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Thinking about collecting in the Foriegn and/or Ancient end of the hobby pool. Any suggestions.....

....of the best sources of information on these areas that I can use to self educate before I start purchasing coins?

I mostly have collected US coinage, but would like to add dome non US coins to my collection. Figured I should do some learning before buying.

Comments

  • SaorAlbaSaorAlba Posts: 7,466 ✭✭✭✭✭

    A suggestion is to hang out here in the W&ACF and see what piques your curiousity.

    In memory of my kitty Seryozha 14.2.1996 ~ 13.9.2016 and Shadow 3.4.2015 - 16.4.21
  • BillDugan1959BillDugan1959 Posts: 3,821 ✭✭✭✭✭

    World Coin Collecting is just something that you MUST do.

    Few slide into it in a cold and calculated manner.

    In 1977, I saw a Mexican 1777 dated Eight reales that I knew I had to have. I had never thought much about World Coins before that. I bought it. Still have that coin. And too many others. And the books. It is an addiction.

  • ajaanajaan Posts: 17,070 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Get an old Krause catalog, they are inexpensive, look through it and find something that strikes your fancy.


    DPOTD-3
    'Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery'

    CU #3245 B.N.A. #428


    Don
  • StorkStork Posts: 5,205 ✭✭✭✭✭

    An easy entry is to consider a 'one from every country' approach. Grab the aforementioned Krause, then decide how many Krause's you want as different volumes can take you pretty far back. Decide what 'a country' is...geography, issuing authority, do all the Indian/Italian/German States count? etc.

    Or, if there is a family, history, work tie you would like to explore. Or, if something jumps out from a page at you.

    There is so much to read and explore that it's truly difficult to recommend a resource. Buying can be done on eBay (with all the usual disclaimers), search through auction Archives etc. And post questions here or on other friendly forums!

    Any three people should generate at least four opinions if you ask something :smiley:


  • harashaharasha Posts: 3,079 ✭✭✭✭✭

    When I was young, this was the book that anchored me, for years, in ancient coins:

    Ancient Coins; How to Collect for Fun and Profit by Ted Wear

    Honors flysis Income beezis Onches nobis Inob keesis

    DPOTD
  • carabonnaircarabonnair Posts: 1,387 ✭✭✭✭✭

    For issues related to the US - you could start with coins struck for foreign countries at the US mints. Or U.S.Philippines is popular.
    It might be fun to find some commem related, e.g the 1938 Sweden 2 kroner to go with the Delaware half dollar.

  • Timbuk3Timbuk3 Posts: 11,658 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Good luck, I'm sure you'll have a lot of fun collecting foreign coins !!! :)

    Timbuk3
  • TheRavenTheRaven Posts: 4,143 ✭✭✭✭

    Hit a coin show and find a discount or junk bin and see what you like. Will cost you only few bucks but it is fun.

    Collection under construction: VG Barber Quarters & Halves
  • BoosibriBoosibri Posts: 11,839 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Find a theme, I worked with PCGS to build a World Coins in Early America type set which I found to be a nice theme for primarily US collectors

  • Namvet69Namvet69 Posts: 8,620 ✭✭✭✭✭

    What just popped in my mind is silver coins with animals, birds, reptiles or fish. I know..I take meds for this. Peace Roy

    BST: endeavor1967, synchr, kliao, Outhaul, Donttellthewife, U1Chicago, ajaan, mCarney1173, SurfinHi, MWallace, Sandman70gt, mustanggt, Pittstate03, Lazybones, Walkerguy21D, coinandcurrency242 , thebigeng, Collectorcoins, JimTyler, USMarine6, Elkevvo, Coll3ctor, Yorkshireman, CUKevin, ranshdow, CoinHunter4, bennybravo, Centsearcher, braddick, Windycity, ZoidMeister, mirabela, JJM, RichURich, Bullsitter, jmski52

  • ZoharZohar Posts: 6,629 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Decide whether you are a type or series collector, quality or breadth, minor or crown. Basic questions you probably considered on the US side of things. Then have a look at the variety of posts on this forum and see what interests you.

  • Bob13Bob13 Posts: 1,417 ✭✭✭✭✭

    I would second @SaorAlba said - hanging out here and reviewing prior posts has been most helpful for me. Forumites have been most helpful and willing to share their knowledge.

    My current "Box of 20"

  • 3stars3stars Posts: 2,280 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Visit some foreign coin dealers websites such as www.atlasnumismatics.com to get an idea of what's out there and how much it may cost to dive in.

    Previous transactions: Wondercoin, goldman86, dmarks, Type2
  • MrEurekaMrEureka Posts: 23,891 ✭✭✭✭✭

    It's very unlikely that you'll stick with the first thing you start collecting, so better to start with a "Box of 20" approach and just see where it takes you.

    Andy Lustig

    Doggedly collecting coins of the Central American Republic.

    Visit the Society of US Pattern Collectors at USPatterns.com.
  • bidaskbidask Posts: 13,834 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @Namvet69 said:
    What just popped in my mind is silver coins with animals, birds, reptiles or fish. I know..I take meds for this. Peace Roy

    I have a bunch of modern silver crowns like that.

    @Zohar said:
    Decide whether you are a type or series collector, quality or breadth, minor or crown. Basic questions you probably considered on the US side of things. Then have a look at the variety of posts on this forum and see what interests you.

    The above is good advice.

    I manage money. I earn money. I save money .
    I give away money. I collect money.
    I don’t love money . I do love the Lord God.




  • bigmarty58bigmarty58 Posts: 1,998 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Some really knowledgeable W&AC members here. I liked British history and was drawn to the circulating coins throughout their history. A good world dealer with excellent pictures and descriptions is helpful to see what appeals to you. Once you are interested, educate yourself (like you most likely did collecting US coins) with good books.

    Enthusiastic collector of British pre-decimal and Canadian decimal circulation coins.
  • santeliasantelia Posts: 138 ✭✭

    I have always had 2-3 collections going at once. When I got (back into the hobby; penny collector as a kid) I put together a US type coin set, then went off into the land of early cents. Both proved to expensive for my budget. So I would characterize my foreign coin collections as: 1.) Contemporary pieces, out of junk boxes; shared with my sons as stocking stuffers. Fun, cheap, easy, geography lessons, etc. 2.) Serious chinese cash collection, including reference books. Many of my reference books have increased in price more than the coins. But I wanted to do something not on the beaten track, undervalued; and really have found it rewarding. Correspondence with experts, etc. 3.) I have a type coin set of Italian money that I add to on occasion, as I lived there for a bit. 4.) On a whim, a 19th century one-from-every-country set. I found many of the foreign dealers were running out of 1800's material, so......I always enjoy it, without putting college tuition or retirement in jeopardy :-)

    Chinese cash enthusiast
  • SmEagle1795SmEagle1795 Posts: 2,135 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Dip your toes in the water, buy a few coins, and see where that takes you. If you're looking for ancients, use reputable dealers and not eBay: the ratio of real to fake on eBay is horrifying.

    I started with US coins (as my username indicates) and then eventually bought an ancient coin on a whim... and the rest is history :-)

    Learn about our world's shared history told through the first millennium of coinage: Colosseo Collection
  • CIVITASCIVITAS Posts: 2,256 ✭✭✭

    Maybe collect something related/similar to your US coin collection.

    Collect half dollars? Maybe collect British halfcrowns or Latin American 4 reales coins.
    Collect early bust dollars, then maybe German/Austrian thalers (I know Zohar would love the competition. ;))

    Another route I see people take is family heritage. Maybe their wife is from the Philippines, so they collect Filipino coinage. Grandmother was from Ireland? Maybe Irish hammered coinage.

    Otherwise, I agree with much of what has been said above. Keep reading this forum, browse a few dealer websites and check out the "Foreign and Ancient" section at a major show.

    image
    https://www.civitasgalleries.com

    New coins listed monthly!

    Josh Moran

    CIVITAS Galleries, Ltd.
  • SanctionIISanctionII Posts: 11,660 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Thanks to you all for your replies. I have been out of town on business and just looked at this thread. Lots of good advice. I will take all of it into account, figure out what interests me and dip my toe into this end of the hobby pool.

  • cladkingcladking Posts: 28,305 ✭✭✭✭✭

    It's even easier to pay far too much in world coins than in US.

    Conversely there are exceptional values in world coins.

    Tempus fugit.
  • Bob13Bob13 Posts: 1,417 ✭✭✭✭✭

    I wonder/worry about @cladking 's post above. I have been purchasing raw coins from foreign auctions in the last year. The pictures are of varied quality. In some cases, I have been lucky to have someone view the coin on my behalf before bidding - other times it is a leap of faith. At some point, I am pretty sure I will have an obviously cleaned or otherwise no grade coin show up. Or, I am preparing to send some new purchases in for grading, and worry about the tuition I might pay.

    At least for me, waiting for trusted US dealers with good pictures (or at least pictures that I can interpret based on prior purchases - like HA) is not an option - I am just not patient enough!

    So, in short, I worry about "paying far too much" for these coins, too. Would love to hear how others approach this problem.

    Conversely, in terms of values - I do think there are many to be had, IF you can separate the wheat from the chaff and find nice, original, eye appealing coins. My two cents is that for many of the coins I am interested in (from 1500-1700s) many collectors seem to value detail/wear as opposed to original surfaces and/or overall eye appeal. By that I mean I don't see as much of a premium for colorful coins compared to coins that appear dipped out to me. Again, there are people with way more experience than I and want to hear other opinions.

    My current "Box of 20"

  • RexfordRexford Posts: 1,125 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @Bob13 said:
    I wonder/worry about @cladking 's post above. I have been purchasing raw coins from foreign auctions in the last year. The pictures are of varied quality. In some cases, I have been lucky to have someone view the coin on my behalf before bidding - other times it is a leap of faith. At some point, I am pretty sure I will have an obviously cleaned or otherwise no grade coin show up. Or, I am preparing to send some new purchases in for grading, and worry about the tuition I might pay.

    At least for me, waiting for trusted US dealers with good pictures (or at least pictures that I can interpret based on prior purchases - like HA) is not an option - I am just not patient enough!

    So, in short, I worry about "paying far too much" for these coins, too. Would love to hear how others approach this problem.

    Conversely, in terms of values - I do think there are many to be had, IF you can separate the wheat from the chaff and find nice, original, eye appealing coins. My two cents is that for many of the coins I am interested in (from 1500-1700s) many collectors seem to value detail/wear as opposed to original surfaces and/or overall eye appeal. By that I mean I don't see as much of a premium for colorful coins compared to coins that appear dipped out to me. Again, there are people with way more experience than I and want to hear other opinions.

    I value overall eye appeal over condition/wear, but condition/wear makes up part of a coin's eye appeal in my view. I try to only buy coins that are both exceptionally high in technical grade as well as general eye appeal, but if one of these factors (condition vs other types of eye appeal) is great enough that the other is overshadowed, I can make an exception.

  • bidaskbidask Posts: 13,834 ✭✭✭✭✭

    You cannot equivocate nice toning on foreign coins like you can with Morgan dollars.

    The premium for toning on foreign coins is small imo.

    Overall eye appeal always is important .

    I think collecting crowns of the world would be a good theme to begin collecting .

    I manage money. I earn money. I save money .
    I give away money. I collect money.
    I don’t love money . I do love the Lord God.




  • 3stars3stars Posts: 2,280 ✭✭✭✭✭

    I collect British Maundy sets and I find toning to be very distracting on coins that size. It obscures too much of the detail and makes the coins look off in my opinion.,

    Previous transactions: Wondercoin, goldman86, dmarks, Type2
  • NapNap Posts: 1,702 ✭✭✭✭✭

    If you are local, come to NYINC (in New York City) in January and look around for some things that strike your fancy.

  • EVillageProwlerEVillageProwler Posts: 5,859 ✭✭✭✭✭

    How does one get a hater to stop hating?

    I can be reached at evillageprowler@gmail.com

  • SanctionIISanctionII Posts: 11,660 ✭✭✭✭✭

    I received this as a Christmas present. Spending some time with it looking for coins that pique my interest.

  • jt88jt88 Posts: 2,794 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited December 30, 2018 12:57PM

    I would say collect China coin which price goes up almost every year (pre 1949). Next is Japan coin. Very nice looking but price is not goes up every year.

  • pruebaspruebas Posts: 4,301 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @jt88 said:
    I would say collect China coin which price goes up almost every year (pre 1949). Next is Japan coin. Very nice looking but price is not goes up every year.

    @jt88 I’ve not noticed Japanese coins increasing in price very much at all. Maybe the nice (crown-sized) Yens, but nothing else. Am I missing something?

  • SanctionIISanctionII Posts: 11,660 ✭✭✭✭✭

    I spent some time with my Christmas present and looked through the foreign coins I have acquired over the past 50+ years as a collector (1963 to about 1978 as a YN; and 1998 to the present as an adult collector). I had not paid much attention to these coins in years past.

    Had some fun looking through them.

    The coins are from Australia, Germany, Cuba, Egypt, Luxembourg, Netherlands, China, Philippines, Canada, Panama, Kenya, Costa Rica, Mexico, France, Switzerland, Austria, England, Ireland, Jamaica and Belgium.

    The coins range in date from 1796-1820 (a Chinese cash coin that I posted another thread about in which Mr. Breeze replied and identified the coin for me: THANK YOU) to 2000 (Canadian cent). The condition of the coins range from VG to MS 63.

    The coins are of all metal types used for circulating coinage except gold.

    Some of the coins have eye appealing toning.

    The best (IMO) coins are:

    1930 Canadian Nickel that is MS (IMO);

    1911 Canadian Quarter that is AU (IMO) and has booming luster;

    1912 Canadian Half;

    1945D Philippines 10 Centavos that has attractive toning and luster;

    1916 Cuba 10 Centavos that is MS (IMO);

    1922 Belgium 25 Centimes that is EF (IMO) and has eye appeal;

    1901 Luxembourg 10 Centimes that is VF (IMO) that has eye appeal;

    1930 Panama 1/2 Balboa that is EF (IMO) that has eye appeal;

    1896 Mexico 8 Reales that is EF (IMO) that has eye appeal;

    1902/1923 Costa Rica counterstruck Un Colon that is MS (IMO) that has eye appeal;

    1924 Costa Rica 25 Centimes that is EF (IMP) that has eye appeal;

    1929 Switzerland 10 Rappen that is AU58/MS (IMO) that has eye appeal;

    1926 Great Britain Shilling that is EF/AU (IMO) that has eye appeal;

    1937 Australian Crown that is EF (IMO) that is big, heavy and has eye appeal;

    1927 Australian Florin that is EF (IMO) that has eye appeal;

    1927 Australian Florin that is EF (IMO) that has eye appeal (it has a Circ. Cam appearance due to dark toning on both sides of the coin with silver colored high points);

    1944 Australian Shilling that is EF/AU (IMO) that has eye appeal;

    1944 Australian Shilling that is EF/AU that has eye appeal;

    1943 Australian Penny that is EF (IMO) that has eye appeal due to multi colored toning; and

    1953 Australian Penny that is MS (IMO) that has eye appeal due to a rich orange color and luster.

    I will take some cell phone photos of some of the foreign coins in my collection and post them.

    Fun project.

  • WeissWeiss Posts: 9,934 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Browse through Heritage's NYINC World and Ancient auction coming up in a week. Beautiful images, sexy coins.

    We are like children who look at print and see a serpent in the last letter but one, and a sword in the last.
    --Severian the Lame
  • When i started collecting crowns , i wanted to get one from each type of crown :) But later found out all along what i wanted was pre WWI big silver coins with history. So after more than 200 silver crowns i decided to focus on multiple thalers, multiple ducatoons , piastres etc.. I am still trying to get rid of some of the crowns i bought and it is almost always at a loss. Please decide before you start buying and buy the catalog/book first.
    I mainly buy from heritage, stacks bowers . For research they have archives and NGC/PCGS population reports. Also https://www.coinarchives.com/ and https://www.sixbid.com/ are good for research.

  • ElmhurstElmhurst Posts: 768 ✭✭✭

    Decide what your interest is first. I would also get the 1801-1900 catalog and review that before spending any serious money.

  • topstuftopstuf Posts: 14,803 ✭✭✭✭✭

    I started darkside a couple years ago to escape the CAC muddle.
    Liked them.
    But ran out of steam and went back to the states. >:)

    Still interesting coins, though.



    I keep them and look at them often.

    B)

  • jt88jt88 Posts: 2,794 ✭✭✭✭✭

    I like that Britain Trade Dollar

  • bidaskbidask Posts: 13,834 ✭✭✭✭✭

    I like that 5 lire

    I manage money. I earn money. I save money .
    I give away money. I collect money.
    I don’t love money . I do love the Lord God.




  • bidaskbidask Posts: 13,834 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Of you want to do research on auctions checkout

    Coinarchivespro.

    I manage money. I earn money. I save money .
    I give away money. I collect money.
    I don’t love money . I do love the Lord God.




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