Collecting Ancient Coins
Perhaps, what’s more, interesting than just collecting coins is collecting the ancient Greek, Roman or Byzantine coins. Old things always have a certain character that makes them appealing to anybody. For some reason, we always find old things beautiful. Not only the appearance or the peculiarity of the object but maybe the mystery they somehow exude. Haven’t you noticed that kind of feeling whenever you see something old? For example, you see an antique piece of furniture, heirloom jewelry, or some ancient coins, you suddenly find yourself asking about the story behind that object. Where it came from, what it has gone through, and how it has come to the possession of the present owner.
These are only a few of the preliminary questions that would later lead to more questions as they get answered. It is the stories behind the antique object that makes it interesting and more beautiful; and more importantly, the stories make it more valuable. This is what makes ancient coin collection more interesting than collecting modern ones. The rich history of the country, the culture, the government and the people where the coin was minted give the coin a strong character and appeal. A single ancient coin can get you reading volumes of books to learn its origins, stories of its minting process, circulation, etc…etc… Unlike modern coins, information about ancient coins is not readily available.
You have to spend extra time and exert extra effort to research and learn all the interesting things about a single Roman, Greek or Byzantine coin. And this is what makes the coin collecting even more fun. You get to learn so many things, not only about the coin but everything that has or had to do with it. A single coin can tell a whole lot of interesting stories. However, despite the beauty and allure of collecting ancient coins, their market value is still lesser than modern coins. The reason being is that there is not enough demand for them. Only a few are true fans of collecting ancient coins. Yes, everyone that sees ancient coins are initially interested but they are not interested enough to start a collection of their own.
It takes a true-blue numismatist to have the interest, patience, and passion to learn all the things about the coin or the collection. Another downside of ancient coins is that they are more prone to counterfeit. Old coins have been minted manually. And since coins back then are produced manually, there is a lot of room for mistakes. This is an advantage to forgers since the same denomination of ancient coins can have differences among themselves. Forgers can then have an excuse for the difference of their fake coins with genuine ones.
