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<p>[QUOTE="Finn235, post: 3503618, member: 98035"]I've always loved both of your pages, [USER=44316]@Valentinian[/USER] and [USER=19463]@dougsmit[/USER] ! They both helped me get my feet wet, and continue to be valuable resources.</p><p><br /></p><p>I've worked on my own beginner's guide on and off, but keep scrapping it because I have the tendency to get drawn off on tangents or lose focus.</p><p><br /></p><p>My best advice for beginners:</p><p>- For a first coin, buy something nice from a dealer you trust, even if you pay a little too much. Check with a neutral party first to ensure you aren't paying much too much!</p><p><br /></p><p>- Buy at least one junk lot of ancients and identify as many as you can - this forces you to become familiar with the tools at your disposal, and makes you appreciate high quality coins.</p><p><br /></p><p>- Dabble in many areas and don't pursue a single course until you find your calling.</p><p><br /></p><p>- "Rare" means diddly squat. When perusing ebay, "If all of their coins are rare, none of them are."</p><p><br /></p><p>And I haven't seen a lot of explanation on exactly what the different "categories" of ancients are:</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Greek</p><p>- All coins of the pre-Roman, non-Celtic Mediterranean, 650 BC - 1st century AD.</p><p><br /></p><p>Pros:</p><p>- Most beautiful coins ever made (I said it, fight me.)</p><p>- Many are quite affordable</p><p>- Medium learning curve, inscriptions aren't difficult to figure out</p><p>- Good documentation and ample online resources</p><p><br /></p><p>Cons:</p><p>- Some of the most expensive coins are Greek</p><p>- Variety is staggering; there are almost no "sets" of Greek coins that are possible to assemble. </p><p>- Many types (Athens Tetradrachms) are far too expensive because they are popular</p><p>- Rampant fakes of most popular types</p><p>- Suffer from "everything is rare" syndrome </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Roman</p><p>- All coins of the Republic through the collapse of the Western Empire in 476</p><p><br /></p><p>Pros:</p><p>- Very common and affordable; the commonest types can be had in mint state for $20-30.</p><p>- Exhaustively well documented, free resources allow you to identify down to varieties in line breaks for many types. Some types can be dated to a window of just a few months!</p><p>- Common household names like Augustus, Nero, Trajan, Hadrian, Constantine etc </p><p>- Easiest learning curve; most have the ruler's name in plain Latin letters, and later types even have mint marks.</p><p>- Many pre-defined sets: 12 Caesars, Five Good Emperors, Severans, Barracks Emperors, Tetrarchy, Constantinian dynasty</p><p><br /></p><p>Cons:</p><p>- Many "key" rulers that are out of reach for most collectors; most sets have at least one emperor or empress that costs upwards of $1,000. Romulus Augustulus, the last emperor, will set you back as much as a Ferrari or a small house.</p><p>- Fakes of these scarce personages are rampant on ebay </p><p>- Coins of the 12 Caesars in particular are way more expensive than they ought to be.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Celtic</p><p>- Indigenous cultures of non-Roman or Greek Europe</p><p><br /></p><p>Pros:</p><p>- Fascinating and beautiful designs</p><p>- Better studied and understood than most other fringe areas of ancient numismatics</p><p><br /></p><p>Cons:</p><p>- Still not as well documented as Greek or Roman coinage; tough to find online resources</p><p>- Generally expensive</p><p>- Fakes exist and are well made</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Chinese</p><p>- Coins made in ancient or Medieval China and its neighbors, usually utilizing Chinese scripts</p><p><br /></p><p>Pros:</p><p>- Exceedingly affordable; most types cost only a few dollars or even a few cents!</p><p>- Very well documented; books (Hartill) are widely available and cheap</p><p>- Possibly include the oldest "coins" ever made</p><p>- Coins of many colorful characters well-documented in contemporary historical records </p><p><br /></p><p>Cons:</p><p>- Learning curve; they cannot be collected without a limited understanding of the language</p><p>- Rampant fakes of everything worth faking</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>"Non-Classical"</p><p>- Everything else, generally the areas that use variants or derivitives of Aramaic; e.g. Persia, India, Silk Road</p><p><br /></p><p>Pros:</p><p>- Surprisingly cheap as these are not yet popular among most collectors</p><p>- Fascinating variety and many beautiful designs</p><p>- Online references are growing </p><p>- Much remaining to be discovered for a pioneer-spirited collector</p><p><br /></p><p>Cons:</p><p>- Steep learning curve; easy to get overwhelmed</p><p>- Print resources are scarce, expensive, often contain obsolete attributions, and sometimes exist only in foreign languages.</p><p>- Some types rival Greek or Roman coins in terms of price, especially Indo-Greek, Parthian, and Sassanian coins</p><p>- Many blanks and gaps in our knowledge; many rulers are poorly attested or entirely absent from history.</p><p>- Scarcer types are getting the attention of crooks who sell fakes to American GI's in Afghanistan under the guise of "I just found this in my field. Will you buy it?"</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>For newbies, my two favorite sets to recommend are:</p><p>1) Constantine and his immediate family</p><p>- Constantius I, his father </p><p>- Theodora, his stepmother</p><p>- Helena, his mother</p><p>- Fausta, his wife</p><p>- Crispus, Constantine II, Constantius II, and Constans, his sons</p><p>- Delmatius, Gallus and Julian, his nephews</p><p>--All of these can be collected in reasonably high grade for about $150-200 with patience.</p><p><br /></p><p>Nerva-Antonines:</p><p>- Nerva</p><p>- Trajan</p><p>- Hadrian (& Sabina)</p><p>- Aelius Caesar </p><p>- Antoninus Pius (& Faustina I)</p><p>- Marcus Aurelius (& Faustina II)</p><p>- Lucius Verus (& Lucilla)</p><p>- Commodus (& Crispina)</p><p>--All of these (Except Nerva and Aelius) can be collected as medium grade denarii for $20-30 each, or $50-100 each for high grades[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>
[QUOTE="Finn235, post: 3503618, member: 98035"]I've always loved both of your pages, [USER=44316]@Valentinian[/USER] and [USER=19463]@dougsmit[/USER] ! They both helped me get my feet wet, and continue to be valuable resources. I've worked on my own beginner's guide on and off, but keep scrapping it because I have the tendency to get drawn off on tangents or lose focus. My best advice for beginners: - For a first coin, buy something nice from a dealer you trust, even if you pay a little too much. Check with a neutral party first to ensure you aren't paying much too much! - Buy at least one junk lot of ancients and identify as many as you can - this forces you to become familiar with the tools at your disposal, and makes you appreciate high quality coins. - Dabble in many areas and don't pursue a single course until you find your calling. - "Rare" means diddly squat. When perusing ebay, "If all of their coins are rare, none of them are." And I haven't seen a lot of explanation on exactly what the different "categories" of ancients are: Greek - All coins of the pre-Roman, non-Celtic Mediterranean, 650 BC - 1st century AD. Pros: - Most beautiful coins ever made (I said it, fight me.) - Many are quite affordable - Medium learning curve, inscriptions aren't difficult to figure out - Good documentation and ample online resources Cons: - Some of the most expensive coins are Greek - Variety is staggering; there are almost no "sets" of Greek coins that are possible to assemble. - Many types (Athens Tetradrachms) are far too expensive because they are popular - Rampant fakes of most popular types - Suffer from "everything is rare" syndrome Roman - All coins of the Republic through the collapse of the Western Empire in 476 Pros: - Very common and affordable; the commonest types can be had in mint state for $20-30. - Exhaustively well documented, free resources allow you to identify down to varieties in line breaks for many types. Some types can be dated to a window of just a few months! - Common household names like Augustus, Nero, Trajan, Hadrian, Constantine etc - Easiest learning curve; most have the ruler's name in plain Latin letters, and later types even have mint marks. - Many pre-defined sets: 12 Caesars, Five Good Emperors, Severans, Barracks Emperors, Tetrarchy, Constantinian dynasty Cons: - Many "key" rulers that are out of reach for most collectors; most sets have at least one emperor or empress that costs upwards of $1,000. Romulus Augustulus, the last emperor, will set you back as much as a Ferrari or a small house. - Fakes of these scarce personages are rampant on ebay - Coins of the 12 Caesars in particular are way more expensive than they ought to be. Celtic - Indigenous cultures of non-Roman or Greek Europe Pros: - Fascinating and beautiful designs - Better studied and understood than most other fringe areas of ancient numismatics Cons: - Still not as well documented as Greek or Roman coinage; tough to find online resources - Generally expensive - Fakes exist and are well made Chinese - Coins made in ancient or Medieval China and its neighbors, usually utilizing Chinese scripts Pros: - Exceedingly affordable; most types cost only a few dollars or even a few cents! - Very well documented; books (Hartill) are widely available and cheap - Possibly include the oldest "coins" ever made - Coins of many colorful characters well-documented in contemporary historical records Cons: - Learning curve; they cannot be collected without a limited understanding of the language - Rampant fakes of everything worth faking "Non-Classical" - Everything else, generally the areas that use variants or derivitives of Aramaic; e.g. Persia, India, Silk Road Pros: - Surprisingly cheap as these are not yet popular among most collectors - Fascinating variety and many beautiful designs - Online references are growing - Much remaining to be discovered for a pioneer-spirited collector Cons: - Steep learning curve; easy to get overwhelmed - Print resources are scarce, expensive, often contain obsolete attributions, and sometimes exist only in foreign languages. - Some types rival Greek or Roman coins in terms of price, especially Indo-Greek, Parthian, and Sassanian coins - Many blanks and gaps in our knowledge; many rulers are poorly attested or entirely absent from history. - Scarcer types are getting the attention of crooks who sell fakes to American GI's in Afghanistan under the guise of "I just found this in my field. Will you buy it?" For newbies, my two favorite sets to recommend are: 1) Constantine and his immediate family - Constantius I, his father - Theodora, his stepmother - Helena, his mother - Fausta, his wife - Crispus, Constantine II, Constantius II, and Constans, his sons - Delmatius, Gallus and Julian, his nephews --All of these can be collected in reasonably high grade for about $150-200 with patience. Nerva-Antonines: - Nerva - Trajan - Hadrian (& Sabina) - Aelius Caesar - Antoninus Pius (& Faustina I) - Marcus Aurelius (& Faustina II) - Lucius Verus (& Lucilla) - Commodus (& Crispina) --All of these (Except Nerva and Aelius) can be collected as medium grade denarii for $20-30 each, or $50-100 each for high grades[/QUOTE]
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