ancient coins are AMAZING

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brianmanahan

brianmanahan

Lifer
Sep 2, 2006
24,610
6,001
136
in the past couple of weeks, i have discovered the amazing world of ancient coins

who knew that you can buy a 2100-year-old bronze coin from israel for 10$ or 20$? not me!

who knew that you can buy silver denarii of the roman empire for 50$ to 100$? not me!

so i have been reading like crazy and have even bought a few coins so far

it just feels awesome to hold something from a society that long ago, which is in good enough shape to read the writing, and think about the ways that things were back then - some similarities and some very big differences

life is fascinating, i must say
 
IronWing

IronWing

No Lifer
Jul 20, 2001
72,478
33,100
136
Try Chinese pottery. 3000 yo bowls for $20. The Chinese have been doing mass production for a long time.
 
lozina

lozina

Lifer
Sep 10, 2001
11,711
8
81
Psst, I'll sell you a rock which is hundreds of millions of years old for only $50!
 
M

mrjminer

Platinum Member
Dec 2, 2005
2,739
16
76
lozina said:
Psst, I'll sell you a rock which is hundreds of millions of years old for only $50!
Click to expand...

If you want to get ripped off, sure. Do you really expect anyone to believe that you are offering legitimate rocks for only $50?

I, on the other hand, will sell you a REAL rock which is hundreds of millions of years old for only $100.
 
IronWing

IronWing

No Lifer
Jul 20, 2001
72,478
33,100
136
mrjminer said:
If you want to get ripped off, sure. Do you really expect anyone to believe that you are offering legitimate rocks for only $50?

I, on the other hand, will sell you a REAL rock which is hundreds of millions of years old for only $100.
Click to expand...
My rocks are certified by a real geologist. :colbert:
 
kranky

kranky

Elite Member
Oct 9, 1999
21,019
156
106
I agree with you, OP, ancient coins are very cool. Crude, small, but true pieces of history.

Only the valuable pieces (like the EID MAR denarius) get faked. There are plenty of genuine common pieces around, no need to fake those. I used to be able to buy widow's mites (Greek leptons) for under $10 but over time demand and price has gone up. They are still quite affordable and it amazes people when you put a 2,000 year old coin in their hand to check out.
 
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L

Lonyo

Lifer
Aug 10, 2002
21,938
6
81
brianmanahan said:
in the past couple of weeks, i have discovered the amazing world of ancient coins

who knew that you can buy a 2100-year-old bronze coin from israel for 10$ or 20$? not me!

who knew that you can buy silver denarii of the roman empire for 50$ to 100$? not me!

so i have been reading like crazy and have even bought a few coins so far

it just feels awesome to hold something from a society that long ago, which is in good enough shape to read the writing, and think about the ways that things were back then - some similarities and some very big differences

life is fascinating, i must say
Click to expand...

http://www.amazon.com/Treasury-Jewis...f+jewish+coins

If you want to read about coins in Israel 2100 years ago.
Good book.
 
KlokWyze

KlokWyze

Diamond Member
Sep 7, 2006
4,451
9
81
www.dogsonacid.com
brianmanahan said:
in the past couple of weeks, i have discovered the amazing world of ancient coins

who knew that you can buy a 2100-year-old bronze coin from israel for 10$ or 20$? not me!

who knew that you can buy silver denarii of the roman empire for 50$ to 100$? not me!

so i have been reading like crazy and have even bought a few coins so far

it just feels awesome to hold something from a society that long ago, which is in good enough shape to read the writing, and think about the ways that things were back then - some similarities and some very big differences

life is fascinating, i must say
Click to expand...

I don't think the computer nerds on this forum have much of an appreciation for history or ancient societies.... lol

That being said, I actually buy physical silver for savings and considered buying coins such as you mentioned. I was extremely surprised to see how "cheap" 500+ year old coins could be. Huge collector's market out there. Interesting stuff.
 
L

Lonyo

Lifer
Aug 10, 2002
21,938
6
81
KlokWyze said:
I don't think the computer nerds on this forum have much of an appreciation for history or ancient societies.... lol

That being said, I actually buy physical silver for savings and considered buying coins such as you mentioned. I was extremely surprised to see how "cheap" 500+ year old coins could be. Huge collector's market out there. Interesting stuff.
Click to expand...

I did my masters on ancient Jewish coins from c.140bce to 100ce. Not even joking.
 
norseamd

norseamd

Lifer
Dec 13, 2013
13,990
180
106
so my keyboard had no batteries so i was unable to nuke all of the atot dreams of money lost

more or less this is actually true and somewhat insulting

found this out when i found that a bronze age axe sword is more or less only several thousand dollars

relativley minor artists from the 1800s often have their paintings go for millions of dollars

the chair that john quincy adams died in was on antiques roadshow and the appraiser casually said something like 100000

cray cray

fashion means money

not worth
 
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T

T9D

Diamond Member
Dec 1, 2001
5,320
6
0
Awesome. I didn't know they went for so little either. I'd totally love to have a stash of those old coins.
 
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