 3) Very important reverses or types for famous individuals who are not rare as a "type emperor" - Examples like early Augustus/Octavian denarii, Nero sestertii, and Trajan/Hadrian sestertii commemorating special events or victories. Some fun examples from my collection: 1) Athens "mass production" owl tet... upper end of average grade for the most common type - about $450 [ATTACH=full]935973[/ATTACH] Alexander the Great lifetime Tetradrachm, with a popular control mark - plough for Tarsus - Again common as dirt, but a popular choice for those with the willpower to day "just one ancient for me" - this was about $600 [ATTACH=full]935975[/ATTACH] My most expensive coin by a fair margin - Didius Julianus, a "key" emperor who held the shortest uncontested reign of the Principate - just a hair under $1,000 [ATTACH=full]935978[/ATTACH] On the other side - here are coins that blow all of the above out of the water in terms of rarity, but don't even come close in terms of price because of lack of demand Unpublished mule of Constantine with a PROVIDENTIAE CAESS reverse, from Arles, third officina - an officina that did not strike for Constantine; only his sons. Paid $1 for it, and would consider myself lucky to get $50 for it from a specialized collector [ATTACH=full]935982[/ATTACH] The ephemeral Silk Road King Hyrcodes - an attractive and rare issue, but it only cost me $35 because so few people collect these [ATTACH=full]935990[/ATTACH] Archaic obol of Cyzicus, known from only a few (<10) examples - I have been unable to sell this even at an exceptional price [ATTACH=full]935999[/ATTACH][/QUOTE]
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