Message:

<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Marsyas Mike, post: 2838884, member: 85693&quot;]This is an interesting thread.&nbsp; Nowadays I <i>never</i> pay $75 for an ancient - I shoot for $30 or less.&nbsp; Mostly silver denarii and antoninianii, with occasional Greeks, Byzantine, etc.&nbsp; my collection is a bit scruffy at that price level, but thanks to eBay, bargains are out there if you don&#039;t mind digging.&nbsp; I&#039;ll share some of these when the &quot;bottom feeder&quot; thread is posted.</p><p><br /></p><p>But in the old days (pre-Internet) I did spend in the $75 range.&nbsp; In fact, exactly 30 years ago (August 1987), I paid exactly $75.00 for my first Greek coin, a drachm of Alexander the Great (so these are usually advertised; but my example is a posthumous issue - my attribution is based on trolling the Internet - corrections welcome, as always).&nbsp; Bought pre-Internet days, I got it from an illustrated mail order catalogue.&nbsp; In the early days I would buy ancients at that $75-$150 price level because I had to - $30 denarii and drachmae were, as I recall, rarely available or when they were they were in lousy (even by my low standards) condition.&nbsp; When cheap, decent material did come up, it sold out immediately (in those days you phoned the dealer to hold a coin, then mailed the check).&nbsp; My favorite dealer was Bill McDaniels out of New York (anybody remember him?).&nbsp; Very nice man, lots of lower-priced material, but he sold out fast.&nbsp; Nice thing with Bill was he&#039;d send a substitute if he was sold out (with full money back return policy) - his substitutes were always just fine with me (and often better than what I&#039;d originally paid for).&nbsp; But his catalogues only came out 4 or so times a year.&nbsp; As for the other dealers, most of the stuff was out of my price range back then (like Vcoins offerings are today).&nbsp; Dealers are in business and business demands that they know the worth of their merchandise, so pricing in those days (and on fixed price lists now) was full-bore retail in my experience.</p><p><br /></p><p>So what&#039;s my drachm worth today?&nbsp; Was my $75 spent in August 1987 a good purchase?&nbsp; As far as enormously common Alexander drachmae go, it has a nice style and a very pleasant tone (that tone has, FYI, remained nice for 30 years, despite my poor storage for many years (PVC flips - I just didn&#039;t know any better!)).&nbsp; But it is hardly a pristine specimen and the Lampsakos mint examples quite common.&nbsp; I might get $102.50 for it on eBay if I&#039;m lucky.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]671187[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p><b>Macedonia Kingdom Drachm </b></p><p><b>Antigonus I Monophthalmus</b></p><p><b>(c. 320-306 B.C.)</b></p><p><b>Lampsakos Mint</b></p><p>Head of Herakles in lion skin / AΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΟΥ, Zeus std. left on throne, eagle &amp; sceptre.&nbsp; Controls: obv. forepart Pegasos left; rev. AI below throne.&nbsp; Price 1385; S-6731.&nbsp; (4.22 grams / 17 mm).&nbsp; ex-Argos Num. Aug. 1987&nbsp; $75.00</p><p><br /></p><p>Mostly what I sought and purchased in the pre-Internet days were Roman Republic silver. I purchased these from time to time, when I could afford it, in the $75.00 range, sight unseen, from dealer catalogues without illustrations (the drachma above is a rare <i>illustrated </i>exception to this).&nbsp; Looking over these coins today, I&#039;m still pretty happy with the purchases, but I was paying full retail back then, and it seems the prices haven&#039;t budged much, if you include 20 years of pricing massacres on eBay (and ignore all those ludicrously high &quot;buy it now&quot; auctions).</p><p><br /></p><p>Here are a couple of RR denarii I bought before the Internet (1989-1992) in the $75 range (note I made a purchase from Paraguay - material was very hard to find back in those days - I was very excited when a coin catalogue - foreign or domestic - showed up in the mail):<b></b></p><p><b><br /></b></p><p><b>[ATTACH=full]671192[/ATTACH] </b></p><p><b><br /></b></p><p><b>Roman Republic Quinarius </b></p><p><b>Publius Vettius Sabinus (99 B.C.) </b>Laureate head of Jupiter right control letter left (X) / Victory r. crowning trophy P•SABIN between, control letter (X?) right, Q in exergue Crawford 331/1; Vettia 1; Sydenham 587 (1.77 grams / 15 mm).&nbsp; July 1989&nbsp; $85.00 disc.</p><p><b><br /></b></p><p><b>Roman Republic Denarius </b></p><p><b>M. Plaetorius M.f. Cestianus (67 B.C.)&nbsp; </b></p><p>CESTIANVS turreted Cybele forepart of lion, globe beneath / M•PLAETORIVS•AED •CVR•EX•S•C curule chair, poppy head with one leaf.&nbsp; Cr409/2; Syd 808; Plaetoria 3. NumismaticaInd. (Paraguay) 1990 or 1991 $70.00</p><p><b><br /></b></p><p><b>Roman Republic Denarius </b></p><p><b>L. Cassius Longinus (63 B.C.) </b>Veiled and diademed head of Vesta left, cup, control letter &quot;I&quot; (?) before / Togate citizen std. left w. ballot inscribed &quot;V&quot; &amp; voting box, LONGIN•III•V behind. RSC Cassia 10, RCVM 364, RRC 413/1 Schinke Sep. 1992&nbsp; $79.00</p><p><br /></p><p>These are admittedly nicer than the cheapies I have picked up on eBay over the past few years.&nbsp; But I have more fun now.&nbsp; The range of my collection has expanded enormously even as the quality has declined.&nbsp; Some would disagree with this collecting strategy, but I have to say that one of the great pleasures I get from collecting is the hunt.&nbsp; I just love a bargain - not much &quot;strategy&quot; beyond this.&nbsp; The bargains lead me to new interests.&nbsp; I&#039;m afraid this emphasis on bargains also puts me in the Bottom Feeder&#039;s Club (sign me up - so long as the club dues are very, very low).</p><p><br /></p><p>Great post, zumbley.&nbsp; I&#039;m looking forward to the next one in a lower price range...[/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