I've been wanting to do this for a while. I am a U.S. coin guy. But I had a little money and wanted to dive right in and start learning. So I picked 10 coins that "spoke to me" from a well known ancients dealer, and made the purchase. Now it's time to learn (more than just the description provided by the dealer). Special thanks to @John Anthony, who pointed me towards this dealer about a year ago when I approached him about how to safely begin looking into ancients. Does anything stand out to you about these coins? Surfaces, detail, etc? What do you like about them? I love them, but need to research them fully now that they're mine. Some I paid as low as $15; the most expensive one was $69. Any thoughts you have are welcome. 1. Constans, 337-350 AD, Two Victories Reverse 2. Constantius Gallus, Caesar 351-354 AD 3. Constantine I, 306-337 AD 4. Crispus, as Caesar, 317-326 AD 5. Gallienus, 253-268 AD, AR Antoninianus. Pax Reverse 6. Licinius I, 308-324 AD 7. Moesia Inferior, Marcianopolis. Carracalla. 198-217 AD 8. Numerian, 283-284 AD 9. Postumus, Romano Gallic Emperor, 260-269 AD 10. Probus, 276-282 AD
Congrats CBD! Welcome to the Dark Side. I like number 5 for the slight toning, gives it more character, and 7 'cause its got a nice detailed eagle on it.
Nice lot for starting into ancients. I will go out on a limb and say the $69 one was the Marcianopolis, Caracalla?
First of all, WELCOME!! Second, I love all of your coins---all are extremely attractive, well struck and centered---- all exhibiting exceptional eye-appeal----not to mention a terrific assortment of Emperors and mints. I'd love to have any and all in my collection!! Obviously, there are many ways to research and attribute Ancients, just as there are for moderns. Wild Winds.com and acsearch just to mention a couple: http://www.acsearch.info/search.htm...1&ot=1&images=1¤cy=usd&order=0&company= http://www.acsearch.info/search.htm...1&ot=1&images=1¤cy=usd&order=0&company= I'm sure many of the 'guys'---there are both male and female members in our little group---will comment shortly and offer their opinions and assistance... GREAT purchases C-B-D!!!
A wonderful set of coins, except the Numerian and Postumus are a little too rough for my taste. It could be the pics though - Praefectus' coins are much brighter in hand, his pics are rather dark and dreary. The ants of Postumus during his earlier reign were of better silver and the portraits were struck hard and crisp. Here is one of mine... At any rate, a nice collection, and since you're a dealer I'll say you probably won't have any problems trading them for a profit IF you get some brighter, sharper images of the coins. But your photography is always excellent, so I have no doubts.
Welcome to the dark side, C-B-D, and congrats on your first ancient buys. My first purchase about 3 years ago was also a group of 10 coins. I was completely clueless and without a doubt you've done much better than I did. Your coins mostly all have good detail, decent surfaces and centering, and you've got a nice variety of rulers and types as well. A lot more than I can say for the group that I bought! To my eye the Postumus seems the weakest because of the poor surfaces, which is unfortunate if only because it detracts from what I think is the best portrait face of the 'Crisis of the Third Century' period. Get yourself a better Postumus already! Just kidding about that last statement ... eventually we all get around to buying better coins the more experienced we become and the deeper we delve into the incredibly diverse and absorbing world of ancient coins. I'm interested to see what your next purchases will be. Buy them soon, and show us pics!
Believe it or not, most of these I am keeping until I find ones that are more sharply struck. And the ones that do get sold won't be so until I've educated myself on their history.
I believe it. I've read many of your posts in other forums - you're obviously one of the dealers that is truly interested in numismatics as well as trade.
Welcome to the dark side. Those are all pretty nice coins, many of which I would like to have. The portraits on the first five are excellent in my opinion.
welcome CBD! some cool new coins, i really like the gallienus...that's nice. the late roman bronze is solid (i need a good constantius gallus myself...i'd take that one for sure.)
Nice coins CBD , they're like Busties , quite addicting . I'm always looking for Roman Republican coins when at a show or go into Harlen Berks . Though I really want a nice Greek coin next . 1st I need to get a good book though .