Message:

<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Cherd, post: 3024366, member: 24754&quot;]Hello All,</p><p><br /></p><p>I&#039;ve spent quite a few years assembling various US, Mexican, and Canadian copper type coin collections (Even started putting together a $1 US currency collection as an aside). But I&#039;ve long reached a point where the remaining examples that I need either only come along once in a blue moon, or are simply out of my price range. So, I&#039;m wanting to start a new collection that will allow me to acquire additions every once in a while (need to scratch the itch!).</p><p><br /></p><p>I&#039;ve always been interested in ancient coins. In particular, I would love to build a &quot;Roman Emperor&quot; collection. I like collections that peak the interest of people that look at them. And, the stories to tell while showing this type of collection would be endless! (This one was killed by his guards, this one was made to commit suicide by that one, this one was poisoned by his soldiers, this one did unspeakable things to children, that one was killed in battle by the next one, etc, etc!!!). I prefer non-gold/silver, and bigger is always better, so my plan would be to focus on acquiring Sestertius coins. As far as I can tell, this would potentially get me from Augustus through Gallienus/Salonunus (sound right?).</p><p><br /></p><p>But from what I&#039;ve always assumed, it&#039;s as though you need a graduate level education on the subject to really make an informed decision about purchases! My previous collections were easy. I spend a lot of time cataloging Ebay and live auction prices of previously sold NGC, PCGS, or PMG graded examples (building and filling up my spreadsheets is actually part of the enjoyment of collecting), and then use that information to determine my price-point for comparably graded examples. This approach doesn&#039;t work so well for Roman coins. Very few of the coins that I ever find for sale (or that have been sold) are certified by NGC or PCGS. So, I&#039;ve resorted to pasting pictures of un-certified coins along with sale prices into my spreadsheets, fine. I&#039;ve been doing this for about 6 months, and as an example, I have 23 recorded sales of Hadrian Sestertiuses, and they represent 16 different freaking coins!! Not only that, but the condition/price ratios make little sense, even when considering coins of the same design.</p><p><br /></p><p>And finally, the real cause of my apprehension, FAKES!! I recently felt as though I had done enough prep-work to actually start buying some coins. I was on the verge a placing bids on a handful the other night, but figured I better do some research on forgeries beforehand. I found a site with some links to &quot;fake ebay sellers&quot;, and to a site called &quot;Forgery Network&quot;, and both sellers and all 3 of the coins that I was about to bid on were on those sites!!</p><p><br /></p><p>Anyway, as much as I&#039;d like to pursue this collection, the uncertainty about pricing, fear of fakes, and shortage of certified coins has put me in a position where I don&#039;t feel comfortable buying anything. How do you guys do it? I don&#039;t think I have a high enough burn threshold to risk it.</p><p><br /></p><p>Sorry, didn&#039;t mean to write a freaking book here.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

Your name or email address:

Do you already have an account?

• No, create an account now.
• Yes, my password is:
• Forgot your password?

Stay logged in