What was your first ancient coin?

Bought this one in the mid 90's at a coin show when I was a teenager.

 

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My first ancient coin was purchased in April 2015.

 

I think it's pretty funny that the crappiest of all of them so far belongs to @AncientJoe.

 

Cool everybody!

 

Ahh I thought I recognised you...

 

Your's is not far behind it.

 

Couldn't believe that I was holding a 1700 old coin in my hand for $20.....bought in 2011 at a Gold Coast flea market. Gratian AE 376 AD.

 

Great coins! Lots of sentiment...Heres my first from 2015..I learnt a lot from this coin!

Trajan 98 – 117 AD.
AR Denarius RIC II #118 (Minted in Rome between 103 – 111 AD)
Dia 20mm Weight 2.66 gr

Obverse-IMP TRAIANO AVG GER DAC PM TRP Laureate bust right,draped far shoulder.
IMP =Imperator (emperor)
TRAIANO =Trajan
AVG =Augustus,The name of the first emperor bestowed upon him by the senate in 27BC.It became a title for all successive emperors
GER =Germanicus
DAC =Dacicus.....Defeater of the Germans and the Dacians
PM =PONTIFEX MAXIMUS..Highest priest, once conferred was held for life
TRP =TRIBUNICIA POTESTATE..Tribune of the Roman people, literally the representative of the people in government

Reverse-COS V PP SPQR OPTIMO PRINC Aequitas left holding scales and cornucopiae.
COS =CONSUL,chief magistrate of the Roman government,2 were appointed each year
V =5 TIMES, number of times appointed as Consul
PP =PATER PATRIAE,father of his country
SPQR =SENATUS POPULUS QUE ROMANUS,The senate and the Roman people
OPTIMO PRINC =To the highest prince

Paul

 

You can always tell a truly enlightened and intelligent collector because they purchase a Trajan Denarius as the first Ancient.

 

Sounds like a good idea! It gives me something to shoot for.

 

These threads are always fun! Big surprise from Ancient Joe! My first ancient came in a lot of 12 ancient coins purchased here, sight unseen back in Jan 2013:

 

Purchasing ancient coins by the dozen is definitely an indication of a serious collector!

 

I first discovered one could actually buy ancient coins when I stumbled upon Vcoins some years ago. I spent days (enjoyably) agonizing over which coins to buy as a first purchase, and ended up selecting a modest group of ten from one seller.



I'd like to say I was awestruck and enraptured from that point on, but to be honest, when I opened the package containing the coins, I was pretty underwhelmed and didn't buy another ancient coin for a full year after that first purchase.

I don't know if one nice shiny high grade silver would have impressed the newbie collector me more, but in any case, the Dark Side doesn't give up its hold that easily... I'm now 2000+ coins into the hobby/habit and don't see myself stopping any time soon .

 

Haha! Well I just thought it would be a fun way to get my feet wet. The lot came out to $65 so no major investment. Ancient bug didn't really start biting until a little later...

 

I've posted this before. My first is below, bought in 1985 for $29. But I wonder, how many people still have their first? Although I have little interest in the coin itself I still have it. Maybe I am just a bit nostalgic about it.


Valerian I, 253 – 260 AD
Silver Antoninianus, Rome Mint, 21mm, 3.88 grams
Obverse: IMP C LIC VALERIANVS P F AVG, Radiate, draped and cuirassed bust of Valerian right.
Reverse: RESTITVT ORIENTIS, The Orient standing on left presenting wreath to Valerian who stands on the right.

References:
RIC287

 

I have the same relationship with my first ever firearm. It sits in the safe at this point and only gets use when I'm feeling "old" and I want to relive the excitement of first being into the hobby.

 

My first ancient was a Septimius Severus denarius I found at a local dealer's for $35 in 1987. It has the MARS PATER reverse, which I really do not see very often compared to the other Mars types of Severus. Thirty years later it is still one of my favorites...I like the portrait in particular.





Septimius Severus Denarius
(194-195 A.D.) L SEPT SEV PERT AVG IMP IIII, laureate head right
/ MARS PATER, Mars walking right, holding spear, trophy over left shoulder. RIC 46, RSC 311, BMC 84

Although not an ancient, but I hope keeping in the spirit of the post, around the same time (1987) I got my first foreign crown, Great Britain 1896 crown of Queen Victoria. It is in terrible shape, but at the time I'd never seen one and I couldn't believe how beautiful it was. It cost $12...those were the days. World crowns "distracted" me from ancients over the years, although I find CT is keeping me more focused on the ancients for now (thank you all).

 

I know what you mean. I used to collect rifles, mostly WWI and II. I now have just about zero interest in them (even shooting them), but I still kept them. I kind of figure if I did get back into collecting it would cost exponentially more than the prices I paid originally. Not to mention I live in an unfriendly state and some cannot be purchased and longer.

 

Ah rifles. Yep. Collected those too, but not really anymore. Old weird stuff - a Martini Henry, a Dutch Beaumont, some Carcanos. Most of it not shootable (or impossible to get ammo for). My collecting interests are all over the place, which keeps me out of the "serious collector" category.

Did I mention my bayonet collection? Lot's of bayonets - I keep them upright in a tin wastebasket (points down!). Then there's the beer trays & the incunabula & the stamps & cigar labels & etc. etc. etc.

 

At the risk of hijaking the thread....old weird stuff is the cool stuff. I keep modern firearms around because of what I do outside of my regular job and coins. But, I also keep old weird stuff too because a WWI or WWII era rifle, especially one certified as used in battle, are cool for the same reason an ancient coin with circulation wear is cool. It's the history and the stories that it might tell if the rifle/coin can talk that make them fun to own.