My first ancient: Marcus Aurelius

I've been lurking a couple months but this is my first time posting anything.

I got interested in the general hobby of coin and currency collecting last year. While visiting with my girlfriend's family, I heard her dad saying something about waiting on a coin book in the mail. That caught my interest and we struck up a conversation. He asked would I be interested in seeing some of his collection and I said I would even though I could see some other people at the table slouching back in their chairs as if to say, "not again, Dad". A few minutes later he was pulling out the boxes and binders and albums and I began to realize that coins were a very big deal to him, obviously the work of many years. I was stunned at the beauty and variety of American coins including a very large number of designs I had never seen before.

Afterwards I was kind of shy about letting anyone know how excited I was by the idea of starting my own collection. I began doing research online in earnest, looking at shops, eBay, vcoins, PCGS price charts, etc. Watching youtube videos. Reading this forum and others. I bought my first few books on American coins and currency and identified potential targets, then moved on to studying the market for some pieces I felt most interested in.

I bought a few things, but the more I studied and learned, the more stressed out I felt about the whole process. I liked the idea of being able to hold the coins because of their connection to history, but I read a lot of fearmongering advice about the dangers of buying raw -- not because the coins might be fake (although they could be!) but because only an expert third party with the coin in hand can tell whether something should grade as MS65 or MS64, the kind of subtle distinction that can make a big difference in the market price of a modern coin. The general terror of cleaning also made me uneasy since I've seen photos of many "details" coins that look A-OK to me. I realized you need to be quite the expert, or at least have the confidence of one, to purchase modern coins over the internet without fear of being ripped off in some way or another. And I felt alienated by the idea of buying dozens of nearly-identical pieces to complete sets the way "real" collectors do.

After a while, I gave up on the idea of collecting American and shifted into world coins and currency. German coins with all their different interpretations of eagle motifs have been a favorite. Inflation currency was a fun black hole for a while. German material has checked a lot of boxes for me: interesting historical tie ins with WWI and WW2, cool eagle designs, interesting things available at beginner-level prices.

I'm not sure what coin-related thing I was searching at the time, but at some point serendipity took over and I stumbled across @dougsmit's 99 and 1/2 favorite coins page. Just like that first night, I had a feeling of wonder at the amazing variety of things I never even knew existed. Soon after that I found the "What Your Budget Buys" series of threads and began to get very excited about the range of things that are attainable with a modest budget and patience. My main reason for writing down all these words is to say thanks to everyone who has put effort into these pages and threads. It's all invaluable to newcomers like me.

I'm working on "doing it right", got some books on order coming in the mail, plan on spending some time digging into history and sticking mostly with the bargain bin while I get oriented. But my first coin was an impulse buy, a denarius of Marcus Aurelius, whose Meditations have enjoyed reading several times.

Marcus Aurelius AD 139-180
Obverse: M ANTONINVS AVG TR P XXVI - Laureate head right
Reverse: IMP VI COS III - Roma seated left, holding Victory and scepter, shield to right.

 

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A great first coin. Welcome to the darkside

 

Welcome to CT and the dark side! This is probably the most fun-loving group of coin-a-holics on the net. You got a mighty fine first ancient; it took me years to get my first denarius, and it was gifted to me.

While it may seem that way, after years of practice even us lowly collectors can tell the difference. It does take effort, but you seem the kind of person that is not afraid of a challenge.

Again, experience will build confidence. And not to scare you, but there are lots of deceptive practices with ancient coins as well. Stick around and talk with dealers and you will learn a lot. Most dealers on VCoins are very honest and very safe to buy from, so that would probably be the preferred venue for a beginner.

That is what turned me off of modern US. I do collect US type coins along with ancients, but I am thinking about abandoning the fill-in-the-hole approach and just buy coins I like. That is the approach I take with ancients.

I am also an opportunist collector. I do not set out to buy specific coins. I let them find me. That way one can keep an open mind when looking for coins. You will know the perfect coins when you see them.

 

Welcome aboard, papersplz! That is a fine Marcus Aurelius denarius you got there - a great start to a great area of collecting. My first ancient was 30 years ago and it was a life-changer.

Here's my Marcus Aurelius on a title page of an old edition of Meditations:

 

Absolutely, Yes. Buyer beware is always good advice.

Looking back at my original post I feel I may have painted an unduly negative portrait of American collecting. I meant no disrespect to anyone who enjoys those areas of collecting, but wanted to emphasize how refreshing it was to come here and see advice more along the lines of "buy what you like" and "buy coins that speak to you".

 

Welcome to CT, that is a great coin to start your ancient collection.

 

Happy to welcome you PZ. You started this hobby with books and forums. That's the best choice. Personally, I wish the Internet was as common and easy 20 years ago as today. Good luck all the way..

 

Welcome, and congratulations on acquiring your first ancient - a lovely MA.

 

Welcome to CT!!

What a great coin to start a collection with.

I too am new to ancient coins. Got into it much the same way you did. I was amazed by some of the coins being posted here on the forum. I was also pleasantly surprised at what a modest budget will buy.

While I don't have too many coins in my collection yet, I do have a Marcus Aurelius.

RIC 35
Marcus Aurelius as Augustus AR Denarius
Minted in Rome 162 AD
Obverse: IMP M AVREL ANTONINVS AVG, bare head right
Reverse: CONCORD AVG TR P XVI, Concordia seated left holding patera, cornucopia under seat, COS III in exergue.

 

Welcome aboard, papersplz. That’s an excellent first ancient. I hope you’ll stay, participate in our daily jibber-jabber, and of course, show us more coins!

 

WOW! Welcome welcome welcome, @papersplz! What a great introduction!

Looking forward to your future posts

 

I agree and welcome.

 

I found myself interested in ancients for many of the same reasons @papersplz and dove in just last year. This is a great place to ask questions and share your scores. Welcome to the madness.

 

Welcome to the ancients forum, @papersplz ! That's a nice coin! I like the portrait style from the middle portion of his reign:


Marcus Aurelius, AD 161-180
Roman AR denarius; 3.53 g, 17.4 mm, 1 h
Rome, AD 169
Obv: M ANTONINVS AVG TR P XXIII, laureate head right
Rev: LIBERAL AVG V COS III, Liberalitas standing left, holding abacus and cornucopiae
Refs: RIC 206; BMCRE 492; Cohen 412; RCV 4914; MIR 181.

 

Welcome! I followed a similar collecting trajectory...after U.S. I got into exonumia which still remains a passion, but it's more like collecting ancients than moderns.

 

Nice denarius of a great emperor. Here is a sestertius honoring him after his death.
AE Sestertius 21.70g. 31mm. Struck under Commodus c. 180-182 A.D. Rome Mint
Bare head, r.
DIVVS M ANTONINVS PIVS
Eagle flying r., bearing aloft Marcus Aurelius holding sceptre; In ex.: S C
[C]ONECR[ATIO]
RIC III 660
Glossy black patina.
Minor pit on neck.
Marcus Aurelius 161-180 A.D. Rome Mint

His main squeeze Faustina jr. also has some beautiful coins(as in my profile photo).
Welcome to the family at CT!

 

Welome @papersplz and that's a sweet 1st ancient!

Man, that better than my best MA.....I really need to beef up on that cat. This coin "feels" better than it looks.



Marcus Aurelius. Sestertius. 145 AD.

O AVRELIVS CAESAR AVG PII F, bare head right R: TR POT COS II S-C, Minerva standing right, holding spear and resting hand on shield. RIC 1248 (Ant. Pius); Cohen 596; Sear 4811. Rome mint. 32 mm, 21.7 g.

 

On the topic of modern fakes of ancient coins, I found Calgary Coins has a really helpful website on the topic:

http://www.calgarycoin.com/reference/fakes/fakes.htm

There are multiple pages on different types of fakes, with technical data, but not to an overwhelming extent. One of the more encouraging bits of information is that even beginning collectors can spot fakes based on stylistic differences (the fakes struck from modern dies) - I agree with this. I'd say a majority of fakes on eBay can be spotted even by a fairly new collector with a little practice - all those denarii supposedly from Balbinus or Brutus or Syracuse tetradrachms on perfectly-round flans with perfect strikes are pretty easy to spot. Cast fakes are trickier of course.

 

Nice first coin, welcome to the wonderful world of ancients!