How should I start an ancient coin collection?

Hello guys. For some time now I have been wanting to start a collection of ancient coins, but I don't know where to begin. Is there any books I should buy that could help? Thanks for your help and time!
My thanks also go out to @dougsmit and @FitzNigel for their knowledge! My thanks also go out to @Sallent and @gregarious for offering to give me a coin to start my collection!
Best Regards,
Nick L

 

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This book is a good place to start.

 

Welcome to the dark side @NLL. There are a lot of folks on here that can tell you better than me but I'll include a few suggestions.

Books

I am definitely not the type of commenter who thinks they must tell everyone they must "buy the book before you buy the coin" but if you have a genuine interest I highly recommend a few books as a fun place to start.

If you like Greek!

@dougsmit recommended this book to me and I think it is excellent. Very undervalued for its content. Mine was around $20 I believe. It is not just a catalog of coins for reference and cataloging. It gives history and context to the coins it discusses.

If you like Roman!

Some people aren't a fan of ERIC II but despite whatever flaws it has I really like it. It is more of a catalog reference book but includes some information on all the emperors it covers. I think mine was $70ish.

Places to buy

Best advice is to use only reputable dealers. Exercise caution when buying on eBay as there are a lot of fakes and even experienced collectors have trouble spotting them sometimes. There are a lot of good dealers and I can't possibly name them all but here are a few of my favorites. Most are on Vcoins

https://www.vcoins.com/en/Default.aspx

Ancient Imports - One of my overall favorites and has some good sub $35 offerings.

L. Alexander Wolfe - Good dealer for coins from Judaea and the Middle East.

Ken Dorney - A fellow CTer with great stuff on offer at Vcoins and occasionally at auction as well.

@John Anthony is also great and I've bought several of my favorite coins from him.


Hope the above is helpful. I look forward to seeing you post some of your coins as you get them

 

Read this FAQ page for beginners:
http://augustuscoins.com/ed/numis/
It has lots of information and advice.

 

A general book like Sayles is a great place to start. I would also say figure out what you are Interested in and do a little bit of looking - if you like Romans, do a little internet research on Roman Coins. I agree with @Curtisimo to avoid eBay until you have a better understanding of the coins you are interested in.

Look around in the forum and see what you like! The beauty of ancients is there is no wrong or right way to collect, you just need to be cautious of fakes of the more 'desirable' coins!

 

Although I am not a collector per se of ancients, I have heard of a few reputable dealers including Frank Robinson at FSR Coins, Pegasi and Dr. Robert Kurlan out of New York.

 

I suggest looking through the stock at one of the V-coins stores and just see what catches your eye. I'd start off as a "magpie collector" of sorts until you develop a sense of what you like and what you might wish to focus on. You might decide to collect topically, such as "animals on coins" or "Venus on coins" or "architecture on coins." You might be attracted to a certain geographic area, such as coins of Moesia Inferior or coins of Nabatea. You might be interested in historical figures or dynasties, such as coins of Commodus and his family, coins of Trajan, or such.

Don't specialize right away. Choose coins that choose you, if you know what I mean.

 

Learn ancient history.

To maintain an interest in ancient coins, it is helpful to put coins in both a historical and social context. By doing this, these coins will come alive. They will become something more than cold and lifeless pieces of medal.

The studies of ancient history and numismatics complement each other. They each will give a deeper appreciation and insight to the other.

 

I started fairly recently. Got some things right and some things wrong. Here's what I learned:
- Develop a relationship with a few trusted dealers to start with. There really are some crooks out there, including some well-known dealers. The Forum is good at sorting them. Good dealers will look after good customers. Focusing on a few dealers also helps narrow the search. The variety can be daunting at first.
- Avoid auctions, and especially eBay, until you've developed a feel for the market.
- The forum is great for dipping into for inspiration, advice and information.
- It really helps if you can see coins for yourself, so get to some fairs if you can.
- I was glad to start with some really good coins that I still particularly like. They don't have to be expensive. Some of the second century Roman emperors are quite common and you can get high-grade coins fairly cheaply.
- You might not want to specialise straight away, but develop a rough idea of where you're going. I started deliberately broadly, trying to get a range of dates/origins/denominations, and later started to focus in on a couple of areas that particularly interest me.

 

Read some books, no matter which. Read postings in the Ancient Coins section. Buy some coins and post them here, don't be concerned about approval, the Forum really is a nice place.

 

..i thought i'd seen that name before.. i didn't know JA wuz also a published author too.wow..he IS famous

 

LM was talking about Doug Smith, if I followed it correctly. As for the John Anthony coin book author and "our" John Anthony, they are different people, although CoinTalk's John Anthony is awesome, knowledgeable of ancients, and wickedly witty.

 

oh, ok.. lol.. thanks TIF, i wuz gettin' ready ask for JA's autograph^^.( he is awesome ain't he.)

 

..not taking anything away from V or forum sellers, i'm going to come to the defense of ebay. while there are some unscrupulous purse cutters there, they have a purdy much iron clad guaranteed money back on "anything" you buy that ain't what its supposed to be. i bought my 1st and last coins from there and i will continue to do so. other than 2 coins NGC said weren't real(i got my $ back), and maybe a few other Chinese tokens i have, i've not had any problems in 14 years of buying there. even when a seller doesn't offer returns, you still get your money back and most times get to keep the item. i know a several peeps here buy there, cause i've seen coins i was wanting and bidding on show up in threads

 

Check local shops too, if able.

 

Can you recommend two or three trusted ancient coin ebay sellers? I'm also a beginner and this will help me browse trusted inventory.