Collecting Ancient Coins Of The World

Today many ancient coins from the Roman Empire and Greece still exist, as well as coins that were minted in the Middle East and other regions. These coins, for many people, are added to their collections and while it might seem that ancient coins would be extremely rare, this is not the case.
Many ancient coins are affordable enough for the person that is just beginning their coin collection. What is not missing with the amount of coins that can be found today are the history and the unique depictions, the materials used and even the shapes.
Ancient coins that have a history dating as far back as Constantine the Great, Alexander the Great, and even the coins of Julius Caesar or Nero can still be found at reasonable prices to add to a collection.
These types of coins are an exciting addition to any coin collection, because they bring with them a part of history, not only are they an ancient coin but they depict what the ruler or people of that time believed in or felt important.

The ancient coin of Constantine is important to many collectors of ancient coins. It is not only because Constantine was the first Emperor of the Roman Empire from 307 to 337 AD, he was also the first emperor that would promote Christianity. The two of these reasons combined makes this coin one of historical value to many collectors. The ancient coin of Constantine is approximately the size of a penny; it is made of copper and has his portrait on the coin.
Another thing that makes these ancient coins interesting to collectors is not only their age and the history behind them, but also the art that is depicted on the coins. Coins were minted in a vast amount of designs, unlike coins of today and it is not unusual to find these coins with Roman or Egyptian Gods, like Apollo and Jupiter, which can both be found on a coin from 86 BC. On this coin Apollo is on the head side adorned with an oak wreath and Jupiter is in full regalia with a four-horse chariot on the opposite side of the coin.

In the Middle East there are coins that were quite different, which were terracotta tokens. These were minted in the 11th and 12th centuries AD in the Persian Gulf. This was done during a time when copper was not used for coins in this region.
One of the ancient coins that have traveled through history and many collectors find interesting are the gold and silver coins of the Mamlukes. The Mamlukes were purchased slaves from Russia, which were taken to areas in the regions of Syria, the Holyland and Egypt from about 1250 to 1517AD. These slaves eventually rose up against their masters who were known as the Ayyubids and later formed their own dynasty. The odd part about their dynasty was that they continued to import slaves. This earned them the name Slave Kings and the leaders they would choose were from within the slaves of their dynasty. The coins from this period of 1501 to 1516 AD were produced in many different shapes and tended to be square or rectangular. These shapes were due to the fact that the minting process was pushed for production and not quality, these coins were minted in silver and gold.
One of the most impressive things about collecting ancient coins is that these are affordable no matter what the collectors’ budget and can be found at auctions, in coin catalogs and on the Internet.
Written by Sandra Kitchen, Copyright 2008 CoinCollectorGuide.com
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