A posting in another venue pointed out to me that some beginners are confused regarding a few points on the rarity of ancient coins: 1. Several books but particularly the standard 10 volume work Roman Imperial Coinage or RIC assign rarity ratings to coins. Some RIC volumes even define these ratings including R5 as 'one known'. Collectors in 2010 need to understand a couple points to make fair use of these ratings. The authors made survey of the holdings of a very specific and limited group of museums. If almost every one of the museums had a specific coin, it was termed 'Common'; if only a few had it the term 'Rare' was applied with numbers following to define just how rare the coin was with R1 being sort-of rare and R5 being as rare as it could be. In no way does this mean that only one example of a coin is known but simply that only one of the target group collections had that coin. The coin dealer located across the street from the museum might have a bag full (unlikely but possible) and it would not show up in the survey. 2. Modern coins often come with data on exactly how many coins were made by the mint. Ancients never do; we have not a single record for any coin stating the mintage figures. What matters is how many have been found. Every day more coins turn up in European fields and points East where trade carried the coins. Roman coins have been found in Scandinavia and India (the few found in North America are another story). There is record of one hoard (frrom France in 1936) of 5000 denarii all of a relatively scarce emperor Clodius Albinus. It most likely was a military pay chest of newly minted coins. A similar find made tomorrow could turn your 'one known' coin into a common variety. This happend a few years back when the US Treasury released some old bags of silver dollars and a few were found to contain dates previously thought to be rare. 3. Red Books come out every year. Standard references on many ancient series are reworked every 50 to 100 years. A lot has happened since some of these books were compiled saying a coin was rare. Metal detectors and the normalization of relations with countries of eastern Europe have made many coins available in the West that were unknown in 1950 (let alone 1900). 4. Rarity figures for ancients refer to coins matching exactly. In many Late Roman issues, several (up to 15 at one mint) workshops issued the same coin distinguished by a letter added to the mintmark. In a few cases, most of a certain type are known from shop A while B semed to make mostly another type but sometimes we find coins that show they ocassionally struck the opposite type making a 'rare' variation. US collectors pay a big difference to get a 1909s coin with the VDB but realatively few ancient collectors collect by minor variety even though there are many available if they chose to collect them. The price on these rarities is surprisingly low simply because very, very few people are seeking completeness and they realize that they can often pick up the rarities for the common price. Interested collectors are in no hurry to grab every variation at some inflated price knowing well how few people care. Moral: Don't pay big money for a coin you don't want just because somebody quotes it as 'R5'. If you want to specialize in coins rated 'R5', feel free but understand what the term means and what it does not.
Excellent post Doug. This is the type of post that should be flagged for a sticky. Like I explained in an earlier post, any kind of rarity scale in a book is a great way to begin your education, but everyone who specializes in a series that I know of makes notes of how reality now is different than the book, and this is their unique knowledge in which the truly have a leg up on most others. Glenn Woods, a Byzantine specialist, has a copy of Sears Byzantine Coins so thoroughly trashed I was shocked when I saw it. He uses it always and makes notes inside. This is how a price guide should be used, as a base to start with, but not an end point or definitive. Another way to say this is that there is absolute rarity and market rarity. Absolute rarity would take into account small differences like an officiana mark, or type of spear soldier is holding, etc. These small differences are a big deal to American collectors. This amplification of these tiny things I believe started with the early collectors in the 1860's wishing to make US coinage have more varieties than it really did. Anyway, small details like this rarely matter in ancient coinage, so even if someone points out how rare or scarce it is, it shouldn't affect market rarity. A few times it matters if it changes how the coin is viewed, like engravers initials of a famous engraver, or something similar. Not that these points cannot be interesting in someone specializing in that coinage, its just that there are SO many ancient coins most do not collect that specialty. Market rarity is rarity that the ancient coin market will pay for. This is something that greatly affect prices. Examples of this is a type that is rare, such as the Pannonian hat coin that Beast coins has. This is a completely new, unique type. Another example would be for a scarce coin that is in incredible demand. There are I believe about 50 examples known of the Eid Mar denari, so for an ancient coin they are not that rare. However the demand is such as even horrible examples bring 5 figures. Types that are rare will bring a premium, it just depends on what the type depicts and the historical importance of it. Overall, Doug's point is that small obscure rarities are everywhere in ancient coins and most of us do not care how rare the little subtype is, we will only pay for common variety price for it. If you wish to obtain a small collection of all of them, and be the only person on earth with them, good for you, but do not expect that you will sell them for much more than common prices when you sell. Since this is true, you should not pay more for them when you acquire them.
I think we agree that what makes the EID MAR expensive is not that there are 'only' 50 (or 70???) of them but that there are hundreds of people who would like to own one because it is beyond special. For those that do not know the type it portrays Brutus the assassin of Julius Caesar and a Liberty cap flanked by two daggers with the legend EID MAR refering to the date (Ides of March) Caesar was killed. There are few coins that openly boast of murder but Brutus saw himself as a hero having freed Rome from the tyrant Caesar. I might add that there are some people (a minority) that do not believe the type is genuine and consider all examples fabrications made to fool museums and collectors. I do not accept their arguments but I do not consider them fools either. Almost any collector of ancient coins who specializes in a particular series will, in time, acquire coins that are otherwise unknown to students of the series. I have a couple. Add to that a couple more which are known by only two or three copies. Many collectors own coins that probably exit in fewer than 50 copies but will not sell for 1/100 of the price of an EID MAR. Do the math: Thousands want one of the fifty while only two people want the three of something else. I'm a hard core collector and not an investor but I'd still trade one of my 'only known' coins for an EID MAR. I may be odd but I'm not a complete fool.
