New to Ancients. Looking for guidance. 0

[catman31]

So I have been fascinated with the amount of ancient coinage out there and have done some reading. Ready to start adding a few pieces to my collection. I feel its the last place of value in collecting now with prices realized in the US coins space breaking records. (1804 draped bust dollar, 1861 double eagle and 1794 flowing hair realized over 24 million this week combined is case and point.) Many other key issues in US coinage are fetching record prices. Where is the best place to see recent auction sale prices and what is a good guide to use regarding valuation and accurate population for ancients? Thanks.  

[JKK]

A lot of people use Worthpoint. Ebay sold listings are also useful. You can also look at Heritage and Great Collections auction histories. It's good to get yourself on auction house mailing lists. I don't know about looking for accurate population.

There are generalized and outdated value estimates in some of the accepted print references; which you'd use depends of course on which type of ancients you like. These are typically uncommon, expensive, and out of print. I sank about $600 into my Sear volumes, and I got pretty good deals. My two Mitichiner volumes together cost me about $900--and both were great deals. If you do not want to own your own, you can always join the ANA and borrow from their reference library. I have done that and it works well. They have a really nice library if you've never been there in person; if I had unlimited wealth, I would have one like it.

[catman31]

Thanks JKK. I am not familiar with Worthpoint and will look into it. On the PCGS site they show all recent auctions for both NGC and PCGS coins but only for US coins.  Great idea joining ANA and using the library. Books on coins are pricy. 

[Mohawk]

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

[catman31]

Thanks for the info. Glad I found this Forum. I never used NGC much. Mainly a PCGS guy for my US stuff but for ancients it looks like NGC in the authority. Regarding US stuff it feels like the prices have gone wild. Recent record breaking sales at Stacks and Heritage as well as other lead me to believe its not a buyers market for US coinage now. Since I don't sell much I figured there may be some value in ancients. Crazy how much more time and coinage there is out there pre 1600 AD. Thanks for the help and it looks like I have some reading to do. WBIT.

[Mohawk]

On 8/24/2021 at 8:53 PM, catman31 said:

Thanks for the info. Glad I found this Forum. I never used NGC much. Mainly a PCGS guy for my US stuff but for ancients it looks like NGC in the authority. Regarding US stuff it feels like the prices have gone wild. Recent record breaking sales at Stacks and Heritage as well as other lead me to believe its not a buyers market for US coinage now. Since I don't sell much I figured there may be some value in ancients. Crazy how much more time and coinage there is out there pre 1600 AD. Thanks for the help and it looks like I have some reading to do. WBIT.

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