Why Are Ancient Coins So Cheap? 

I gave my grandkids , three of them, an old ancient Roman coin so they could hold something that was thousands of years old. Amazing stuff. Thank you for your knowledge sharing

Caught the ancient bug a little while ago. I love the history and the things you can get for the money. A good RU-vid channel for ancients is Classical Numismatics. He does a great job with the history and the coins. Love when you show them off on here as well.

Maybe the question should why are US coins so over priced.

Newer to Ancients myself but recently purchased a couple graded Denarius to own a cool piece of history and to drive myself into researching the coins history. Thanks for the content. I’m really enjoying this new journey.

Hi Ben! Thank you for touching on the subject of Ancient Coins. 😃 Im not a big fan of using slabs as a kind of help for beginner ancient coin collectors because the nature of the hobby in fact comes from doing lots of research on your coin, using books as a reference, etc. In fact, from my experience on coin shows, dealers with raw coins seem to be the ones more likely to have the coin properly attributed, while the NGC slabs generally give very limited information. But hey, if people coming from US coin collecting feel safer with this, go ahead. Your recommendation on books is spot on, books are a great help for everyone, beginner and experienced collector alike. As for greek coins, it really shouldnt be seen as this daunting task. Yes, its a different alphabet, but just like everyone here learned how to read and write by being introduced to the letters, then to its sounds, then to its syllables, learning some very basic ancient greek is completely doable. There are even online keyboards where you can type down what you see on your coin. The relatability point is real. For me coins have been a very interesting catalyst to study new cultures. Some people feel drawn to a culture first, then they delve into their coinage, thats how I got started with Roman coins in fact, but it can go the other way around, its very fun. I think I'll make a response video to this one when I have a little extra time. You seem to like Ancients, people here on the comments seem to have the typical concerns that are easily answered, and it would be good for the hobby. Thanks once again Ben!

The bar for starting a collection of ancients is much higher. It takes more effort to understand them, as well as their pricing and where to safely buy them as a beginner. They are also not as familiar to people as coins from their own countries. The lack of collectors further leads to people not even knowing that they could be collecting ancients.

Thanks Ben. One of the first coins I ever collected was a gift of a Roman coin from 400 B.C. I was ten years old at the time and promptly lost it.

“For those of you with a 3rd grade level of geography, you know Greece and Rome are countries …”

Never realised ancient coins were a thing. And especially not so acessible. Being a History geek I'm going to have to check them out.

I really like ancient coins in mint state. It's cool to own and hold a coin in your hand that is in the same condition it was 1000+ years ago. Surviving that long in mint state is fascinating to me. Just to think where and how long the coin sat undisturbed until somebody discovered it. Not to mention, you can see luster that was created by someone swinging a hammer that long ago!

Just ordered that book on your recommendation. I've been wanting to start collecting Roman coins for awhile now and have been looking for a good book and this looks like it nails it. Thanks and looking to more of your videos and content.

For those in the New York City area or traveling to NYC in January - a must show to go to is the NYC International Numismatic Convention. Many dealer of ancient coins and you get to see coins beyond the budgets of most collectors -- I recall a year or two ago seeing a coin from the era of Charlemagne (gold one -- nd these are quite rare) under glass being sold for $100,000. Yet there are grab bags of ancient coins, foreign coins and banknotes too. You can also get things such as 19th century French pattern coins, gold coins from South America from the 19th and 20th century (some of which were produced by US mints!!!!) and the current year's Libertad. If you get there early, you usually get a free coin - such as a large British penny from the 1960's - of low value but still cool.

Great topic and great discussion! Thanks

I would add that for those on a budget Roman Imperial coins are probably the best ones to collect. So much of coins design from the Renaissance even until today was informed by Roman (and of course Greek design). Just one example is the fascinating design of the Pan Am Gold $1 - a mixture of then modern design with the neo-realism/slightly Cubist influenced depiction of a worker on the obverse but the reverse having two dolphins which is a theme and design idea going back to ancient Greek coinage.

Thanks for the video!

Classical Numismatics sent me 🪙

Great info man!

Collecting ancients is more popular in Europe than here in the States. I have been collecting them since '62. As far as values are concerned here is a comparision: 2 Buffalo 5c: One is a fine 36p: the other is a 18/7 overdate PCGS 45. Both Buffalo 5c but what a difference in value! Same with ancients. A Constantine bronze in low grade compared to an au nero denarius is another comparison of both rarity and value difference. If as many American collectors would add ancients to their collection,you would see,a substantial increase,in their value.

I have 40 or so ancients (I think) and I joke with my wife that most of them are fake. She asked why I would buy a fake coin, I reply that it was faked 1700 yrs ago by a very hardworking guy!

Very good question and discussion. Wish I thought of it...

Just ordered 2 ancient coins, waiting them to arrive, I had no idea they were so cheep.

You really enjoyed sharing.

You hit it on the head - intrinsic value is determined by supply and demand. Unfortunately, demand for general ancient coins is fairly limited. I believe many collectors are fascinated by ancients - but hold back because there is such limited pricing information. Another viewer pointed this out below. There is also a huge range of quality - you showed the box of partially cleaned coins available at your store. Compare this with the select variety of high quality & slabbed ancients you have available. I'd happily venture that only 1-3% of the dug-ups yield a coin in gradable condition. Unfortunately, I'm seeing horribly over-cleaned coins in NGC slabs without a grade. They sell because people have no idea what they're buying...

At the end of the day, those Ionian bee coins are pretty cool.

As i unerstand the market, Deceased persons were buried with a coin in their mouths to pay the fee to cross the river Styx. And the burials were along the side of roads, advent of better metal detectors has revealed thousands of those burial coins. Their artful designs are impressive.

When I started collecting, I decided from the beginning to focus on USA coinage and essentially 20th century. The world was just too big to even attempt more than that. As such, ancients held little interest for me and I expected that they're be quite expensive because typically the older the coin, the higher cost. I may have been wrong about that. However, I held to it and today the only ancient Roman coin that tugs at my heart is the aureus. You may have shown some of them in past videos. If so, I've missed them so far. I think of them as the British sovereigns of the ancient world.

I'm ancient and pretty much worthless according to my ex.😂

I prefer punch marked coins or Western Satstraps from India, they cost about $10 and Chinese Bang Liang and Wu Shu coins, about $5.

Aussie here. I recently purchased a silver Antoninianus coin because I could not believe how clear and sharp the details were on the coin. And considering its age, how relatively inexpensive it was (about US$50). Very interesting video. Thank you.

It always goes back to buy the book before the coin. Research and then buy. I have a couple of ancient Roman coins. NGCs attribution is lacking. They just put the bare minimum. My Owl is raw and I do have to say holding an ancient coin in your hand instead of a slab is much more exciting.

I would be interested in hearing more about coins from the 1300s to 1700. Are any from that era affordable for an average collector?

Collecting ancient coins is not as straight-forward as collecting US coins, which can be assembled neatly by date/mintmark. What we think of as "Ancient Greece" was numerous city-states across the Mediterranean, spanning from southern Italy to central Turkey, which expanded further during the conquests of Alexander. Roman coinage spans over seven centuries of Roman civilization, crossing several phases from the Punic war-era Republic (3rd century BC) to the collapsed Empire (5th century AD), w/ various emperors and types on which to focus. It's all daunting for the American collector, but this is where collector's creativity comes in handy. Assembling a collection of ancient coins allows a collector to focus on a theme, whether it be, for example: specific deities or animals, specific regions, a particular monarch or era of monarchs, etc. A collector of ancients can tell a story w/ his collection (see @Classical Numismatics here on YT), rather than assemble a sterile collection of dates and mintmarks, or chase key-date coins.

There are cheap ancients coins because some are very common or with low quality, or even rare with very low quality. Then there are coins within the hundreds of €, some also common but with good quality, others rarer. Then expensive coins and very expensive coins. The main point with ancients is that all the coins are diferent, all strucked differently and an immense variety of dies so ancient coins have a lot more features that influence it´s final price. About forgeries, 1 basic advice: don´t buy from Ebay, buy from auction houses, it´s better to pay the fees than to a have a collection of fakes.

😮 How in the world do you do it Donald ! You are the man 🙏😊 👍

Spin-off idea: Ben the Coin Goth - for the sad beat up pieces.

That is a real tuff market to get into. And knowing what is fake and what is real. And knowing what the coins are really worth.

awesome video man, subbed

Especially a lot of coins from the Roman Empire are extremely common. The amount of mintages were extremely huge so until today in Southern Europe and Middle East they find tons of them, especially from the 3rd/4 th century. So maybe it´s time to start a pretty neat collection of ancient Romans with a low budget. 🤔Greets from GER, U.

I started collecting ancients by following time periods of the bible old and new test. Many of the major powers that issued ancient coins will be mentiond in the bible in some form and from there on there is first a context for the coin at least for westerners of judeo-christian decent but then also a historical story to discover (not necesseraly from the bible itself but archiological historical finds). I think David Hendins book is a great start for beginners and it intruduces a broad range of themes (persian, greek, seleucid, parthian, roman and byzantine amongst other smaller city states and kingdoms) considering that ancient judea as a focal point was influenced by all ancient near east empires therefore intruducing one to a broad range of ancient coins from the very first coins struck by greek and phonecians circa 600BC up to the later byzantine era circa 600AD. Ancients also show the development of minting technology in human history and how designs got complexer, different striking technicks under various financial states that empires and kingdoms were in, different metals used and lots more other interesting things to learn about ancient history alongside the hobby of collecting. I would say that to me personally learning about the period of a ruller depicted on a coin is what makes holding such an old artifact so exciting. Personally i was never interested in "modern" coins eventhough my grandmother owned a very large collection of european and specifically Dutch coins. A 300 yo gold ducat or gilden has nothing on a 2500 yo greek silver tetradrachm in my opinion.

PS I just very recently saw a modern, as in today modern, restrike of your Athenian Owl. I know others have used the design in recent times, but this was a new, beautiful one. Something for you to look for.

I've always wanted to add a coin that was Ancient to my collection but when I saw some coins really cheap I passed on them, I figured something I wasn't aware of had to be wrong with them to be at that price. I think just holding an ancient coin would be an humbling experience

Roman Coins and their Values is a great 5 volume set

Since most people collect quality instead of quantity. So 99% prefer machine made coins and not stamped. Because they can be graded with accuracy. This make circulated stamped bronze coins pretty much worthless. I regularly find stamped bronze and silver coins(hammered) metal detecting but after 45 years of detecting I probably have gathered a couple of hundred dollars worth of coins. So it's not what media is writing sometimes that detectorist's find fortunes. Better to search beaches then for lost rings.

Just started to get into ancients.

In the UK Roman coins are really cheap and Celtic Gold and Silver coins are valued very low here. I am thinking of starting my own coin collection of Celtic gold because they are very affordable. As a detectorist I can say even in the UK finding a gold Celtic coin is a massive bucket lister but the price at auction does not reflect the time and work put in just to find it! Many detectorists never find a gold Celtic coin their whole detecting career. Finding Celtic coins is the biggest buzz and the mystery of British Celtic life is only slowly being unravelled. Then there is the Celtic Ring Money and Iron Ingot currency. The Celts did not write down their history so we have to rely on finds and other sources to piece their history together. Celtic coins go beck to around 200 BC. Roman coins are a similar age and even slightly older back to 289 BC

I just bought my first RED BOOK ever and I'll say Im shocked at how many coins are in it 😊

Have to admit - makes me want to get an owl, just to have one ancient.

At the end of the day, I think they’re cool, but realize it would take a lifetime to become well versed in ancients. Thanks for a great video!

ive always wanted to collect some ancient coins. i just checked my local shop and there's a cool grade xf roman coin from around 200 ad for 160 but i just have no idea if thats a ripoff or not

The one thing I have trouble with is finding a value for ancient coins. For example. I have a NGC graded AU 4/5 strike 4/5 surface 4 gram Bolbas and Quadrious from 83-2 B.C. I have no idea what it's worth!

Another answer to why few collect them has to do with the ancient coin scandal that happened back in the 80s. You need to explain that part of history to collectors. Remember when some guys tried to corner the ancient coin market and their investment potential?

Where do you find the Van Meter book? Its 70 bucks used on Amason 😢, wonder if there are other sources.

Ive been buying my daughter bullion for xmas / birthday's last 5years, could tell it was kinda getting boring to her( i dont blame her) this year i changed it up a bit, got her a few older coins ( all ngc just cuz im no expert on the matter )she can watch a movie or mini series to match coin era/origin.

"Octavianus"

I can read Ionic Greek, but I have no ancient Greek coins. I'm a special kind of geek 😅

The question is: Are they really cheap? I don`t think so. Just because something is old, it doesnt mean it has to be very expensive. Compared to now, ancient coins were cheap 10-20 or meybe 50 years ago - now they are in my understanding expensive - especially silver coins which are in good condition.

I was thinking of buying my son a gold coin for graduation and it occurred to me maybe I can get a really old one for not much above spot. Are there any Greek or Roman gold coins that normally sell near spot?

$85 is expensive. Some Roman coins cost less than $5 I have a couple of of Roman provincial coins that may be unique or at least exceedingly rat for about $150.

Where do i buy one

I purchased my first ancient coin about a week ago only time will tell if it terns into a new addiction lol

Your little side comments always have me laughing keep up the amazing content great and informational!

Get me some cheap Bactrian, especially the Buddhist stuff. I cannot buy any cheap, and I hunt that stuff

Fun fact: "Octavianus" translates loosely to English as "Eightbutts". A joke on par with my 3rd grade level of geography. 😝

Does anyone know an ancient coins expert I could send some pics to ?

NGC is a curse to collecting!

They're so cheap because 1000 years is a lot of loose change dropped. In 3024 they'll be buying copper and zinc pennies for 3000╛coin and people will wonder how they're so cheap.

Hi, Ben. I want a PR70+* DCAM FDOI Athenian Owl from 480 BC. 🦉

OctaviAnus?

Wondering how Silver Eagles get rainbow toned so fast ? Is that happening to other coins like rainbow Morgan's also ? Seems like some have figured how to do this in a lot faster time for BIG money ...

Always respected ancients, but it seemed too daunting to learn about them. US coins have only been around a couple of hundred years, not thousands.

🙂

I have one. Chinese coin.

Bought my first roman coins about a month ago. Thought about getting some years ago, but, what is what? Is it even real? I looked in the dealers case and saw some in NGC holders and for forty bucks. Couldn't pass em up.

I have a handful of certified Roman empire and a post humas alexander th great

cheap?? where you get yours @?...i'm needing the Gordians l & ll...and i haven't found one less than around 2 grand....

Why are modern coins so expensive? Demand, I suppose.I hope ancients stay less popular....

if you have a hard time identifying coins as counterfeit, don't collect ancients unless they are graded. ancients are the number #1 counterfeited coins.

I have some old silver coins inherited from my grandfather. I want to sell to you, how do I do it? 

*FIRST*

Nobody wants them.

@ClassicalNumismatics is one of my favorit youtube chanell about Numesmatics. By the way, Is there any good book for Sassanian and Parthian (Achaemenid) coins? I bought "Sasanian silver coins : Sasanian numismatic history with identification tools and a catalogue of Sasanian coins in private collections" but It is very limited and does not explain the script and so on.

🏁☃🌈🤠😎