Advice on what to do with some ancient coins.

Bithrate

I've had 10 ancients for about 15 years now - I made a small foray into the ancient coin world and realized that it didn't interest me very much. I want to sell them to someone who'll appreciate them more than I do. The problem is that I have no idea what they're worth, and I want to be fair to both the buyer and me. Any suggestions on how I might go about getting a value on the coins? There's a Stack's near where I live - do they welcome such inquiries?

Any advice is welcome! Thanks!

newbiecollector

Hard question to answer. What are they? What did you pay for them?. Do you have photos?.....

If you have photos there are folks on here that can give you an honest estimate of value.

newbiecollector

ps: Welcome to the Darkside!

IstilllikeZARcoins

to the Darkside.

Bithrate

Thanks for the welcome! I completely do not remember what I paid for them. I'll work on getting some photos taken of them.

percyb

List them here and can you see what they've sold for on EBAY?? If they're British, I think Coin World just printed prices for coins from England in the last edition. That might help you....just a suggestion....

Do you have any Hibernia coins for sale??

Bithrate

No Hibernia coins. I will post some quick photos shortly. Thanks!

Bithrate

These are 5 of the better ones, in my opinion:
Coin 1


Coin 2


Coin 3


Coin 4


Coin 5

svessien

I would have sold them on ebay. None of those will sell for more than 20-30$ IMO. I like the Maximinus ant.

WillieBoyd2

Number 1 looks like this Caracalla Denarius:

Caracalla Denarius. 206 AD.
ANTONINVS PIVS AVG, laureate head right
PONTIF TRP VIIII COS II, Mars in military dress standing right leaning on shield holding reversed spear.
RIC 83, RSC 424, Sear'88 #1942

Wildwinds Caracalla:
http://www.wildwinds.com/coins/ric/caracalla/t.html

Caracalla Denarius Sear 1942:
http://www.wildwinds.com/coins/sear/s1942.html

Number 5 is Byzantine.

TitusFlavius

Guess I'll add my two quadrantes. First, the good news is that I couldn't find any of these coins among the Forvm Fake Coin Reports. However, I'm still suspicious of a few of them. My knowledge of Roman coins is mostly for the period 27 BC - 285 AD, so these are a little outside my area, but hopefully others will chime in to confirm or allay my concerns.

Coin #2 was the first that caught my attention. It appears to be a follis of Constantius I (305-306) minted at Aquileia. However, it has an unusual fuzzy quality to its details that suggest it may be a cast copy. The indistinct detail of Fides' throne and some of the letters, combined with the odd patina make this coin look neither struck nor ancient.

Coin #4 looks like a pre-reform Antoninianus of Maximian (286-305). While the details of this piece are slightly stronger than coin #2, its fabric is similar. The reverse in particular shows many minute bumps which could be a sign of casting.

Coin #1 is of course Caracalla (198-217). Again, the mushy details, particularly in the lettering, are troubling. The pronounced notch at 12 o'clock on the obverse may have been caused by a botched attempt to remove a casting sprue (a metal 'spine' created by the opening in the mold). Weighing the coin might be helpful in determining its authenticity. The nine examples of the type on Wildwinds which give a weight have an average of 3.09 grams, and a median of 3.00 grams. Two specimens were significantly heavier, and two significantly lighter than these numbers.

Coin #3 is a small bronze of Arcadius (395-408), minted in Constantinople. This is farther outside my field than the others. All I can say is that it is an unlikely target for forgery. Unless somebody else sees something suspicious, I'd say it's good.

Coin #5 is an anonymous Follis of the Byzantine Empire ca. 10th - 11th centuries. This is even farther outside my area, so I can't say anything either way. If it was purchased from the same source as the Constantius and the Maximian, I would be suspicious.

Sorry for the long post, and dour opinions. Perhaps the suspicious characteristics are just artifacts of the photos. I'd be interested to hear what other ancient enthusiasts think.

Bithrate

Thank you so much for your insight. I've been traveling for the past 10 days, hence no replies from me.

The photos may be a bit soft because I was using a zoom lens that wasn't meant for macro photography. That probably had an effect on the pics of the coins.

Any other ancient enthusiasts - please share your opinions. Thanks!

G

Bithrate

ttt

STLNATS

Coin #2 was the first that caught my attention. It appears to be a follis of Constantius I (305-306) minted at Aquileia. However, it has an unusual fuzzy quality to its details that suggest it may be a cast copy. The indistinct detail of Fides' throne and some of the letters, combined with the odd patina make this coin look neither struck nor ancient.

I agree with the comments about this piece. I've collected this series for some time and bought one (in Rome too many years ago) that has similar characteristics with artificial patina. The letters and details of the design just don't seem sharp enough. I don't have my piece in hand at the moment but recall the odd "chip" (like yours at 2 oclock) which I assumed was where it was broken off from casting.

#1 also seems a bit odd fabric as well but the others seem genuine enough to me.