For the Love Of Ancients

We like to talk vintage at The Coin Vault. Mainly this is our focus when it comes to United States coinage and currency, but this time, let us talk vintage in a different way. And when we say vintage, we mean reallllly vintage. We mean ancient.

If you have seen the show, you have seen some form of ancient coin being offered here and there and if we are being honest, it is an area of coin collecting that either resonates with collectors or it doesn’t. But either way you swing on the matter, ancient coins are pure examples of the importance coins have had through the thousands of years man has walked this Earth.

The Beginnings Of Coinage

In a time when the Near East and its developed states remained centralized enough when it came to the economic exchange of goods, coinage was not needed as Sumerians and Egyptians continued to use barter in commercial climates even though silver would eventually come into play. It was not until around 650 B.C. that the development of coinage took place by Greeks and the Lydians in what is now parts of Turkey after realizations that their civilizations would need more organization due to their lack of centralization in the Near East. Economic opportunity was scarce and bartering was much too unwieldy for the growing financial transactions involving silver.

The first coins were made up of an alloy comprised of gold and silver that occurred naturally in deposits called electrum. Soon these “lumps” of electrum started to develop designs and the metals would eventually bear the trace of the punches used to strike the die. Over time, obverses and reverses would depict animals and human resemblance while their inevitable fate lay in the hands of monarchies that would eventually decide to “corner the market” on the issuance of the coins.

Ancients To A Collector

As mentioned before, ancient coinage resonates or it doesn’t when it comes to such a specific type of collecting. But if you, an avid coin collector can truthfully be honest, their appeal is that they are literally a connection to the past that represents everything cities and countries wanted to be within the Western world. We get to envision the rise and fall of empires or step in the mythology so plainly depicted on coinage that involved peace and war among kings and queens, emperors and their subjects, and the valued countries and cities that had some of the greatest leaders to date. Ancient coins are monetary and tangible evidence of the origins of everyone in most likely, the world.

But with this breathtaking realization is the simultaneous realization that stories and physical evidence on this level of a coin’s purpose come at a cost. Sometimes a really big cost. Assuming that you as a collector have decided which path to take in your ancient coin needs (Roman, Byzantine, Greek, etc.), it is always smart to realize at what you can do financially with such rare coins.

For example, if you are in the market, or your wallet is in the market, for a highly desirable coin such as the #1 top coin on the 100 Greatest Ancient Coins put out by Whitman Publishing, you could be looking at the Brutus “Eid Mar” Denarius that dates back to Rome in 42 B.C. Why so desirable? This particular ancient coin depicts the assassination of none other than Julius Caesar on the Ides of March in 44 B.C by Brutus. The population of the coin sits at around 80 and can expect to come with a $100,000+ price tag depending on the condition.

As beautiful and incredibly rare with such a story as Caesar's assassination, these types of ancient coins are for the most part unattainable for the everyday collector. It isn’t feasible for us to claim such availability to coins such as these. That is why when we offer coins of an ancient nature on the show, we offer those that are within an arms reach to those who seek them.

On a much smaller scale, an example of an ancient coin that would fit into any collector’s budget is one of the many depictions of Alexander the Great (336-323 B.C.). This particular example portrays Zeus on the reverse holding an eagle and a scepter. The obverse features the Head of Hercules wearing a lion skull. With a price tag of below $300, ancient coins have the potential to really enhance a collector’s portfolio all the while keeping their wallet intact.

Research, Research, Research

The most important thing to realize about this particular avenue of coin collecting is that research will always be the vehicle for your collecting success. In general, the more you know about what you are buying and what you are looking for as a collector, the better. It is a rule of thumb really in this hobby, but ancient coin collecting somehow makes this rule even more so of a staple to remember.

Ancient coins are beautiful and rare and are always attached to a story greater than you could have imagined. As expressed before, their appeal alone is that they are the one true connection we have with the origins of our being. Just take a look at NGC; they have made it a priority to carve out a special department for the grading and authentication of these coins. They can quite frankly be traced back to the birth of coin collecting and can be appreciated as some of the finest coinage to have ever been in existence.

Source: 100 Greatest Ancient Coins by Harlan J. Berk (Whitman Publishing)