New to Ancients

This is my advice as well. I don't think one can collect coins in a manner that makes it a worthwhile investment both in terms of monetary return as well as enjoyment. Even professionals who knew more about the coin market than most of us ever will have utterly failed at making money on coins.

A book that is often recommended around here is Bruce McNall's "Fun While It Lasted" which is only partially about coins but should be required reading for anyone who wants to invest in coins. You should be able to get a used copy for around $5 shipped.

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

Welcome, @JAncient77 .

I have had an educational website for beginners for almost twenty years. Of course, people want to know what coins are "worth", so the site addresses that. The first major point is, retail and wholesale are two different things. What you can buy a coin for is not the same as what you can sell it for. (Sometimes the difference can be disappointingly large.)

For buying, I wrote a page long ago and have updated it frequently, including today:

http://augustuscoins.com/ed/numis/buying.html

If you consider eBay, don't buy there without reading this first:

http://augustuscoins.com/ed/numis/auction.html

The main site for beginners is:

http://augustuscoins.com/ed/numis/index.html

 

If you want to buy some random ancients at a good price with a high degree of authenticity, check @John Anthony in his auctions here on CT.

 

This to me is a hobby of pleasure.
As stated some people seem rather random others historic.
The love of history has been my drive even as a kid and them darn buffalo nickels. I guess some may look at my posts and think completely random. To a degree I'd almost think that, but my main problem is there's not one particular era of history I could devote myself to. Sure I like certain historical events but there is something to learn in every era.
Collect because it brings you pleasure not profit, you will enjoy it so much more. MHO
And welcome to CT

 

Welcome to CT, if you like a coin and it is priced within affordable price range buy it, don't expect a high resale though it all depends on demand and the market.

 

Welcome, JAncient! I think a lot of us beginners start out with slabs because we think a slabbed coin by one of the top grading companies is more likely to be authentic. I have a lot of slabbed coins and I'm going to leave them that way. I have another whole collection of coins that are not slabbed and I confess that the unslabbed ones are a lot more fun to examine and admire. I'm no longer worried about authenticity because I only purchase coins from dealers who are recommended by members of this forum.

 

Welcome to the wacky world of Ancient Numismatics. Without reading all of the above posts, I might suggest you subscribe to https://www.acsearch.info/. Unless you pay to subscribe, you can only compare coins and not prices realized. As a paid subscriber, you can see prices realized. It's a great resource whether you pay or not.

 

Wow, what a great website! Thanks for compiling so much good info for decades. Must really be a labor of love.

 

Everything he said is spot on. Just wanted to reiterate his point.

Lots of great advice here everyone!

 

Thanks to everyone for the thoughtful, timely, and patient posts. I'm very much looking forward to engaging in this community. I'm out of town for work so can't post pictures yet of my current new collection but will work on it.

I'm taking everyones suggestions seriously and am familiarizing myself with what will hopefully be an exciting new chapter in my life collecting Ancients.

Just wanted everyone to know that I really appreciate the advice and resources listed in this thread. I feel like I'm going back to school ha.

 

Thank you so much! This is great information and I'm reading through every page!

 

Got it, thank you I'm registering right now!

 

Welcome JAncient.
Please post a photo of one of your coins & maybe ask a question. The question can be as simple as "what do you guys (and girls) think about this coin". We all may learn something from your coin.

 

I want one of those doormats! Where can I get one of those doormats?

 

Welcome to the party!!!