So, I am in the process of getting into ancients, in particular the Roman imperial coinage. I have looked through some PDFs of books and have downloaded ERIC I, but I still have some questions, specifically about rarity of issues and price. Is there a resource which goes over rarity of specific issues or is this information something you acquire after looking over coins? Secondly, is there any type of price guide or rule of thumb for these or again is it just studying auction catalogs and familiarity with the market? Here is a specific example, a local dealer has these two Hadrian coins for sale: http://www.coin.com/cgi-local/find1Coins.cgi?50578 http://www.coin.com/cgi-local/find1Coins.cgi?50323 What accounts for the large difference in price, is it condition, rarity, or a combination of both?
Price guides for ancients are pretty much the same as price guides for any coins: they're a snapshot in time, taken from a specific sample, and largely worthless in my opinion. If I'm searching for a specific coin, I look at as many current listings and completed auctions as I can, to give me a ballpark range, and then decide where I fit in that spectrum according to my interest in the coin and my budget. The large difference between the two Hadrians does in fact have to do with the scarce Ocean/Long anchor variety. They look to be equally strong in quality and eye-appeal, but that's also largely a matter of opinion.
I'm too tired to add to that(got a nasty cold) so heres a ton of links http://www.wildwinds.com/ http://www.catbikes.ch/coinstuff/coins-ric.htm http://www.forumancientcoins.com/board/index.php? http://www.forumancientcoins.com/dougsmith/ http://www.tesorillo.com/aes/home.htm http://www.vcoins.com/ http://www.numismall.com/ http://www.acsearch.info/index.html http://www.coinproject.com/ http://dirtyoldcoins.com/Roman-Coins.html http://esty.ancients.info/ricix/ http://independent.academia.edu/NickWells http://www.cngcoins.com/Coins_sold.aspx http://www.ric.mom.fr/en/home http://www.romancoin.info http://www.catbikes.ch/coinstuff/monograms.htm http://www.ancientcoinmuseum.com/HistoryPages/LATEROMANIMPERIALMONOGRAMS.html
Those are all good links rg and that is good advice JA. The link I use the most to determine rarity/value is acsearch.info. The second place I go to is vcoins to see what the dealers are asking for any particular coin. The two coins linked are very nice coins and I would gladly have either or both in my collection (although $1200 is out of my budget).
The prices on vcoins are high, but of course, everybody has overhead. The rent there is $79 a month, but that may not be the only contributing factor. Often I acquire coins that I want at half the price of what I'd pay on vcoins. In some cases I have no choice though - only a handful of dealers in the world offer the pieces I'm interested in.
All that is true. However, it is a barometer by which we can gauge the approximate value of any particular coin.
This comes down to style, something often overlooked by those starting out in Ancients as it has essentially no comparable quality in "modern" coins. Dies were engraved with widely varying skill and imagery, and the finest designs/execution carry significant premiums. This particular denarius was last sold in March of this year at a Gorny & Mosch auction for $1047 (counting buyer's premium) off of a ~$500 estimate. $1250 is a strong price but the reverse style is quite nice. However, the "fabric" of the coin is somewhat lacking. I don't like the edge splits and the surfaces are worse than I would go for. While it is an "Extremely Fine" coin versus your other example as "Very Fine" (which explains some of the price difference), I'd personally pass on it. I'm also not much of a fan of the $200 denarius either. I suggest waiting for one which really jumps out to you and in the meantime, looking through a lot of different images, identifying which designs you find most appealing and waiting to find one of those. Hope that helps!
Joe - thanks so much for walking through your reasoning process on these two coins, it's very helpful. I was not planning on buying either, just to illustrate how little I know I am definitely in the look at a lot of coins phase for now.
Yeah Beef, I hate to say but it will be a long learning process. So many people think "ancient guys" should know all about all ancients. Truth is there are people who ONLY collect Hadrian coins, and can, (and have), written lengthy books only on a small subject. I run across coins all of the time, (some here like Mat's ladies), that I have no bloody idea which is the scarcer one. Just like most US collectors are not well versed on the idiosynchrocies of ealry copper, (and some early copper people only collect say early large cents), there are large degrees of specialization in ancients. Having said that, Joe's post was excellent. It not just about grade and flan and porosity, its also about style, or artistry. I will always buy a lower grade, fine style coin over a technically higher grade but poor style. Go to Vcoins and search for something specific, like Hadrian denarius or Alexander III Tet. Look at the portrait quality, how they all portray the same thing, but some are miniature masterpieces, and others might look like a 4th grader drew them. That is the difference of style, artistry, or beauty. We are all suckers for a beautiful coin over here. Like I said, it is a long learning curve. However, what is more fun than looking at and learning about beautiful, historically important coins? Nothing I can think of besides my wife.
Rarity means nothing. Demand is what drives prices. An interesting type in fine style with perfect striking and preservation will appeal to many collectors even if there are dozens of the same type available in slightly less good style, slightly less good striking and some wear or corrosion. A boring type will appeal to fewer people just as a few drop off because of things like edge splits. In many cases the rarest coins go for less because few people know they exist and even fewer care. I have a several coins that are much more rare than the popular EID MAR denarius of Brutus but all together they are not worth 1/100 of the realization of the average, not the exceptional, Brutus. The thing I have learned after a few (50) years is that you need to buy what you want and what you like when you can. If what makes a difference to you is condition and you are open to any coin in magnificent condition, you will act differently than if you are trying to get that 100th coin that fills the set you have been working on for decades. No book can cover all the variables that contribute to prices. The worst variable seems to be whim since sellers are sometimes mystified by one coin bringing ten times estimate and another failing to draw a single bid. Buy what appeals to you.
Find a few coins and then post a thread, where you ask us our opinions and whether the coins are authentic, etc ... no, seriously
