r/AncientCoins • • May 07 '24

We've been getting a lot of new posters and commenters here lately. Welcome! (Everyone please read the full text inside)

139 Upvotes

Unfortunately, a lot of the new people here aren't familiar with the culture of this subreddit or the ancient coin collecting world in general.

A lot of the ideas that you are bringing to this subreddit -- especially if you're North American and also especially if you've been collecting modern coins for years, don't always carry over directly to the world of ancient coin collecting.

Our subreddit is configured so that people using low-age or low-karma accounts will not see their posts and comments appear here immediately after you make them. They are being set aside until a human moderator is able to review them manually. This can take anywhere from a few minutes to a few hours.

The same is true of people who don't have much karma on this subreddit, even if you have an older account and have accumulated lots of karma on other subreddits. Part of this is because spammers, scammers, and trolls use newer, low-karma accounts, and part of it is to give you a chance to familiarize yourself with the culture of this subreddit.

We have also configured our subreddit to hold back posts and comments from accounts with a low Contributor Quality Score ("CQS") as determined by the admins of reddit. This takes into account your behavior on all of reddit. If you would like to find out what your own CQS score is please make a post on this subreddit -- /r/CQS. The result will be sent to you within seconds via private messaging, and no one else will be able to see what it is.

As you continue to participate here in good faith most of these limitations will eventually no longer apply to you, and you will be able to post and comment normally.



Thank you for your good faith participation here, and while I have your attention please allow me to remind you of this subreddit's few simple rules:

1) Civility is the price of participation here. Please act like adults and keep things pleasant.

We appreciate kindness and helpfulness here. We won't tolerate people bickering in the comments, swearing at or insulting others, etc.

We have a lot of people coming to r/AncientCoins from the world of modern ones. Please help them understand the differences and find answers to their questions without being a jerk. If you can't manage that we don't want you here, and you will be banned.

2) Unwelcome participants get banned.

Pursuant to Rule #1, the owner/founder/head moderator of this subreddit reserves the right to ban anyone at anytime for any reason he sees fit.

We very rarely ban real people - and we ban no one who is acting in good faith. We mostly only ban annoying bots, karma whores, griefers who post using numerous alt accounts, people who post coins that they don't own but act as if they did, people who swear at or are rude/insulting to others, and persistent trolls who disrupt our discussions.

3) Memes, joke posts & other shitposts may only be posted here on the last day of each month.

Fun is fun, but there's such a thing as too much of an execrable thing. Memes, joke posts, and other shitposts may only be posted on this subreddit on the last day of each Gregorian calendar month in your time zone.

Please don't try to sneak those kinds of posts in by flairing them as "educational" or anything else. If you just can't wait, please submit them over on our companion subreddit /r/AncientCoinMemes instead.

Ultimately, the mods of this subreddit may remove anything posted here at their discretion.


We ask that you please be patient with the process, as we check our queues several times a day. If you make a post or comment and it isn't immediately approved, PLEASE just leave it up and one of us will get to it as soon as we can. We are unpaid volunteers doing this on our own time.

Thank you.


r/AncientCoins • • Jun 12 '25

New rule regarding the use of ChatGPT, other LLMs, and the deceptive use of AI imagery on this subreddit

90 Upvotes

It has actually been a policy here for years that we don't permit ChatGPT-type posts. In the past they were usually just quietly removed, as were AI-generated images that were used deceptively.

It feels like we already have too many rules on this subreddit, but it looks like it's time to join other subreddits by implementing this one.

One issue is that these LLM generated texts aren't automatically vetted for accuracy, and some weird and unreliable stuff can creep in. Another is that they are based on plagiarism.

They often give results that feel like a bad student trying to pad out the word count of a writing assignment, and don't actually contribute much to this subreddit.

It seems like some people here, when they are bored, entertain themselves by feeding prompts into ChatGPT and then posting the results here. Sometimes they do this as conversation starters, but sometimes it feels like they are just trying to show off or something.

Speaking of plagiarism -- which is bad, it is fine to post a paragraph or two of relevant information here that you have found online, if you give appropriate credit and a link.

It's also fine to quote text from a relevant book or journal with appropriate credit. Many reddit users are more likely to give a brief glance at something that you have copied and pasted here than they would be to follow a link and read extensively off-site.

What's not great is if you post massive walls of text, unless the information is presented well and is relevant to our discussions, and not padded out.

If you feel that you simply MUST use an LLM for grammar and spelling purposes, do it well. Make it undetectable. Consider quoting Wikipedia or another reliable and curated online reference instead.

If you are using an LLM as a translator, that is fine. Just make it a translation of your own, unpadded words. Consider using DeepL or Google Translate instead.

Speaking of walls of text, I'll end here.

Thank you.


r/AncientCoins • • 8h ago

The desk today.

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178 Upvotes

Can you believe that they let a US coin geek play with this stuff?


r/AncientCoins • • 9h ago

JACQUIER

64 Upvotes

The most expensive tetra of the auction! Guess the final price!


r/AncientCoins • • 8h ago

Newly Acquired Mail call

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35 Upvotes

A few sestertius and a military mint denarii from one of Julius Caesar’s campaigns.


r/AncientCoins • • 15h ago

Little bronze of Julian the Apostate

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117 Upvotes

r/AncientCoins • • 5h ago

From My Collection I couldn’t resist buying this mini-menagerie

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13 Upvotes

My collection is % Roman, but I occasionally buy a coin that checks a lot of boxes. This beauty is Greek, silver, tiny but with masterful engraving, cool subjects on both sides, affordable, and from a popular VCoins dealer. Who could ask for more?

Mysia, Kyzikos Ca. 510-475 BC
AR Obol 0.54g 10mm
Obv.: forepart of boar left; behind, tunny
Rev.: head of lion left in incuse square
SNG BN 380, Klein 266


r/AncientCoins • • 3h ago

Advice Needed Should I worry?

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6 Upvotes

Found this Trebonianus Gallus antoninianus

And I was wondering if i should worry about those blue greenish spots unsure if these coins are debased enough to worry about bd?


r/AncientCoins • • 16h ago

This is Amphipolis mint under Kassander, right?

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37 Upvotes

r/AncientCoins • • 7h ago

ID / Attribution Request Long Shot

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7 Upvotes

Might be a long shot (I can narrow it down to one of the family members; Constantivs, Constans) but I suppose it could also be Delmativs. I was hoping to figure it out because it has this beautiful blue patina.


r/AncientCoins • • 1h ago

Need help with coin?

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• Upvotes

I don't know much but Roman Provincial AE 17.7mm 2.82gm


r/AncientCoins • • 3h ago

Thracian Kings, Lysimachos, (Struck 306-281 BC) AE 20mm 4.46gm

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3 Upvotes

Anyone know where countermark is from?

Thracian Kings, Lysimachos, (Struck 306-281 BC) AE 20mm 4.46gm

Obv: Helmeted head of Athena right (countermark)

Rev: BAΣIΛEΩΣ ΛYΣIMAXOY above and beneath lion charging right; spearhead below.

Ref: SNG Cop 1149, Mueller 61, Sear SG 6819


r/AncientCoins • • 5h ago

Newly Acquired Trajan coin

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4 Upvotes

My Trajan coin 98/102 ad from Mysia Cyzicus just came into the mail today.


r/AncientCoins • • 3h ago

Need with help ID?

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2 Upvotes

AE 14.5mm 1.77gm


r/AncientCoins • • 1d ago

This is my coin cabinet

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132 Upvotes

There are many like it but this one is mine! /if you get the reference

A couple of months ago I decided that if I were going to take ancients semi-seriously I had to get a wooden coin cabinet for storage, if for no other reason than to start letting my coins get a nice patina. I was thinking about a brand new one from overseas but shipping is prohibitive so bought a second-hand one from eBay. Australian red cedar, c.1900 with slots for about 1000 coins. Will last a lifetime :)


r/AncientCoins • • 13m ago

ID / Attribution Request Roman provincial coin ID

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• Upvotes

I haven't been able to actually identify this coin even though I have been trying for a long time. I highlighted some of the letters on the reverse but I can't see much else


r/AncientCoins • • 8h ago

ID / Attribution Request Do you know the emperor on this corroded large provincial AE34

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4 Upvotes

I have already tried to highlight some letters that I've seen on the coin in the pictures but I'm not exactly sure if those were right. So take what I drew on there with a grain of salt


r/AncientCoins • • 5h ago

Advice Needed Roman Coin for Christmas - need help!

2 Upvotes

Hey team-

My husband loves all things Roman Empire and I thought it would be cool to get him a coin from the RE for Christmas this year, he’s finishing a big degree that was really stressful and I want to celebrate. He’s not some neckbeard who idolizes the entire empire, he recognizes the issues with idolizing it, but he has some military background and loves history. when the “how often do you think about the Roman Empire?” trend was hot he got like 20 texts from our friends, bc he talks about it so often.

He does not collect coins but I think he’d enjoy a piece of history for Christmas. I have no idea where to start, what era or year to look for, etc. We talk a lot about 1453 in our house, and the year 1177. He doesn’t seem to have a favorite era or person.

My budget would be less than $500, is that possible? I’m lost and would love some help with narrowing my search down and picking an era or coin.


r/AncientCoins • • 10h ago

Information Request Where to learn more about quinarii?

5 Upvotes

I find they're an oft-forgotten denomination of coinage, at least online, and even reading (the 1926 version of) the RIC, it simply mentions that it is a half denarius and most are exceedingly rare, save for a few types. But, being one century old, I would imagine that Roman numismatics have changed a little bit.

So what resources do you use to research these, create a "story", and estimate values for your quinarii?


r/AncientCoins • • 2h ago

Need help identifying this coin

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1 Upvotes

This is somewhat of a follow up to my last post on this sub. I ended up purchasing a bag of ancient coins from an antique shop last week. I posted one of the coins here and you have all been very helpful in identifying it. I’m hoping you can help me out again. I’ll probably end up posting the rest of my collection soon.


r/AncientCoins • • 10h ago

ID / Attribution Request Confirmation Needed

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5 Upvotes

Constantivs II with Gloria Exercitvs reverse?


r/AncientCoins • • 14h ago

BITHYNIA, Kings of. Prusias II. 182-149 BC AE 31mm 15.87gm. Countermark, Rare

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7 Upvotes

Obv: Head ofAthena right, wearing crested Attic helmet / BASILEW[S] right, PROUSIOU left,

Rev: BAΣIΛEΩΣ to the right, ΠPOYΣIOY to the left, Nike walking left, carrying wreath in right hand, stylis in left; pilei of the Dioskouroi before, two monograms before.

Ref: SNG Copenhagen -; BMC Pontus -; SNG von Aulock 6885; Laffaille -; Waddington Recueil, pg. 226, 29.


r/AncientCoins • • 20h ago

Help

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17 Upvotes

Any red flags? Or that's an authentic coin


r/AncientCoins • • 17h ago

ID request please.

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11 Upvotes

Picked these three up in a coin lot at auction, anyone able to give an approximate ID on them? Thank you.


r/AncientCoins • • 8h ago

Exporting a coin from Germany in person, will i need an export license?

2 Upvotes

Hello everyone,
I just had a quick question and was hoping someone with experience might be able to help.
I’ve recently won a few coins at auction in Germany and am interested in purchasing a few more. As I have family living in Germany, I’ve arranged for them to collect the coins on my behalf.
I plan to bring the coins back to the UK with me when I visit. I’m already familiar with the UK import requirements, but I’m unsure about the rules for taking coins out of Germany.
Would I need an export licence to take them out of Germany, or would the auction invoices and relevant documentation be sufficient?
The coins are several centuries old (AD1500-1600, non German coins) so I’d particularly appreciate hearing from anyone who has experience travelling with antique or collectible coins from Germany.