Introducing One of the World's Most Incredible Ancient Coin Collections
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The Tyrants of the Golden Horn Collection
Dan “The Tyrant” O’Dowd began his collection with U.S. coins before expanding to ancient and world coins, securing coins from history's greatest empires.
Over 250 coins from his esteemed Tyrants of the Golden Horn Collection are now authenticated and graded by PCGS, including the legendary Mezezius solidus. The Tyrants of the Golden Horn collection will be on display at the 2026 American Numismatic Association World's Fair of Money.
This historic collection marks a major turning point for PCGS and ancients. At the ANA World's Fair of Money, we will share more about our impending launch of new ancient coin grading services.
Watch the full video on the collection, where the Tyrant introduces us to key coins from the Roman and Byzantine empires: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E39qC_ZFacc&t=1s
Isa (she/her)
PCGS Marketing
Comments
Superb coins,
but numeric grading?? Seriously??
Talk to the truly professional ancient coin dealers and you’ll hear their absolute horror at third party grading of ancient coins.
Really great coins but somehow these "Megacollections" just don't impress me the way someone's collection of a lifetime shows. Almost unveleveable what money can get you!
Well, just Love coins, period.
I mostly agree with you. But after watching the video, he seems to know about the coins and really appreciate them, though does obsess about the grades too much.
He seems to like the beauty and the history of the coins… so I am a fan.
Not sure how you can tell 65 vs 65+ vs 66. And what does fine style mean? Is this the equivalent of the NGC star?
My current "Box of 20"
It makes me a little sad when he shows the coin of Constantine XI, a dream coin for many collectors, it’s literally made from the melted down ancient silver relics of the Hagia Sophia, a last gasp of the ancient world, the Roman Empire, struck in haste to pay the Italian mercenaries trying to defend the besieged Constantinople against hopeless odds. Yes it’s objectively ugly but this coin represents the end of an era, the end of the medieval period and the birth of the modern world, the ascendancy of the Turks, and a testament to the supremacy of the age of gunpowder over the ancient world of fortifications and stone walls. So much cool history in this coin. And it’s exceptionally rare, almost all known examples are from an 1990s hoard of about 100 coins, many/most of which have found their way into public permanent collection following the hoard’s dispersal. And yet he goes on about the poor strike, the condition, and laments that a problem free XF(!) is the best he could get. WHO CARES?!
Maybe it’s just the editing, or perhaps it’s envy since I don’t have one of those, or perhaps it’s just meant to be promotion of the grading service rather than a proper discussion of the coin, but I didn’t much care for that segment.
Cool T-Rex skull in the pic!
Doggedly collecting coins of the Central American Republic.
Visit the Society of US Pattern Collectors at USPatterns.com.
I understand the horror of third party grading, but using the Sheldon scale instead of NGC’s 5 point scale makes some sense. First, because more grades means more precision, at least in theory. And second, because using the same scale as we use on modern coins makes things easier for modern coin collectors venturing into ancients.
Doggedly collecting coins of the Central American Republic.
Visit the Society of US Pattern Collectors at USPatterns.com.
Well yes, but doesn’t it cause complications for people who collect slabbed ancients from both services?
Yes. Especially because NGC has such a big head start on PCGS. Which is part of the reason why I said that using the Sheldon scale makes “some sense”.
Doggedly collecting coins of the Central American Republic.
Visit the Society of US Pattern Collectors at USPatterns.com.
I’m torn about this. I do like the split scale NGC has employed, it helps people understand a lot more than just grade, but I think more than a five point scale would be helpful.
The Sheldon scale isn’t really a 70 point scale, it’s more like thirty. I wonder if a twenty or ten point scale would be more useful for ancients, rather than five.
I'm BACK!!! Used to be Billet7 on the old forum.
"There has been a problem of late comparing quality. I mean, what is an EF? What is a good EF?"
It's depressing that someone who claims to know something about ancient coins can make such a vacuous statement. He "began his collection with US coins". No kidding. Apparently, he still collects US coins even when they are called things like the 'legendary' Mezezius solidus. Just because you have a lot of money doesn't mean you are a great collector.
Quite honestly, if after collecting ancients a while you can't tell the difference in quality between two coins, it doesn't matter. The many differences there are likely to be cancel each other out. By banging on about grades you are buying the Emperor's New Clothes. Grade collectors will never accept that, but that is the way it is. "Oh, but how will I know whether to pay $100,000 more for one coin than another?" You really don't need to. Just stop it.