Another rare Late Roman ruler for my collection

Don't rush into it. Stay away from ebay until you are more familiar with ancients. Have a browse through Vcoins. Buy the best you can for your budget.

Get a book to read, there are many.

You may buy many coins before you find your focus. Buy a coin that appeals to you. If you buy from Vcoins, enquire first what their best price is.

If you have any local coin shops, ask if they have ancients. If possible, go in and handle some.

 

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Pish's advice is sound but I'll add one more. There are as many ways to collect as there are collectors. Don't feel like you 'should' buy a certain coin but stick to coins that speak to you. Some people buy for investment; some for interest; some for beauty. Perhaps that is why they have a million types from under $5 to over $500,000. Here is what interested me most. What I find interesting and beautiful may bore you to tears. That is OK.
http://www.forumancientcoins.com/dougsmith/favs.html

 

Hmmmm... Ancients are cool. I enjoy collecting as a HOBBY. I am an end-consumer, and not an investor.

I used to collect US (started almost 50 years ago when I was 9 - looks like we are the same age...), but became upset with all the artificial slabbing and silly rating numbers.

I enjoy history, so Ancients became very interesting. That was 25 years ago... I started out very slow, a few coins from trusted friends (before the internet), and slowly grew my collection. There are MILLIONS of Ancients, but spread across over a thousand plus years of history... And, many cities, states, areas, etc. minted many varieties. Many folks start with Roman Emperors. Yes, there are "years", but in many cases (before the Empire) "years" were not definite. And many coins that I collect (BCE) mostly do NOT have "years" or few have "mint marks" stamped on them.

As a US collector, your paradigm for collecting will shift when you move to Ancients. It is also perfectly ok to HOLD and TOUCH your coins. Generally, no worries there! Most of the Ancients people here do NOT want their coins slabbed. Respectfully, there are a few that do.

I started by following where my Historical interests lead me: I enjoyed Philip II and Alexander III the Great and the amazing rise of Makedon power. Additionally I have always loved the rise of the Roman Republic (all BCE). Today, much of my collection revolve around those two core areas.

I suggest to take your time researching before purchasing. Watch the CT Ancients Forum, read and watch the pics from many of the excited posters. Get a feel of what is "cool" to you (all of it is to me, but certain areas really grab me.) Then, when you take the plunge, I would suggest trusted sources such as Vcoins, Forum Coins, Warren Esty, Coin Talk sale thread, MA-Shops, coin shows with dealers focused in Ancients, and SEVERAL other sites - many of those sites are mentioned in other threads... use the thread "SEARCH" button when you have questions! Some are already answered for you. EBay is good ONLY with trusted sellers. A high percentage of other people sell Ancients on eBay that may or may not know they are selling fakes.

Key is (at least for me!), do your homework, research, watch, learn, and FOR ME, it is a HOBBY not a BUSINESS... so, HAVE FUN!

 

There is a plethora of reputable dealers beginning with Vcoins, as well as decent auction houses. I would stay away from Ebay until you get to know what your are looking at (and even then, the bay can be a swamp to have to navigate). BUT, there are good, reputable dealers that sell on Ebay as well. You just have to get to know who is who. You also need to decide what your collecting interest might be, i.e. Greek, Roman Republic, Roman Imperial, Late Roman Imperials, Byzantine, etc. I might suggest you take a look at the offerings on FAC to get an idea even if you don't purchase from there. http://www.forumancientcoins.com/catalog/roman-and-greek-coins.asp. Same for Vcoins: https://www.vcoins.com/en/Default.aspx. Also look on http://agoraauctions.com/, http://cngcoins.com/ or https://www.sixbid.com/search.html?search=tiberius+denarius.

I hope this helps somewhat.

 

Thanks to all of you for the advice and information. Sounds like this hobby in Ancients is going to take time and that is ok because that is what I do have a lot of, time. Some of this reminds me of when I was in school. And to be honest I'm surprised I actually do remember some of it. This time I will be digging deep and take notes. I've already got a notebook for the notes. I'm going to spend time first before money. Can't lose there. Thanks again, @Alegandron , @Pishpash ,@Bing , @dougsmit and to everyone else on this site. It is not just a post on a forum, it's an education!

 

Wow ... that's a very cool new coin, Jango (congrats, brother)

 

And the best advise I can give you...stay away from all the ancient silver. It's all mine!

Just kidding. Welcome to the hobby. Feel free to ask questions before purchasing any ancients. We will all be glad to help. These guys helped me a lot when I was starting out.

 

I always enjoy and learn from these write-ups. Thank you.

Here's part of another perspective on Eugenius that I wrote at another site:

The traditional story was that Eugenius was very sympathetic to the Pagans and he really was only a nominal Christian. He certainly had the support of the predominately Pagan Roman Senate (despite possibly strangely not being confirmed by that pro-Pagan Senate).

According to popular history, Eugenius promoted some of the Pagan policies and
supported Pagan temples, both of which had fallen out of favor because of
recent intolerant Christian emperors. He and his general Arbogast, however, lost
the pivotal and bloody battle of Frigidus against the militantly Christian Emperor
Theodosius. Both the usurper and his general soon lost their lives: Eugenius
was captured and killed, while Arbogast committed suicide. Eugenius was the
last emperor to support polytheism.

Many historians cling to the idea that this was the last stand
of the noble and enlightened Pagans against the intolerant and culturally
ignorant Christians.

Numismatists have supported this rendition of history, too. They
point out that Eugenius wears a beard on his coin (rare among
Christian emperors). This, they contend, is indicative of Eugenius' being a
philosopher and, thus, more tolerant of Pagans. But wait. This widely accepted
story might be incorrect.

Alan Cameron in his book The Last Pagans of Rome reminds us that
Eugenius was a teacher of rhetoric, not philosophy. Cameron mentions incidentally
that Christ, the apostles, and the saints are also shown in the style of
philosophers with a beard.

Cameron writes :
"[T]he main focus of much modern scholarship has been on
[the last Pagans'] supposedly stubborn resistance to Christianity. Rather
surprisingly, they have been transformed from the arrogant, philistine
land-grabbers most of them were into fearless champions of senatorial
privilege, literature lovers, and aficionados of classical (especially Greek)
culture as well as the traditional cults. The dismantling of this romantic myth
is one of the main goals of this book."

After plowing through this dense and scholarly tome by Alan Cameron,
I may have now changed my opinion about the relationship among the fourth
century Christian and Pagan communities. Cameron may have successfully
dismantled the romantic mythology of Pagans being the last bastion of enlightened
ancient culture fending classical civilization against the darkness and
ignorance of Christianity.

Here are two good reviews of the book:

http://www.unrv.com/...pagans-rome.php


"The last pagans in Rome were busy administrators who happened not to be Christian. Most of the Christians with whom they dealt likewise did not see the issues of the day purely in terms of who worshipped what. This was after all a time when the Roman empire was undergoing huge changes, with invading armies sweeping across the provinces and economic collapse a stark reality.
While there were fanatics - mainly on the Christian side - for most aristocratic Romans religious belief was simply not the deciding factor in the issues of the day. However, conversion was a convenient option in an ever more Christian empire, and Rome's last pagans eventually succumbed - with hardly a whimper."

http://www.timeshigh.../417316.article

Eugenius' power grab might need to be assessed with this alternative (and thoroughly researched and convincingly argued) background in mind. Eugenius might not have been the last great "hero of the Pagans" once imagined by romantic Pagan apologists.

This is one case where the numismatists may have drawn the incorrect conclusions from the evidence.

Thank you, again, ValiantKnight, for your excellent work.

 

My Eugenius (but not my pictures):

 

Great history, really nice Eugenius coins...still missing this Emperor in my collection, hopefully will get one in upcoming auctions....mucho expensive!!!!
I am still torn between coins struck before 1200AD and post 1200....they are all so nice, and always never enough $ to fulfill those dreams.

 

Nice coins and write ups VK and Bart! I too like to learn about area I am not currently focusing on. I used to think anything after constantine was kinda boring but your coins and their history are showing me that there are late Romans I would be happy to have