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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Bart9349, post: 843009, member: 5682&quot;]Let me state that Doug&#039;s site is one of the most, if not the most, respected site for education on Ancients found on the web.&nbsp; <img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie9" alt=":eek:" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" />hya:</p><p><br /></p><p>This site is lucky to have his contributions.</p><p><br /></p><p>I also find Bill Welch&#039;s site helpful for us novices and non-collectors:</p><p><br /></p><p><a href="http://www.forumancientcoins.com/moonmoth/ancientcoins.html" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://www.forumancientcoins.com/moonmoth/ancientcoins.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.forumancientcoins.com/moonmoth/ancientcoins.html</a></p><p><br /></p><p>Many nice pieces of numismatic history can be purchased for a surprisingly low amount.</p><p><br /></p><p>Slabbing of Ancients is frowned upon by many, if not most, Ancient aficianados. Since Ancients are usually cleaned, many concepts associated with grading modern coins are not valid. Also, there is powerful experience actually holding in one&#039;s hand a coin that is two thousand years old. Finally, although David Vagi at NGC-Ancients does a great job of authenticating and attributing coins, there is no guarantee, unlike with modern coins. Plus, there is a sense that if Ancients were regularly slabbed, there would be a risk of Ancient coins becoming more of a commodity to be flipped and traded as opposed to remaining an object of a deep and heartfelt passion to be studied and treasured. These are all good arguments against slabbing Ancients and I can agree with them all.</p><p><br /></p><p>[Unlike Doug and many others, however, I feel that if I were to buy a more expensive coin (especially with my limited background and experience), I would want the coin authenticated by someone.]</p><p><br /></p><p>Here&#039;s an interesting coin and it&#039;s associated controversy:</p><p><br /></p><p><a href="http://www.acsearch.info/search.html?search=Brutus+EID+MAR&amp;view_mode=1#1" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://www.acsearch.info/search.html?search=Brutus+EID+MAR&amp;view_mode=1#1" rel="nofollow">http://www.acsearch.info/search.html?search=Brutus+EID+MAR&amp;view_mode=1#1</a></p><p><br /></p><p>Here&#039;s the controversial paragraph of the catalogue description:</p><p><br /></p><p><b> This exceptional gold issue has been reason for many heated discussions among prestigious experts. In particular professor Crawford decided not to include this coin in his &quot;Roman Republican Coinage&quot;. The reasons for this are explained by professor Crawford in appendix, p. 552, n. 107. He considered the coin to be a forgery, even though he had only seen a picture of it, as he was not convinced of the existence of this issue and of the theories adopted by professor H. Cahn in the article where this coin was published for the fist time in 1953. He also considered the coin to be suspicious in its self. As further backing of his own opinion, Crawford gave news of a further three specimens regarded as false, he also informed of a cast of this specimen at the ANS with a label reading: Forgery - Athens</b></p><p><br /></p><p>Despite this controversy, the coin was deemed authentic by the catalogue and sold for more than $92,000 (to a museum, I believe).</p><p><br /></p><p>We have discussed before on this site the difficulties of authenticating some Ancient coins and how even the most respected experts can disagree.</p><p><br /></p><p>Just use your common sense and you will be fine. Others on this site will direct you to trustworthy sources for Ancient coins (and which ones to avoid).</p><p><br /></p><p>My final piece of advice: Learn the history behind the coins and it will become a lifelong and rewarding study.</p><p><br /></p><p>guy[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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