Looking for guidance on new collecting direction

[jslade]

Hello,

I'm looking to take my collecting in a new direction and was hoping that the community could provide some guidance.

For the last 12 years or so I've been intermittently collecting ancient coins. My collecting has almost exclusively been limited to buying lots of uncleaned coins and taking my time cleaning and attributing them. This was a great hobby as a young dad since leaving a batch of coins in olive oil for a ear or two longer than expected was never a bad thing. As I became more experienced and had more time, the rate at which i was going through coins increased dramatically. It's been a lot of fun, a great learning experience, and has provided me with coins from 37 different Roman emperors as well as a number of other miscellaneous ancient civilizations. I still enjoy the cleaning aspect in and of itself (in fact I have another 120 coins on the way as we speak) but I'm getting to the point where the cool finds are getting fewer and further between. I'm also aware that there are definite limits to what I will find in terms of emperors or condition. I am therefore looking to branch out into cleaned and identified coins.

I have a fairly clear idea of what i want to collect but i could use some help on the specifics. Here is what I have in mind:
   1) Scope: I would like to get one coin of each of the Roman emperors. That said, I won't loose an sleep if I can't get a coin for all of the rarer pretenders or one-month wonders.
   2) Aesthetics: While I am fond of my uncleaned collection, due in large part to all of the time I've put into it, the fact is that the majority of those coins are not particularly attractive. For my new collection I am looking for coins that are visually attractive and relatively easy to read. No more looking at little brown blobs.
   3) Composition: In keeping with the aesthetics theme, I would like the composition of this collection as consistent throughout as possible. For instance, all small silvers or large bronzes.

In terms of resources let's assume that my annual budget for this new collection will be modest (<=$500 per ear). At least until m kids are done with college.

With all that in mind, how would you recommend I focus my collection? I think that the biggest question I have is what composition I can practically pursue while still satisfying my other goals and staying within my budget. I think my first choice would be silver coins. I really like their visual impact. Large bronzes could also be nice if they had the right appearance.

I don't have a good feel for the availability and cost of either option across such a large time period and so many emperors so I wanted to get others input before I go started.

Thanks in advance,

JSlade

[PMah]

You may get a large number of suggestions.  My "2 cents" is that you certainly have quite a bit of experience with coins "in hand".  Perhaps ask yourself some questions about which of your coins are most interesting to you, and why.  As collectors advance, they tend to focus more, and some of those concepts are quite specific and unique to the collector.  Are you drawn to particular images, the political history, the economic history, the local culture that produced the coin, rarity, the personality of a ruler, or the mythology?
    It would be difficult to assemble a silver collection of Roman emperors on a pre-college budget.  If you researched and focused for a few years on a narrow key interest rather than overall scope and theme, you might get more satisfaction per purchase.
  Another budget-friendly tip is to assemble a "virtual" collection of high quality images of topics of interest and spend your budget on books. "Buy the book before the coin" is good budget advice (and Forum has great offerings of books). Then, when college is in the rear-view, you will be much better informed to make more substantial purchases.
  Happy collecting!

[Ken W2]

Hey J:  Last spring as the pandemic began I went through an evolution in collecting similar to what you are thinking about.  I too have focused on uncleaneds for years and still very much enjoy cleaning and attributing, but as you point out working with uncleaneds has its limits.  I decided to go with denarii and silver ants of the imperial era, with the goal of collecting at least one example from each emperor and empress, at least the reasonably attainable ones.  I look for fully attributable, generally mid-grade coins (F to VF) with good eye appeal. You won't have much trouble finding denarii and ants in these grades. I've collected 35 or so different emperors and empresses so far, spending less than $ 50 on some, less than $100 on most, and more than $ 150 on only a few so far, but as you get to the somewhat scarce and rare types the prices go up significantly.  I'm reaching that point now.  I think denarii and ants would fit in your scope, aesthetic, and budget parameters, but it will take a while to build that collection at $500/year.

Obviously, I agree with you that the small silvers have great eye appeal, particularly the denarius.  That, coupled with the denarius being the backbone the Roman economy for centuries and the resulting variety available to collect, made it especially appealing to me.  

I cannot speak to whether large bronzes would fit in your parameters, although I think production of really large bronzes, generally, was phased out in the same timeframe as the debasement of the ant to billon and then bronze, so your likely looking at the roughly the same period with large bronzes as you would with denarii and silver ants.

I look forward to hearing which way you decide to go and seeing some of your collection.

Just saw Paul's post. I second his guidance to look before you leap (as you are doing now) and going slow at first, because I didn't.  I probably overpaid on some coins and some may be tooled or fake (I don't think many, and I'm not sure any). But, I could have avoided those potential mistakes by studying more, shopping more, and shopping more selectively.  The peace of mind from spending a little more to buy from a known, good dealer like FORVM (and there are others), rather than ebay, is worth it.     

Ken                  

[jslade]

Hi Ken/Paul,

Thank you both for responding.

After reviewing you're feedback, and thinking about what excites me the most when looking my collection, I've decided to go with he silver coin option. To help keeps things manageable, I will focus on one particular period of Roman history to begin with. I've decided to start with the Adoptive Emperors.  I like this time period but I've only managed to find one representative coin so far (a rather nice large Hadrian). Also, even if I end up getting bored with this area of collection, I will have assembled a set of coins that complement, rather than overlap, those that I already have. In terms of my budget, I may look to supplement it by selling off some of the US coins that I've grown bored with - or the kids can go to community college.

In keeping with the "buy the book before you buy the coin" mantra, I could use some advice on what books to get. I'm currently eyeing Roman Silver Coins (vol I-IV) by Herbert Allen Seaby. Any thoughts on this set or others I should get?

Thanks,

JSlade

[PMah]

You can't go wrong with that Era!  Popular and interesting coins issued at the greatest expanse of the Roman empire.   Very complex when one gets into the deep end, but satisfying for collectors at all levels.

    I do not concentrate in that era, but Roman Silver Coins (RSC), updated several times, is known to be a fine introduction to the denarius types, usually available at a reasonable price.  The later David Sear "Roman Coins and their Values " books cover most of the same coins, plus bronze and gold, so you might want to preview those as well before you commit.  (Sear edited the later Seaby RSC editions; ignore the "values", an outmoded concept.)
  Inevitably and enjoyably,  you will end up buying all the key reference books in your areas of interest.   It's part of the fun.  The coins speak, but sometimes need a translator!

[Ken W2]

 
I have the 4th (1988) edition of Sear's Roman Coins and Their Values which is useful.  But I mostly use ERIC II, which though very unwieldy (it would be nice broken down into a couple of volumes) is very comprehensive. I use it as a starting place for attribution and find the many, many color plates very useful.  I recommend it as a comprehesive, albeit beginner's resource. It does contain a good many errors and thus I cross check using Wildwinds or other online resources.  The availability of so many descriptions and photos of actual coins online mitigates the need for books, at least at my level of collecting. However, I do enjoy physically holding/reading books, kind of like the joy of feeling the mass of a small silver coin in your hand, so I was eyeing the Roman Silver Coin series too, but you may beat me to it !     

[jslade]

I decided to go ahead and get RSC to start with. I was able to find the whole set for $100 which seemed reasonable. It's an old printing ('67) but it should be enough to get me started. I also picked up a copy of Roman Silver Coins - A Price Guide by Richard Plant. Once I've had a chance to digest those resources I can branch out and get some others as needed.

The hard part is going to be not buying any coins until I've had a chance to crack open the books. My goblin brain needs its fix now.

Thanks again for the help.

JSlade