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Message:: [QUOTE="John Anthony, post: 2010353, member: 42773"]An excellent article, sir. I'll post a recent acquisition which illustrates the point. This follis of Constantine II is rated R4 in RIC. The reverse type itself is rare for Constantine Jr., but it can be found readily on the coins of Crispus. I paid $20 for it from a dealer at a show who specialized in modern world coins, so he assumed it was just another common Constantine-era bronze. I would not have sought out this coin and paid a premium for it on account of its rarity. When I first started collecting ancients, I started with Constantine Dynasty coins, and they still hold a special place in my heart. I liked the coin for its condition: a good strike, centered, lovely color, etc. If it was in poor condition, I would not have even spent $20 on it, despite its rarity. A dealer on vcoins would of course take the trouble to look it up, and post it as a VERY RARE TYPE for Constantine II (!!!!!) $150 (a bargain for a type you'll probably never see again in your lifetime!) But that's a sales gimmick and we all know it. So yes, rarity can, and frequently does mean something very, very different to collectors of ancient coins, namely, nothing at all. [ATTACH=full]362106[/ATTACH][/QUOTE]