Hey folks, I'm mostly a collector of U.S. coins but I've been fascinated with ancients for several years now. Up until now I'd been hesitant in making the plunge and actually purchasing an ancient coin since I really don't know much about them. Recently this coin came into a local coin shop and I've been considering scraping together the funds to purchase it. Could you all advise me on what a fair price would be so I don't pay too much or lowball the dealer too badly. This coin was graded MS by NGC. Thanks, Joe2007.
I hate to be a naysayer but I would hold out for a nicer example with a more pleasing strike and centering. These are very common, even in high grade. Fair retail on this one imho is probably not much over $400, maybe $450 tops. Compare these recent auction results for quality and price: http://bit.ly/1KzEZAY
I agree. These Byzantine solidus are common ranging from the mid $400 and above. This is a fair coin, but the obverse legend especially is not clear (perhaps the result of the image). Take a look at the coins offered on Vcoins and don't worry about the slab. The dealers on Vcoins guarantee their wares. http://www.vcoins.com/en/Search.asp...alse&Unassigned=False&searchOrderBy=price_asc
Hi, @Joe2007-- welcome to Ancients! I agree with the others... unless you can get that solidus for a very good price, keep looking for a better example. NGC's grade is irrelevant. As Bing pointed out, the obverse is weakly struck from worn dies. Both sides are off center. It's still a very worthy coin (almost any ancient is ), but only at a certain price. Does the coin shop handle many ancients? If not, I bet they see NGC's dubious grade of "MS" and and assume this coin is extremely valuable. It's ancient and mint state... must be worth a fortune, right? Don't be afraid to buy a raw coin from a reputable dealer. We've sounded off about slabbing in many threads; most of us prefer raw coins and promptly crack open any slabbed ancient coins. When considering a purchase, it is good to check prices for comparable coins. Here are some good places to look: CNG's archives acsearch Vcoins, for currently offered coins (most stores don't maintain "sold" archives) eBay's advanced search for "sold" coins Happy hunting! Oh, one more thing. If you want an opinion about a coin which is currently up for auction, it's best to ask opinions by private message rather than on the open forum.
When I see what the dealers offer of Byzantine gold coins, called Solidus, later Histamenon, and later Hyperpyron, I think gold coins from the era of Justinian(about 530CE) until Constans II(about760CE) are the most common, and thus most affordable. Actually Hyperpyron from around 1260CE and onwards are also affordable, but these are hardly gold anymore due to debasement. If you went to numismatic stories to pay fixed price, I think the fixed price would be 330-450 Euro for that Solidus. Or at least, that is what I think is a fair fixed-price. However, if you have patience to an auction, and make a (wise) bid few seconds before it closes in order to avoid tempting others to make a bid, then one probably could win one with a lower price. I won mine Heraclius in an auction with the hammerprice and fee of 290Euro: On obverse some part of legends are gone or are less obvious, but Heraclius’ name is there, and as well is his face obvious. – On the reverse side the “VICTORIA”-letters are gone, but the reverse side was not important as the obverse side to me.
