Are Ancient Coins Getting More Popular?

Discussion in 'Ancient Coins' started by ancient coin hunter, Apr 3, 2020.

  1. ancient coin hunter

    ancient coin hunter 3rd Century Usurper

    I just noticed that the Ancients forum has over 21,000 Discussions while the World Coins Forum has just over 17,000 Discussions. There was a time a couple of years back or so when the World Coins section had more Discussions than Ancients. Do you think Collecting ancients is getting more popular? If so, why? I have a couple of theories but want to see what you folks come up with....Cheers.
     
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  3. medoraman

    medoraman Supporter! Supporter

    A talkative group :) came over from another Board maybe 6 years ago. They have raised the post level.

    I do see ancients much more collected in the US due to the internet today though. I had never met anyone with an ancient coin before 25 years ago, now many more people I know have them.
     
  4. Kentucky

    Kentucky Supporter! Supporter

    The Dark Side is spreading...
     
  5. JulesUK

    JulesUK Well-Known Member

    Don’t forget the UK....i only started collecting in October and this forum has been a fantastic resource.
    Hail the Empire!
     
  6. kazuma78

    kazuma78 Supporter! Supporter

    I've personally been venturing into ancients more. I started in U.S. and then got a little bored there. Then I moved a little more into world where U.S. coins and U.S. history had ties to. I did pick up a couple cheap ancients during those 2 phases and then the really high quality ancients drew me in and I think price for value and rarity there is fantastic so I've gravitated there recently.

    Admittedly, I'm a more eclectic collector with very fluid categories of interest. Shout out to @lordmarcovan though, his posts took me over to the dark side much more quickly. He has a discerning eye and good taste.
     
  7. Bing

    Bing Illegitimi non carborundum Supporter

    Talkative! Now that's one way to put it. Just think how many more posts we would have if Steve was still here.
     
  8. thejewk

    thejewk Well-Known Member

    This could be an ignorant assumption, and please correct me if so, but it seems that ancient numismatics covers such a vast period of time and geography that it seems to me that it would be much easier to be able to post new and interesting discussion about the subject than other areas of collecting. If true, that could account for the difference to some extent.
     
    Sulla80 and ancient coin hunter like this.
  9. Kentucky

    Kentucky Supporter! Supporter

    Don't discredit the Republic...
     
    YoloBagels, octavius, ominus1 and 4 others like this.
  10. medoraman

    medoraman Supporter! Supporter

    Assuming most people are into history and geography. Those in ancients tend to self select into it. The danger is we assume the rest of the world is like us, and believe me, most (even smart) people around me care zero about either topic. :(
     
  11. thejewk

    thejewk Well-Known Member

    @medoraman I find it both curious that anyone could not be interested in history in some way, while also acknowledging that history as a school subject was so poorly handled during my UK education that I left education with almost no useful historical knowledge, and it took me years to discover a way to profitably explore it.

    Geography for me is a massive struggle, but my persistence is beginning to pay off.
     
    Stevearino, ominus1, svessien and 3 others like this.
  12. ancient coin hunter

    ancient coin hunter 3rd Century Usurper

    I agree with the self-selecting angle, and indeed that was one of my theories about the popularity. As more folks with interest in ancient history/geography/coins get online and find CT then that will keep increasing the numbers. Currently as most of us are under shelter-at-home rules that would seem to indicate even more online growth of the hobby, notwithstanding the impact of COVID-19 on the selling environment and impact on purchasers disposable income.
     
  13. DonnaML

    DonnaML Well-Known Member

    I've been posting here only a little more than two months, and, although I've primarily posted in the Ancient Coins forum, I've also posted now and then in the World Coins forum. And there's no question in my mind that at least currently, the Ancient Coins forum is far more active, in terms of both the number of new threads per day, and the number of comments per thread.

    I don't think this is such a new trend, though. At least in the USA, collecting "foreign" coins has always been a relatively minor, niche area of the hobby. I should know, having spent 25 years or so actively collecting British coins and historical medals (perhaps the most popular kind of foreign coins in the USA except for Canadian coins) from here in New York, and finding that it was a rather solitary pastime! I can't really comment on the relative popularity of ancient vs. world coins over the last several decades, since I bought the former only very sporadically until a few years ago. I will say that based only on personal recollection, and not on any research, I used to go to the NYINC shows every couple of years starting in the 1990s, and it always seemed to me that there were as many tables devoted to ancient coins as there were to all kinds of world coins put together, and the ancient tables always seemed more crowded with visitors than the others.
     
    Stevearino, JulesUK, octavius and 3 others like this.
  14. Finn235

    Finn235 Well-Known Member

    It does seem to be getting more popular, mostly thanks to the internet; in particular:
    - More and better avenues to collect ancients at any budget level, thanks to eBay and a growing number of budget-friendly auction houses (e.g. Savoca Blue)
    - Ancients collectors are evangelical and actively try to turn others to the dark side
    - Along the same vein, ancients collectors are patient in helping newbies who are struggling to attribute that Constantine follis or beat up Hadrian denarius, and will usually offer unbiased advice
    - Free resources to research, learn, and attribute ancient coins; you can collect without owning a single print book.
     
  15. panzerman

    panzerman Well-Known Member

    I always like both/ World and Ancients. However, I find the Ancient/ Medieval CT members are more active to reply/ start conversations/ get into the nitty gritty. I post on both forums, even on US one. There are some forum topics on the World side that have had tremendous response, which is a good thing. I love all coin eras, and thus could never give them up.
    John
     
  16. BenSi

    BenSi Well-Known Member

    The knowledge of Ancients is becoming more accessible, in many cases for free. The easier it is to learn the more collectors we will have.
    Who doesn't want to have an ancient coin in their pocket? :)
     
    JulesUK, svessien, Sulla80 and 3 others like this.
  17. medoraman

    medoraman Supporter! Supporter

    Wow, color me jealous. You east coast types have all the luck being able to go to such great shows. :)
     
  18. svessien

    svessien Senior Member

    There’s not really that much to say about modern coins, is there?
    Discussions are often reduced to grade and value. Which is rather boring. Exonumia and coins pre 1700 are exceptions, I think.
     
  19. panzerman

    panzerman Well-Known Member

    There are still a few nations that still produce beautifull coins, but they are the exception.:( The coinage produced from 1550-1800 was truly beautifull, esp. the stuff from Swiss Cantons/ Holy Roman Empire/ Germany/ Transylvania.
    The Medieval/ Renaissance also had nice hammered pieces.
     
  20. svessien

    svessien Senior Member

    Don’t get me wrong, John, I love the coins you and others post in the world coins forum, often with a history attached to them. But ancient coins have a little extra, I think. And while a lot of modern coins are beautiful, they don’t have as many interesting reverses as for example Roman coins. They are more just «coins of the realm». I take a nice world coin any day though.
     
    panzerman and BenSi like this.
  21. ancient coin hunter

    ancient coin hunter 3rd Century Usurper

    I like the silver thalers - would be great to pick one of those up.
     
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