WHAT ARE
ANCIENT COINS WORTH ??
by Michael E. Marotta ANA 162953
What
an ancient coin is worth depends on many factors. As a general
principle, any object is "worth"
1. What you paid for it.
2. What you can sell it for.
3. What it will cost you to replace it.
4. What you would give up to keep it.
Economists know of "The Theory of One Price" which says
that apart from transportation and other incidental differences, any
object will have the same price anywhere on Earth. This is perhaps an
oversimplification, but it rests on the truth that once prices move
above transport costs, commodities flow to where they fetch the most
money. For this reason, an ancient Greek coin found in Palestine will
have about the same retail price there as it would in New York City.
In terms of collectibility, an ancient coin must have the same
attributes as a modern American coin: minimum wear; no problems.
Furthermore, to be marketable, the coin must have broader appeal.
Most people who collect ancients collect Roman Imperials. Coin
collectors who have no specific interest in ancient coins will want a
Roman Imperial because they can understand and identify with the Roman
Empire. Even specialists in ancient history are more easily satisfied
with Roman -- as opposed to Greek or Persian or Carthagenian --
history exactly because the historical record is more accessible. We
know Rome.
As a liberartarian, I was happy to buy a small silver coin
struck by Marcus Porcius Cato. The coin is nice. It is is not easily
saleable. I prefer to collect small Greek silvers from the towns and
lifetimes of philosophers. Except as one or two are larger and
therefore have some "eye appeal", these coins are not easy
to sell. I have an interest in the town of Cyrene. Again, the coins
are not saleable, except perhaps for the larger silvers.
There are many, many special areas of interest for the scholar of
ancient numismatics. Carthage, the Celts, the Indo-Greeks, the
Baktrians,... Towns like Syracuse, Petra, Smyrna, and Cadiz... Jewish
history, Iranian, Syrian, Palestinian, Egyptian, Greek, Russian,
English,... Economics and ecology, astronomy and astrology, medicine,
botony, all the of the sciences are reflected in some way in the
devices found on ancient coins. All of these aspects mean that each
collector invariably finds their own themes.
Therefore, the coins, when sold, must inevitably, enter a general
market. You buy a coin because the reverse shows a certain plant;
someone else buys it because the obverse shows a certain emperor or
because the mintmark indicates a city or for some other reason
entirely. Cited in the Wall Street Journal, one of the leading dealers
of ancient coins stated without comment or qualification, that there
is a 100% mark up from wholesale to retail. This means that there is a
50% mark down from retail to wholesale.
Ancient coins can be a profitable, speculative market. For the
2000 readers of THE CELATOR, there are perhaps 150 advertisers each
issue. Obviously, you make money in ancient coins. The best way to
find out what a coin is worth is to cite some standard sources. The
Seaby books by David Sear are one such guide. Already nearly 20 years
old, they do provide a good first approximation. A better gauge would
be a cross section of catalogs and auction lists from recent sales.
The final analysis must rest on some intuition by the seller and
existence of a willing buyer. All in all, ancient coins are a nearly
perfect example of a free market in the classic model of Adam Smith.
Copyright Michael E. Marotta |
Technical Writer | ANA Member 162953
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