How do I get started?

Thanks!

 

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I have a link bookmarked on my computer at home to a great beginners thread here at coin talk... when I get home tonight I'll post it. It is a GREAT resource full of info and links...

 

@Abramthegreat I found it I found it!! lol Turns out the last time I posted it wasn't buried too deeply in my history.

https://www.cointalk.com/threads/ancient-coins-beginners’-faq-thread.324858/#post-3206941

 

Thank you! I will read that!

 

I also recommend the Books by Wayne Sayles. Especially the ones on Greek, Roman imperial, Roman provincial, and Byzantine (most common ancient collecting fields).

They are short, easy to understand, and many times you can find them for cheap. I learned a heck of a lot rdading them when I started collecting ancients. In fact, I would strongly recommend reading them BEFORE you buy any coins

I no longer actively collect ancients having moved on to other numismatic topics (story of my collecting life ) and most of my coins are the cheap, lower grade coins that I used them to learn how to attribute, but here are a few things in my accumulation (yes, I know the pics stink)

 

I have great trust in a dealer in ancient coins that ran auctions here before going commercial on VCoin as

https://www.vcoins.com/en/stores/jaz_numismatics-311/ancient-coins/Default.aspx?

I would highly recommend him. Every coin I received was at least how described and many were better. He's an excellent dealer, the only one I check often.
Jim

 

1. See if there is a club near you. If so attend. If not email the club and see if they do remote attendance. Highly recommend this option. The club members have been collecting for some time and are always willing to help.
2. Buy the best quality you can afford and not have buyer's remorse in a week! It happens to all of us.
3. If you buy a coin expect to find that it is not as unique/ as you thought!

 

I know this is an old post but the information is still relevant. It seems like most museums, institutions, and well known private collectors prefer "velvet" lined coin cabinets. Although you have to be careful with the finishes applied to the wood as there have been recent reports of certain wood stains and sealants damaging the coins. I have been storing my collection in unplasticized coin flips (PVC free) and carboard coin storage boxes for nearly 20 years without any issues. I used SAFLIP brand until recently and have switched to a better quality flip sold by Sacagawea thru Walmart. I like the Sacagawea flips because they are thicker, more flexible and have rounded corners. The SAFLIP's are thin and more brittle so they have a tendency to tear over time. I finally have enough coins now to transfer them from storage boxes to binder pages. I want to be able to flip thru and look at the coins without having to go thru a bunch of drawers. I thought about storing them in Abafil trays and cases like you but I think it will be impractical based on the number of coins in my collection; I try to double the size of my collection every year.

 

You start.........strike out into the unknown, and know that the fellows from the dark side will always have your back. Ask questions of them, I've never known a question unanswered by them........

 

Wait a second... Does that mean by now you have roughly 1,048,576 coins for every coin you started with in Year 1?!!

 

The SAFLIP flips are brittle, because they don't contain PVC. Are you certain, that the Sacagawea flips don't contain PVC?
How many coins do you have, in your collection?
Perhaps you could store your most important coins in Abafil trays and cases.
Another option, is to store coins in paper envelopes. Some ancient coin collectors do that. Of course, that makes it more time consuming, when you want to view the coins.
My collection consists of approximately 225 coins (ancient, medieval, and modern), plus my Lincoln cent collection, plus some less important coins. I keep the 225 coins in 5 Abafil trays. Each Abafil tray has only 1 compartment. Therefore, it's not too time consuming, for me to view all of the 225 coins. The Lincoln cents are stored in blue Whitman folders, and the less important coins are stored in blue Whitman folders, and in a box of loose coins. However, I also have a bunch of 24 compartment Abafil trays, in case I ever want to put my coins in those.

 

I wish but no. I started collecting 20 years ago and as with most collectors, those of us that are not scholars, I had a tendency to collect for a while then stop for a while (a while could translate to a year or several years). So to catch up for lost time I want to double my collection each year for the next several years then try to add 500+- coins a year thereafter. Considering I only purchase coins with “character” this may be a monumental task but then again that’s what makes collecting interesting.

 

Like most coin flip companies they make a variety of flips (PVC, unplasticized PVC, and PET). I only use the archival PET (100% polyester) type. Regarding my collection I currently have around 350+ and average around 30-40 additional coins per month. I mainly collect ancient Roman Imperial (200+-), Roman Provincial (75+-) and Greek (75+-). Coin trays would be nice but I think that I would out grow them at the rate that I'm expanding my collection. The flips/binders are also more portable so I can share the coins for research.

 

Good luck, it's a fascinating area. The earlier you learn, the better.

 

I don't know anything about the effect of polyester on coins. Is polyester safe for coins? I just try to keep my coins away from plastic, because I don't trust plastic for coins, in general. However, my Lincoln cent collection is in blue Whitman albums, which have hard plastic sleeves. If my Lincoln cents developed bronze disease, it would be sad, but it wouldn't be the end of the world. I also have a few other coins in blue Whitman albums, but they are also coins of lesser importance. Here's what I have, in my 5 Abafil velvet 1 compartment trays.
Greek & Nonclassical 53 (53 Ancient, 25 Greek, 28 Nonclassical)
Roman 48 (48 Ancient)
Byzantine 32 (32 Medieval)
East Asia 41 (12 Ancient, 21 Medieval, 8 Modern, 31 China, 6 Vietnam, 2 Japan, 2 Indonesia)
Medieval & Modern 46 (13 Medieval, 33 Modern)
TOTAL ANCIENT 113
TOTAL MEDIEVAL 66
TOTAL MODERN 41
TOTAL 220

 

P.S. : Here's my Byzantine collection, in an Abafil 1 compartment velvet tray, in chronological order, spanning a period of 1000 years. After I took this photo, I removed 2 of my Constantine V coins from the tray, therefore there are only 32 Byzantine coins in my previous post.

 

Sand - yes PET (100% polyester) is the only truly archival safe product for "clear" coin flips. If museum's use flips, that's what their using. Although I think it's best for the coins to be able to 'breath" without any protective coverings. I like your Byzantine collection; personally I haven't been able to push my collection beyond the Roman Emperors.