My son and I were new to coin collecting and he and him mom ended up purchasing an 'ancient coin' at a flea market for about $40. It was not in great condition, and was billed as "Constantine II" with all kinds of declarations about "hand carved bronze" etc. on the 2x2. A brief scan of the web sites showed this was not a Constantine coin at all, and we figured it was just a fake. I shook my head and wrote it off as a relatively cheap object lesson to never buy from such people. Well, a year later and in possession of more collectting knowledge, I start getting curious about this little lump. The obverse is pretty clear, and now that I know what I'm looking at I can se AVG, which indicates it is Imperial, and the ray crown is very obvious as well. The figure in the back is very worn, but the right arm is in a crooked position and on the hip, kind of unusual. and a sweeping curved thing up on the left. Well, now I know to take out my Sear and start looking at pictures. I find several imperial coins with rayed crowns and standing figures on the back. Off to the web to view some dealers pictures. Much to my surprise, I'm able to isolate the figure as Salus standing feeding snake, and lo and behold, am able to attribute the coin as a Victorinus antoninianus, Sear #3169! My son was beside himself with joy (and surprise) that after all this time we were able to figure out what this coin actually was. So, while I still don't buy coins at flea markets, I now have had the 'thrill of the chase' and the 'joy of discovery', even if in a minor way. And better, I'm pleased to see my son spending more time with our collection seeing if he can unearth some previously unknown fact about our coins to match my accomplishment.
Congrats! Great post. I hope your son finds much joy in coins with you and not only meet, but surpasses you in unearthing something new in the collection.
Congrats on attributing it! That is one of the most monotonous tasks that comes with ancient coins. That's why I don't have any... or is it because I can't afford any nice ones?
You can afford nice ones, trust me! Mike - I'm very happy that you're enjoying it - I get that same thrill with every single coin I buy. Post a picture, we can help out with the attribution if you want.
I agree there is nothing quite like it when all of a sudden it becomes clear LOL please do post a pic of the coin :hail:
Now I do not appreciate that you bill flea market coin shop owners as "such people". I do admit that I know a few that will stick you in second, but not all are that bad. I, myself, am a owner of a coin shop in Sweetie's Flea Market in Hampton, Georgia. And all I do is give people the best deals I can afford to give them. The prices and quality of the coins I sell are no more than what I would pay as if I were buying them for my own personal collection. I have been selling for about 6 years and sold several thousand coins and not a single person I sold to has given bad remarkes. So please don't think of all flea market coin dealers as bad guys. Thats what gives me and other market dealers a bad name because of a few others. I am sorry if I may have sounded rude, but I just can't stand hearing someone think of all Flea Market dealers as bad people. BTW I am glad that you had a good find.
VERY VERY VERY VERY true, and so sorry to make an unqualified, general statement like that. The "such people" I meant (and the types I will avoid) is the guy (or gal) with a few coins, used watches, comic books, old shoes, broken sewing machines, some stuffed chairs and a few rusty tools for sale. They don't know or care what they are selling, and have no scruples about taking advantage of an excited little boy and an ignorant mom. I'm quite sure I would find your shop an obviously trustworthy and proper place to do business, and would be put at ease enough to rely on your judgement on the coins involved. We just don't find too many of your type in NYC parking lot and school yard flea markets. Thanks for raising this.
