If you’re not an experienced collector of ancient coins - or not yet a collector at all - finding and buying coins can be a fairly daunting task.

As a new collector you should:

  • Avoid Ebay until you’re more experienced. It is full of fakes, and positive feedback is meaningless. While you can find good deals there, you won’t know them unless you have lots of experience.
  • Use only trusted sellers such as those on vcoins or MA-shops . Vcoins is generally more used in the US, MA-shops is often used in Europe - but many sellers are present on both platforms. They typically all offer a lifetime 100% money back guarantee if a coins is found to be fake after they’ve sold it to you.

Here are some good deals from vcoins to get you started:

Under $30

$30-50

$50-100

In general, it is important to do a bit of research before making your first purchase, mainly by comparing coins at the same price point and decising which coin looks better to you. Condition is typically more important than rarity, but there’s no formal system to classify what looks good to you. In the end, beauty is in the eye of the beholder and you set your own goals :)

  • @meanmon13
    link
    31 year ago

    Some of those coins led me down a rabbit hole that helped me attribute a coin I was cleaning :-) It’s a Carinus PRINCIPI IVVENTVT coin which is a new emporor & reverse for my collection. It’s in VF shape, hard center stamp which is great cuz I clean so few in this good of condition.