The Ancient Coin Podcast: Monsters of Numismatics

For those who aren’t familiar with it already, Aaron Berk and Mike Nottelman of Harlan J. Berk have been producing and broadcasting a podcast about ancient coins for almost a year now. The last episode has a segment about monsters on ancient coins, and Aaron Berk even broke out his old Dungeons & Dragons monsters guide for the show:


When I watched the first episodes, I was a little bit disappointed, as I thought there was a lot of talk about auctions and prices and coins that are out of reach for most of the ordinary collectors (like me). However, I think the guys are developing their concept, creating better and better content for every episode. What do you think?

 

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That's a nice podcast, although interesting I feel they cater to 'elite' customers, but I've been watching 'Drachmas and Denarii: Ancient Numismatic Podcast' on YouTube by couple of hobbyists, I find them much more relatable.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfoVI80lR1PtMXkCHjpCI6A/videos

 

That's my take. I've watched a few episodes, and there are little bits of interesting information that I pick up, but the lessons tend to be geared towards rich collectors. It seems less a podcast intended to support learning about ancient coins, and more a podcast intended to support the family business.

Still worth watching though, like I said, it has some interesting points.

 

Their podcast is quite entertaining, IMHO. Although elite and pricey coins are the focus, the lessons taught can be applied to almost any level of collecting.

 

I am curious about the dofus coin This is a screenshot of the actual page as seen on the Heritage site and
THIS IS NOT (THANKFULLY) MY COIN

According to this site this coin received the grade of NGC Choice MS S 5/5-5/5 Yet the obverse is quite liberally covered with die deterioration or die rust. You can see it in front of the forehead the eye and particularity in the hair. Second image has the problem areas circled in red. I was unable to circle all of them

The obverse on this coin is a mess.

 

I personally enjoy podcasts for two reasons: 1. The overview of dofus purchases ( my favorite part ) 2. Pearls of wisdom section

 

I certainly agree that the die defects detract from the aesthetic appeal of the coin, particularly the blotch in the eye as that is the focal point of the obverse. This does lead me to question the star designation.

However, so far as I understand, die defects would not affect the "Mint State" or "Surface" designations, so I do not particularly take issue with those values. I could imagine that die quality could be something that is taken into account for "Strike", and if this is the case then that grade might be questionable.

The question that I am left with is, "How are the star designations determined?". If they are based on a consistent set of standards across all coin types, then it seems as though this coin shouldn't qualify. However, if they are based on direct comparisons to other coins of that particular type (top 10% for example), then maybe it makes sense that this coin got a star. I haven't put any effort into examining other examples of this coin, so I do not have useful perspective on whether this might be the case.

In the end, I'm just guessing at how these things are determined, so if anyone has additional expertise or insights then I'd love to learn more. At this point, I can imagine a criteria scenario where this grade makes complete sense, yet I can imagine another where it seems pretty bogus.

 

The "Doofus" portion is actually one of the criticisms that I have about the show. I do not mind the general subject matter, but I do not like how it is handled. They are effectively singling out and insulting an individual while also singling out the coin that they just purchased and telling the community that it is not worth the price.

This type of thing can be done with more tact. Saying "I do not understand why this coin sold for so much" is preferable to essentially saying "This person is a dumbass".

Fundamentally, the value of collectables is solely based on the personal opinions of individual collectors. No matter the level of expertise, no individual should presume to have the authority to tell somebody else what they should or shouldn't have paid.

 

Have to respectfully disagree with your statement here… there is a market value for a reason

 

But the market doesn't move as a whole, sometimes some coins go up while some coins go down. Is it not possible that some people being perceived as overpaying might just be getting out in front of a market trend?

As an example, the coin discussed in this episode is said to have been driven up by Japanese buyers that pay big money for particular grades on coins of these types. If there is a Japanese market based on these criteria, then that is what the coins are worth. (Whether anyone else thinks it's reasonable or not)

People often distinguish between "paying for the coin" verses "paying for the plastic", and there are some worthwhile lessons to be learned there. However, if coins with certain grades continuously sell for what are perceived to be absurd prices, then that is what those items are worth. Whether its based on the coin or the plastic, it doesn't change this fact.

And then there are cases where a couple of ridiculously rich people want the same coin, and they are both willing to pay whatever it takes. They end up paying too much, and they'll probably admit that they paid too much, but are they idiots for having paid it? They got the coin and don't care about the money, so I'd say not.

 

I agree. And I keep finding it interesting to study coins that I can’t afford too. There’s always something new to learn. The «how much is it worth» question really isn’t the most interesting in numismatics. I’m glad they have become less focused on that the later episodes.

 

Is this podcast only available on YouTube? I cannot find it on the podcast app I use.

 

you can find it on YouTube, but you can also find it on the HJB website:

https://www.hjbltd.com/#!/podcasts/home

 

I just wanted to share:

The Ancient Coin Podcast with Aaron Berk just passed 100,000 subs on YouTube this weekend.

Thanks to everyone who gave us a listen and a chance.

 

Congratulations! The success of any podcast comes down to the hosts ... IMHO, you and Aaron are very entertaining! One of my favourite podcasts!

 

Did something happen to the channel?

 

yes, unfortunately, and hopefully only temporary. We had a company indexing our podcasts and cutting short segments for YouTube and they posted one that when taken out of the context of the show was bordering on NSFW and the bots at YouTube have struck it down.

Now it's just a matter of getting people to rectify the situation.

 

Ok, thanks. Dan Bell constantly makes some really filthy, dark jokes, and while he's demonetized all the time, no bans. He even mentioned that to be monetized, live people were monitoring the stream. I'm quite sure Aaron Berk wasn't blacklighting seedy movie booths or making jokes which would make Edith Massey blush.

And while I have no desire for D.B. to be taken down, it's strange how these bots work.

Aaron Berk did make an offhand comment about how little youtube paid, and then zap...