The first ancient coin I ever bought as an adult -- and the first one I bought as a child

As far as I can determine, both from memory and from records I've kept, the very first ancient coin I ever bought as an adult was this one, from Harmer Rooke in New York City (which was primarily an antiquities dealer) on Feb. 21, 1986:

Macedon, Alexander III (under Philip III Arrhidaeus), AR Drachm, Miletos mint, 323-319 BCE. Obv. Head of Herakles to right, wearing lion skin headdress/ Rev. Zeus seated left on throne, holding long scepter in left hand and eagle standing right with closed wings in his right hand. Price 2121, Mueller 847 (KH monogram in left field). 16 mm., 4.21 g. Purchased from Harmer Rooke Numismatists, Ltd., Feb. 21, 1986.




I was there to look at antiquities -- which I had already been collecting for five years or so -- but this coin caught my eye, and wasn't particularly expensive, so I bought it. (I bought others on occasion over the years, but 30 years later, I still had a total of less than 10 ancient coins; I didn't really start focusing on collecting them until about three years ago, after I had to sell the vast majority of my collection of British coins and historical medals. To be honest, the main reason I switched subject-matters, even after I was in a financial position to start buying again, was that it felt too painful to start collecting British coins and medals again: I knew that even if I lived to be 100, I would never be able to recreate anything like the collection I'd put together since the early 1980s. And I'd always enjoyed looking at ancient coins, so it felt like a good alternative.)

But 1986 wasn't actually the first time in my life I'd ever bought an ancient coin. I started collecting British and other world coins when I was 8 or 9 years old, around 1963 or 1964, mostly at a small coin shop on Lexington Avenue only a couple of blocks from where I lived -- close enough that I was allowed to go there by myself. (I never had a great interest in collecting U.S. coins as a child, although I did occasionally used to go to the nearest bank, give the teller a $5 bill, and ask for five silver dollars in exchange! I think the main reason for my interest in British coins was a summer vacation I'd taken in the Bahamas with my family; the coinage fascinated me and I saved all the change I could.)

As I recall, this store had boxes and boxes of inexpensive coins (certainly less than a dollar each); I used to go through them and buy a few with my allowance every time I went. I'm sure I still have a lot of them somewhere! And on one occasion, I found and bought this rather miserable specimen of an ancient Roman coin -- which, as bad as it looks, I managed to identify in the 1980s by using the then-current edition of Seaby's:

Constantine I, City Commemorative. AE 3 or 4. Trier. 332-333 AD. CONSTAN-TINOPOLIS, helmeted bust of Constantinopolis left, sceptre over shoulder / Victory standing facing on prow, head left, holding sceptre and resting hand on shield. [Mintmark TRS star. RIC VII Trier 548, Sear 16445; OR Mintmark TRP dot. RIC VII Trier 530, Sear 16444. 17 mm, 1.0 g.





When I was 8 or 9 years old, this coin didn't look "miserable" at all to me. I thought it was completely amazing to hold in my hands a coin made more than 1,700 years earlier!

I've kept this coin all these years for sentimental reasons, even though I don't really consider it part of my "collection."

Did anyone else buy their first ancient coin as a child, and do you still have it? Or, do you remember what the first ancient coin was that you bought as an adult?

 

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According to my wife, I'm still a child. So I would guess that my first coin I purchased when I was about 31 years old, would be, by her definition, my first coin purchased as a child.

MARCUS ANTONIUS
AR Denarius
OBVERSE: ANT AVG III VIR R P C, Praetorian galley, thyrsos behind prow
REVERSE: LEG XI, eagle between standards
Patrae 32-31 BC
3.05g, 16mm
RSC 27

 

@DonnaML - a nice post, thanks for sharing! I've shared my first coin before, acquired when I was a kid living in Italy - as you describe, "I thought it was completely amazing to hold in my hands a coin made more than 1,700 years earlier":

Valerian I, Sestertius, 253-254, Rome
Obv: IMP C P LIC VALERIANV PF AVG; Valerian I, laureate head right
Rev: FELICITAS AVGG / S C, Felicitas standing left holding caduceus and cornucopia

First coin as an adult is this one - bought when I was living in the UK in the 90's from a mail order "coins-on-approval" service. This was the first and last coin I bought from that service - the coin was sold to me as a Claudius II and I think I paid 25GBP for it (certainly not a great investment - although it did come with a nice wood box):

Aurelian, AD 270-275, Siscia ~AD 271, Antoninianus
Obv: IMP C AVRELIANVS AVG, radiate, draped and cuirassed bust right
Rev: CONCORDIA MILI / Q (officina 4) in exergue, two Concordiae standing facing each other, holding three standards
Size: 4.08g, 21x19mm

Although neither coin wins any awards for beauty, value or rarity, both still favorites as tokens that link not only to the ancient history but also to personal memories of people and places.

 

Nice story Donna.

Unfortunately I sold the first coin I ever bought when I liquidated my first collection (college expenses). It was from Pearl Harbor Stamp and Coin in Aiea, Hawaii in 1980. I was ten at the time. Cost was $30.

More or less very close to this one: Gordian III with a MARTEM PROPVGNATOREM reverse. They had a tray of ancients, presided over by a studious numismatic gentleman always wearing a Hawaiian shirt. I bought ten coins from him between 1980 and 1983 when we moved, as my Dad recieved orders to move back to San Diego. He had been the commander of a U.S. Navy frigate in Hawaii.

I always liked my first coin and my imagination would travel back to the 230's as I wondered who might have held this coin, was it a soldier on his way to Persia for the war, or was it a merchant, or some everyday chap?

 

I am in the same boat as Bing My wife thinks I am a teenager with that "invincibility" complex/ judging by the way I crave going hyper fast on my sled (snowmobile)
I was given a lot of AV coins for Birthday/ Christmas / St. Nicholas Day presents. Most where common UK Sovereigns/ French 20 Francs stuff like that. Later on when, I got my first job working for a lawncare company, I remembered saving my first 10 paychecks to buy a MS Colonial AV 8 Escudos 1751-So Santiago Mint/ Fernando VI I was 19.
First real collector coin. Love your first "adult coin" DonnaM

 

Hey Panzerman - I also had a lawncare business - in Hawaii - I had 8 clients and they paid me a negotiable 3-4 dollars per mowing. That's how I funded my coin purchases. After I moved back to California I had a paper route and that supported my coin buying.

 

Great story, Donna. Thanks for sharing it.

I had some coins when I was a kid, but US stuff as I recall. My first ancient came when I was in my 20s in 1987, from a local dealer (I still buy from him to this day, from time to time). I still have it, and it is still one of my favorites:



Septimius Severus Denarius
(194-195 A.D.)
Rome Mint
L SEPT SEV PERT AVG IMP IIII, laureate head right / MARS PATER, Mars walking right, holding spear in right hand, trophy over left shoulder.
RIC 46; RSC 311; BMCRE 84.
(3.23 grams / 18 mm)

Around the same time I managed to scrounge together $75 for my first ancient Greek. I really couldn't believe that I could own something this beautiful...it is only within the last year or so I attributed it fully - I spent a lot of frustrating hours with a paper copy of Mueller c. 1987, but figured it out pretty quickly on the Internet.



Macedonia Kingdom Drachm
Antigonus I Monophthalmus
(c. 320-306 B.C.)
Lampsakos Mint
Head of Herakles in lion skin / AΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΟΥ, Zeus std. left on throne, eagle & sceptre. Controls: obv. forepart Pegasos left; rev. AI below throne.
Price 1385; S-6731.
(4.22 grams / 17 mm)

I went a long time not really collecting ancients - world crowns, chopmarks, countermarks, and a bunch of non-coin stuff, books, prints, etc. I have a short attention span, apparently.

 

Yeah, I am still at it, probably will be doing Spring cleanups in 3 weeks. I have around 140 clients, do all the work myself. No employees=no expenses/ headaches/ shoddy work. I do everything by yearly contract/set price/ charge $1200-$6000 for bigger properties. Since I'am very efficient/ fast/ I figure I make $150@hr. Working 90+ hrs a week/ good $$$. I find, its really hard to find anyone here to do manual labour/ thus not much competition. I built my entire collection on pulling weeds/ cutting grass/ blowing leaves/ nuking weeds/ grubs/ cinchbugs.

 

I bought my first ancient coin when I was in Grade six. It was an unidentified Roman coin which I later discovered was of the Emperor Gallienus. I no longer have that coin. As some of you know I have been selling off many of my coins and buying others. This coin I have owned for the longest time. I bought it in 1979. Pertinax Ar Denarius RIC 13a Rv Emperor standing left togate 193 A.D. 3.32 grms 18 mm Photo by W. Hansen