Mohawk

Hi William.....guess who's back!! I'm so sorry you had a bait and switch with your Bond Coins......I've had that happen to me in the past when I used to collect things that are a lot more recent than what I do now. But that really sucks and it definitely says something that they're filtering their reviews like that. Very shady and, once again, it really sucks. Though I'm probably restating the obvious here, but I see you've moved into Zimbabwe coinage as well as the notes......very cool!!! I hope you have better luck with your next purchase, though and I definitely hope that your submission does very well!! And, to you, sorry I disappeared for a while.....I lost both my mom and stepmom to cancer within months of each other, and I stopped collecting and was all kinds of messed up for a while, so I'm very sorry if you wrote me any messages or anything I didn't reply to. I'm glad to see you're still here, though ~Tom

Spider....I absolutely LOVE IT!!! That is a stunningly beautiful coin!! Those Athenian Owls are one of the greatest coins ever made, period! And I have some ancestors from that neck of the woods, too. Some of my dad's family came from Bosnia.

I'd say you're correct about NGC and ancients, though I do not own a single slabbed ancient and I never intend to.....just a little quirk of mine. And though I have not been an active collector of U.S. coins for well over a decade, I have seen some big upward shifts in U.S. coinage as of late. Ancients are a very fun and rewarding part of the hobby.....I don't collect what I collect for the money, though, but there is good value in this segment. However, there are some show stoppers pricewise in ancients as well. You'll discover some of these for yourself as you move forward. But there are many amazing and very affordable coins to be had as well. It's a fun part of the hobby to be in. Ancients are actually the only coins I actively collect anymore......it's easy to get the bug, at least it was for me

Hello and Welcome Catman!!! I'm thrilled to hear that you're interested in ancients!! You're exploring a fascinating and rewarding area of our hobby!! Jonathan covered a lot of it, so I won't repeat what he said but I just want to add some resources for you. Wildwinds can be a huge help in determining exactly what coin you have or are looking at: https://www.wildwinds.com/coins/index.html You can also gauge some price ranges of coins by looking at some offered for sale by reputable dealers. MA Shops and VCoins have a lot of dealers who specialize in ancient coins. I have bought several coins from dealers on both sites, and I've never had a problem: https://www.vcoins.com/en/Default.aspx https://www.ma-shops.com/ If you like Roman coins, I'm going to recommend a book that Jonathan recommended to me when I got started with ancients, the Aorta guide. All of the copies I'm finding for sale right now are outrageously priced, but you can get lucky sometimes and pick one up on the cheap. I think mine cost me $50 and it was well worth it: https://www.amazon.com/AORTA-Collector-Rasiel-Suarez-2011-08-02/dp/B01K3LR378 Other than that, if you have any further questions, post them here and we'll do our best to help you. I just want to say it can take some time for us to get back to you.....most of us on this site aren't professionals and we don't get paid to be here. We're here out of a love for the hobby and a true desire for community and to help others so.....be patient with us Best of luck on your new adventure!! ~Tom

I can tell you the only thing that matters about the coins that you posted.....that they are both fake.

Thanks for the well-wishes Quintus!!! We have quite a bit of an age difference, but I think we'll be plenty happy together!

Very nice pickups gmarguli!! I've always liked those Greenland pieces.....they have a great look and your examples are extremely beautiful. Thank you for sharing those with us!

That's an interesting observation Quintus.....I wonder what has caused that uptick. Roosters are nice coins, no doubt about it. And gold has been hot for a while.......and though I have only been back home for a short time, you definitely have a presence here and one that I particularly enjoy. Who knows? Maybe you did have an impact. It's possible, I'd say. I highly doubt I'll ever have an impact like that with what I collect..........most people probably don't want to sign on for lifelong numismatic insanity.

My downstairs neighbor is a Southerner (native Floridian), so maybe I'll ask him which of those options is the best starting point for a Northern boy such as myself! Though I don't know......he drinks some moonshine that'll make a man out of ya'........it'd probably put me in the hospital!!

Nope.....never. The furthest south I've been in the East is New Jersey. Never been south of the Mason-Dixon. I've never even been in a Cracker Barrel! Out West, I've been to So Cal......but that's definitely not 'the South"

I am......way too Northern for the culinary turn this thread has taken.........

Hello and Welcome!!! Well, I'd say Jonathan, James and JT have it all covered!! All I can say is that if you take their advice, you'll be well on your way!! Best of luck and we'll help wherever we can! ~Tom

Glad to hear the situation was resolved to your full satisfaction!! I may have to see if L&C has an ancients selection.............

Absolutely fascinating article!!!

I'm seeing a heavily damaged 1941 cent.

Agreed 100% I sell modern U.S. coins to fund my little Faustina problem and I've seen more than my fair share of 1983 proofs of all denominations. Brad's half is truly exceptional. I can definitely discern that from the photo of the obverse.

A shark with pearls is very classy!

Oh thank you for jumping in there Bob.....I just wasn't up to this task fully!!

Looks like the thread is doing well!! Thanks to everyone who has participated!!! I'll add another of mine to keep us going......here's another one of the small number of Roman coins that I have that isn't Faustina the Younger. This is a denarius of Julia Domna, who is third in line for empresses I would attempt a full RIC set for (but will likely never get the chance to because Faustina's catalogue is MASSIVE):

That's a nice one, Coinbuf!! Very appealing. I like the Barber Dime.....it's got almost an ancient Greek feel to it. The Barber Dime is actually the most handsome of the Barbers, in my humble ancient coin guy opinion. Thanks for sharing that one!

Yeah....that is sharp!! It's a great alternative for those who want a Chain cent and cannot afford the real deal. It's a very nice piece of exonumia, which is still a valid area of the hobby. Thanks for sharing that one.

I just won this pretty little lady:

Hello and Welcome Justin!!! In looking at your cent, it's definitely a 1982-D Small Date and it looks very zinc-y to me as well. ~Tom

You'd want to post this in the Coin Marketplace forum. You may have better luck posting there.

Now THAT is awesome and totally my kind of thing!!! I love those ancient coin hoard finds!! I'd love to just be able to go through it and see what was in there. They're later than what I actually collect, but no less fascinating for that. Thanks for sharing that one, James!