What would you buy for a $1000 budget?

[JayAg47]

Conditions-

1. You can only buy ONE coin

2. It needs to be at least 950-1000 bucks including shipping, so you can't get a cheap one and pocket the change. 

 

[Nerosmyfavorite68]

[Nerosmyfavorite68]

You didn't say from what year .

This is a really hard thread, I could give you a recent $800 coin, but I have no idea about $1,000.

 

[kirispupis]

Does the coin need to be readily available?

There are several coins on my People of Philip II, Alexander III, and the Era of the Diadochi collection that would probably sell in that range, but they haven't appeared on the market...

[JAZ Numismatics]

Well, as a dealer I've bought a number of coins in that range, but as a collector, the last coin I spent (over) a grand on was this Celtic imitation of a Paeonian tetradrachm. They are exceedingly rare and this one is arguably the best of its type...

 

 

Edited March 13, 2023 by JAZ Numismatics

[Ryro]

1 minute ago, JAZ Numismatics said:

Well, as a dealer I've bought a number of coins in that range, but as a collector, the coin I spent (over) a grand on was this Celtic imitation of a Paeonian tetradrachm. They are exceedingly rare and this one is arguably the best of its type...

 

 

Wonderful coin!

And they got the Macedonian shield better than the Paeonians usually do!

[JAZ Numismatics]

9 minutes ago, Ryro said:

Wonderful coin!

And they got the Macedonian shield better than the Paeonians usually do!

The Celts living immediately north of Paeonia were generally friends and trading partners with the Paeonians, although they had their disagreements. So the enemy of the Paeonians (Macedonia) was the enemy of the Celts. But again, not always. It is recorded by contemporary sources that these same Celtic tribes offered their military services to Alex III when he went on his expansionist rampage. Sulla80 and I did a joint project on these coins at CT. Click here.

Edited March 13, 2023 by JAZ Numismatics

[Ancient Coin Hunter]

Probably a high quality solidus of Anastasius, Justinian, or Heraclius. Or a showpiece sestertius.

[CPK]

1 hour ago, Ancient Coin Hunter said:

Probably a high quality solidus of Anastasius, Justinian, or Heraclius. Or a showpiece sestertius.

Sounds about what I'd do too.

Unfortunately $1K won't get you a terribly nice Julius Caesar lifetime denarius, which is what I would have picked.

 

[Limes]

A 1.000 (1008 to be exact, so I am cheating a bit) got me this one, including all the juice and a splendid plastified certificato. 😁

[Ancient Coin Hunter]

1 hour ago, Limes said:

A 1.000 (1008 to be exact, so I am cheating a bit) got me this one, including all the juice and a splendid plastified certificato. 😁

I was going to say JUDAEA CAPTA or maybe Trajans' IMPERATOR VIII sestertius with him and an officer seated on a rostrum before the troops. $1000 was a nice pick-up price, I would have guessed more for that coin, and for the Trajan example at any rate...(wish list coin)

Or this Gallienus sestertius which was more like $1400...

 

Edited March 13, 2023 by Ancient Coin Hunter

[Limes]

39 minutes ago, Ancient Coin Hunter said:

I was going to say JUDAEA CAPTA or maybe Trajans' IMPERATOR VIII sestertius with him and an officer seated on a rostrum before the troops. $1000 was a nice pick-up price, I would have guessed more for that coin, and for the Trajan example at any rate...(wish list coin)

Or this Gallienus sestertius which was more like $1400...

 

Thanks, I was happily suprised by the price as well. Lesser specimens have sold for more. 

[Julius Germanicus]

A nice big Nero Sestertius of any type. 

[DonnaML]

4 hours ago, Ancient Coin Hunter said:

Probably a high quality solidus of Anastasius, Justinian, or Heraclius. Or a showpiece sestertius.

Can you buy a high-quality solidus from that period for $1,000? A high-quality solidus from the 4th or early 5th centuries, from the Constantinian, Valentinian, or Theodosian families, will probably cost something between $1,500 and $3,000 these days. 

Edited March 13, 2023 by DonnaML

[Ancient Coin Hunter]

It seems like for $600 to 1000 one can be had. If you expand to Constans II or Focas who have very common issues even less. Though I agree Constantinian examples are beyond the $1000 price range 

[Parthicus]

5 hours ago, CPK said:

Unfortunately $1K won't get you a terribly nice Julius Caesar lifetime denarius, which is what I would have picked.

It may not be "terribly nice", but I paid exactly $1K (plus shipping and insurance) for my lifetime Julius Caesar denarius, purchased from JAZ Numismatics' private auctions on CT in 2020:

 

 

[CPK]

8 minutes ago, Parthicus said:

It may not be "terribly nice", but I paid exactly $1K (plus shipping and insurance) for my lifetime Julius Caesar denarius, purchased from JAZ Numismatics' private auctions on CT in 2020:

 

 

I'd pay $1K for that - very good strike for the issue with a great portrait! Wanna sell? 😜

 

[Steppenfool]

Elagabalus Stone/Meteor of Emesa/Elagabal denarius. I can't think of a coin with a better story! This one sold retail for 1.6k so I'd need to lower the condition a bit!

 

 

https://www.vcoins.com/en/stores/apollo_numismatics/12/product/elagabalus_ar_denarius__stone_of_emesa_on_quadriga__rare_details_on_stone_perhaps_depicting_meteorite_regmaglypts/1075315/Default.aspx

 

Link to the vcoins listing before it sold. Very enlightening.

Edited March 14, 2023 by Steppenfool

[kirispupis]

So, out of curiosity I went through my coins. Of the 450 I own, only 6 ran more than $1k. None were over $2k. This one, when the commission was added, was the closest to $1k. It was also the first "nice" coin I bought, though in retrospect I may have paid too much (purchased in 2021).

ATTICA, Athens
AR Tetradrachm 22.5mm, 17.18g, 1h
Circa 454-404 BCE
Kroll 8; HGC 4, 1597
Ex CNG inventory June 2004

[arizonarobin]

I would most definitely scoop up this Sabina Tetradrachm that I have been stalking. It is for sale for exactly 1,000. 😄

(not my photo/dealer pic)

[JAZ Numismatics]

1 hour ago, kirispupis said:

So, out of curiosity I went through my coins. Of the 450 I own, only 6 ran more than $1k. None were over $2k. This one, when the commission was added, was the closest to $1k. It was also the first "nice" coin I bought, though in retrospect I may have paid too much (purchased in 2021).

ATTICA, Athens
AR Tetradrachm 22.5mm, 17.18g, 1h
Circa 454-404 BCE
Kroll 8; HGC 4, 1597
Ex CNG inventory June 2004

No, you didn't. That's a thousand buck coin all day long. Beautiful!

[Hrefn]

These were both $1050 each, including shipping.  I would be a buyer of a Louis the Pious Type 2 denier from another mint which was similarly beautiful, if I could find one.  

 

Dealer pics used for instructional purposes only.  

 

[Edessa]

I would try to upgrade my Antigonos II Gonatas. There are a multitude of dies and quite a few have more artistic versions of Athena.

Kings of Macedon. Antigonos II Gonatas, 277/6-239 BC. AR Tetradrachm (32mm, 16.84g, 11h). Amphipolis mint. Struck circa 274/1-260/55 BC. Obv: Horned head of Pan left, lagobolon behind, in the center of a Macedonian shield. Rev: ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ∕ ΑΝΤΙΓΟΝΟY; Athena Alkidemos advancing left; crested Macedonian helmet to inner left, TI to inner right. Ref: SNG Ashmolean 3260; SNG Alpha Bank 983; HGC 3, 1042. Very Fine, nicely toned.