FORVM`s Classical Numismatics Discussion Board
Numismatic and History Discussion Forums => Ancient Coin Forum => Topic started by: Benjamin Aho on April 17, 2009, 05:32:58 pm
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How many Ancients do you have?
I have 15, I'm a new collector. [now 25]
You?
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roughly 1000... almost all uncleaned :-[
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I hear this question occasionally and reflect that it sort of is like asking how fast does your car go.......its not a measurement that many think about..at least for me. However... :) that being said the software I use has a count that keeps track of howmany coins I have referenced and I recall I am up around 650, mostly byzantine. Many coins I have a number of the same. I do not know off hand how many different types I have, I hate to think of how many uncleaned I have. My wife give me the lonely eye ::) with my bowls of soaking coins in the downstairs bathroom!
I have certainly shifted from uncleaned to being more selective in the quality I buy, but thats is all relative. I know I am certainly low end in the coin field.!!
cordially
cw
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i have around 70, i think. i had another dozen or so, but one i traded, one i buried, and the rest i gave away.
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I have about 60 ancient coins.
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100-150 coins. About 35 have been identified and flipped(or bought), all the rest are uncleaned,need identification, or need to be sold.
Josh
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Two. My tastes and budget conflict.
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Sorry to hear that. I have a somewhat more discriminating taste than I used to with essentially the same budget
but I'm still able to buy lots of coins I like. Care to show your collection?
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......., but one i traded, one i buried, and the rest i gave away.
Without seeking to pry, can I ask why one was buried? Perhaps to pay the ferryman for a loved one?
I think SULLAIMP has hit the nail on the head ...a collection being two or more associated items...so the sky's the limit in terms of a maximum. The biggest recent private collection I am aware of is that of BCD who auctioned off his mainland ancient Greek collection in about half a dozen auctions commencing around 2001. Its dispersal still continues, as evidenced in the latest CNG catalogue. He assembled it over 40 years and just eyeballing the various catalogues of the auctions through which it was dispersed it must have been of the order of 10,000 coins and perhaps was twice this number. This means he averaged around 250 coins collected per year, or almost one a day, and these weren't low end, uncleaned varieties, bought in bulk. Rather, each was an individual acquisition. That is serious collecting! Very few people would be privileged to have the time for such an undertaking, let alone the money to assemble such a collection. I often wonder whether his collecting broke the bank in the end. To disperse such a massive effort of work and research during one's lifetime would be pretty traumatic. His wife must have been far more tolerant of his obsession than my wife is of mine!
For my part, it has taken me over twenty years to do what BCD would have done in less than one year and my effort has been accompanied by the odd occasion of marital disbelief, if not discord!
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I currently have 12. All cleaned and attributed. I plan to buy an uncleaned lot soon.
TIVS
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Not enough! I´m in the (looks like never ending) process of filing them.
There is actual state:
my coin database (http://www.arminius-numismatics.com/coppermine1414/cpg1414/index.php?cat=10001)
regards
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Over 200 now, according to my gallery. But there's at least twenty that aren't imaged yet.
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At one time my database would have given me a close to accurate count, but now so many have been re-photographed and so many files, even, have been uploaded more than once (as when a reduced file is loaded besides the full size) that I can only say that in a decade I have acquired about 2000, and not by any means the sort of Serious Collecting that BCD did. On the other hand, I never have cleaned an unclean lot. Pat L.
Arminius has a very nice database!
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My database says I've got 354 ancient and mediaeval coins, out of 8357 coins total. All my ancients were bought cleaned; I known I don't have the skill and patience to do a proper job with uncleaneds.
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I really am not quite sure - It is somewhere similar to Sap's total overall - with a slight increase in the ancients percentage. The reason I am not sure is that I have alot of coins lying around that are not attributed yet (and may never be if they are too worn) - not necessarily ancients but medieval Indian, Song Dynasty cash, Gupta Empire, Sassanian, Abbasids, etc - all that kind of thing. There are also a few lesser quality duplicates of coin types that I don't really count but technically they would be another coin in the total.
The Diadumenian provincial coins total is at 330 or so (details available at all good bookshops ;D), miscellaneous denari at 150 or so, and probably another 100 or so bronze Roman and Greek.
I'm in the process of photographing the non-roman stuff at present and trying to knock together a good database.
One of the things I have found is that there is no good database available that covers all off the above coin types and the other odds and sods that are out there - (for example how do you fit in a the Kissi penny -from Loma and Bandi peoples- or Chinese scyee into a "one size fits all database"?). I tried to write my own in Access but it was not a great success. Possibly some sort of html attempt would do the job (similar to my webpages - put for personal use only) but first the photographing - and labeling the images with as much info as possible.
Malcolm
"These kissi pennys are not ancient - but here is a short article about them which you may find interesting -- not that many people know of them
http://www.liberiapastandpresent.org/kissi.htm
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About 400 (my gallery says 415, but two or three are posted twice, as belonging to different categories), speaking of Roman, Greek, Parthian and Medieval. Most of them are visible in my gallery (need to add the Parthian ones), I believe none of them coming from uncleaned lots.
As stated above, I"m quite sure number has little to do with collecting pleasure (from 2 (SULLAIMP) to 20000+ (BCD). My thematic collections (Divi series, Plautilla, Dombes) give me much more fun than the modern ones, with 1000 + items, ever did
Regards
Potator
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While I more or less agree with you I think it's a sad thing
if your tastes and your budget are just incompatible.
In SULLAIMP's case it must be his expensive taste that is to blame since you can
collect ancients on a tiny budget, but that is easiest with late Romans, of course.
I can't imagine it being as much fun if you only have two coins but I'd be happy to be proven wrong.
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Been a collector for more than thirty yrs now, but mainly of the Renaissance and Early Modern Papal series. Have only been seriously into ancients (Tetrarchy to Valens) for three or four years now. Don't have many so far, perhaps 100, and I limit myself to bronzes, AE1s in at least EF - but more are on the way ;D ;D ;D
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As Arminius has said: Not enough! Most of them you can see in my gallery.
Best regards
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Just for the record, my coins are by no means fantastic. I have a denarius of Q. Caecilius Metellus Pius in EF condition and an Alexander tet about VF. My budget constraints mostly come from being in college and having a girlfriend. It's hard to have an expensive hobby on top of those.
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Attributed and in albums I have 614 Roman of which 159 are Republican. The balance have every emperor represented except for the first two Gordians and Pupienus, as well as many other personalities appearing on Roman coins.
Of other ancients I have 52 various Greek, Parthian, Judaean, and Egyptian. I don't collect these but have examples I like for one reason or another anyway.
Additionally, I have a box containing 1,000+ late Roman bronzes, unidentifiable Romans, and uncleaneds.
The numbers change all the time, though.
I also collect French coins of the Revolutionary and Napoleonic eras and early Soviet coins.
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Hi all,
556 coins already atributed and referenced in my gallery. About 200 more in process. The vast majority of them from lots of uncleaneds.
I live in the Patagonia Argentina, and is difficult and expensive to get ancient coins and literature in this part of the world. But I continue to search.
Regards
Mario
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I currently have in my collection 35 republican denarii, 3 imperatorial denarii, 229 imperial denarii, 44 Ar Antoninianii and 20 Roman Ae's. I also have 19 Greek silvers and 8 Greek Bronzes, my new love at least for the moment! Regards Adrian
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32 roman coins (about 20 more on their way), 5 greek ones, 5 byzantines... Plus many ancient indian, persian, chinese, celtic and anglo-saxon coins. Lots of medieval coins too (european and islamic) but I think those are not what we mean by 'ancient'.
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Less than I want and more than my wife thinks I need. Lots of them are in the low end and uncleaned range. Lately I've been collecting fewer but nicer coins, trading up and selling off the ones I have multiple examples of. (Keeping the best). I just bought a really nice lot in Europe of some late Roman coins. I can't give an exact figure because it seems to change (go up) every week. I can't help myself. ;D
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Well, it fluctuates. I see it this way: I have around 43, but could have ten times that amount if I lowered my standards and bought mostly $5 coins. Likewise, I could have only one if I decided to buy a Gordian I or a nice Julius Caesar portrait denarius. It is a combination of taste, preferences, and discretionary spending.
Best, Noah
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Lets see. 175 in Core Collection #1 (no duplicates), 300 in Core Collection #2 (40-50% duplicates), and about 300 misc from uncleaneds that are simply aging gracefully with no particular future in mind. CC#1 is Greek and Romans purchased individually, CC#2 is Twin Vics w/ Wreaths - combination of purchased individually and acquired via uncleaned. The misc 300 I use as trade bait, swag for Geo-caching, trinkets for kids, and for donations.
Using them for donation is very gratifying. Recently, I put 20 flipped LRB into a slide film page and gave it to a local fundraiser raising money for someone's operation. What cost me less than $35 generated 114 $1 raffle tickets and a whole lot of conversation. An example of ancient coins benefitting contemporary mankind!
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i have about 3000 with only about 300 fully attributed, tell you everything really ::)
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Let me see,
Group 1: Greek silver/Bronze - 70ish both from individual purchase and some from uncleaned
Group 2: Roman Personalities by portrait(both imperial and provincial) - 149 - 1 from uncleaned
Group 3: Roman Provincials - 150ish
Group 4: Other Romans - 600-700ish, some purchased individually some as bulk lots, ided
Group 5: Chinese ancients - around 100 or so. Still have not got a chance to id them all, mostly iron cash from Sung Dynasty.
Group 6: around 500-600 coins not fully ided.
Group 7: 1000 or so uncleaned soaking at the moment. I vow not to buy any more uncleaned until i finish the back log.
I also collect some modern coins.
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Hi,
late Roman and Byzantine gold coins: about 50
other Byzantines: 20
Vandalic silver coins: 5
byzcoll
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Group 7: 1000 or so uncleaned soaking at the moment. I vow not to buy any more uncleaned until i finish the back log.
Take your time there isn't much to look forward to with the uncleaneds these days lol.
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^^ so true
I dont have a lot, maybe 50 or so that are in good shape and not from uncleaned and maybe another 200-300 uncleaned in various states of preservation.
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Since my previous post on this thread at the end of April, I have added 49 Roman, of which a dozen are Republican, and one Greek to my number.
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You won't learn much without ever holding one in your hand.
Especially learning to spot fakes is VERY hard if you don't know what a genuine coin looks and feels like in hand.
Just pick a reputable dealer and buy a coin.
Start here:
https://www.forumancientcoins.com/catalog/roman-and-greek-coins.asp
An ancient coin is not a big investment, it's important to be cautiuous and use common sense
but don't be afraid to just buy coins. You learn by looking at coins, touching, smelling, even tasting them. :P,
much faster than by just looking at them on the screen or in a book. Especially if you buy cheap, worn and corroded coins.
You will learn what wear corrosion and patina look and feel like which will help you in spotting fakes.
You will learn to recognize which coins are ancient and which are modern, either casts from originals
or made from modern dies.
If you have the chance, go to a coin show. There, stick to dealers, whose names you recognize but even
buying from smaller dealers is no problem if you buy cheap. I wouldn't buy expensive coins from shady dealers
but I will look at their junk boxes. Even if you do buy a fake, it's not the end of the world, it happens to everybody
sooner or later. I bought my first fake 3 years after starting collecting, because I was always cautious.
After that I was paranoid for a few weeks, which is completely normal but that was soon over.
A good coin show is as close to heaven as you can get. :angel:
Andreas
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Still learning about ancient coin...
It will be a long way before I own one.
Still don't know how to differentiate between ancient and fake.... :(
Well then, buy some ancient coins! Many are VERY affordable (lots of late Roman bronzes are cheap as dirt). Hold them, study them, feel them,learn all about them. Learn by experience, like Andreas advises above. The best way to know a real coin from a fake is to know real coins and you can't do that without coming into contact with them!
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I would say i have about 45 ancients, Greek and Roman mix, more than half of which i still need to post on my gallery. I think in some cases it's not the quantity but the quality that counts. Although picking up a large lot of uncleaned coins does not sound like a bad idea. I just don't think it would sit well with my girlfriend to have bowls of coins soaking around the house, among my collection of bonsai and other things i hoarded around the house, haha. ::)
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About 40 attributed now.
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" How many Ancients do I have?"
Not enough,of course ;D
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......., but one i traded, one i buried, and the rest i gave away.
Without seeking to pry, can I ask why one was buried? Perhaps to pay the ferryman for a loved one?
browsing through this old thread i found this post from Lloyd T. sorry i missed it the first time around.
in 1999 i group of friends and i started what would turn out to be a long-term project to build a stone circle right here in Oregon. the first part was the erecting of a massive trilithon of columnar basalt uprights with a granite lintel. these weight approximately 17 tons total and stand over ten feet high, and we did the entire project by hand, using no modern tools.
during the preparation, which involved digging deep holes in what was once a riverbed (ie; LOTS of rocks!), we decided to bury a sort of time capsule. many of the people involved added personal items to a specially made box, and my contribution was a bronze coin from Kyzikos..
AE 18, 2nd-1st century BC, Persephone/Monogram.
it was in low grade, but i still found it hard to let go of. still, i wanted my donation to be something important to me, as is the nature of a sacrifice.
it also amused me to think of some future archeologist excavating this bizarre structure sometime in the distant future and concluding that the ancient Greeks might have visited the Pacific Northwest! :evil:
impishly,
~ Peter
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I only have six, unfortunatly. When your budget for most months is 0 it does not allow you to build a very large collection.
I would love to have more but I have to be contented to just look at photos of other people's collections and on dealer's websites.
I feel that I can discern original, genuine coins against fakes, (at least, I hope!) but my biggest problem is in the attribution of them! That still throws me.
I am debating learning Latin just so I can read coins...I collect all coins, from ancients to modern issues (I will take whatever I can get, I am not picky :) ) and I think more coins have been written in Latin than any other language.
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My collection seems to have been getting smaller overall, since my last post here. I've sold a hell of a lot of my lower grade denarii over the last year, but I've put the money back into higher grade coins, particualy Republican denarii and Greek silver. So while my collections got smaller the amount of coins that I really love and the quality of my collection has gone up. Just got back into buying LRB's again after I sold my entire collection of them to buy two high grade Republicans, so it's probably going to get bigger again now! :laugh:
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I started out with uncleaned bronze coins. I have 49 bronze coins... mostly uncleaned or in the process of cleaning them. I have since switched to silvers. I have 3 silver coins now! I think I will play with these bronze coins for a long time, and quite spending money on bronze coins. I will save it now for silver coins instead.
I enjoy cleaning coins though, so hopefully these will keep me busy, and I can get a nice collection of silver roman coins.
At this point, I stick away from Greek. Even though they are very nice, they are a little more expensive I have found, and know absolutely nothing about them at this point! ;D
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So while my collections got smaller the amount of coins that I really love and the quality of my collection has gone up.
for me personally this is the key.
having a lot of coins which don't really grab me just doesn't seem as satisfying anymore as having a few that i really love. but since i don't buy as many i do get the 'itch' more than before, so i keep telling myself that the money i don't spend on that average piece i don't really crave is that much more towards the gem that i desire. after all, it isn't a race, right?
that approach seems to work well for me... so far!
~ Peter
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I have over 2000 ancient coins identified, flipped, and in my collection. There's easily another 500 sitting on my desk in bags that are partially ID'd and need further work up. I gave up on uncleaned coins years ago. I've been collecting for about 20 years, if that tells you anything.
Tom M
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I have 31 Faustina Sr's 17 AE and 14 silver. I have been very selective as to what I purchase as I do have a very limited budget so I look for bargains. Bargains can be found but patience is truly a virtue. I also have a mixture of other coins, both bronze and silver, that for one reason or another I do not want to part with. Not because they are valuable as much as I just plain like them. Somewhere in a box, that it seems I have hidden on myself, I have a small collection of uncleaned which will be done once I find them :laugh:
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My Collection of Roman coins:
- 2 Aurei
- 5 Republican denarii
- 50 Sestertii, all from the 1st to 3rd century.
- 49 Asse/Dupondii/Semis, all 1st-3rd century
- 70 Denarii, all 1st-3rd century
- 2 quinarii
I have restricted myself to 3rd century and prior, as that is the period of history which interests me the most. On that note, let me say that coins are nice and a passion, BUT to me the driver behind the whole is my love of history, and of people and events long past. Coins are a bridge to that past.
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Hello, I currently have:
76 Roman provincials,
19 Greek,
17 Roman imperial,
17 Alexandrian,
1 Etrurian,
1 Iberian and
1 Imperatorial fouree
all bronze and in my FORVM's members gallery. I'm hooked on provincials with no end in sight. My wife thinks I'm crazy.... she dosen't understand. :)
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This may be borderline obsessive, but I have several collections.
The particular one I want to mention here is the one of the Coins of Ephesus,
of which I have 1312 catalogued, plus many more that are 'duplicates'.
This includes examples of virtually every type of coin from the very beginnings of
Ephesian coinage, right up until the end of the provincial coinage at the city under
Gallienus, and everything in between, including Hellenistic coinages struck there.
There are still a few gaps, but that is part of the joy of collecting.
There are another 1200 or so distributed across the other five main collections,
so about 2500 or so in total (so far!).
I hope to publish at some stage, and am happy to hear advice in this regard
from anyone who has done the same.
Walter Holt