Modwriter Posted September 6, 2021 Share Posted September 6, 2021 I'm thinking about buying a Roman Empire Denarius ancient coin. I do not want to overpay for it. Is there a website where I can get pricing for Roman coins besides eBay? Thanks in advance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
l.cutler Posted September 6, 2021 Share Posted September 6, 2021 Really can't help with how much to pay, but I'd be careful where you get it. There are tons of fakes out there! I would do a little research on who the most respected ancient dealers are, then you know you are getting a genuine coin and the price should be fair. Modwriter 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex in PA. Posted September 6, 2021 Share Posted September 6, 2021 I looked into buying some for my nephew. Looked at Greek and Roman and all the prices were very high. Good luck. Modwriter 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Modwriter Posted September 6, 2021 Author Share Posted September 6, 2021 On 9/6/2021 at 1:58 PM, l.cutler said: Really can't help with how much to pay, but I'd be careful where you get it. There are tons of fakes out there! I would do a little research on who the most respected ancient dealers are, then you know you are getting a genuine coin and the price should be fair. Thanks. It has been certified by NGC, but they do not have value/pricing for it. eBay pricing is all over the place for un-certified loose coins. Alex in PA. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
l.cutler Posted September 6, 2021 Share Posted September 6, 2021 There are also so many varieties, from common to extremely rare, even for the same emperor. Then there are so many emperors! There are also the Roman Republic era coins, pretty mind boggling! I do have a few lower grade denarii that I never paid too much for, mostly under $30 or $40 each. Alex in PA. and Modwriter 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex in PA. Posted September 6, 2021 Share Posted September 6, 2021 On 9/6/2021 at 5:34 PM, Modwriter said: eBay pricing is all over the place f For just about everything. Coins slabbed and Graded Currency has just about hit the roof. When I looked for Ancients I searched the NGC ones as I couldn't tell real from fake. Not an Ancient collector but I'd buy NGC Graded Ancients just to be on the safe side. Hope you find what you're looking for. Modwriter 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mohawk Posted September 6, 2021 Share Posted September 6, 2021 (edited) On 9/6/2021 at 3:31 PM, Modwriter said: I'm thinking about buying a Roman Empire Denarius ancient coin. I do not want to overpay for it. Is there a website where I can get pricing for Roman coins besides eBay? Thanks in advance. Well now this is a simple question without a simple answer Modwriter. A lot of the price of a denarius is going to depend on the emperor or empress you are looking at. Some of them are very common. My main project and the only one I really actively pursue anymore is a complete RIC number set of the copper and silver coins of Empress Faustina the Younger. Now, Faustina the Younger's (also called Faustina II and Faustina Jr. in numismatic circles) coins tend to be very common and pretty inexpensive. The most I've paid for one of her denarii is $149, and that was one of the scarcer types. I've bought nice Faustina the Younger Denarii for as low as $47. On the other hand, Faustina the Younger's descendant, Annia Faustina, who was married to the Emperor Elagabalus for five minutes, has coins that are extreme rarities. There are only 5 of her denarii known in the whole world, so the prices are huge.....if you even get an opportunity to buy one. A lifetime could go by without even having the opportunity to make a purchase of an Annia Faustina denarius. So, without knowing whose coin you want, I really cannot help you price out a denarius......there are both extremely common ones and extreme rarities. Condition matters, too, but I'd say it's more about eye appeal than actual grade with many ancient coins. Many ancient coin collectors (myself included) do not slab their ancient coins nor do they seek out slabbed ancient coins, so that plays less of a role than with other coins. Of course, this is your preference but if you are inexperienced with ancients, then slabbed coins could be a good place to start. But keep in mind, slabbed ancients are going to be considerably more expensive than raw pieces....per NGC's Services and Fees page, the lowest cost to certify an ancient coin is $22, and that's for a bulk submission which requires a minimum of 50 coins. So, slabbing ancients is a pricey endeavor that caters to a smaller segment of the overall ancient coin market, so those costs will be passed on in some form to the buyer. So, keep that in mind. As for a reputable place to buy, I like VCoins. There are a lot of ancient coin dealers on there: https://www.vcoins.com/en/Default.aspx And here is a very reputable dealer on eBay. JKK, who is another collector of ancient coins here and who is my mentor when it comes to ancients, recommended this dealer. I just bought my first coin from him, and I was very pleased: https://www.ebay.com/sch/kass3694bmj/m.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_ipg=&_from= MA Shops has some good ancients as well: https://www.ma-shops.com/ If you decide on a specific ruler you want, I can help you more. Some popular (and relatively inexpensive) emperors to get denarii from are Trajan, Hadrian, Antoninus Pius, Marcus Aurelius and Commodus. There are many others to choose from as well. Edited September 7, 2021 by Mohawk Modwriter 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Modwriter Posted September 7, 2021 Author Share Posted September 7, 2021 @MohawkThank you for the history of Empress Faustina and the links. I have also seen ancient coins in the Littleton catalog mailer. I learned their pricing is very high. JKK and MA have very reasonable pricing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mohawk Posted September 7, 2021 Share Posted September 7, 2021 You're welcome Modwriter. Littleton is very highly priced on everything....you buy from them, you're pretty much guaranteed to overpay. MA Shops is good and I really like kass3694bmj. The denarius I bought from him is posted in the For the Love of Silver thread.....it's my latest post there, so you can see exactly the coin I bought from him. JKK is super knowledgeable regarding ancients (and lots of other coins, for that matter of fact), and his recommendation of kass3649bmj is a strong one for me. Don't forget to check out VCoins, too. Just curious.....do you have a particular ruler you want a denarius from? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Modwriter Posted September 7, 2021 Author Share Posted September 7, 2021 This Roman Empire coin Im looking at is a Salonina Augusta Denarius. The Roman Age of Chaos. AD 254-268. It looks like it is copper. I googled it and found a similar coin for $60. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mohawk Posted September 7, 2021 Share Posted September 7, 2021 (edited) On 9/6/2021 at 9:39 PM, Modwriter said: This Roman Empire coin Im looking at is a Salonina Augusta Denarius. The Roman Age of Chaos. AD 254-268. It looks like it is copper. I googled it and found a similar coin for $60. Ah yes....the Crisis of the Third Century. I have a souvenir of that time myself, a denarius of Aurelian that is silvered bronze. A Salonina denarius is indeed mostly copper as are the antoniniani of that time. That's a very cool coin, Modwriter, and one well worth owning. If I'm recalling correctly, Salonina's denarii can be somewhat pricy as by her time, the denarius was largely only minted for ceremonial purposes as the antoninianus was the main circulating denomination by then. An antoninianus of Salonina's can be had for a lot lower price and it's just as cool, in my humble opinion. I've seen some Salonina antoniniani for about $70 on VCoins, which is a fair price for one. If you do decide to pick up a Salonina, please share it with us. I know I would love to see it. Edited September 7, 2021 by Mohawk Modwriter 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swampboy Posted September 7, 2021 Share Posted September 7, 2021 Several of my denarii come from Civitas, both and Imperial https://www.civitasgalleries.com/cgi/store/commerce.cgi?product=Imperial&keywords=&next=20 Mohawk and Modwriter 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Modwriter Posted September 7, 2021 Author Share Posted September 7, 2021 I have decided to go in a different direction this week. Bid on it today, but not sure how high the other bid went. Thanks everybody. This is the Denarius. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mohawk Posted September 7, 2021 Share Posted September 7, 2021 On 9/7/2021 at 7:43 PM, Modwriter said: I have decided to go in a different direction this week. Bid on it today, but not sure how high the other bid went. Thanks everybody. This is the Denarius. I love it Modwriter!! What a great souvenir of the Crisis of the Third Century! Thanks for sharing that one with us Modwriter 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Henri Charriere Posted September 14, 2021 Share Posted September 14, 2021 This is more of a possible lead than an outright answer... Ever watch PAWN STARS when a customer walks in and Rick, just to be sure, places a call to his go-to guy for professional advice on coins who invariably always turns out to be Nick Vagi, Director and Finalizer of NGC Ancients, a lifelong numismatist with 35 years' experience, based in Sarasota, FL? I Googled his name and references and videos popped up to Heritage Auctions, Roman coins, the greysheet, etc. It's like one giant playground which you would do well to investigate. Congratulations on your acquisition! 🐓 Modwriter 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
