We All Started Somewhere
A relatively short time ago, I accidentally stumbled into the world of collecting ancient coins. Probably like some of you, I started off surfing through Ebay and saw an auction offering “Uncleaned Ancient Roman Coins”. Truth be known, I was dating a woman who sold collectible salt and pepper shakers on Ebay, and was seeing what she was selling. How I got from salt and pepper shakers to ancient coins, I’ve never quite figured out. It all looked interesting, but I had no idea of what I was going to with a handful of dirty coins. A little research gave me the idea this wouldn’t be too hard to do (Rookie mistake #1), so I purchased a cleaning kit complete with a free coin, I might add, and set off with my new hobby. I did manage to get that coin cleaned without destroying it, only to discover I now owned a very old coin that I had no idea of how to identify it or where to start (Rookie mistake #2). The coin had no lettering on it I could read (not that I would have understood it anyway), a portrait on the front, and a completely obliterated reverse that looked like it had gone through an ancient battle itself and lost. I thought I would never know just what I had uncovered. Luckily, a dealer that I had purchased a few dirt encrusted pieces of metal from took the time to tell me who the figure was, pointed me towards Wildwinds.com and, in the process, I learned how to attribute coins by a number of different means. Thank you Eddie for your help getting me started in this hobby.
In the time since then, that lonely coin has been joined by too many big and little brothers and sisters. I have cleaned several hundred of that group and attributed about 400 of those. My collection seems to grow daily, 35 different emperors and climbing in the last few months alone. That doesn’t include the several Byzantine rulers, a dozen Greek coins, and three widows mites from the rule of King Alexander Jannaeus (103-76 BC) that I have acquired along the way. So, that makes me an expert? Nope, just someone who enjoys learning what I can about ancient coins and their history and wants to share his experiences and opinions with others, and hopefully take some of the mystic out of collecting ancient coins for the beginning and new collector. Carpe Diem.
For the record, that first coin wasn't exactly an ancient. It was a bronze Byzantine Class E Anonymous Follis , minted during the reign of Constantine X (1059-1067), Sears BCV 1855. The portrait I couldn’t recognize was that of Jesus Christ. It still has a special place in my collection, even though I don't collect the Byzantine Period. |
