Ancient Coins-what was your primary influence for your interest in Classical Numismatics?

Feel free to explain!

Bonus- Post a coin(s) that have had the most impact on the direction of your collection. IE a certain reverse type that led to wanting to specifically collect that type.

My impact would be my Constans, Constantine II, Constantius II, meaning that I have the three sons of Constantine the Great and Fausta, leading me to have a special intrigue for Dynastic collecting.

Constans AE follis. Siscia. 2.05 g

DN CONSTANS PF AVG, pearl diademed, draped, cuirassed bust right.
FEL TEMP REPARATIO, Phoenix standing right on rocky pyre.

Mintmark ASIS


RIC VIII Siscia 228

 

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A neighbor gave me two coins when I was 6. One was a tet of Nero and the 2nd was a denier of Bohemund of Tripolis. As it turned out both were fakes! But I caught the bug and purchased a Gordian III ant shortly thereafter from my neighborhood coin shop that always had about 9-10 ancients in the display case. I also had been voraciously reading about ancient Egypt, Greece and Rome at the time.

 

After highschool, I got my first job working for a lawn maintenance firm, when i started making real $$$, I began collecting MS AV World coinage (cheaper modern stuff) big mistake. (Franklin Mint/ proof sets)
Then I got a NFA catalogue in the mail, I was hooked! After looking thru the auction material, I knew that I loved these coins. Mind you, I had to save up and buy less coins. My first ancient was a cheap MS Constantine IX AV Histamemnon/ cost me $300US, a tidy amt. back in 1985. I managed to get 20 nice gold pieces from NFA auctions, still treasure these today. The Valentinian II AV Solidus is perfect. Here is that first ancient/ NFA auction. After that I started getting catalogues fom Tkalec AG auctions/ then CNG/ rest is history. However, I still collect 1500-1945/ they are also nice Yes, I still have all those Proof set coins, they are neat too! Here is a more modern coin I just won.... AV German States/ Silesia/ Breslau
AV 1/12 Dukat 1711 Breslau Mint .30g. 10mm. .986
Kaiser Josef I (Holy Roman Emperor)
3 known
MS-66

 

I have several sub-collections that chase threads of early history. I enjoy origins and foundations of the whats and whys of Human History. Not an academician, just a guy who enjoys reading ancient history for pleasure.

I am usually not as excited about a coin's style or "condition" as other collectors. Rather, I enjoy the coin being a "placemarker" in History. I feel that holding the coin gives me a physical touch to that Ancient History.


Here is one from Etruria, who probably founded and influenced Early Rome. It was an unique culture and Empire well before Rome, and there is a lot of mystery and speculation as to where they originally came from. They were not indigenous to Italia.


Etruria Populonia AR 1 As 0.60g 10.0mm after 211 BCE Male Head L - Plain Rev Vecchi 3 68-70 HN Italy 181 EXTREMELY RARE


This one is from Carthage, whom had 3 Punic Wars and was in major conflict with Rome early in the Republic's history. This shaped a lot of Rome's character and resolve, to later become a World Empire.


Carthage Zeugitania First Punic War 264-241 BCE Double Shekel 26 mm 13.9 g Wreathed Tanit Horse stndng r star above SNG Cop 185 Rare


How about one from the Man whose philosophies and beliefs shapes and influences upwards of a Half-Billion of today's World Population?

India - Shakya Janapada
AR 5-Shana
6th-5th Century BCE
25mm x 21mm, 7.05g
Obv: Central Pentagonal punch plus several banker's marks
Rev: Blank
Ref: Hirano Type I.8.29
19 known.
Coinage from the Ghaghara Gandak River region
Minted in the Shakya Janaprada during Siddhārtha Gautama's (Later the Buddha) lifetime while he was prince, and under the authority of his father as King


How about the Emperor Shi Huang Di who united the Warring States of China, that built a monolithic culture as China today?

China Qin Shi Huang 34mm 8.5g ban liang 221-206 BCE 半两 Primitive Line script rare ex: @Ancientnoob, ex: Dr Alex Fishman


I enjoy the Aechamenid Persian Empire because of their conflict and shaping the Greek World. This later lead to the rise of Makedon through Philip II and his son Alexander III.

Persia Achaemenid Type IV Artaxerxes II to Daris III 375-336 BCE AR siglos 15.2mm 5.45g running daggar bow incuse BMC 172ff rev

 

I had always collected modern coins ever since my father got me started as a kid. We started with a Whitman album for US cents and tried to fill it in like the one my Dad had.
Later I joined the Navy and was stationed in Spain , I had bought a coin from a guy on the street in town. I then asked around if anyone would know its value. I found a Civilian guy on base that knew a lot about coins and He told me it was fake. He then asked me if I wanted to go metal detecting with Him . I accepted and went metal detecting, the first coin I dug up was a Roman coin of Salonina. I was hooked forever from that day on.

 

When dealing in US coins coins, I got increasingly disillusioned by the monotony of it all and the dependence on third-party grading. Ancient coins were far more special and interesting.

 

I started with modern coins but after getting my first ancient I realised I have no real interest in moderns and I loved the ancients because I love history.

 

Kind of the same experience as @TypeCoin971793 and @Yorkshire, I started out collecting Canadian Cents from a very young age, and tried to complete a date set. Then when I discovered auctions, the diversity of other coins available and the history available at your fingertips blew me away. The diversity available in ancient coins keeps me interested far more than completing, say, a Canadian type set.

 

It all started with Indiana Jones!

 

What was your primary influence?
Good Question, @CoinBlazer !

During the process of shopping for Holy Relics I inadvertently became hopelessly hooked on ancient coins.

 

My first exposure to ancient coins occurred when I was probably 11 or 12 years old. We had a mall about a half hour bike ride away and I used to like to go there and look at all the treasures within.I was really fond of the aquariums full of exotic fish and of course toys and other things. One day I walked into a woman's shop (Can not imagine why Yuuuch full of women's stuff like dresses, purses and makeup and at that age could not fathom the interest) and I saw a display of Roman coins None were labeled so I had no idea of what any of them were but something told me that at some time I could buy some of these someday. About 2-3 years later I went into a coin shop for the very first time and actually saw ancient coins for sale. I eventually bought one. There is somewhere in my moms picture albums a picture of me all dressed up heading to the downtown coin shop to buy an ancient coin which turned out to be a Gallienus antoninianus of the animal series. I don't have that coin anymore. I actually donated it to my local university coin display.
One of my early coin purchases a denarius of Caracalla was replaced with this one
Caracalla Denarius 217 A.D. Rv Victory seated right inscribing shield In exergue VIC PART RIC 297a 2.61 grms 18 mm

 

When I was a boy I was fascinated by the Roman Empire, primarily the Flavian Era, because of all the spectacular (and sometimes cheesy) miniseries that were shown on TV.

The awesome Masada starring Peter O'toole, David Warner, and Anthony Quayle.



The cheesy The Last Days of Pompeii notably starring Lawrence Olivier in his last role, Ernest Borgnine(!), Leslie-Anne Down, Ned Beatty(!), and Brian Blessed.













When I was 14 my parents bought me a wonderful illustrated Penguin edition of Suetonius' The Twelve Caesars. If they only knew what those pages contained!




Many years later I discovered that one could acquire coins struck by the Roman emperors. Consequently my first coin purchase was a denarius of Vespasian.



The rest, shall we say, is history!

 

History indeed!

I've told this story before, but what the heck. I feel nostalgic tonight. When I was 12 years old, my parents enrolled me in a thespian troupe. After being an understudy for a year or so, I was selected to play Marcus Antonius in Shakespeare's The Death of Julius Caesar. You see where this is going? Our plays, all Shakespeare, did so well, we were invited to England where we culminated our tour with a two day stand at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre. I was enamored with Marcus Antonius from that point. I read every historical piece and novel about MA that I could get my hands on, and in 1981 I purchased my first Ancient coin. Need I say that it was a legionary denarius of MA.


The rest, as you say, is history!

P.S., I also played the role of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. However, I do not have any coins from that era. I wonder why?

 

Raiders of the Lost Ark is one of my favorite films of all time! A timeless classic.

 

Neat story @Bing! That had to be a thrilling adventure for a 12 year old!

 

58 years ago and I remember like yesterday.

 

Pretty interesting for sure. When I was growing up, I always loved the epic historical spectacles. I was eight when I saw Quo Vadis, my favorite hero was Hannibal (Victor Mature played him/ excellent choice) Genghiz Khan played by Omar Sharif was a beautifull epic, even though Genghiz was not as good looking/ or as nice a guy Omar played the lead role. Today, I still have same taste in movies as in highschool/ even my taste in cars is same (67 427/400HP) Corvette with powerglide/ factory sidepipes....love the roar of the Tri-Power 427 engine. Guess Greta would not be pleased
Back to topic, why AV coinage? Well, as a wee lad in Germany, my Grandfather got me interested in pirates/ treasure....always lots of gold doubloons
Now, I watch "Curse of Oak Island" others.....seems they never find any gold coins Makes one wonder, maybe they should look in India.
John

 

Fantastic story! First time I've read it... I was born in'81

 

Whippersnapper!

 

Interesting thread, with interesting stories. I think it was 1977 when the BBC version of Robert Grave's I, Claudius broadcast on TV. I was in 7th grade and something about ancient Rome really got to me. It is inexplicable. Star Wars hit me at the same time, but it was Rome that really stuck. I took Latin in high school, and my teacher lent me Suetonius - the very same edition David Atherton shows in his post above.

I bought my first ancient 10 years later from a local dealer - the same dealer I still visit. A denarius of Septimius Severus MARS PATER:



Mostly I collected Roman Republic denarii - but before the Internet, prices were high, catalogues were all through the mail, so I only bought a couple a year. My local library has Crawford on the shelf, so I was pretty comfortable with researching my purchases. Imperial and Greek stuff was not much fun, however - the books didn't have enough illustrations, and I was constantly confused. I remember spending hours with Mueller unsuccessfully trying to figure out an Alexander III drachm (which I attributed via the Internet in about 5 minutes, years later).

I was a very intermittent collector of ancients until 2013 when I became obsessed with Byzantines (not sure how that happened). My first trip to Rome in 2017 sent me around the bend - I joined CT about that time. I also found that with patience, some pretty good deals could be had on eBay. Stuff I had no interest in - Provincials, little bitty Greek AEs and about everything else - started turning me on. Coin Talk has really fanned the flames - the expertise, the great member coins, the advice, the camaraderie make the whole collecting experience much better. So thank y'all!