Is widow mite Pruta coin xf worth collect?

Thank you for all the replies. Much appreciated.

 

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Thanks for the information. Kindly provide a link to his eBay page. Thanks.

 

True. The reason I am after higher grade ones is because I wish to be the curator of coins that will retain the monetary value better.

 

Higher grade coins will generally retain their value, but in my opinion, the only Judaean coins worth speculating on are the coins of the Bar Khokba revolt. They are very rare, very expensive, and always seem to appreciate.

I don't believe there's any significant investment potential in Judaean bronzes. I collect them as important pieces of history. Here is a selection of mine...

Judaea, Herod Agrippa
AE Prutah, 17mm, 2.7g, 5h; Jerusalem, 41/42 AD.
Obv.: BACIΛEWC AΓPIПA; fringed, umbrella-like canopy.
Rev.: Three ears of barley and two leaves; date L-ς (year 6).
Reference: Hendin 1244.

Judaea, Antonius Felix, Procurator under Claudius
AE Prutah, 19mm, 3.4g, 5h; Jerusalem, AD 54.
Obv.: TI KΛAYΔIOC KAICAP ΓEPM (Tiberius Claudius Caesar Germanicus); Two crossed palm branches / L IΔ (year 14)
Rev.: Inscription in wreath IOY/ ΛIA AΓ/ PIΠΠI/ NA (Julia Agrippina).
Reference: Hendin 1347.

Judaea, Porcius Festus, Procurator under Nero
AE Prutah, 17mm, 2.9g, 12h; Jerusalem, AD 58/59.
Obv.: Inscription within wreath, tied with an X: NEP/WNO/C.
Rev.: KAIC-APOC, LE; Palm branch.
Reference: Hendin 1351.

First Jewish War, AD 66-70
AE Prutah, 17mm, 3g, 6h; Jerusalem, AD 68/9.
Obv.: שנת שלוש (Year Three); Amphora with broad, fringed rim and two handles.
Rev.: חרות ציונ (Freedom of Zion); Grape leaf on vine.
Reference: Hendin 1363.

 

Very nice coins. Thanks for the update.

I am definitely going to look into the coins of the Bar Khokba revolt as well.

 

Who is David? Read:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Hendin
I also bought what I have from him but really have no interest in telling the difference between the rare ones an the common. I assume the ones he sold me in the group I bought are all common and 'worth' roughly the $7 each I paid. Slabbing them might make them worth $70 to someone. Not to me! David's vCoins page has individual coins selling for several hundred dollars. I won't be buying them. Is he still selling groups like this? I have not been following him. If, like me, all you want is some of the millions of surviving 'Mites' you collect differently than if you are seeking rarities with rare legend variations.

These are not high grade but they should slab at VF it seems??? Why would someone slab a $7 coin and sell it for $89.95? Because they can.

 

His user name is Amphoracoins. Nice man, nice dealer. He literally wrote the book on Jewish Coins. If it weren't for biblical references, these coins would all reside in junk boxes.

 

Thank you. Much appreciated.

 

I completely agree. When dealers started making excuses for every date/mintmark of every US coin, the rate at which I lost interest increased substantially. There are some ancient coins which do generally come in deplorable quality (I enjoy the irony of the often-poorly struck T. Carisius denarii) but, save for some very rare circumstances, I am perfectly happy grading coins relative to all coins: not relative to the subset of what is known in a particular issue.

 

Rarely do we all agree so much but the fact remains that dealers can not bring themselves to call their treasurers less than VF. See these:
http://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=1178661
The coin has full outlines and no details on the top surfaces so it gets VF with a bonus modifier??? Certainly anyone would be happy to have this coin but would they pay $300,000 for a VG-Fine?
I gets worse:
http://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=278958
This one is just a VF which means it does not have solid outlines. The extensive text goes on about how it is hard to access actual wear on an issue so poorly struck but still they can't see the coin as less than VF.

We'll hear that the Poros dekadrachms are a special case because there are only ten of them known but there are many ancients of no particular note that have fewer than that (a few actually known by one specimen). Perhaps that means that the best coin of a type should be called Mint State??? I think not. I am quite happy to have a few coins in my collection that are VG or below but people who will spend $300,000 for a coin seem to require a dealer to put lipstick on that pig. Unfortunately it is getting worse as we now see the slabbers adding grades on top of the list for ancients that previously topped out at EF. I'm sure there are collectors who will have no slabbed coin below AU. Many of us like pretty coins but being only Fine is not a mortal sin especially when the coin is 'as good as it gets'.