Message:

<p>[QUOTE=&quot;dougsmit, post: 1021867, member: 19463&quot;]Some will disagree with my statement but I believe that rarity is much less a factor in ancient coins than in US.&nbsp; There are a million types of ancient coins and several thousand of them are represented by either just one or a handful of specimens.&nbsp; No one is seriously trying to have a complete set so we rarely see two collectors get into a serious bidding war over a boring coin or minor variation simply because it is rare.&nbsp; The big money goes for the interesting and the beautiful.&nbsp; Among the interesting, higher prices go for better looking examples and among the beautiful, higher prices go for the more interesting.&nbsp; It helps to be both but a coin has to be one or the other to be in demand.&nbsp; Many of us collect coins that &#039;speak&#039; to us for whatever reason and there are thousands of opinions as to what speaks most loudly.&nbsp; That means we can collect rarities in our chosen speciality and pay less than for nicer looking common coins that appeal to more people.&nbsp; Jesus is a high demand subject so you will pay more for good looking ones than you will for lower grade rarities within the series.&nbsp; </p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>No one owns an album with slots for ancients making you feel bad that you lack, for example, a 1909S VDB.&nbsp; You buy what looks nice, what has a link to someone you know in history or whatever strikes you for whatever reason.&nbsp; One way to collect is to pick a subject about which no one else cares, form a nice collection about which you write a book that interests other people into wanting the coins you have now made interesting.&nbsp; </p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Ancients sell for a much wider range of prices based on what a seller thinks he can get for any given coin from the people likely to buy coins from him.&nbsp; Dealers with little experience and a small customer base will sell equal items more cheaply than dealers with a reputation for the best and many customers who believe anything they sell is worth having.&nbsp; I recommend never buying a coin that you do not understand clearly why it was priced higher than another coin.&nbsp; If it doesn&#039;t look better to you and is not more interesting to you, perhaps it won&#039;t be to anyone else either.&nbsp; Buy what looks nice to you.&nbsp; As you become more experienced, what looks nice to you may change but you rarely do the right thing buying a coin that strikes you as not worth the asking price just because someone else told you it was something you should have.&nbsp;&nbsp; Plautilla?&nbsp; When it is time for you to own her coin, you will understand enough about her place in history that you want the coin.&nbsp; First, I&#039;d have coins of her husband, in-laws and just about everyone else who issued coins within 20 years either way.&nbsp; If, however, you find her pretty, interesting or whatever now, this may be the best coin to buy now.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

Your name or email address:

Do you already have an account?

• No, create an account now.
• Yes, my password is:
• Forgot your password?

Stay logged in