Does an Emperor type set make sense?

Gam3rBlake, now you have me thinking. The beautiful aspect of coin collecting is the almost infinite collections possibilities. I have just finished reading Memoirs of Hadrian by Marguerite Yourcenar (a wonderful read) so maybe a type set is in my future. Would make a fantastic display.

 

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I reiterate others' suggestions to collect what you like. I'm sure there are others who collect one of each denomination for a particular Roman emperor.

The one thing that I recommend, though, is regardless what you pick do your research. I spend some time each day reading academic papers, going through auctions, and researching various coins because I'm continuously learning about new coins I didn't know existed.

It's kind of like a treasure hunt. Every so often I learn of a new coin, and pray that it will be bronze instead of silver (rare bronze coins are often within my budget, but rare silver coins go up quickly).

 

Collect them and send them to me, sounds like a expensive collection, one I would be proud of.

 

I only do the larger Roman bronzes. Here is a start of the project that you propose. Unfortunately, I ran out of tray-space at forty of them -- just up to Valerian. So here's the first forty Caesars.

 

Nice! I would love to have a set of denarii like that with one for each Emperor.

Starting out with the 4 gram denarii of 95% silver purity of Caesar and Augustus and then ending with the small 2.8 gram copper coins with a 2% silver wash by the end of the Empire.

 

I've found this to be surprisingly uncommon among the collectors I've talked to. I'm personally half-heartedly collecting a type set of Philip the Arab, so you won't be alone if you decide to proceed in this endeavor. I lucked into a dupondius of philip (rare denomination for him) so I thought it would be interesting to try and obtain the rest (minus the aureus, I don't have the money for that).

 

I'm not sure I would call it a type set, but maybe a denomination set. I think it would be pretty cool to see a set of all the denominations of one emperor. Sounds like a worthy goal to me.

 

never say never ! also never give up !!

 

Here is a web site on possible collecting themes:

http://augustuscoins.com/ed/catalogs/themes.html

I know quite a few of collectors and most have goals not on that list. The possibilities are endless. Most find they add to the collection with whatever appeals at the moment, rather than have a strict goal.

 

Thats kind of what I’ve been doing. I’ve just been picking coins that appeal for me.

Like when I went to Nevada Coin I planned on picking up my first St. Gaudens Double Eagle...

But then I got distracted by a US 1799 Draped Bust Dollar and ended up walking out with that instead of the Double Eagle I intended on getting.

It also happened when I bought my MS Athenian Owl. I had planned on getting a tetradrachm with Alexander the Great but the owl was calling for me.

 

I like the idea of a contemporary representation of each currency type. I also like the idea of that set representing say all of the adoptive emperors like a dynasty.

I think that's a fantastic way to represent all the the currency of a very well known emperor. For what you listed you could do it for like $5k those aureus are expensive. For me it's about what can I get, being patient makes it cheaper, maybe but then you start making up new collections while you wait.

I'm still waiting for my aureus, but I'd imagine the average Roman never saw an aureus either. Then there are your provincials! Everybody has chips from Vegas!

 

Awesome collection!

Yeah those aureus coins cost a fortune!

The other thing I really enjoy is the Roman Republic stuff.

I just got my first (this quadrigatus) this week and I think it’s amazing that I own a coin made of silver that Carthage paid to Rome after the First Punic War and that this coin could’ve been used to pay a legionary who fought against Hannibal in the Second Punic War. Not only that but it’s an over strike so it was minted over an even older coin. It’s like a piece of history!



According to Polybius a legionary made 2 obols per day during the Second Punic War so this Quadrigatus would have been over 5 days pay.


Idk I just really love the Roman Republic stuff. It would be amazing if I could get a hold of one of those “60 asses” gold coins from the Republic.

Alas my wants far outstrip my budget.

 

Just want to echo briefly a couple thoughts others have wisely shared. Definitely find what interests you -- for me, it's things like places I've visited, themes like dolphins (I used to be involved with dolphin research), etc. -- and go with it. There probably is no real "sense" to collecting anything! And very, very definitely find a few books related to your areas of interest. Reading about the coins will increase your appreciation of them, while helping avoid mistakes. Enjoy!

 

@Gam3rBlake: You would benefit greatly by owning the first two volumes of Sear's Roman Coins and Their Values. This covers the period from the earliest days of the Republic through the coinage of Severus Alexander, his wife and mom. The information in the introductory material alone -- not even taking into consideration the thousands of coins listed and illustrated -- is worth the price.

 

There have been a lot of interesting posts, in this thread. It's interesting to see, what coins people choose to collect.
I think, that's part of the fun, of coin collecting. Deciding what coins to collect. Choosing which coins to buy. You are free, to collect whatever coins, that you want to collect, as long as you can afford them. You are free, to organize your coins, in any way, that you like. You are free, to display your coins, in any way, that you like. You are free, to store your coins, in any way, that you like, within reason (don't use PVC flips, and don't do something that would obviously damage the coins, of course, because ancient coins are important historical artifacts).
I also enjoy collecting coin books. I like to read them. I like to refer to them. "Buy the book, before you buy the coin." I like that old saying. However, often I'll buy a coin, usually a cheap coin. And then, I'll buy the book. And then, I'll buy more coins. And more books. But, for some coin areas, I don't buy books, to limit my expenses. For those coin areas, I just use the internet. Wildwinds, ACsearch, CoinTalk, Forum Ancient Coins, Google, Youtube, etc.

 

Choosing a collecting goal in advance works for some, but for others it is the road one travels that makes collecting fun. And when it comes to ancients, that road has a lot of turns.
I started with the 'one of each goal' a few years ago, but now I collect what appeals to me.

If you can afford bidding on a Hadrian aureus, you sure can get a Caligula denarius. Unless your prebid is a few dollars...

 

Don't mean to beat a dead horse, but any collection that you enjoy makes sense.

For me, ancient coin collecting isn't so much about the coins, but the stories that I can tell people in reference to the coins. The story of Caesar, Pompey, Antony, Octavian, Cleopatra, etc, etc seems more salient to people when looking at bust coins created in their likeness during the time that the events occurred.

With all of this in mind, the denomination, rarity, nature of the reverse, lifetime/posthumous, etc, etc aren't important to me. My only goal is the get 1 coin of each player with the best bust presentation that I can afford. The lay people that view my collection won't care so much about the meaning of the attribution, they just want to see an artist's rendition of what the person looked like.

I can see how it would be fulfilling from a personal perspective to put together a type set for a specific Emperor, or specialize in a specific denomination. But for lay people looking at the collection, I feel that it would be less interesting. The presentation would be "This is a coin of Marcus Aurelius, and another, and another, ......" or "This is a Sestertius, and another, and another, ......".

 

The answer may be different sets for different purposes :
- A set, not necessarily complete, with distinctive portraits of the most prominent actors in the play, for showing off to people inprudently asking for seeing some coins
- One (or several) sets in specialized fields, for your own purpose of searching, completing, with a more comprehensive approach

They can live together
Q

 

Yep, that is certainly me. I buy what I like and can afford and rules or collecting objectives come later, in fact much later.

 

I have been thinking about this post for several days. The idea of a type collection of one emperor had never occurred to me. Why, I don't know as I also collect US and have had a few type sets, such as a type of each US coin issued during the Jacksonian period (only two gold coins needed for this one) and one set for the US Civil War, with its oddball denominations being minted at that time. The more I think about it the more I like the idea and i think I know which emperor I will choose as I already have a number of his coins, viz. Nero. Also being on a constrained budget, it may take me a while, but I think it will be fun to have a targeted, specific goal. Thanks for the idea and I can't figure out why I never thought of it myself.