Ancient coins?

I'd like to start collecting them, but I don't get them.
I'd like to know the general info about them.

 

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If you could explain what you mean by not getting them, it would help.

Most ancient coins are around 600 AD and earlier.

Greek - some of the first ancient coins from 600 BC up to Roman Imperial times. This also includes many regions like Egypt, Turkey, etc. Some of the ugliest to the most artistic coins you've ever seen.

Roman Republic - Early Roman coins before the Roman Empire. Up to about 30 BC.

Roman Imperial - From about 30 BC up to 476 AD for the western half.

Roman Provincial - Any region that wasn't officially part of the empire, but was under Roman control.

Byzantine - Which is the Eastern Roman empire up to 1453 AD.

India region - Around India during ancient time.

Ancient China - Using the traditional cast cash coin with a square hole in the center.

Just a few major regions that you could collect. I'll show you some coins.

 

Roman Republic Anonymous AE Semis circa 91 BC, 6.19g, 23mm

OBV: Head of Saturn right.

REV: Prow of a galley right "S" before, "ROMA" in exergue

REF: RCV 901

This is a bronze semis coin from the Roman Republic before there were emperors. I don't have any silver denarii right now because they are expensive for me.

 

Vespasian AE As. 76 AD, 26mm, 10.2g

OBV: IMP CAESAR VESP AVG COS VII, Laureate head right.

REV: AEQVITAS AVGVST S-C, Aequitas standing left, holding scales & scepter.

REF: RIC 890, Cohen 4.

This is a Roman Imperial coin, one of the 12 Caesars.

 

Wow
I don't understand them is what I meant. My fault.

 

Romanus III. 1028-1034 AD. Class B anonymous follis, 1028-1034 AD. Constantinople. 10.6g, 31.81mm

OBV: IC-XC to right and left of bust of Christ facing with nimbate cross behind head, square in each limb of nimbus cross, holding book of gospels, a dot in center of dotted square on book.

REV: IS-XS BAS-ILE BAS-ILE to left and right above and below cross on three steps.

REF: SB 1823.

 

What do you not understand? If you tell me, I might be able to explain in a certain way.

 

That's a Byzantine coin with Jesus on the obverse and a cross on the reverse side of the coin. Each of my coins come with a description.

 

I guess the coin its self. Unlike a wheat penny it has foreign language, so it's hard to determine its date and where it is from.

 

I know what you mean. I was confused when I first started collecting. Thing to remember is that history and ancient coin collecting goes hand in hand. Every ancient coin has a story to tell. Not kidding either.

Most coins come from ancient Europe. Here is a map of the Roman Empire.



Don't worry about reading the coins right now because if you collect them for awhile you will definitely learn how to read them. Although, certain region coins have a certain look.

 

Most Roman coins have letters that you can recognize because we use those Latin letters today.

 

Determining where and when some ancient coins were struck can be difficult. If the coin doesn't say a ruler's name or city, the location where it and other like it can help narrow down the origin. Where coins are found in archaeological excavations can provide information. For example, a coin excavated from under a layer of ashes near Pompey was obviously minted before the cataclysmic eruption of Pompey.

People have been collecting coins since ancient times. In more modern times there have been more scholarly efforts at identifying and categorizing the coins. Numerous online sources list tens of thousands of types; there are vast numbers of books and numismatic articles dissecting ancient coins in every way imaginable.

Ancient coins were produced in incredible volume over many hundreds of years. Some coins were melted, restruck, have corroded into elements, or are otherwise permanently lost. Others are discovered constantly. Ye Olde Savings And Loan did not exist in the ancient world. A person's savings might be kept in a buried earthenware jar. War comes; the owner dies or flees. Skip forward to modern times: a metal detectorist, builder, farmer, or archaeologist finds it.

It seems incredible but you can buy 1800+ year old coins for as little as a few dollars! You can also spend hundreds of thousands on spectacular rarities. There are types and prices for all collectors .

 

Wow these sound impressive

 

http://www.forumancientcoins.com/dougsmith/voc.html

I wrote the above series of pages with the intent of helping beginners 'get' the language of ancient coins and, along the way, show examples of various categories of coins. I'm not saying that reading them will make you expert in anything. The last page is a postscript that touches on a few matters of collecting (fakes, grading etc.) but the rest show a few what there is that make up the million or so varieties we call ancients. I did not select only 'beginners' coins and I did not select only expensive rarities (I had to borrow one to be able to show the most expensive coin and it is a cheap example for its category). Some beginners with deep pockets start with coins costing several hundred/thousand apiece but most of us stay a little more conservative until we learn a little bit about what we like and what is available.

While I do believe reading my pages will benefit most beginners, I even more suggest yo read all the posts here and pay attention to the difference of opinions offered by out regulars. We are quite a varied lot and all remember when we were new at all of this. Feel free to ask questions.

 

I'll read it in the morning. Goodnight everyone

 

Considering Dilly is 13 years old, it is really great people will take time to respond to him seriously.

 

I noticed that his profile said 13 as well. No problem as far as helping him is concerned.

 

Dilly, Doug's pages are the best introduction to ancient coins and they interesting even to very experienced collectors. Here is another site devoted to answering beginner's questions:

http://esty.ancients.info/numis/

 

Great effort, Gil-galad, et al ... oh, and good luck taking your first steps from modern coins into the zany world of ancient coins, Dilly dollar!!

..... man, you dudes even have me convinced to try and learn something about these cool ancient coin thingies!!

 

I'm back. I know where to get some cool ancient coins.

I'll be sure to read up on these links.