/r/AncientCoins

Photograph via snooOG

A place to show off and discuss ancient and medieval coins from around the world, as well as to post links to articles and other references about them.

Need an ID? PLEASE HELP US HELP YOU BY POSTING PHOTOS OF BOTH SIDES OF EACH COIN & preferably photos of its edge as well. If you have trouble using reddit's own photo hosting please try the imgur app or go to https://imgur.com/upload.

Memes, joke posts & other shitposts may only be posted here on the last day of each Gregorian calendar month.

This is the place to show off and discuss ancient and medieval coins from around the world, as well as to post links to articles and other references about them. Posting non-coin antiquities is also OK, but we may not be able to tell you much about them.

If you would like our help in identifying a specimen PLEASE HELP US HELP YOU BY POSTING PHOTOS OF BOTH SIDES OF THE COIN and preferably photos of its edge as well. You can host the photos using the imgur app or by going to https://imgur.com/upload to make an album/gallery of them.

Please DON'T make more than one post for the same coin or group of coins unless asked specifically by a moderator. Use an imgur.com album/gallery to show multiple photos of the same coin(s).

This is a relatively small and slow-moving subreddit, so it may take a little while to get answers to your questions. If you are posting from a relatively new account and/or one low in karma your post will need to be manually approved. This usually shouldn't take more than 2 or 3 hours, and certainly no more than 24.

Please contact us via modmail if you think there's a problem.


Our Wiki/FAQ:

Can be found here. Among other things it contains links to galleries of some of our members' coins. Link to original "Post your gallery" thread - http://redd.it/2obp6t


Subreddit rules:

Be excellent to each other.

Thanks.


It's fine to publicize your own ancient and medieval coin-related blogs, websites, YouTube channels, etc. or ones by other people. It's also fine to offer to buy and sell ancient and medieval coins here and discuss sales taking place on /r/CoinSales and on other websites.

Please just try to not be annoying about it.

If you'd like to publicize your coins for sale on eBay please use /r/CoinBay instead.

Thanks, and good luck with your projects and building your knowledge and collection.


Trusted sites to purchase coins
(You may want to purchase from sellers in your same country to simplify the transaction, but international sales are quite common.)

These venues are generally considered trustworthy and professional:

https://Vcoins.com

https://Ma-shops.com

https://Forumancientcoins.com

(Thanks to /u/KungFuPossum)


Related Discord https://discord.gg/erQ62ePm


Useful links to attribute (ID) ancient and medieval coins:

FORVM ANCIENT COINS: Imperial Roman Coin Attribution 101 - The Short Course and The Late Roman Bronze Coin Attribution Toolkit

Wildwinds ancient and medieval coins (This is a great site, and there are a lot of links at the bottom of that page to more great info)

The Ancient Coin Search Engine (acsearch.info) compiles auction results and information from a number of reliable sources.

CoinProject.com is billed as a free collaborative, non-commercial numismatic research website - check it out.

Helvetica's Identification Help Page is a very helpful resource for identifying Roman coins. The site hosts downloadable spreadsheets to help you attribute your coins.

The Encyclopedia of Roman Imperial Coins Vol. I is available from the author as a free and legal download in zipped PDF format HERE.

David M. Schaps' "The Invention of Coinage and the Monetization of Ancient Greece" is available online as a PDF file HERE, though it may be an unauthorized source.

Online booklet for beginners: How to Collect Ancient Roman Coins, in PDF format.

Deciphering Roman Coin Inscriptions By Kevin Barry.

/u/semicolonlife suggested the resource OCRE, the Online Coins of the Roman Empire at numismatics.org/ocre, as well as coinarchives.com.

/u/acs14 suggested the online edition of Identifying Late Roman Bronze Coins.

/u/StickyReggae suggests DirtyOldCoins.com's reference page with links to useful coin databases.

/u/jjlava suggests the Ancient Roman and Greek Coins FAQ. It's a nice little beginner's guide.

User /u/sir_squidz recommends these links for those of us who love British Celtic coinage: Van Arsdel Celtic Coinage of Britain and The UK Portable Antiquties Scheme

User /u/Savixe has a great new YouTube channel, Classical Numismatics, that goes over the basics: getting started in ancient Roman coins, attribution and reading them. This is a GREAT visual resource for beginners - exceedingly well done!

/u/MrCheesyfuntime reminds us to check Forum Ancients Coins' "Notorious Fake Sellers List" when buying coins online.

Thanks go to /u/Whizb4ng for helping us with this list. If any of you have suggestions to augment this list please message the mods, thanks.


Please be sure to visit these other fine subreddits:

/r/Coins

/r/WorldCoins

/r/MedievalCoin

/r/AncientIndianCoins

/r/AncientEgypt

/r/AncientGreece

/r/AncientRome

/r/AncientWorld

/r/MedievalHistory

/r/HistoryNetwork

/r/AncientCoins

54,995 Subscribers

2

Odds this is a real Antoninus Prius

Found this for sale on Nextdoor with some other costume jewelry. It’s the only pic they have but I’ve asked for more. Any chance it’s legit? They’re asking 35$

5 Comments
2024/03/15
18:05 UTC

3

Value request - Roman Empire Tiberius, AD 14-37 NGC XF AE As

Hi all, was just wondering what this might be worth. Seller said $400 and I don’t know if that’s a fair price or not.

1 Comment
2024/03/15
17:56 UTC

1

Advice needed on the price!

Samatata region, Gold coinage of the post-Gupta period - Gold dinar of Sridharana Rata of Rata dynasty (c. 664-675 AD), ECB SAM15.1, Weight : 5.34 Grams Obv: Stylised representation of a nimbate 'archer' type king, holding bow in one hand and arrow in the other, with a crudely executed 'Shankha' standard in the backdrop and Brahmi letter Shri to the left of the head; Brahmi letter Shri below the hand with bow. Rev: Stylised representation of goddess, facing right, making a gesture of reassurance, with curved lines (drapery?) behind her back; crude inscription to right. Extremely fine, Very Rare

4 Comments
2024/03/15
13:38 UTC

1

Decent price for these coins, planning to buy this for 650 $ a piece

Post Gupta Bengal-Samatata region, Gold dinar of Rajabhata of Khadga dynasty (c.675-700 AD), ECB SAM16.1, Weight : 5.72 Grams Obv: Stylized representation of 'archer' king holding bow and arrow in each hand, 'Shankha' standard in the backdrop; Brahmi letter Shri to the left of the head and legend Raja/Bhata in two lines below the bow. Rev: Stylized representation of goddess, facing right making a gesture of reassurance, with curved lines (drapery?) behind her back; traces of crude inscription to right. Extremely fine, Very Rare.

2 Comments
2024/03/15
13:36 UTC

10

At My Wit’s End with Customs and Coin Collecting - What Am I Doing Wrong?

Hey r/AncientCoins,

I’m new to coin collecting and already at my wit’s end. Despite ordering from reputable auction houses, my coins keep getting stuck in customs. It’s happened for the FOURTH time in six months. I own only 3 coins so far. Right now, two coins are held up, and it’s killing my enthusiasm for this hobby.

It feels far from democratic how these situations are handled, and despite my efforts to understand and comply with regulations, I keep hitting this wall. Hours of research and care in ordering have led me nowhere but to frustration and disappointment.

This experience has dampened my passion to the point where I’m considering quitting and selling my collection.

Is there something I’m missing? How do you all deal with customs issues? Any advice or insight would be greatly appreciated because I’m at a loss and feeling pretty hopeless about a hobby I once found exciting.

Thanks for listening to my rant.

16 Comments
2024/03/15
08:02 UTC

2

Please help me ID + Do I have a silver roman coin?

6 Comments
2024/03/15
06:11 UTC

1

Thinking of buying a Hadrian Drachma of Caesarea, but the listing looks a bit suspicious.

0 Comments
2024/03/15
00:50 UTC

178

"Beware the Ides of March."

19 Comments
2024/03/15
00:28 UTC

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