Curating Your Collection - How To Ensure You Stay Satisfied as a Coin Collector - By: Brendan luck
So you’ve just discovered the exciting hobby of collecting ancient coins. Maybe you stumbled upon a YouTube video on the hobby, or an ancient coin was passed down to you from an older relative’s collection. Regardless of why you got into the hobby, you’ve decided that collecting ancient coins is something you want to get into.
You head down to your local coin store and take a look at their inventory. You pick up a handful of ancient coins from their stock, and drive home as happy as a clam. You’re now officially a coin collector, a numismatist.
Is This How You Should Start Collecting Ancient Coins?
This is how many of us started in the hobby of coin collecting. We picked up a few interesting looking pieces from a local dealer or coin show, and away we went. It may be a charming way to start in the hobby, but it’s often a poor method for curating a collection you’ll be satisfied with for years to come. Allow us to explain.
Curating Your Collection: A Guide
The world of ancient coin collecting can prove to be daunting for beginners to the hobby. That’s because there are plenty of different areas that you can explore when you start collecting. With that being said, let’s dive in to the different things you should know when starting your ancient coin collection.
Part I: The Cultures of Antiquity
Ancient Greece
Emerging as one of the most popular areas of interest (and one of the most expensive) Ancient Greek coins are incredibly desirable to collectors by virtue of their age, and beauty. Ancient Greek coinage can be traced back to the very beginnings of coinage itself, all the way through the times of Alexander the Great and beyond.
Generally speaking, ancient Greek coins can be broken up into three time periods: Archaic, Classical, and Hellenistic. Archaic (as the name suggests) is the oldest time period, and thus feature the most simple designs. The classical period followed suit, and this is where the Greeks really honed their craft of coin-making - some of the most beautiful designs to ever grace coins come from this period. The Hellenistic period began with the reign of Alexander the Great, and ended as Rome began to become the most prominent Empire of the Ancient World.
Ancient Greek coins are exceptional, but generally are more expensive than coins from other periods of ancient history. This is due to their age (ancient Greek coins are the oldest ancient coins in existence), and their low mintage compared to other ancient civilizations.
Ancient Rome
The era of Caesars and Centurions, Ancient Rome was one of the most prolific empires of the ancient world, and as such, the coins they minted are among the most prolific and widely collected as well. Just like Ancient Greece, the history of Rome can also be categorized into three important periods: the Republic, Imperatorial, and the Empire proper.
The history of Rome before the Republic is not well recorded, but it is known that the earliest coin used in Rome was the Aes, which consisted of a heavy piece of bronze. As the region became more prosperous, new coins were introduced to match the heightened level of trade. The Imperatorial era of Rome was the shortest era, but saw the transition from the Republic of Rome to the Empire, through the efforts of ambitious figures like Julius Caesar, Brutus, and Mark Antony. The period is recognized as ending with the reign of the first Emperor of Rome, Octavian (later Augustus). Coins of the Roman Republic and Imperatorial Era can be quite valuable, due to the recognition of the figures adorning them (who hasn’t heard of Julius Caesar?). The most valuable ancient coins to ever exist comes from the Imperatorial era of Ancient Rome.
Conversely, coins from the Roman Empire can be some of the most common ancient coins on the market, even in good condition. This is due to the fact that the Empire was prominent and required large amounts of coins to be minted to keep it running.
Byzantine Empire
After the Western Roman Empire fell in the early modern era, it would be survived by the Byzantine Empire in the east for over 1000 years. While the artistic value of these coins are more crude, the Byzantine Empire minted a large amount of gold coins, making them quite attractive for collectors.
China, Islamic, and Beyond
Of course other cultures outside of Greece and Rome minted coins during antiquity. While the numismatic research in these cultures is not as prominent as the classical cultures, they still can hold plenty of collector’s value based on the examples.
Part II: Consider Condition
When you are beginning your journey into numismatics, you’ll likely be attracted to coins of lesser value, as they are much more accessible to collect. Everyone’s budget for hobbies is different, but most people looking to dive into a new hobby don’t do so with the intention to blow the bank from the get-go.
However, if you intend to collect for a long period of time, we recommend accumulating coins that you’ll be happy to own for that long as well. This usually means collecting high-quality examples in good condition.
Before we continue, let us be clear in that you don’t necessarily need to spend more to acquire high-quality coins. You just need to be smarter with your coin budget and focus on areas of antiquity that are more affordable (for example, collecting coins from the late Roman Empire compared to collecting Ancient Greek pieces). By doing so, you’ll be more satisfied with your coin collection in the long run, and you won’t ever need to seek out higher-quality replacement for pieces you own.
Part III: Assessing Areas of Focus
Now you know about the different cultures of antiquity when it comes to numismatics. But believe us when we say that simply focusing on one culture of antiquity can still prove to be daunting from a collection perspective. This is where different focuses of collections come into play. We recommend focusing on certain areas of collecting to feel more satisfied about the coins you acquire.
Focus I: Typesets
When it comes to numismatics, many collectors focus on collecting “typesets”, which includes every denomination of a certain culture or point in time. Just like we have different denominations in the modern day (ex. Nickles, dimes, and quarters), ancient cultures also had different denominations to conduct day-to-day trade and pay their citizens.
In Ancient Greece, the Greeks minted mostly silver coins, including shekels, drachms, tetradrachms, and staters. Other (more uncommon) denominations exist as well, including the tiny hemiiartermorion, and the massive pentekaidekadrachm. Each of these coins were assigned different values, and as such were used in different types of transactions. You can possess a collection of hundreds of coins by just focusing on different typesets of the various city-states of Ancient Greece, including Athens, Rhodes, and more.
Romans also had their different denominations of coins as well. Coins of lower value were typically larger and made of bronze. These include the Quadrans, Semis, As, Dupondius, and Sestertius. More valuable coins were made of silver, including the Quinarius (which equaled 2 sestertii), Denarius (or tribute penny), and Antoninianus. The most valuable coins of course were made of gold, including the gold Quinarius, and the Aureus (the most valuable coin in Roman currency, equaling 25 denarri). In the later years of the empire, the Solidus was issued by Constantine I, replacing the Aureus with a thinner, wider gold coin.
Focus II: Roman Emperors
This is another very popular focus for many collectors of ancient coins. During the days of the Roman Republic, coin were adorned with images of ancestors, gods, and goddesses. When Julius Caesar began minted coins adorned with his own portrait, it caused a stir among the common people of Rome. Following in Caesar’s footsteps, the rest of his successors (and even his contemporaries) began issuing coins bearing their likeness. The rest is history.
As such, many collectors enjoy collecting coins featuring each Roman Emperor, or Roman Emperors from a certain dynasties or time periods. Some of the more popular groups of Emperors to collect are the following:
l The Julio-Claudian Dynasty
n Julius Caesar - 49-44 BC
n Octavian (Augustus) - 27 BC-AD 14
n Tiberius - AD 14-37
n Caligula - AD 37-41
n Claudiu - AD 41 -54
n Nero - AD 54-68
l The Year of the Four Emperors
n Galba - AD 68-69
n Otho - AD 69-69
n Vitellius - AD 69-69
l The Flavian Dynasty
n Vespasian - AD 69-79
n Titus - AD 79-81
n Domitian - AD 81-96
l The Nerva-Antonine Dynasty (Including the “Five Good Emperors”)
n Nerva - AD 96-98
n Trajan - AD 98-117
n Hadrian - AD 117-138
n Antoninus Pius - AD 138-161
n Marcus Aurelius - AD 161-180
n Lucius Verus AD - 161-169
n Commodus - AD 177-192
Additional dynasties and areas of focus include the Severan dynasty, The Crisis, the Tetrarchy, and the Constantines. The Roman Empire existed for many centuries, and with that comes plenty of different rulers to collect!
Focus III: Animals, Gods, Women, and Everything in Between
Many other coin collectors appreciate the artistic qualities of the images adorning their ancient pieces, and as such tend to favor coins which share common imagery. Some of these could be an area of interest for your collection in the future.
Animals
Many coins of the ancient world feature images of animals. The most renowned example of this is the Athenian tetradrachm, which features an owl on the reverse of the coin. Other animals that feature on ancient Greek and Roman coins include wolves, turtles, fish, crabs, horses, dolphins, bulls, and more.
Gods
It’s no secret that the Ancient Greeks and Romans venerated their gods in many different ways, and coinage was no exception. Coins almost always featured depictions of gods on them, often linking the positive qualities of the different deities to the rulers and empires that minted them. These include Greek gods like Ares, Zeus, Athena, Poseidon, and Dionysus, and Roman gods like Salus, Minerva, Mars, and Venus.
Muses and Wives
Particularly in the Roman Empire, emperors and other prominent people would often include images of their wives and children to showcase the importance of their families. Some of the more popular examples of this include images of Julia (daughter of Augustus), Domitilla (wife of Vespasian), Agrippina I (wife of Germanicus), Faustina I (wife of Antoninus Pius), Faustina II (Pius’ daughter and wife of Marcus Aurelius), and Julia Domna (wife of Septimius Severus).
Focus IV: Provenance
This is an underrated aspect of coin collecting, and one that is likely unknown for beginner collectors. Provenance indicates who owned the coins before their current owner (which in this case would be you). One thing is certain about ancient coins: they will definitely outlive their owners, just as they did thousands of years ago.
Because of this, sometimes coins that come from the collections of prominent collectors (or even prominent members of history) can show up for sale, and often add an extra layer of value to the coin. Additionally, coins that come from famous archaeological dig sites or hoards can also add extra interest to a piece.
Conclusion
When it comes to collecting ancient coins, one of the most important things should be to have fun, and collect things that you find the most enjoyment from. We hope this guide has provided you (or a new collector that you know) with some clarity on the type of collection they’d like to build.
At Kinzer Coins, we offer beautiful numismatic examples from all eras of history. Start building the coin collection of your dreams with our beautiful collections of Greek, Roman, and Byzantine coins today!