Current Top Ten Priciest At VCoins

[Phil Davis]

14 minutes ago, John Conduitt said:

What do you think is the element that pushes the price up? There are lots of ancients that are very rare with only a few known, but sometimes the price stays below $100 and sometimes it hits $100,000. Herod Agrippa I bronze units are obviously common. The mint isn't rare. Are there a lot of people after every variation, or are they just hoping the one there is will be fabulously rich?

Competition. A unique provincial coin from, say, Moesia or Thrace may have only one collector who really appreciates it. Or no one at all, especially in similar condition to this Herod Agrippa piece. Jewish coins have hundreds of dedicated collectors, a fair number of whom have the means to compete at a high level.

[KenDorney]

18 minutes ago, DonnaML said:

Who do you think you are, Ilya Zlobin?

I could only hope I had his bank account, but I do have some sense of self respect!

[KenDorney]

24 minutes ago, John Conduitt said:

What do you think is the element that pushes the price up? There are lots of ancients that are very rare with only a few known, but sometimes the price stays below $100 and sometimes it hits $100,000. Herod Agrippa I bronze units are obviously common. The mint isn't rare. Are there a lot of people after every variation, or are they just hoping the one there is will be fabulously rich?

You point out the obvious.  Just this week I have cataloged perhaps half a dozen unique or otherwise unpublished coins.  This doesn't equate to value though (otherwise I would be billionaire by now).  The only thing driving the price of such a coin is the very small and narrow select few collectors who can or would pay such a price.  In all likelihood the price will not be realized (I find it to be a $25 coin myself, but I am not a fan of Biblical coins).  There are very few specialized collectors who have such money, but it does happen.  There are a few billionaires who also collect ancient coins, but only the new ones would pay such a price.  And....they dont care.  A few thousand here or there is chump change to them.

[Prieure de Sion]

1 hour ago, JAZ Numismatics said:

Watch out for that clown at JAZ Numismatics. He'll rob you every time.

... do you happen to have anything to do with the fact that my wife is no longer with me? 🤪

 

[AncientJoe]

I owned that Colosseum medallion for a few years but ultimately wasn't happy enough with the metal quality (and already have a Colosseum sestertius) so I sold it. I paid $36K all-in and it shocked me when it hammered for 80K CHF... then double-shocked when I saw it on VCoins with the dealer looking for such a strong profit in a short window.

Here's my picture:

[John Conduitt]

1 hour ago, AncientJoe said:

I owned that Colosseum medallion for a few years but ultimately wasn't happy enough with the metal quality (and already have a Colosseum sestertius) so I sold it. I paid $36K all-in and it shocked me when it hammered for 80K CHF... then double-shocked when I saw it on VCoins with the dealer looking for such a strong profit in a short window.

Here's my picture:

Judging by eBay, you could make quite a bit of the price back by selling casts of it...

[Curtis JJ]

Speaking of very expensive Judaean bronze coins... well, a Judaea Capta coin. There are a least a few of them (I've seen them sell before), but this seems like the best in private hands. I don't know if it sold for HJB's (BBS 220, 322) asking price of $34.5k or went to bidding (it was gone by the 10% off reserve after-sale, not that I would've been able to pay that either), but I thought this one wasn't unreasonable. (The link above includes the interesting writeup by Harlan.)

(Of course, if somebody wanted to trade for my 20-30 lbs. of uncleaned Roman bronzes and low grade group lots, I'd take it!)

Dream coin for me (as a captives collector). (Probably) Sir Arthur J. Evans's Vitellius Judaea Capta AE As (11.01g), and Hendin plate coin:

 

Here's the image from Hendin GBC5 (I don't have the 6th edition yet, still pouting about being too slow for the first 100 signed copies from ANS):

[Curtis JJ]

20 hours ago, AncientJoe said:

that Colosseum medallion

Those are very special medallions! I'm sure I have sales of that one in my notes on the type more than once.

I love that you can still see the animals inside on the better ones of these (and, I guess the audience, their heads represented by the rows of dots inside). I wonder if it's known what those animals are? Elephants? Rhinos? I'm sure Elkins says in his book (or his article(s) on Colosseum coins, at least one of which I do have access to).

Edited August 17, 2022 by Curtis JJ

[Harry G]

Damn, that Gordian III medallion is fantastic! Unfortunately, I'm a couple of quid short to be able to buy it, so here's something more within my budget range.

Behold: The Cheapest Coin on VCoins!