Ancient Coins: On a Budget

Today, we are looking at what a kinds of coins a beginner collector might consider looking at so he/she can start in this hobby without spending a whole lot.
This is a selection of coin types that should be widely available in great condition and still retain a price tag most collectors can aspire to!
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[@Buzzygirl63]

I've been collecting ancient coins since around 2003, so almost 20 years, and I've never spent more than $200 US dollars for any coin, so I know this can be done on a tight budget. I have a nice small collection of which none were costly - most of my coins are sharp, legends readable and they are from a wide swath of ancient cultures, including Rome, Greece, the Celtic tribes, China, and Indo-Greek. Eventually it would be nice to own an Alexander tetradrachm or a Byzantine gold coin, but I'm much more drawn to interesting designs and themes than any one particular emperor or metal!

[@ClassicalNumismatics]

Really nice! And thats one of the magical things about ancient coins, even with a sub-200 dollar collection, with time, patience and diligence you can assemble an incredible collection.

[@markp44288]

Wow, never seen someone match me so closely. Also 20 years, also never topped $200, and also have many cultures including the ones you listed. I do have an Alex tet ;) a late posthumous one

[@druzhynets91]

Golden words! It is your collection so it is YOU who decides what do you like and what not. Don't get prisoner of modern hype! :)

[@AncientNumis]

Great video! I try to collect coins on a budget, so I find this really interesting, it’s really cool how inexpensive some ancient coins can be

[@peterwilson7532]

I came to ancient coins after being disillusioned with modern coinage. Like stamps, so many coins are produced just to create income for the mints. Simultaneously, the designs are much simpler, low-profile, uninspiring and overpriced. What a difference with ancients. Beautiful designs, lots of variety, mostly produced for a practical purpose initially. The sense of history adds a whole new layer of appreciation. I now have books on Greek and Roman history to enjoy the context and motivation behind the designs. It feels like I have went from listening to pop music to understanding classical music. I am enjoying the depth of the appreciation.

[@darthrevan2723]

I just want to say thank you! I just got my first coin of Vespasian, and am extremely happy with it.

[@rolandnyc4938]

Me too. Today!!

[@Numischannel]

Hi Leo great video! There are lots of beautiful interesting ancient coins that may be bought for very little money; quite often for much less than collectors would spend in modern/contemporary coins. And most of those tiny bronzes are much rarer than the tetradrachms, and yet much more affordable. I liked the tiny bronze of Myrina, it's interesting that, while bronzes of that city almost invariably feature an amphora as main type in the reverse, the much more abundant (but more pricey) wide-flan late Hellenistic silver tetradrachms have Apollo in the reverse but always include a tiny amphora as well. (By the way, all Tournois currency has always TVORNVS CIVIS in the reverse, but it doesn't mean it was all struck in the city of Tours, it means that it belongs to that currency system).

[@TheMoneyInnovator]

"The MS star fine style CAC sticker strike 5/5 surface 5/5 super duper jibber jabba' " 😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@ClassicalNumismatics]

Super duper ultra cameo mumbo jumbo, 5/5 appeal 5/5 fancy 5/5 overpriced, woppity, boop, D O double G

[@michaeldob2153]

When you are on a budged I would recommend Gallienus, Probus, Postumus, Constantinus I and II, Constans. The intresting fact about Probus is his "secret" code "Invictus" and "eqviti" and the chase for it. You can collect even the more expensice emperor ( the 12 emperor) when you are not limited to Rome mint but would consider provincial coinage

[@skyday2628]

You had me at super duper jibba jabba

[@klausbiegerfac.cs.naturale1392]

With my collection I am also on a budget and never bought anything more expensive than some 100 US$. Anyhow to start with constantine and his family have left many coins in good shape and often in good conservations that at least some years ago with a bit of luck could be found for less than 10 o even just 1 US$. Coins of the soldier emperors of the 4th century like Gallienus, the Roman-gaelic empire are also often found cheap and in good shape and in some times have really interesting reverses. If you like large bronze coins you could have a look at the provincial coinage, especially from Viminacium or the large follis from the time of the diocletian monetarian reform.

[@roman11469]

Great slab rant! Made my day!

[@jonathanaristone2468]

Always nice to learn more from you Leo. It is especially nice to see example in your videos I have in my collection. At 18 yrs old I bought my first superb Maximianus for 50 cents CDN in 1964 Thanks

[@flaccidvs]

Cant praise your videos enough! I cant recommend a specific type of coin per se, but something I personally do is when I'm looking for a coin im interested in and is too expensive, I'm not afraid to look for a worn down version of it. Its a win win for me; i get a coin that i like for a cheaper price and I also get the feeling of connection with the people who used it for everyday transactions all those centuries ago!

[@donklaser217]

I have the same follis of Leo VI as shown in your video. I love the way they feel in your hand. I bought it for less than USD 100. Thanks for another awesome video.

[@nathanielscreativecollecti6392]

Celtic pieces are really fun! They have quirky artistic styles, a variety of types, and they come really cheap!

[@ABACUStoPC]

An good episode. Buy the coin YOU love, not what the coin holder says!

[@wardrm5598]

You can obtain a nice bronze coin of Constantine the Great for $10 or under. One of my very first ancients. Start with simple bronzes from the 4th century AD. Very budget friendly coins!

[@Tippet76]

That Philip IV looks museum quality.

[@ClassicalNumismatics]

Yet, due to the double strike and not being perfectly on flan, it was very reasonably priced!

[@Tippet76]

@@ClassicalNumismatics Its funny that you bring up, "double strike" I bought my first metal detector a few days ago and posted my first find on a FB group, a 1982 US penny. One guy said if it had been the double strike issue it would have probably paid for the entire detector. Ancients are a different animal when it comes to collecting.

[@scott49140]

just starting out in this the only coin i have is a silver silanus denarius from 91bc

[@rolandnyc4938]

More great advice. I don't like to bid on only one coin at a time. This way would allow me to get a VF Titus along with perhaps a Severus Alexander and Maximus I for example.

[@theastronomer5800]

There are so many GREAT ancient Roman coins for $10-30. If you're new to the hobby look for coin shows in your area, dealers who have ancients will often have "junk boxes" with coins as cheap as $1 in decent shape. They make amazing gifts also for people who like history.

[@ClassicalNumismatics]

Totally! I always look at the junk box first before looking at the trays. So many treasures to be had there. And if you know your coins, there are rarities to be had too!

[@Whitesmokeromania]

What a great rant...love it 😁

[@Un_69]

Personally, I like small bronze Greek coins which show that they are old, slightly worn and covered with patina

[@ClassicalNumismatics]

I love picking up a little greek bronze every now and then!

[@colbystearns5238]

Late Roman bronze coins of the 4th and 5th centuries are extremely affordable, my first coin ever was a bronze coin of Constans, one of Constantine's sons, and that was about $12. When it comes to Roman silver, the 3rd century is definitely the most affordable, it's just the perfect sweet spot between tons of coins being minted (unlike the siliqua of the later Roman Empire that was treated as an afterthought) and less demand for them (unlike the Twelve Caesars and Nerva-Antonine dynasty which are much more famous). There's also the fact that there's literally less silver content in the coins as the century goes on because of the rapid debasement that occurred during the Crisis years. I happen to have two denarii of the Severan dynasty, one of Caracalla (perhaps Rome's worst emperor imo) and one of Alexander Severus (perhaps the most tragic emperor), along with an antoninianus of Aurelian with much of its silvering left intact. For gold, it has to be the 6th and 7th centuries after Justinian expanded the Byzantine/Eastern Roman Empire (which Anastasius's fiscal reforms made financially possible) and before the rapid loss of territory to the Arabs. There were quite a few solidi and tremisses minted during this time and I managed to get a solidus of Heraclius and his two sons for $450 (though this was in 2014 so maybe it's gone up since then). Still, with the exception of Justinian, this is an obscure, unexplored part of Roman history so there's not as much demand, the surplus built up by Anastasius resulted in being able to mint so much of these coins into circulation and these are lighter coins than the aureus which depending on the era ranged from 8 to 4.55 grams, whereas the solidus was standardized to 4.5 grams and the tremissis was one third of that, so the last option might be the best choice for relatively inexpensive Roman gold.

[@compatriot852]

I found late Roman/early Byzantine bronze coins to be very affordable. Most may be in bad condition, but occasionally you'll find some in pristine condition

[@Belowbluewaterdiver]

Aurelian is still a very cheap emperor to get into, considering how much love he’s been given as of late

[@ClassicalNumismatics]

The whole Aurelian to Diocletian series of coins is spectacular, and a lovely niche to get into for cheap

[@markharris4539]

Super, duper, gibba, jabba! 👍 😁

[@marcelosantosfilho6235]

I really love your channel and the way you talk about numismatics! Where I live it's not to easy to find ancient coins at a good price, but this hints are really good for online shops.

[@coinsandwheels.2762]

Me ha encantado el vídeo. Sobretodo la parte de los bronces griegos 😀 Muchas gracias.

[@loukithib6346]

Thank you for this great video! I was wondering what camera you use to take your photos/videos. I'm just starting a collection and I'd love to be able to have nice pictures to be proud of my collection when I show it! I thank you again for this video which shows that you don't have to be very rich to collect ancient and medieval coins! For my part, I decided to gather a collection of coins from late antiquity (Constantine, Julian II especially) and around Marcus Aurelius, without being exclusive. It's largely thanks to you that I'm doing this, so thank you! 😃

[@ClassicalNumismatics]

I just use my old Huawei's camera, as long as you have good sunlight hitting your coins and properly focus, making videos is rather simple and most cameras get you quite a crisp result. As for pictures in high resolution, some people use DSLRs

[@kdi9049]

God do i wish i had a gold stater of alexander and a gold aureus of augustus... and also carthage stater

[@ClassicalNumismatics]

The Stater of Alexander is a dream coin for me. Alas, I might never get one!

[@ericcasagrande]

Fantastic presentation. Thanks.

[@asheland_numismatics]

Great video. Excellent coins. 👍

[@fin59shaw]

I love this info, and I am reading books. Thanks for sharing your knowledge!

[@davidgrove481]

So glad I ran across your channel!! Excellent educational content and very well done ;) Subscribed yesterday and look forward to viewing all of your videos!! Thank you!!!

[@SuperNiels91]

Watching this video from Tvronvs Civis 😉

[@maszkalman3676]

Budget oriented collectors so this video is for me :D

[@ClassicalNumismatics]

Theres a whole series on budget coins, you should like it :)

[@maszkalman3676]

@@ClassicalNumismatics i will watch them :D

[@forianproductions6113]

Boiler eladó

[@AardvarkDream]

There's actually a way to get *really* inexpensive Roman coins: buy them uncleaned. I've been buying them for as little as $2.50 apiece. They come as little disks of dirt, and the last person to see what they are was the person who buried them 1700 years ago. I've found about half are complete garbage, but I have to say that some of my favorite coins also came from the cheap pile.

[@ClassicalNumismatics]

Thats a really cool part of it too! I would love to have the patience to properly clean coins.

[@AardvarkDream]

@@ClassicalNumismatics It's more of a treasure hunt, because you really don't know what you're going to get. But cleaning many of them takes just a little distilled water and some toothpicks and some time. It's not hard. I'm sure there are complicated coins that require special handling, but the $2.50 coins so far have been pretty easy even for a novice like me. Each time I've bought the cheapies, I've found a coin in there that basically paid for the whole set - they aren't all garbage, and I've found some really beautiful coins that make up for the featureless bronze wafers mixed in.

[@nothinghere6557]

That sounds like a lot of fun! Any tips on where to buy such coins?

[@ClassicalNumismatics]

@@nothinghere6557 I have a ton of videos in my channel showing how to buy online, head over to my channel page and have a look :)

[@AardvarkDream]

@@nothinghere6557 It IS fun. In fact, just yesterday I got a new shipment of 37 coins, which, at $2.50 apiece, is almost as cheap as the dirt encrusting them. Again: quite a few are absolute trash, so you have to expect that, but you can certainly cull out some nice coins. I usually feel that out of any set of 10, I'm probably going to find at least one or two that pays for the entire set, and at least a few more that are "worth having". And then a few featureless corroded bronze wafers. I was turned on to the following two coin dealers by the toldinstone KZbin channel (which I highly recommend as a source of Roman history, and also of at least one video on cleaning Roman coins), and am only associated with them as a customer. The dealers the toldinstone guy mentions are Noble Roman Coins (nobleromancoins.com), out of Anaheim, California, and Nerocoins (nerocoins.com), out of Ontario, Canada. I have ordered coins from both, and can recommend them.

[@jileelmcdaniels5549]

That Philip coin is in perfect condition.

[@maszkalman3676]

too bad it's too "new" if you collect ancient coins...

[@ericcossett5704]

Is there a book for identifying and pricing for ancient coins

[@gabriga6662]

Amazing video!!! 10/10 !!old coins are the best Onorio solidus can be also in that budget or more???

[@TxLeftridge]

😂😂 supa dupa jibba jabba

[@HeliodromusScorpio]

I collect Roman coins.For me its all about the Emperor if i dont like the emperor i wont buy it simple.

[@barivs8736]

Collecting doesn't necessarily mean spending money. If you live in a place full of history you can just get a metal detector, mine is around 199£ and I've found a lot of ancient coins! Obviously they won't always be in superb condition, but to me it's more fun unearthing history, being the first to touch a coin that's been underground for thousands of years

[@ClassicalNumismatics]

Id totally agree with you on that, but sadly on many countries around the world, states enact very draconian laws forbidding metal detecting, or making it mandatory for you to surrender your finds to the local museum. Absurdity.

[@barivs8736]

@@ClassicalNumismatics Sadly true. These same countries you mention about are usually very corrupt. I live in such a country, Bulgaria. You can get in trouble for metal detecting near archeological sites or other places with historical significance which obviously sounds logical, you are forced to surrender everything older than 1800's, no matter if it is family heritage or if you've found it in a place with no known historical significance at all , to the state, otherwise sanctions will follow. I keep the stuff I find to myself obviously, but I'm at high risk. That is something I forgot to mention in my comment above. The problem in our country is that it's FULL, and I mean FULL to the fullest of historical artefacts. I have found Roman coins while just walking around a field, without a metal detector. You can never know what is an archeological site and what isn't because archeologists are not funded enough by the state and some archeological excavations are just left unexcavated, of which a lot of people take advantage of, for example the Roman city of Ratiara, located near Vidin (Northwestern Bulgaria). Most people (probably 80%) do it for the money, because people are severely underpaid for their jobs and because it's an excellent business opportunity for some. But even if you surrender the artefacts at a museum there's a chance they still end up at western auctions, especially if they're valuable (this is a well known issue and NOBODY talks about it here) and guess where the money goes? To the pockets of corrupt politicians.

[@alcazar123456]

@@barivs8736 Glad you keep your finds for yourself!

[@sammysan65]

TFW you live in a baby country, why couldn’t the Roman’s have traveled across the Atlantic!?!?

[@siisjwj7647]

@@barivs8736 ABSURDITY!! I hate these kind of laws, in Turkey for example it is illegal to hunt ancient artifacts including coins, guess where a massive owl tetradrachm hoard ended up? UK auction houses, and I bet 0% of the money went to actual archeologists trying to preserve history!

[@darbysdownhomedetecting]

🤘🍀💪😎

[@artemisarrow179]

BRB going to buy some Roman coin c:

[@lucyjbe]

where is the best place to buy roman/greek coins? i find them so cool and i would love to have some!

[@ClassicalNumismatics]

Check out my beginners playlist on my playlist page, there are lots of tutorials which include my recommended dealers.

[@lucyjbe]

@@ClassicalNumismatics oh perfect! thank you!!

[@janiskar7892]

📽️👍👍👍👍👍

[@AndrejBk]

nice gros Tournois

[@ClassicalNumismatics]

Lovely, isnt it? Late medieval coinage is great.

[@yogipony9016]

wear from circulation will reduce the price but it can still be very beautiful

[@ClassicalNumismatics]

Indeed. But worn coins can still be very interesting, I have quite a few.

[@markp44288]

Different angle than I took. Good video though! I didn't expect you to have a similar video because I bet a lot of the tips I give sort of irk you (like buying one sided coins)!

[@markp44288]

Haha, I'm dying at the slab part. Solid. 10/10 on point.

[@larryfaulkner5705]

Elagabalus changed his name to honor the Syrian sun god:Elagabalus (/ˌɛləˈɡæbələs/), Aelagabalus, Heliogabalus, (/ˌhiːliəˈɡæbələs/) or simply Elagabal (Aramaic: 𐡁𐡋‎𐡄𐡂‎𐡀𐡋 ʾĕlāhgabāl or 𐡁𐡋‎𐡄𐡀𐡂‎𐡀𐡋 ʾĕlāhaʾgabāl; Arabic: إله الجبل Ilah al-Jabal, "mountain god")[1] was an Arab-Roman sun god,[2] initially venerated in Emesa (modern-day Homs), Syria. Although there were many variations of the name, the god was consistently referred to as Elagabalus in Roman coins and inscriptions from AD 218 on, during the reign of emperor Elagabalus.[3]