Ancient coins

[Regiomontanus]

Any collectors here?

In ancient times coins were an important way to communicate what was going on, such as who the new emperor was or highlighting important victories over enemies, etc. Many were, IMHO, works of art. Modern coins are kind of boring, I think.

Here is an example of a (bronze) coin I recently purchased. It is a coin of Constantine. It was minted ~309 AD. Fantastic symbolism! This one is considered to be in very good condition ("extra fine").

 

[Tumah]

That's awesome. Where do you buy these types of things? I would love to be able to see if I can get my hands on some late Second Temple era coinage that are still relevant to us today.

 

[Regiomontanus]

That's awesome. Where do you buy these types of things? I would love to be able to see if I can get my hands on some late Second Temple era coinage that are still relevant to us today.

There are some reputable dealers that auction coins on eBay. I have several Prutah Prutah - Wikipedia

Here is an example of one up for auction now from a dealer you can trust:

HEROD AGRIPPA I BRONZE PRUTAH_____Ancient Judea (Holyland)_____UMBRELLA & BARLEY | eBay


It is very (very) rare to find a Prutah in very fine condition because almost all of the ones around today have been dug up. The one linked to above is a nice example. I would bet you could win that auction for ~$20 though with auctions you never know, as you might be bidding against someone who really wants it to finish a collection.

Like all collectibles, some coins are much rarer than others. For example, I have a very rare Prutah in nice condition that was minted between 31-33 AD...who knows, Jesus could have had it in his pocket . It is worth a few hundred dollars.


You can go through auction houses but they charge ridiculous fees.

 

[Harel13]

That's awesome. Where do you buy these types of things? I would love to be able to see if I can get my hands on some late Second Temple era coinage that are still relevant to us today.

Same.

There are some reputable dealers that auction coins on eBay. I have several Prutah Prutah - Wikipedia

Here is an example of one up for auction now from a dealer you can trust:

HEROD AGRIPPA I BRONZE PRUTAH_____Ancient Judea (Holyland)_____UMBRELLA & BARLEY | eBay


It is very (very) rare to find a Prutah in very fine condition because almost all of the ones around today have been dug up. The one linked to above is a nice example. I would bet you could win that auction for ~$20 though with auctions you never know, as you might be bidding against someone who really wants it to finish a collection.

Like all collectibles, some coins are much rarer than others. For example, I have a very rare Prutah in nice condition that was minted between 31-33 AD...who knows, Jesus could have had it in his pocket . It is worth a few hundred dollars.


You can go through auction houses but they charge ridiculous fees.

Wow, that sounds awesome.

 

[Harel13]

Any collectors here

I like collecting coins, but, as awesome as it would be to have the ancient ones, I'm not in the business.
One of my favorite - and easiest - types of coins to collect are uncommon NIS coins, but that's nothing close to ancient...

 

[Tumah]

There are some reputable dealers that auction coins on eBay. I have several Prutah Prutah - Wikipedia

Here is an example of one up for auction now from a dealer you can trust:

HEROD AGRIPPA I BRONZE PRUTAH_____Ancient Judea (Holyland)_____UMBRELLA & BARLEY | eBay


It is very (very) rare to find a Prutah in very fine condition because almost all of the ones around today have been dug up. The one linked to above is a nice example. I would bet you could win that auction for ~$20 though with auctions you never know, as you might be bidding against someone who really wants it to finish a collection.

Like all collectibles, some coins are much rarer than others. For example, I have a very rare Prutah in nice condition that was minted between 31-33 AD...who knows, Jesus could have had it in his pocket . It is worth a few hundred dollars.


You can go through auction houses but they charge ridiculous fees.

I see that Prutahs are not that expensive. That was one of the coins I was interested in and I even found a site that sells them in very nice condition for a price that's not that bad. They even have a few zuz, ma'ah and shekel although the first two are around $1k and the latter close to $10k, so ... apparently I won't be getting any of those for a while. It would have been nice to have the coins that we learn about in Talmud study. Maybe one day. Thanks for the idea!

 

[ChristineM]

I don't really collect but i have a thing for Vespasian. I have a gold aureus*, a silver denarius and bronze sesterces. I am hoping that one day i can obtain a full set minted during his reign.

I also have a pottery oil lamp made in Vespasian's time, it has the image of Diana hunting. There is the makers thumbprint (with fingerprint visible) on the handle.

Walking around the Coliseum hubby leant on a wall and a small piece of mortar dislodged which is now on display in my Roman cabinet.

* I have only just got the aureus, hubby bought it for my birthday.

 

[Regiomontanus]

I don't really collect but i have a thing for Vespasian. I have a gold aureus*, a silver denarius and bronze sesterces. I am hoping that one day i can obtain a full set minted during his reign.

I also have a pottery oil lamp made in Vespasian's time, it has the image of Diana hunting. There is the makers thumbprint (with fingerprint visible) on the handle.

Walking around the Coliseum hubby leant on a wall and a small piece of mortar dislodged which is now on display in my Roman cabinet.

* I have only just got the aureus, hubby bought it for my birthday.

I have some pretty choice Vespasian (denarius) coins though I have been selling some of them lately, as I have changed my focus on the type I collect (mostly bronze Byzantine now).

 

[Harel13]

Hey @Regiomontanus, what is a "widow's mite"? When I googled it, all I got were references to something in the NT. I understand it was a type of coin in Judea. What was it called in Hebrew/Aramaic/other possible language?

 

[Rival]

Hey @Regiomontanus, what is a "widow's mite"? When I googled it, all I got were references to something in the NT. I understand it was a type of coin in Judea. What was it called in Hebrew/Aramaic/other possible language?

Prutah.

 

[Harel13]

Prutah.

Ah! Thank you!