Grade worthy?

[blakehorton6]

I’m a young collector of rocks and coins. I’m wondering if I can get advice on some ancient coins I have and wether any are worth getting graded or not. This is one of my better quality coins, a Seleucid Alexander Balas 1 coin I believe 150 to 5 B.C. I am curious wether this would be worth getting graded and if it will be worth anything?

 

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[Madmox]

Well that is super awesome! Let me start off by saying I know very little about coins or grading of them. That being said I can say a little about economics. To get an idea what it would be worth just do a little research. See what graded examples are worth compared to what grading costs. As to future value, my thoughts are this. You have a coin that is presumably 2000 years old. So I would imagine the value is going to be fairly well documented and the value will also be fairly linear over time. Probably increasing at a fairly standard rate. This will be clouded a little because the value of antiquities will also be somewhat cyclic as society as a whole gets into antiques and antiquities and as that interest wanes. This interest is generally tied to what the market is doing and how much disposable income people have. Right now, the prices on antiques are fairly down so over the next handful of years you will probably see the prices increase as interest in antiques goes back up. That being said, I would guess you are unlikely to see an explosive change in value because it is so old unless a vast number somehow enter or leave the market. Just my thoughts. Sorry it isn’t more specific to your exact coin.

Mox

 

[blakehorton6]

This is my one and only lead on the coin. The coin appears to be a different material from mine therefore I don’t feel it gives me complete info

 

[Nick79]

I would consider asking a local reputable coin shop or if asking on here take better close up photos. Do you think it might be a reproduction?

 

[Madmox]

I would consider asking a local reputable coin shop or if asking on here take better close up photos. Do you think it might be a reproduction?

That would be my concern before I spent the money to have it graded and slabbed

 

[Madmox]

Well... it looks like VCoins is selling them for about 85 bucks. The PCGS charges 22 to grade it. So even though it may not be “worth it” the Tetradrachms like that certainly are not particularly common. If I knew it was real and not a repro, I would probably do it. 20 bucks isn’t that much. You will be happier for it and it will maximize the value it has and the price will almost certainly increase to some degree over time.

 

[PetesPockets55]

Welcome to this forum. Glad to see you here and hope you continue to share your posts with us. I have a few ancients, but I don't know enough about them to add anything other than to agree with Madmox above.

Quite a few members here do have experience with ancients, especially in the metal detecting forum since they reside in Europe.

With that being said, here is a link to a forum for discussions on ancient coins . (Hope this is ok with site rules, to help a young member out.) They may be able to give you some valuable insight along with the information you gain here. I always find it important to have multiple sites for finding ideas and solutions.

But be sure to make this site your #1 go to site.

 

[Mackaydon]

If the coin were mine, I'd go through these steps: 1: Identify; 2: Authenticate, 3: Estimate of Value (Self Research); 4. THEN determine if enough value in the coin to justify certification. At this point, the coin may yet to be fully ID-ed though the "V-Coin" description seems close.
Don.........

 

[Mackaydon]

Here's another candidate for your Post #1 ID:
[h=1]Seleucid Kings. Demetrios[/h]Attribution: SNG Spaer 1345 type
Date: 152-151 BC

Don.......

 

[Madmox]

Interesting that says the king is Demitrios, but I’ve also seen it as Alexander 1 and One other name

 

[blakehorton6]

Very close design on the two coins it’s hard to say.

 

[sagittarius98]

Grading ancient coins is really not profitable. 99.9% of ancient collectors hate slabs and the first thing they will do when they get an ancient coin is crack it out of the slab. NGC also doesn't certify authenticity of graded ancient coins, unlike their normal grading service. Grading ancients is just profitable if you want to sell them to non ancient collectors and can sell at a markup.

 

[A2coins]

yep for sure