Y'all told me to just buy a couple...

So I did. How'd I do?

I picked these two because my church group just finished a study of Paul's Epistle to the Philippians, and I thought it would be cool to bring in a numismatic tangent.

The first is a coin of Macedon/Philippi, struck in commemoration of a battle there (as I understand it). Its a small coin, 17mm. A few questions about this one:

First, what denomination is it? I think its bronze (the seller said AE?).

Second, is the greenish color good or bad? In US coins, green is very bad... but I've seen a few posts here where people seemed to like the green color.

Third, what would you grade it? I understand ancient grading is different, and I need to get used to it. In the US standard, I'd probably call it VF.

Fourth, how does this rank in terms of eye appeal? I search a large number looking for a well struck, well centered coin where you could see all the design elements, and I think I did well - but I want to see what the experts think.

Fifth - did I get ripped off? I paid about $50 for it, was it worth it? (I know, I know... I always yell at people in other forums about buying something and then asking if they got a good deal. However, I did a bunch of research, compared it to others, and judged based on comparable sales. I'm pretty sure I paid a good price for it - I just want to see what y'all think).



The second is a bronze Prutah of Festus. Festus was the Consul in Judeah, and when Paul was brought by the Jews to trial, Paul appeal to Caesar. Festus oversaw his trial in Judeah, and forwarded him to Caesar (as you can read about in Acts).

Similar questions about this one: Is the color good? It seems to have dirt stuck on it - but all the details are visible. What would you grade it? This one seems trickier to grade, but I'd call it a really good F or maybe low VF. How does it rank on eye appeal? This is another one that seems to come poorly struck, off center, and badly worn for the most part, and it took a lot of searching to find one I really liked. And, what do you think of the price ($45)?



So, there you have it. I am currently reading a couple of books to get more of an idea what's going on, but I decided to make the leap and buy a couple.

 

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Eye-appeal on both looks great, no problem with the green, just mineral deposits. Very nice first choices! Welcome aboard.

 

$45 is good on the Porcius Festus - you've got all the lettering, which is frequently off-flan. Here's mine - your wreath detail is much better.



$50 is also good for the ae of Macedon/Philippi. That's a super coin with great detail.

 

From a fellow us collector who now dabbles in ancients... I like them! I prefer slabbed though.....

 

That first coin is very nice. I know nothing about coins of Judeah. I am a bargain hunter, however, and I think the cost of the first is too high. It's a common enough coin in that condition. I would place that coins worth at about $35 tops. But all in all, I think you fine.

 

Nice eye appeal on those two.

 

Eh, I'm ok with a $15 education. What would you grade these pieces?

 

There really is no grading standard for ancients.

 

If you absolutely must have grades, I call them both VF, but letter grades are not really important to collectors of ancients. I never give any of my coins letter grades - descriptions are better.

 

Both are very nice but I prefer the top coin.

 

Why? Knowing why collectors like the things they do helps me learn.

 

I like the 2nd coin but only for it's religious background. The other coin has better eye appeal to me. I'm not a collector of ancients or the Dark Side as it's called. Until this week, I only have 1 ancient coin. I just purchased my 2nd. Again, eye appeal but the history of the coin is what made me buy it, that and a fair price.

 

Okay, for your first question: I can't help ya' on the denomination (checked vcoins, non had denom listed), AE does stand for bronze, check your table o' elements.

 

What don't know what Romans called their denominations in the provinces. Sometimes they get described in Imperial terms, as in a dupondius-weight coin, or a quadrans-weight coin, etc. Provincial bronzes get described by their diameter in millimeters, ie., AE22, or AE30, etc.

 

This may cause certain people here to faint but I think both coins are quite nice and worth the price. We might have found better; we could have found cheaper but these strike me as a good balance, well worth the price and have the bonus of being something that appeals to you as opposed to just some random ancient. I hope you continue to show such skills in coin acquisition. What is next? We all want to know!

 

, but I do agree with Doug on all points. Nice and well-considered choices, @physics-fan3.14!

I also agree with others who prefer the first coin. The OP asked for reasons. For me, the first coin is simply more interesting and "pretty". It's nicely centered. It has a lovely patina. It is not seen as often as the ubiquitous prutah. Also, I'm always suspicious of sand patinas on prutot, although I've bought my share of such monkeyed-with coins.

 

I agree with many of the things that have been posted so far:

I'm 100% on board with what @dougsmit wrote.

I don't give my coins letter grades in my catalog either but descriptions. I'll write a comment to myself about my opinion of wear, centering, if there's any pitting, scratches, patina, colors...really anything about it I think appropriate.

 

Congrats on scoring a couple of winners!! (I really like the first example)

 

very nice lookin' new ancinets, i really like the "earth tone patina" on both.

then you know more about how you did than i do, i haven't researched and shopped for these coin types...awesome that you did.

i think you've made an excellent ancient purchase!

 

I think your coins would grade V N, (Very Nice), i would love to have both, good color and details. keep them coming.