I bought my first ancient

ACop · September 16, 2018 10:01PM

I then bought my 2nd and 3rd which I will post as they come in. The flood gates have been opened. Nothing spectacular or high value but when I looked at the coin in hand I felt a time transcending coolness that I got a little bit with older US coins but was in overdrive with something from the roman friggin empire!

SmEagle1795 · September 16, 2018 10:06PM

Welcome to the dark side

mkman123 · September 17, 2018 12:18AM

love it!

291fifth · September 17, 2018 12:49AM

It dates from a time when plague was weakening the empire. The denomination itself is often called the antoninianus.

Namvet69 · September 17, 2018 3:19AM

Did someone say .....anus? Tisk tisk. Peace Roy

asheland · September 17, 2018 9:38AM

That's really cool! Congrats.

BillDugan1959 · September 17, 2018 10:19AM

Just my very humble observation - I think that many ancient Roman collectors start with one or more of 'The Twelve Caesars" and not with a short-lived and not commonly known Emperor from the third century. After the coins of the Twelve Caesars (which can be pricey), Trajan, Hadrian and Antoninus Pius are good choices too.

Look for Robert Graves' version of Suetonius' 'Lives of the Twelve Caesars'. Penguin published an excellent illustrated version about 1980. The Suetonius book can also be read on the internet.

Link: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Twelve_Caesars

There is also a book called 'The Lives of the Later Caesars' which I think is a amalgamation of two or more ancient books. I don't remember where it starts and stops, but I don't think it goes much past Philip the Arab (if that far). Link: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augustan_History

Your coin is okay, in terms of condition, but I would pick out a better-known Emperor, soon.

The plague was raging then, but this young man and his father were killed by their own troops.

CIVITAS · September 17, 2018 3:06PM

Nice pickup for your "gateway" coin.

harasha · September 17, 2018 4:00PM

Quite superior in appearance, too.

ACop · September 17, 2018 6:05PM

@BillDugan1959 said:
Just my very humble observation - I think that many ancient Roman collectors start with one or more of 'The Twelve Caesars" and not with a short-lived and not commonly known Emperor from the third century. After the coins of the Twelve Caesars (which can be pricey), Trajan, Hadrian and Antoninus Pius are good choices too.

Look for Robert Graves' version of Suetonius' 'Lives of the Twelve Caesars'. Penguin published an excellent illustrated version about 1980. The Suetonius book can also be read on the internet.

Link: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Twelve_Caesars

There is also a book called 'The Lives of the Later Caesars' which I think is a amalgamation of two or more ancient books. I don't remember where it starts and stops, but I don't think it goes much past Philip the Arab (if that far). Link: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augustan_History

Your coin is okay, in terms of condition, but I would pick out a better-known Emperor, soon.

The plague was raging then, but this young man and his father were killed by their own troops.

I appreciate teh advice. I had looked into the 12 Caesars strategy. Too pricey to jump right into that. I paid $60 for the above piece. I then paid about 100 for my 2nd piece. And then I jumped into the 500+ range on a coin that really grabbed me. That coin is greek though and I will post it here. I probably should have read a book first as I have no idea on pricing. I did some marginal price history research on the 500 piece but man its tough to find consistency in pricing these. What do you recommend as a pure pricing resource? If you dont mind an opinion on my more expensive piece Ill send link in private.

bidask · September 17, 2018 6:14PM

Plenty of ancients to choose from!

BillDugan1959 · September 17, 2018 7:03PM

@ACop All my guide books with pricing have gotten a little bit old, although they are still decent for identification. I would google 'David R. Sear' as he is the author of most of my books.

After that, well you have to look at various auctions.

TitusFlavius · September 17, 2018 11:33PM

Recent auction records are the best price guide for ancients. Because there's no "Greysheet" for the ancient market, prices vary more than they do with frequently traded US coins. Grading is also even more subjective, with factors like centering, style, and the condition of the surfaces, being factored in. Despite these complexities, I find ancients still give more historical bang for the buck, so while I dabble in just about everything, ancients are my favorite.

As for a collecting direction, collecting Roman coins by dynasty can be interesting. Seeing a particular dynasty, like the Severans (193 - 217 AD, and 218 - 235 AD), or the Tetrarchy (293 - 324 AD), rise and fall gives a great view of the shifting fortunes of the families who ruled the Roman Empire. There wasn't much in the way of a stable dynasty during the time your Volusian coin was struck, but maybe you could at least track down an issue of his father/co-emperor Trebonianus Gallus.

yosclimber · September 18, 2018 11:44PM

What do you recommend as a pure pricing resource?

ebay, sold items.
https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=m570.l1313&_nkw=denarius&_sacat=0&LH_TitleDesc=0&_osacat=+Imperial+(27+BC-476+AD)&_odkw=volusian+denarius&LH_Complete=1&rt=nc&LH_Sold=1
and disregard the copies from Bulgaria that sold for under $20.

Stork · October 1, 2018 7:09AM

@CIVITAS said:
Nice pickup for your "gateway" coin.

Gateway coin Just snorted coffee onto my laptop...

CIVITAS · October 1, 2018 4:28PM

@Stork said:

@CIVITAS said:
Nice pickup for your "gateway" coin.

Gateway coin Just snorted coffee onto my laptop...

CIVITAS Galleries is not responsible for liquid damage to computer equipment.

I bought my first ancient

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