Hi, Hopefully I have the right section here, sorry in advance if I ask daft questions already answered elsewhere. I've just started off on my journey in collecting ancient coins and unsurprisingly I'm already confused The first thing is the acronyms - I've looked around sites including here but I can't seem to find a full list of acronyms that can be used in coin descriptions, well at least in the description on the coin I have just purchased. It says "vgl S 46 Nr 9" - I'm guessing that's 'very good - low' or 'very good lustre (?)' but the other ones have me stuck.... unless it's a reference to a journal? My 'plan' is too collect a coin from all the Roman emperors where possible, but I'm super aware that might be harder than I think.... Cheers J
@TerDev, I can't tell you much of anything about ancient coins, but I want to welcome you to CoinTalk!
Welcome aboard @TerDev Sounds like you’ll be found on the Ancients Forum I’ve been there a few times. Then slithered back to Errors Hey @lordmarcovan He’s collecting Emperors
Welcome to the greatest hobby around…. Now I am a die hard US coin collector and I would surmise that the ancient collectors have a vernacular of their own as I sure don’t recognize those acronyms. The ancient collectors for the most part post in their own section. Go back to the main CoinTalk page and you will see a tab called “Ancient”. Post your question there and I’ll bet you get answers.
S might be the Sear #, e.g. Roman Coins And Their Values By David R Sear Online (more modern): https://numismatics.org/ocre/
Here is my advice. Look for a member with the name nerosmyfavorite68. I think he has forgotten more on the subject than most people will learn in a lifetime times 2. james
Welcome to the boards! I have been collector for over 60 years, but I only started to collect imperial Roman coins about 10 years ago. Before that I collected U.S. coins, tokens and medals extensively. I was also a coin dealer in U.S. coins and tokens for 15 years. I have also tried to collect at least one coin for each Roman emperor. You will get some advice about who those men were. There are usurpers who claimed to be emperor and issued coins, some of them very rare. I used the list that is in this book, which still available from Whitman Publishing. Collecting at least one coin from each emperor who is listed in this book is challenging. I did pretty well with more large budget that most people have until I hit the 400s. There I have hit a brick wall. You know you are in trouble when the easiest coins to get are the gold pieces. Here is a collection of the 12 Caesars, from Julius Caesar to Domitian. This not easy to do, but it's quite an accomplishment if you do. Please don't be discouraged, you can do quite a bit. The Caesar portrait piece in this set was struck 11 months after his death. Caesar portrait coins that were struck when he was alive and very pricey. There are people here who know a lot more than I do, but I'll help you here on-line if you post your questions.
