good vendors of ancient coins?
 

I'm wondering who are the best vendors of ancient coins. What if I wanted to aquire one like that in my avatar*? Please add links to your reply if you've got em and say why the vendor is good.



*Thanks to Rmac for giving me this avatar a whiles back.

Re: good vendors of ancient coins?
 

Start a frickin' "homophobe" thread or one about LSD and you get 100's of posts :y: ....NO ONE here has purchased ancient coins before??

Re: good vendors of ancient coins?
 

well I havent which is why I'm asking. have you? what was your experience?

obviously you can get em off ebay but I am wondering if there are specialty retailers. I see in the US coin mags that most vendors talk about US coins not ancient.

Re: good vendors of ancient coins?
 

Aren't most people here bullionaires, not numismatists?

Try that late night coin show on the shopping network.:call:

Actually, our old fav APMEX has a pre-1933 section tab featured right on it's navigator.

Maybe start there?

LG :character

Re: good vendors of ancient coins?
 

[QUOTE]I think so but that may change. I want a better upside chance on my aquisitions and I have been studying the coin markets and it's my conclusion that like many kinds of things the prices are all about information. But, the good news is, the market is not perfect in the sense that information is not widely disseminated or uniformly available to buyers in the market. ergo, if you can obtain and use information better than other buyers and sellers you may make above average gains- so why not try, especially if the coin-collecting mania has gripped you?

yeah I have seen European coins for sale at apmex but not ancients.

Re: good vendors of ancient coins?
 

sorry Anty Ep:

I have never purchased ancient coins so I'm no help. Maybe RossL or Master Ho can chime in later today.

If I run into a store that I think is reputable I'll post the link here. Ancient coins can usually be had for very small premiums in comparison to their modern counterparts. I think this is due to that fact that weight and purity is not stamped on the coins, and more importantly there is not much demand.

The Great Ag

Re: good vendors of ancient coins?
 

I've dealt with Frank a number of times. His service is excellent, his prices range from good to cheap, and he is extremely knowledgeable:

http://www.fsrcoin.com/

Re: good vendors of ancient coins?
 

I have bought coins from this place, and they seem very reputable, though I haven't bought ancients from them (or anyone else, for that matter):

http://millersmint.com/


Also, Alexander Basok at Rusty Pennies on the internet is a man of integrity, according to a close friend of mine who dealt with him quite a bit:

http://www.rustypennies.com/index.html

Re: good vendors of ancient coins?
 

You'd think there would be demand. Very romantic.

I think a good reason why they aren't so sought after besides what the Ag

just posted is that just about any Tom, Dick or Nancy could make fakes.

Remember, they don't require expensive strike plates or presses.

The lost wax method would be sufficient.

That would kill the numismatic angle even if they were made of real PM.

So they remain at or close to spot.

Re: good vendors of ancient coins?
 

CHIME!!!!

Actually, I haven't bought ancient coins either - but on another thread, someone posted a picture of a Pegasus and I thought - hmmmm.......interesting coin. Then, oddly, or just sychronicity, I was reading something last night that mentioned obtaining ancient coins and how they are not expensive because, while older, they are in great abundance! Many ancient coins are only $5-20, and even ancient gold tends to be a bit cheaper than with modern coins.

They suggested coin shops (tho the ones I have been in lately don't carry much in the way of ancient coins)..........then they suggested coin shows, where you can get a lot of great coins at great deals........and THEN they suggested Ebay and said, if all you do is out thru a search of "anicent coins" you get over 2000 hits........of course, if you know what you are looking for you can refine that search!

Hope that helps! Good lick finding the coin you are looking for!!

Re: good vendors of ancient coins?
 

Synchronicity always strikes when you least expect it! As Col. John "Hannibal" Smith often said in the A-Team, "I love it when a plan comes together."

Good info, Master Ho

The Great Ag

Re: good vendors of ancient coins?
 

Actually, I have been into gold and silver for decades - but only into numismatics in the last year. I have some friends who are professional collectors, and some who run coin shops, and made friends (as you know) with some people who do weekly radio shows........so I have a gaggle of great minds to pick from.........and I have, in the last year, built a series of files totalling literally thousands of pages each........lots of reading and research.

But recently, I decided I should sort of go back and re-group, as it were.......go back to square one and review, making sure all I knew (which, as you can probably understand - is nothing - cause the more you know, the more you know you DON'T know) fit with everything else......

I decided to pretend I was a newbie - I bought three books, the first being "Coin Collecting For Dummies" by Ron Guth.......it cost me all of $5 and I am using it as a review book, and learning a lot - for example the ancient coin material.

Its a very easy read - a very simple beginning book - but lots of useful information on the basics - and while I know 90% of the material in it - that extra 10% is a wonderful read, not to mention, great side stories and stuff......

And every now and then a few sentences that really hit home - here's one from last night in the ancient coin section........you can see how it applies to the US today.

"Strong nations issue coins of gold and silver; weak nations could barely afford to make coins of copper and bronze. Hence, the decline of a nation or empire is mirrored in its coins."

Re: good vendors of ancient coins?
 

Point well stated! We can't even do copper and bronze anymore. How sucky are we? Atleast no other nation, currently, has anything better, and some are sight worse. Some (I'm not sure which) countries use aluminum. I wonder how long before there are plastic coins?

I have a few basic books too, that I occaisonally re-read for the same purpose. Always know your basics. Good Point, Master Ho. :wink:

The great Ag

Re: good vendors of ancient coins?
 

They won't bother with plastic coins - way too easy to fake and far too expensive.......whats gonna come next, I would think, its electronic money - no printing or minting costs, harder to fake, easier to keep track off.......

Gonna really suck for numismatics tho!

"Hey, look at this - a rare 2012 email showing an account balance, in MS 69!"

"Is it toned?"

Re: good vendors of ancient coins?
 

Ron Guth has a lot of interesting foreign coins, heavy on the German stuff. Not sure about ancients.

http://www.germancoins.com/

Re: good vendors of ancient coins?
 

I only know Ron from the book - had no idea there was a site of any sort - but he DOES talk about how he got into German coins and how thats one of his favortie areas of collecting.........thanks for the link - checkign it out now!

Cheers!

Re: good vendors of ancient coins?
 

Re: good vendors of ancient coins?
 

Anty Ep,

I've come across these links. I haven't checked them out yet, so I can't say one way or the other how the dealers are. Looks like good info.

http://www.beastcoins.com/Links/Links.htm

http://www.wildwinds.com/coins/

MT Silver

Re: good vendors of ancient coins?
 

http://www.civitasgalleries.com/images/AC17590.jpg

stunning! Behold Philip of Macedon.

Re: good vendors of ancient coins?
 

Behold, Alexander! I am your father.

NOOOOoooooo!

Alright, bad Star wars impersonation. Seriously though, Anty Ep, what a great piece of history! What is asking price for this coin?

The Great Ag

Re: good vendors of ancient coins?
 

I buy my ancient coins from Forum Ancient coins.
They ship quickly also.

http://www.forumancientcoins.com/catalog/indexfrm.asp